Redefining Education Ltd

The curriculum we deliver to our children and young people has the power to shape and mould them as they develop, but we need to ask ourselves to what extend do we understand how and why the curriculum we deliver in our classrooms has been created?

The oxford dictionary in its simplest form defines curriculum as “the subjects comprising a course of study in a school or college” which through further exploration leads to words such as sequence, goals, knowledge, skills, components, design, experiences and many more. We all know that the curriculum is so much more than this and that sometimes it can seem like a daunting task to decide to relook at if the curriculums we have in place are really the best they can be. Across the last decade, primary schools across the UK have been reviewing, revaluating and exploring what their curriculum offer is and considering how it benefits their context. This in itself presents a complex task, with so much available to inform choices, but equally make the decision making process seem over facing. Crafting a curriculum is complex, it takes time to unpick what is important, it involves lots of conversations and understandably it will change and evolve through the process. When a well thought out curriculum, which is owned by the educators who deliver it, is brought to life, children flourish and the world around them becomes a place full or wonder, creativity and possibilities.

“The curriculum is the medium through which we introduce children to the world.”

(Simplicitus-Emma Turner 2022)

It is crucial when crafting the curriculum that schools take time to ensure that their mission, aims and values are central to their curriculum design. This is a great starting point for ensuring that everyone is connected to the central purpose of the school and from here a collective view of what the core drivers for the curriculum are can be established. These drivers should form the basis of what the curriculum is built upon, considering what it is that forms the fundamental building blocks of what the offer is from the school. It is important to ensure that there are not too many drivers, so that all staff are able to articulate what the school is aiming to do.

The ownership this gives to teachers makes a real difference in a school and helps ensure that the vision for what the school wants to provide for learners is embedded into the approach. From here decisions can start to be made about the “what”; the content of the curriculum that will be crafted. It is really important to decide what the starting point for making these decisions will be. Schools may decide to use the National Curriculum and create their own bespoke curriculum, or it may be that schemes of learning might be used as a starting point. However, it is pivotal that the EYFS offer is focussed on as the starting point, so that the rest of the curriculum can be built from these foundations. In addition, taking time to talk to children about their views on the current curriculum provides a fascinating insight into their direct experience and what it is like to be a learner.

Recently I have been supporting a range of schools who have been looking again at their offer and rethinking what the curriculum experience is like for their children. Taking the time to have conversations about the offer in a subject discipline and unpick what the thinking is behind different topics and themes, really does open up a rich dialogue about why we do what we do and I have found this to be a great way to start to consider what works, where changes might positively impact on learners and more importantly consider what the learning links are between the past, present and future parts of the curriculum offer mapped out for pupils. What has struck me more and more, is the importance of making sure that the offer for pupils fully embodies the context in which they live and that the decisions made fully link to this. It is always interesting to question “why do we do this?” when looking at elements of our curriculum design.

“Schools are special places. They are part of a community and whatever goes on in that school should bear some relation to this. A curriculum should be relevant-it should matter.”

(The Monkey Proof Box-Jonathan Lear 2019)

The key to crafting a curriculum is to accept that it is never finished and complete. The best curriculums evolve and change, they shape themselves around the teachers and learners that bring them to life and ensure that whilst they reflect the world in which we live today, they look to the future and what the world might be.

The educational landscape is undoubtedly ever evolving and changing. As the sun sets on one idea, view or approach, so the next day starts with more thoughts opinions or aspects to consider. After working in education for nearly two decades, I have come to see this as an essential part of the Teaching Profession, which allows it to expand the opportunities for young people and push the boundaries of what it means to be a learner in the 21st century.

As educators we aim to have learning as our core purpose; to ensure our children gain a mental or physical grasp of things, make sense of the world around themselves, interpret the events and actions that unfold, whilst also processing the words and actions of others. Learning and teaching come hand in hand and with that comes the relationships that exist between a school and its community. These relationships are the key to ensuring that all children, parents and staff are able to create the right climate for learning to take place and at the heart of this are the conversations that help shape and mould the way in which a community evolves.

As a former headteacher I have had lots of conversations over time with all sorts of children and adults who were both within and beyond my own school community. Many of these conversations arose naturally from planned meetings, routines, visits or opportunities, but what I have found fascinating overtime is the power a conversation has to sow a seed of thought, bring about a different perspective or sometimes hold up a mirror to reflect on the way we do things.

As a long serving educator it has been great to create “Redefining Education Ltd” and through the regular conversations I have with teachers, leaders, parents and children, start to see how collaboration across a range of diverse educational settings is in such a short space of time already starting to have an impact on the educational offer we all want our children to have as learners.

Sometimes it is those conversations that happen by chance or that occur because of an opportunity which go on to change how things are. A parent once said to me 7 to 8 years ago “I would love to be a fly on the wall and see the things that my child tells me all about when they come home” and from that came my introduction of the use of Tapestry, Twitter and Pinterest to bring the classroom to peoples finger tips.

We all want to do the best for our children, but at times there can appear to be challenges or systems and structures that seem to get in the way of this or somehow disrupt what we want to do. All it takes sometimes is a conversation to take us back to our shared purpose of ensuring our children get the best deal as learners and the future of society. Redefining Education Ltd is always a place that is open to a conversation, a conversation that may almost seem insignificant, but a conversation that has the power to be the catalyst for change. The late Rita Pierson was an educator who believed in the power of human connection and always had time to listen to all those conversations that fill our daily lives and the shared spaces in which we exist as a society.

“How powerful would our world be if we had kids not afraid to take risks, who were not afraid to think and who had a champion. Every child deserves a champion; an adult who will never give up on them. Who understands the power of connection and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.”
(Rita Pierson)

So as simple as it sounds, all it often takes is a conversation to bring about understanding or bring about change. Our lives are filled with conversations and it is empowering to think that as a teaching profession our Chartered College came from our collective conversations about pedagogy. Our growing engagement with digital apps such as Twitter and Instagram shows us that conversations about education and ways to move forward are always possible.

All it takes is a conversation and somebody to start it off.