National Curriculum Briefing

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National Curriculum Briefing

• Victoria
• 2 July 2009

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Structure of the session

• Overview and timelines
• Curriculum design and current stage of
  development
• Discussion workshops

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Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting
Authority (ACARA)

• Responsible for
• national curriculum
• national assessment
• a national data collection and reporting program

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National curriculum -recent developments

• ACARA commenced operation this month assumed
  responsibility for national curriculum work
• Induction of writers and advisory group members
  writing has commenced for learning areas in the
  first phase
• The Arts are now in the second phase with
  Geography and Languages
• Curriculum secretariat arrangements

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Curriculum development process

• A process of curriculum development in each
  learning area that
• provides opportunities for consultation
• establishes achievable timelines
• ensures high quality curriculum documents.
• The proposed process involves four phases
• I. Curriculum framing
• II. Curriculum writing
• III. Implementation
• IV. Curriculum evaluation and review

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Timeline - Phase 1
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Timeline - Phase 2NB The Arts (TBC)
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Other learning areas

• ACARA to report to MCEETYA in October 2009 on
• the approach that will be taken to health and
  physical education, ICT, design and technology,
  economics, business and civics and citizenship

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Curriculum design

• Rationale
• Aims of the learning area
• Organisation of the learning area curriculum
• Content
• Achievement standards
• General capabilities
• Cross-curriculum dimensions
• Links to other learning areas

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Curriculum design considerations

• The nature of the learner and learning.
• The whole curriculum and how national curriculum
  learning areas relate to it.
• Structural matters, including commencement and
  completion of school and transition points.
• Inclusivity and how the national curriculum will
  provide for the educational needs of every child.
• General capabilities, describing how the national
  curriculum will attend to general capabilities
  learning.
• Cross-curriculum dimensions, describing
  perspectives that should be included in each
  learning area.

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• Content
• The content descriptions are being written first
• Will explicitly incorporate ICT, literacy,
  numeracy, thinking skills, creativity
• Other capabilities and perspectives will be
  evident in each learning area, in ways
  appropriate to that area

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What does the national curriculum look like?

• By year
• Clear
• Layered
• Digital
• Hyper-linked

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Writers and advisory panels
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Across learning area advisory panels
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National English curriculum - update Preparing a
scoping document from K-10 for each of the three
strands Language, Literature and Literacy
  which include a number of conceptual threads.
An outline or broad sequence of knowledge,
skills and understandings for each year level.
Conceptual work has commenced on the purpose
and nature of four courses at Years 11 and 12.
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National mathematics curriculum - update Content
will be written in relation to the following
strands K-10 Number and algebra Number
sense Calculation Pattern and
generalisation Equivalence and equations Statisti
cs and probability Data collection Data
representation Statistical measures Data
interpretation Probability Measurement and
geometry Properties of 2D figures and 3D
objects Measurement Coordinate geometry
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National history curriculum - update At this
stage history is being developed into 3 strands
knowledge, understandings and skills. However,
this may change following further development and
consultation. Writers are currently developing
content descriptions for each strand K-10 and a
broad outline for the Years 11-12 courses Ancient
history and Modern history. A continuing
challenge for history is to keep the content
manageable for teachers, especially primary
teachers. Feedback will continue to be sought
from advisory groups in regards to this issue.
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• National science curriculum - update
• For K-10, the Science curriculum will be
  organised for each year by 3 strands
• Science Understanding
• Science Inquiry Skills
• Science as a Human Endeavour
• For each of Years 11-12, the Science curriculum
  will be organised into 4 courses
• Biology
• Chemistry
• Physics
• Earth and Environmental Science
• Content within each of these courses will be
  organised by the same 3 strands as for K-10

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Achievement Standards

• An achievement standard is an expectation of the
  quality of learning that students should reach by
  a particular point in their schooling (e.g. the
  depth of their understanding, the extent of their
  knowledge and the sophistication of their
  skills).

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Achievement standards

• For K-10, they will be represented at every year
  by
• a statement of the learning typically expected of
  students for that year
• a set of grade descriptors that provide a
  language to describe the extent to which a
  student has met the achievement standard for
  that year.
• a set of work samples that will illustrate
  typical learning in relation to the grade
  descriptors.

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Curriculum for the senior secondary years

• Assumptions
• the curriculum will be designed to meet the needs
  of the full range of students
• state and territory certifying agencies will
  continue to be responsible for assessment,
  certification and its quality assurance
• the extent of the senior secondary national
  curriculum in the first four subjects, and in
  other subjects, may grow over time
• Where a course is developed nationally that
  covers the scope of learning in existing courses,
  states and territories will cease to offer the
  existing courses.

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Curriculum for the senior secondary years

• Course structure and time allocation
• four sequential units, units 1 2 designed for
  Year 11, units 3 4 designed for Year 12
• each unit will be designed to be taught in about
  half a school year of approx. 50-60 hours
  duration
• courses will specify core content, electives will
  be kept to a minimum

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Curriculum for the senior secondary years

• Courses for Phase one subjects
• English will have four courses
• mathematics will have four courses
• science will have biology, chemistry, physics,
  earth and environmental Science
• history will have ancient history, modern history

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Further information and documents
www.acara.edu.au
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Implementation (from 2011)

• Factors that influence implementation
• The extent of difference between existing
  curriculum requirements, in terms of what is to
  be taught and assessed, in any particular year or
  over a sequence of years.
• The extent of change in how the curriculum is
  organised, in terms of organisation of the
  curriculum content (e.g. by years of schooling)
  and how achievement standards are presented.
• The extent to which state and territory
  credentialing or other arrangements require
  additional material to be developed and made
  available to teachers
• The extent, and place in the cycle, of curriculum
  change

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Discussion workshop questions

• What is the extent of difference between existing
  curriculum requirements and the proposals in the
  shape papers in terms of what is to be taught and
  assessed, in any particular year or over a
  sequence of years?
• b. What are the key considerations for schools
  and teachers here in the implementation of a K-12
  national curriculum?