1. Negotiating The Curriculum: Promoting Student Voice and Learner Agency in schools
Ger Halbert

2. Overview What is the Negotiated Integrated Curriculum project?
Key Findings – students and teachers
Where to next?
Key Findings – strengths and weaknesses according to teachers and students
Where to next- The supports required for a wider roll out of NIC in schools.

3. Students experience deeper engagement with their learning when:
- a learning activity has personal significance (Beane 1997)
- students direct their own learning by actively expressing their thoughts and opinions (Lawson and Lawson 2013)
- student voice is welcomed as learners are empowered to make decisions about their learning (Dewey 1938)
- students are learning in environments that promote social interactions (Honig and McDonald 2005)

4. What is a Negotiated Integrated Curriculum ?
All learning - what is learnt, how students learn it and how their work is assessed is negotiated with students and focuses on issues of concern to them.
What is distinctive about this approach?
The focus on student concerns, student voice and dialogue between the teacher and students.

5. The NIC project - Four schools – single sex and mixed
- PhD study by Joanne Fitzpatrick
- Four schools – single sex and mixed
- Two championing teachers in each schools
- First year classes (12 – 13 year olds)
- 4 days professional learning
- Supported by NCCA and University of Limerick

6. Project report in video format
Video to 5.13

12. Key Findings: Teachers
Strengths
Challenges
Oral language development in students
Redefined role as a “facilitator of learning”
Social & emotional literacy development in students
Thematic Learning: Championing teachers knowledge of theme chosen
Increase in student confidence to work independently
Uncertainty surrounding assessment (AfL approach)
Increase in Learner Agency
Structures required going forward:
Team Teaching
Integration of subjects: Professional Collaboration
Time: double class, timetable allocation for NIC
Improved relationships: transition, teacher-student relationships
Time and space for Professional Collaboration
This is my 3rd year doing NIC across 6 schools and the same strengths and challenges of the process come up across each school.

14. Sits comfortably with the new Framework for Junior Cycle
Underlying vision to place students at the centre of their educational experience

15. “Wellbeing is supported through learning and teaching that helps students feel confident, connected and actively engaged in their learning.”
NCCA Wellbeing Guidelines January, 2017

16. Assessment Toolkit
Details formative assessment practices with opportunities to negotiate assessment tasks with students.

17. New Specifications

18. Opportunity to share the learning from this proj JCT.
Professional Development Opportunity to share the learning from this project with organisations such as the JCT.
Teaching now – anecdote from how NIC still features in my teaching.
Opportunity to share the learning from this proj JCT.

19. Bibliography
Beane, J. A. (1997). Curriculum integration: designing the core of democratic education. New York, Teachers College Press.
Dewey, J. (1938) Experience and Education, New York: Macmillan.
Honig, M., and McDonald, M., ‘From promise to participation: Afterschool programs through the lens of socio-cultural learning theory’ Afterschool Matters Occasional Paper Series 5 (2005).
Lawson, M. A. and H. A. Lawson (2013). "New Conceptual Frameworks for Student Engagement Research, Policy, and Practice." Review of Educational Research 83(3):
NCCA (2015) Framework for Junior Cycle 2015, Dublin: NCCA.