Curriculum Development
All New Zealand state and integrated schools have until 2010 to design and implement a school curriculum. Schools have been given the flexibility to design and implement curriculum that is tailored to the learning needs of their students and the expectations of their communities. Professional leaders at every level – from principals to classroom teachers – need to take time to clarify and build essential understandings about students’ needs and interests and how those interests can be recognised and the needs can best be met.
Research by Lester Flockton (University of Otago) suggests there are fourteen factors that schools need to consider when developing their school curriculum.
Factors to consider
- Collaborative engagement
- Community confidence in the school, its leadership, its teachers, and its processes.
- A shared vision for students and their learning
- Understandings about what constitutes meaningful learning
- Understandings about learners and how meaningful learning happens
- Understandings about how meaningful learning is meaningfully assessed
- Structural decisions: subject-based, topic-based, or integrated?
|
- Coverage decisions: “mile-wide, inch-deep” versus “inch-wide, mile-deep”?
- Decisions on emphasis: process versus product?
- Decisions on how the values, key competencies, and learning areas will interrelate
- Professional development
- Resources and resourcefulness
- Vulnerability to packaged “solutions”, posters, and silver bullets
- The quality of regular self-review and critical reflection.
|
New Era IT offers a comprehensive Curriculum Development programme that is both collaborative and works through a internationally recognised development process. Utilising key components of the modular Pathways framework schools are able to consider new curriculum opportunities within their existing infrastructure and resourcing – while modelling future possibilities and development. It concurrently identifies professional development and other resources required to deliver new programmes of work and is uniquely customised to fit with the circumstances of your school and board. We highly recommend this inspirational planning programme and would be happy to introduce your school to the possibilities it presents.
Email us to find out more today.