The decline of the arts in education has recently gained media attention, with headlines like ‘Arts in schools: The end of an era’ (Tambling, 2019). Meanwhile, the Creative Industries Federation have reported that the creative economy accounts for one in 11 jobs and employs 700,000 more people than the financial services across the UK (Creative […]
Please note, the author of this article is Director of Engagement at Lyfta, the subscription-based resource for schools described in this case study. We live in an increasingly connected world. Many of our children are growing up exposed to greater diversity than ever before, through direct contact with people around them, as well as via […]
In considering the importance of knowledge and subject-specialist teaching, Lambert (2018) highlights that ‘the curriculum: the quality of its contents, its sequencing and its enactment are all curriculum enactment responsibilities that fall to teachers’ (p. 363). Therefore, any concern for developing high-quality curriculum cannot be separated from how teachers’ curriculum understanding is developed and subject […]
As teachers, we know the importance of vocabulary for accessing and meeting the demands of an increasingly challenging secondary curriculum. One way that schools are addressing the vocabulary gap is through explicit teaching of, and reference to, not only subject-specific (Tier 3) words but also general academic (Tier 2) words, as the glue that helps […]
Rhetoric? Would you want to work in a school that had a narrow, unbalanced curriculum? How about one with a broad, balanced curriculum? The questions are rhetorical; the answers are obvious. From one perspective, ‘broad’ and ‘balanced’ are rhetorical terms used to persuade us of the value of whatever curriculum a writer or speaker is […]
We can find a justification for music as an important part of human development right back to Plato. In the Middle Ages, music continued to be seen as a tool for the ‘formation of the adult who would best fulfill those functions expected of him or her by the society of which he was a […]
The author of this article is the Director of CreativeKids, an organisation offering chargeable workshops to children and young people in Hong Kong. Fear of failure is one of the blocks to children’s thinking and can act as a barrier to learning (Fisher, 2005). Conversely, children’s curiosity can fuel exploration of possibilities. Art in particular […]
Principles of community curriculum-making Most people will be familiar with the African proverb that ‘it takes a village to raise a child’. Hold that thought. There are a range of pressing issues facing society in 2019. These are well represented in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, which include: affordable and green energy sustainable cities […]
Ofsted’s consultation about its new education inspection framework, with its focus on the curriculum, is leading Early Years practitioners to wonder what a curriculum for the youngest children might look like. Yet the notion of a curriculum for young children is not new. For example, Curriculum Guidance for the Foundation Stage (QCA/DfEE, 2000) was the […]
A UNICEF report in 2013 on the 29 most wealthy countries placed the United Kingdom as lowest in terms of children aged 15 to 19 remaining in education. Although, since then, there have been legislative changes to the ages of compulsory education in the UK, it is a telling comparison. It is particularly compelling when […]
The research context and the focus of the study Talk is critical to the education process as it is the medium of instruction as well as a way for children to present knowledge and develop ideas together. The latter quality identifies talk as a tool for collaborative ‘meaning-making’. Meaning-making is where understandings are co-constructed through […]
Much has been written about the curriculum as a product, but less about what qualifies as a broad and balanced process of curriculum development. We offer here our reflections on what that process should look like, from our experiences of leading change at whole-school and subject level. We did not set out with a fully […]
Within the United Kingdom there has been a significant amount of curriculum reform since the late 1980s, but the directions taken by Scotland, England, Wales and Northern Ireland have been markedly different. The authors have worked for a number of years in both England and Scotland (presently in the latter) so will focus mainly on […]
As a teacher of mathematics, I heard many conversations about whether GCSE is a two- or three-year programme of study and in what order we should teach the various interconnected topics in mathematics. I agree that the second question deserved much consideration and deliberation but could never understand the first point. My belief is that […]
What is spatial ability? Spatial ability involves perceiving the location and dimension of objects and their relationships to one another. We use it to pack a suitcase, when stacking a dishwasher and even when getting dressed (e.g. turning clothes around, aligning buttons and button holes). We also need to be able to negotiate our way […]
Since 1988, the curriculum has been a requirement of every school in England. Its earliest aims sought to ‘equip children for a lively and constructive place in society’ and ‘to fit them to do a job of work’ (Callaghan, 1976). Over the last 31 years, the world and the challenges it faces have certainly changed. […]
Can mindfulness contribute to a broad and balanced curriculum that enriches life? Philippa Griffiths, PGCE (geography), University of Oxford Before embarking on my PGCE, research led me to an array of negative reports on poor teacher and student mental health. This sparked my interest in mindfulness, an intervention for improving wellbeing and has already been […]
Our students are growing up in unsettling times. Climate change, plastic pollution, political polarisation, isolationism, social atomisation and anxiety are just some contemporary challenges. However, there is a compelling case to make for a rebalancing of the curriculum towards a more positive outlook, and I offer some suggestions for how this rebalancing might be achieved. […]
School reports are an enduring feature of the education landscape. They form part of our personal history, fondly retained by parents well beyond a child’s school leaving age. The Department for Education requires schools in England to report to parents annually (Department for Education, 2015). There is widespread variation in reporting practice, and many schools […]
As a teacher and international school leader, I have always been interested in early leadership opportunities in school to help develop students’ skill sets. This article explores experiences of building opportunities for leadership within school to increase student impact in the community. A review of published literature relating to schools and higher education proposes a […]
