National Curriculum Case Study

A study conducted in 2003 by Ofsted that involved England, Denmark and Finland, showed England’s national curriculum compared to the other two countries was:

What educators believe and think influences the learning of their students/children. Write an essay that agrees or disagrees with this statement.

As an educator, it is my job to find new ways for my students to learn that coincides with their particular learning style and takes advantage of their strengths. In all practical terms, this will mean finding new ways for each of my students to learn in their own particular way. As a whole, my students will need more reason to learn with authentic experiences, hands-on

A driving objective for a teacher is to affect students to advance their expertise in education by finding them the correct course. The teacher should promote positive motivation and inspiration by adhering to legislation and codes of practice which will increase every student’s focus in developing and bridging gaps to display eagerness towards a healthy broad mindset, creative thinking and brighter approach. A mentor should coordinate assessments which will reinforce the ability to perceive individuals’ abilities and knowledge progressions and moreover support them further to boost their learning capacity to acquire a well-established national standards skill set.

Eight years ago, when I was employed as a teacher at BYLC, it was only in its second year of operation. Therefore, I played and integral part in developing an alternative curriculum that would successfully engage our students and also enable us to receive full accreditation as a secondary school. Since the introduction of the Australian Curriculum (AC), I re-developed our programs and they have again been approved during an accreditation review.

With this children will learn various social skills such as treatment in encountering conflict that will enable them to become virtuous members of society (Goodwin, 1999, p.29-34). This is what the national Curriculum aims for (Department for Education, 2014).

The Australian Curriculum has not been used for long, and there are many factors yet to be improved. While the Australian Curriculum continuous to improve to included most relevant topics for students, it is also essential for individual teachers to know their subject and their students so that they are able to modify the plan to fit better with various classes. This way, young adults in Australia could become successful learners, and ready for the world.

A highly significant change to the national curriculum made at the 2014 update for KS3 is the introduction of assessment without levels (Department for Education, 2014). The system by which children were assigned a numerical level based on their attainment was ceased on the commencement of the new curriculum in September 2014 for all subjects, including science (Department for Education, 2013). This action was implemented based on a report by the Expert Panel for the National Curriculum review, which suggested that due to changes made to the curriculum over various reassessments, the concept of attainment targets, on which level descriptors were based, had been clouded, making levels difficult to understand and apply (Department for Education, 2015). This meant that level descriptors were no longer clear and should be removed to allow assessment to focus more closely on an individuals’ specific strengths and weaknesses on the content within the curriculum, rather than simply focus on ensuring that a child achieved a certain arbitrary level (Expert Panel for the National Curriculum Review, 2011). The abolition of levels has given schools more freedom to design their own assessment framework and address the perceived issue that emphasis of levels as a tool for measuring school performance had led to negative influence on the way individual pupils were assessed (Department for Education, 2015). Bell (2014) suggests that the introduction of assessment without levels is a

When asked “What is curriculum?” most would say it is a set of rules and subjects used for the education of children. Whilst this is somewhat accurate, curriculum is so much more. In 2008 the Australian government formed the Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA). This organisation created and released what is now known as the Australian curriculum in 2010. This is a document specifying what will be learned and when it will be learned by the students. It also includes guidelines on how teachers and assessors know learning is being achieved. However, this document is simply a framework. How it is implemented and experienced depends on several factors. Blaise and Nuttall suggest there are 5 key concepts regarding

The Utah Schools for the Blind consider the Expanded Core Curriculum (ECC) as part of the daily studies for students with vision impairments, however, they do not consider it to be an intensive need of the students, and therefore do not give adequate instruction to students.

There are many thoughts about curricula and its goals that it is supposed to accomplish. Looking back throughout history there are many changes that curriculum has gone through, from No Child Left Behind to the Common Core Curriculum. If you were to sit down with teachers, parents, community members, and even law makers I don’t think that you would get the same answer between any of them about what the general goals of curricula are. For me, it is a struggle to sit down and begin to think about what the goal of curricula. As a student and a teacher that has seen the changes in curricula my experiences have definitely influenced my thoughts about what the goals of curricula should be and the roles of the teacher, student, parent, and community are within those goals.

All students deserve to receive an education that is equal and of high quality. This is stated by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA, n.d.), along with the entitlement all students have to “rigorous, relevant and engaging” education that caters for students “individual learning needs” (ACARA, n.d. [a]). However in classrooms across Australia this is not realistic. Students do not all learn the same therefore for education to be delivered equally and of high quality educators need to develop an inclusive and adaptive philosophy to cater for all students inclusive of Aborignial and Torres Strait Islanders. The Australian Curriculum identified a learning gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students and non-Indigenous students and have incorporated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures into the cross curriculum to bridge this gap (ACARA, n.d. [b]). Furthermore ACARA states in their measurement framework for schooling in Australia 2015 that a key performance measurement is equity with a focus on Indigenous status (ACARA, 2015, p.

Curriculum is a term often highlighted during discourse about education and most commonly understood as a policy with overt leaning outcomes for teachers to apply and achieve. Ornstein and Hunkins (1998), as cited by Selvaraj (2010), defined curriculum based on two lenses; micro and macro, which identify the term as both policy towards certain goals and what students experience with consideration for relevant theories and principles central to its development and implementation. However, Wilson (n.d.) argued that curriculum is not restricted to certain individuals, subjects and environments, since teaching and learning can also occur beyond the scope of official curriculum (Ebert & Culyer, as cited in Marsh, Clarke & Pittaway, 2014). I believe this interpretation is the closest to the true nature of curriculum, or education, as there are more complex layers to curriculum than just a written guideline. For example, not one curriculum is similar to another because it is subjected to influences from continuum number of factors, such as politics and economy. Hence, it is wise to conclude that curriculum could not be defined based on a singular perspective due to its dependability on context.

The central concern that this case study seeks to address, is whether or not play should continue to be influential in the acquisition of language with regards to readiness to learn within the National curriculum. This emotive subject was found by the researcher to be ever present when providing for needs of the child with SEN and EAL within year one, finding the restriction to movement and space detrimental to learning. Roberts-Holmes (2012) concurs this highlighting the conflict of interests between the EYFS and the National Curriculum where play based learning is very much decreased. In addition Tickell (2011) shares concerns about the ‘disconnect’ between the EYFS and the National Curriculum recommending a smoother transition between the two. Brock (2009) confirms this by speaking of the need for the transition to be more fluent by teacher through a more play based curriculum. However such planning is found by McInnes et al (2011) to be heavily influenced by the predisposed understanding and perceptions of the individual teacher. Therefore an analysis of such thoughts and perceptions towards play within year one, will also be examined/evaluated throughout the research.

My showcase of best work was during my public school curriculum course while studying about learning outcomes. During this week of study I was able to deeper analyze my state standards, examine the balance between holding all student to educational standards and accommodating the needs of diverse learners, identify essential questions for students that guide my lessons and determine methods for identifying the critical knowledge and skills within my particular unit. In the end, I designed and developed an interdisciplinary unit based on state standards will core content, essential questions, critical knowledge and skills, assessments, and instructional strategies that address the needs of all my learners.