Teachers: curriculum is ‘too prescriptive’
Posted By Doug Belshaw On 17th November 2006 @ 17:39 In Microblog | Comments Disabled
WARNING! This website is no longer actively maintained. It is an archive of 2 years work by Doug Belshaw who now blogs at [1] dougbelshaw.com...
[2] BBC News reports that two-thirds of teachers in England believe the curriculum is too prescriptive, according to a recent survey. 55% wanted the flexibility to set their own curriculum, and around a third believe that the current curriculum makes pupils’ behaviour harder to manage. I agree: teachers are professionals and should be trusted to work in teams towards learning outcomes in ways they deem best and more suitable. The survey by ATL certainly makes interesting reading and should be useful in arguments towards personalising learning. 
Popularity: 2% [[3] ?]
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Comments Disabled To "Teachers: curriculum is ‘too prescriptive’"
#1 Comment By Karyn Romeis On 17th November 2006 @ 20:29
And a loud “Amen!” from me.
I taught in an FE college for two years and was almost driven scatty by the notion of curriculum. We were forced to “teach to the test” to maximise pass rates. After several years as a freelancer, I felt qualified to analyse and meet my learners’ needs, but their individual needs and my skills to meet them were swept aside in the relentless drive towards 100% pass rate. The fact that the tests were irrelevant and the learners were not actually equipped to apply any skills thereafter mattered not a jot. Once they had passed the test, our job was done and they were no longer our problem. I got into a debate with a rep from one our funding bodies once and got her sufficiently riled to say exactly that.
Two years was all I could stand!
#2 Comment By mark On 17th November 2006 @ 23:45
Points mean prizes - it’s customer focus gone mad of course.
#3 Comment By Dan Sutch On 20th November 2006 @ 09:38
If you listen to the QCA future’s team they will tell you that it is not the curriculum that is constraining - after all the history curriculum at KS3 is 4 well-spaced pages … how can that constrain 3 years’ work?
It seems that the constraints are more around the perception of the curriculum (the schemes of work that are ‘an’ interpretation of the curriculum being seen as ‘the’ interpretation of the curriculum?) - the way in which those perceptions are reinforced: OfSTEd’s focus; the lack of planning time which encourages using pre-written schemes of work; high stakes testing and the focus of those tests etc etc
I’m involved in a programme that is looking at ‘teachers as innovators’ - the things that enable, encourage and motivate teachers to develop new practices - as well as identifying the things that stop teachers innovating - be interested in your thoughts on that as it is linked to this thread.
#4 Comment By Doug Belshaw On 20th November 2006 @ 17:39
Hi Dan,
I’d like to help as much as possible - anything to keep teachers ‘in the loop’! The whole school ecosystem causes a situation where - as you say - although the actual formal prescription is minimal, the informal elements are almost overbearing! 
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