As an idea, curriculum
stems from the Latin
word for race course…
Wikipedia
My Oxford English Dictionary
defines curriculum as “the subjects that are studied or prescribed for study in
a school.” But somehow the race course
seems like a more appropriate description.
Our current BC Curricula are so jam-packed with prescribed learning
outcomes, that it requires a Herculean effort to teach to them all in one
school year. Many teachers fear that if
they do not cover the length and breadth of the curriculum that they will be
both letting down the students and next year’s teacher. This statement is often overheard: “I do not
have time for _________ as I have too much curriculum to cover.”
Sadly, what students remember most about school are not
such curricular minutia as “explain
the properties of 0 and 1 for multiplication, and the property of 1 for
division” or “describe key characteristics of the justice system in Canada.” They remember experiences, relationships and
the opportunities they had to solve problems, be critical thinkers, be creative
and playful and active.
Last
week, some colleagues and I attended an afternoon session with some folks from
the Ministry of Education, to hear about some changes that are in the works! We know that deep learning requires more time
and “space” than rote memorization and regurgitation of facts. The changes to the curriculum are going to
include reducing the size, creating space to allow creative uses, focusing on
competencies, concepts, and big ideas and organizing the learning around
standards, which are key skills. Each
curriculum will weave these five competencies throughout: Communication, Critical Thinking, Creative
Thinking and Innovation, Personal Responsibility and Social Responsibility.
So
what will that look like in plain English?
We were shown a sample of a grade seven science curriculum. It fit on one page. There were four big ideas about Scientific
Inquiry, Life Science, Physical Science and Earth Science. Below each big idea statement were three
learning standards, such as a student being able to collect evidence, design and
carry out experiments, and make some evidence-based conclusions. Of course, the web-based curriculum will have
links to resources, ideas for cross-curricular integration, and so on, but the
One Page Overview was clean, concise, and very teacher-student-parent friendly.
I
am confident that this brave, new approach will bring our teaching and learning
into the 21st century and will prepare our children well for the
future. Hopefully, our children will be
the innovators who use their thinking skills to reverse global warming, solve
the pine beetle problem, put an end to poverty and homelessness, and celebrate
world peace!
