The Australian Curriculum

Outline Context, background and developments Key Concepts of the Australian curriculum The Implementation issue 1

acara Australian Curriculum Assessment and Reporting Authority Commonwealth independent statutory authority Established 1 June 2009 Policy determined by the Council of state and federal education ministers 2

Why an Australian Curriculum? Curriculum (what we want young people to learn at school) has become too important and too big a task to not do it nationally Because we are a very mobile society national consistency is important We need to pool our talents and resources to ensure the best Combination of efficiency and effectiveness arguments 3

The vision Entitlement to a world-class curriculum for all young Australians Commitment to work together collaboratively to design and deliver it 4

What do we want all young Australians to learn at school? 5

Preparation for life Australian governments commit to working in collaboration with all school sectors to support all young Australians to become: successful learners confident and creative individuals active and informed citizens. 6

Shape of the curriculum Learning areas General capabilities Cross-curriculum priorities 7

The Learning Areas 8 Learning areasTimeline EnglishPhase 1 MathematicsPhase 1 SciencePhase 1 Humanities and social sciences History Geography Economics, Business, Civics and citizenship Phase 1 Phase 2 Phase 3 The ArtsPhase 2 LanguagesPhase 2 Health and Physical EducationPhase 3 TechnologiesPhase 3 “Do we want each student to learn from these learning areas?”

General capabilities Literacy Numeracy ICT Thinking skills Creativity Self management Teamwork Intercultural understanding Ethical behaviour Social competence 9 “Do we want each student to develop these capabilities?”

Cross-curriculum priorities FocusDimension NationalIndigenous culture and history RegionalAsia and Australia’s engagement with the region GlobalSustainability 10

K-10 Learning Areas Learning areas … “Year by year curriculum?”

K-10 Learning Areas Learning areas and general capabilities

Asia Sustainability Indigenous culture Cross curriculum priorities

Elements of the curriculum Curriculum content –Content elaborations Achievement standards –Work samples that will be inclusive 14

Curriculum content A core of knowledge, skills and understandings – what students will be taught Importance of parsimony and avoiding overcrowding 15 “Do we want all students to learn this content?”

Achievement standards The expected standard or quality of work World class and thus aspirational, but achievable Aligned to a ‘C’ in an A-E system of grades 16

17 Implementation Issues Degree of specification Curriculum cultures/history Relationship to other policies The state of federalism Monitoring – evaluation - innovation