A Knowledge-rich or Skills-based curriculum? Curriculum Design CPD Pack A Knowledge-rich or Skills-based curriculum? Curriculum Design CPD pack Knowledge-rich and skills-based curriculum designs

This issue of Impact is edited by Michael Young and focuses on the curriculum: theories, principles and approaches to curriculum design, as well as planning, lessons and learning. The materials that follow are related to 2 articles from this issue: 'What is a knowledge-rich curriculum?’ written by Tom Sherrington and 'The Learning Skills curriculum: Raising the bar, closing the gap at GCSE’ written by James Mannion, Kate McAllister and Neil Mercer

Session aims To become more familiar with the definitions of, and differences between, a ‘knowledge-rich’ curriculum and a ‘skills-based’ curriculum. To learn the advantages and key components of each approach To consider how this applies to your own school curriculum and lesson/unit planning.

A knowledge- rich curriculum A skills-based curriculum What do each of these mean to you? Do you have any initial opinions on/feelings about either approach?

A knowledge-rich curriculum The article What is a knowledge-rich curriculum? written by Tom Sherrington defines 4 key components of a knowledge-rich curriculum. For each key component, read the description and then discuss briefly with a colleague: Do you agree or disagree that this is an important component to consider in curriculum design? Can you imagine what this would look like in practice? How does it relate to something you are teaching currently? What would the impact of this be on pupils?

Do you agree or disagree that this is an important component to consider in curriculum design? Can you imagine what this would look like in practice? How does it relate to something you are teaching currently? What would the impact of this be on pupils? “Knowledge provides a driving, underpinning philosophy:  The grammar of each subject is given high status; the specifics of what we want students to learn matter and the traditions of subject disciplines are respected.  Skills and understanding are seen as forms of knowledge and it is understood that there are no real generic skills that can be taught outside of specific knowledge domains. Acquiring powerful knowledge is seen as an end itself; there is a belief that we are all empowered through knowing things and that this cannot be left to chance.”

Do you agree or disagree that this is an important component to consider in curriculum design? Can you imagine what this would look like in practice? How does it relate to something you are teaching currently? What would the impact of this be on pupils? 2. “The knowledge content is specified in detail: Units of work are supported by statements that detail the knowledge to be learned – something that can be written down. We do not merely want to ‘do the Romans’; we want children to gain some specified knowledge of the Romans as well as a broad overview...We want children to have more than a general sense of a topic through vaguely remembered knowledge encounters; in addition to a range of memorable, enriching experiences from which important tacit knowledge is gained, we want them to amass a body of specific declarative and procedural knowledge.”

Do you agree or disagree that this is an important component to consider in curriculum design? Can you imagine what this would look like in practice? How does it relate to something you are teaching currently? What would the impact of this be on pupils? 3. “Knowledge is taught to be remembered, not merely encountered: A good knowledge-rich curriculum embraces ideas from cognitive science about memory, forgetting and the power of retrieval practice. Our curriculum is not simply a set of encounters from which children form ad hoc memories; it is designed to be remembered in detail; to be stored in our students’ long-term memories so that they can later build on it forming ever wider and deeper schema. This requires approaches to curriculum planning and delivery that build in spaced retrieval practice, formative low-stakes testing and plenty of repeated practice for automaticity and fluency.”

Do you agree or disagree that this is an important component to consider in curriculum design? Can you imagine what this would look like in practice? How does it relate to something you are teaching currently? What would the impact of this be on pupils? 4. “Knowledge is sequenced and mapped deliberately and coherently: Beyond the knowledge specified for each unit, a knowledge-rich curriculum is planned vertically and horizontally giving thought to the optimum knowledge sequence for building secure schema – a kinetic model for materials; a timeline for historical events; a sense of the canon in literature; a sense of place; a framework for understanding cultural diversity and human development and evolution. Attention is also given to known misconceptions and there is an understanding of the instructional tools needed to move students from novice to expert in various subject domains.”

A Knowledge rich curriculum in practice…. Jigsaw activity: The article contains 4 different examples of what a knowledge-rich curriculum looks like in practice. There is a different example on each table. Read through the example on your table. With the rest of the people on your table discuss: How is this example similar/different to the way the curriculum is taught in your classroom/school? What are your opinions of the example? Is this good practice? Why/why not? Now move tables so that on each table there are 4 people – each person should have read a different example. Explain the examples to one another so that you have heard all 4 examples and then discuss what you think of a knowledge-rich curriculum and what it might look like in a subject/topic that you teach.

What is the evidence? Explore some of the evidence in support of a knowledge-rich curriculum Is this evidence reliable? Are you convinced by the evidence? Links to cognitive science: The article makes reference to cognitive load and retrieval practice. There are separate CPD packs available online which cover these areas in more detail. You can access these here: https://impact.chartered.college/category/cpd-packs/

A skills-based curriculum Read The Learning Skills Curriculum: Raising the bar, closing the gap at GCSE written by James Mannion, Kate McAllister and Neil Mercer Discuss with a partner: What were the successes of the project? Is there robust evidence that ‘learning to learn’ is an effective approach? Does this sit in opposition with a knowledge-rich curriculum? Would it be possible to combine both approaches? To explore ‘learning to learn’ in more detail, you may also want to use the CCT ‘Developing Effective Learners’ CPD pack.

In year group/subject department teams... What are your thoughts on a knowledge-rich curriculum and a skills-based curriculum? Choose a particular subject/topic and age group - What would each look like in this context? Does your current curriculum/planning lean more towards a knowledge-rich or skills-based approach? Does a choice need to be made between skills and knowledge, or can both be effectively combined? Are there any adaptations you may want to make to curriculum planning as a result of the discussions had so far?

Further reading Useful blogs about a knowledge-rich curriculum Ben Newmark. Planning a knowledge curriculum. Christine Counsell: the dignity of the thing Clare Sealy: Memory not memories – teaching for long term learning – primarytimerydotcom  Jon Brunskill  I’m bringing knowledge back. | Pedfed    Mark Enser: Knowledge in the classroom | Teaching it Real Rosalind Walker.  My #rEDBrum talk: The Nature of School Science Knowledge Summer Turner What are the aims of a knowledge-rich curriculum? Video clip - Knowledge and skills: http://www.cambridgeassessment.org.uk/news/video/view/the-importance-of-powerful-knowledge-in-the-national-curriculum-michael-reiss-and-tim-oates/

Learning to learn approaches Brown, A.L. (1978). Knowing when, where, and how to remember: A problem of metacognition. In Glaser, R. (ed) Advances in Instructional Psychology (Vol.1). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved from http://www.eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED146562.pdf. Higgins, S., Wall, K., Baumfield, V., Hall, E., Leat, D., Moseley, D., Woolner, P. (2007).Learning to Learn in Schools Phase 3 Evaluation: Final Report. London: Campaign for Learning. Mannion, Mercer, N. (2016). Learning to learn: improving attainment, closing the gap at Key Stage 3.The Curriculum Journal 27(2), 246-71.