Pedagogical patterns: Solving problems in curriculum design

Teacher Reflection

Published on: September 12, 2018

7 min read

I don’t need to tell you that teachers face a myriad of problems as they design a curriculum, develop a scheme of work or plan a lesson. The list of requirements is potentially endless, including the need to engage students, to incorporate effective collaboration, to develop mastery of content and subject-specific skills, to give effective feedback, and to provide opportunities for student-centred learning. As hours in the classroom add up, teachers learn – sometimes through CPD, sometimes through academic study, but often through trial and error – the activities that are effective in delivering the curriculum, so that when it comes to developing or revising a curriculum or scheme of work, they are able to do this so that it is well-designed and meets its aims. What are the aims of curriculum design? For some, they are ensuring that students are prepared for the assessment outcome at the end of the curriculum content – in other words, ‘backward design’, as deve

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This article was published in September 2018 and reflects the terminology and understanding of research and evidence in use at the time. Some terms and conclusions may no longer align with current standards. We encourage readers to approach the content with an understanding of this context.