WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:10.000 Music 00:00:10.000 --> 00:00:14.000 We have a very clear idea of what a curriculum is as opposed to a syllabus. 00:00:14.000 --> 00:00:23.000 So the way that we operate is that a syllabus is the coverage of a particular subject at a particular stage. 00:00:23.000 --> 00:00:27.480 So for instance, Chemistry in year 10. 00:00:27.480 --> 00:00:33.540 The curriculum is all the subjects added together across the whole age range. 00:00:33.548 --> 00:00:38.128 if it's the full curriculum. We sometimes use the word curriculum for one subject, 00:00:38.388 --> 00:00:44.448 but that would be across a number of different ages. So something bigger than just one year or 00:00:44.448 --> 00:00:50.008 two years of study. Curriculum needs to be understood as a very broad concept. To me, 00:00:50.048 --> 00:00:55.928 the most important is the experience curriculum that the student has in a classroom, in a school. 00:00:56.668 --> 00:01:00.128 I think one of the mistakes that people make is they often think of curriculum as 00:01:00.128 --> 00:01:03.368 the content of what is taught in a school. 00:01:03.368 --> 00:01:07.108 In America, for example, they consider curriculum pretty much 00:01:07.096 --> 00:01:08.736 as the whole educational experience. 00:01:09.736 --> 00:01:11.396 And I think you've got to look at curriculum 00:01:11.396 --> 00:01:13.056 from a number of different points of view. 00:01:13.256 --> 00:01:15.996 We had an event in 1893. 00:01:16.796 --> 00:01:21.076 A committee of 10 esteemed people got together 00:01:21.076 --> 00:01:25.156 and set out a curriculum that has guided American high schools 00:01:25.156 --> 00:01:27.076 for more than a century since then. 00:01:27.536 --> 00:01:32.856 There are still people who are very wedded to the curriculum of 1893, 00:01:33.256 --> 00:01:36.356 which had the idea that you could take all the knowledge of the world 00:01:36.356 --> 00:01:40.636 and break it up into 12 pieces and administer it over the 12 years 00:01:40.645 --> 00:01:42.965 of elementary and secondary education. 00:01:43.485 --> 00:01:48.325 But it's becoming clearer and clearer that the 1893 curriculum 00:01:48.325 --> 00:01:50.525 is not going to get us where we need to go. 00:01:50.825 --> 00:01:53.425 When the student walks out of the door at the end of that curriculum, 00:01:53.565 --> 00:01:56.345 they have to have the requisite subject knowledge. 00:01:56.925 --> 00:02:00.945 But there's an awful lot more that they also need to get 00:02:00.945 --> 00:02:03.605 through studying that curriculum. 00:02:04.145 --> 00:02:07.245 And I'm talking really more about skills and attributes here. 00:02:07.245 --> 00:02:10.345 So things like working collaboratively with others. 00:02:10.645 --> 00:02:14.185 group work perhaps, being able to apply knowledge 00:02:14.193 --> 00:02:19.293 knowledge, not just in a subject-specific way, but outside that particular context. 00:02:19.893 --> 00:02:25.633 It's very important that the syllabus specifies the standards that are required, and that 00:02:25.633 --> 00:02:30.153 teachers and schools are very, very clear about what students are expected to demonstrate, 00:02:30.433 --> 00:02:34.813 what understanding objectives they're able to demonstrate. And I use the word understanding 00:02:34.813 --> 00:02:39.593 objectives because it's not simply a matter of regurgitating content. What we're concerned 00:02:39.593 --> 00:02:45.093 about is developing the skills, the critical thinking skills, the ability to apply what 00:02:45.093 --> 00:02:47.733 they've learnt in the classroom to real world problems. 00:02:47.741 --> 00:02:53.041 so that they're learning in context, and that's very, very important as far as a syllabus is concerned. 00:02:53.601 --> 00:02:58.941 A key thing for an exam board is to have clarity in what the content itself is 00:02:58.941 --> 00:03:00.961 and how the students are going to be assessed. 00:03:01.421 --> 00:03:05.601 As an English teacher, the most important thing in an exam curriculum is variety 00:03:05.601 --> 00:03:09.901 because it's enabling students to demonstrate what they can do analytically, 00:03:10.661 --> 00:03:13.821 then looking at literature, and then also through creative writing. 00:03:14.201 --> 00:03:16.401 So it's giving all students an equal chance. 00:03:16.401 --> 00:03:21.281 It's interesting to look at countries like Finland or Singapore 00:03:21.289 --> 00:03:26.189 which have been at the top of the international rankings for many recent years, 00:03:26.769 --> 00:03:29.409 and how they're organizing education. 00:03:30.289 --> 00:03:36.649 Because they both have very much a global focus and a focus on 21st century skills. 00:03:37.309 --> 00:03:42.109 Both of them are countries where students routinely learn two or three languages, 00:03:42.589 --> 00:03:48.909 where learning to learn is a key focus of the curriculum. 00:03:48.909 --> 00:03:54.829 There are many things we can learn from other countries. I think the most important is 00:03:54.837 --> 00:04:00.217 what's becoming recognised as a fact now that the most important thing in education is the quality 00:04:00.217 --> 00:04:05.237 of teaching and countries that put a lot of resources and a lot of time into teacher professional 00:04:05.237 --> 00:04:11.317 development and in which the teacher is encouraged to be a creative professional produce the best 00:04:11.317 --> 00:04:15.817 educational results and the best educational experience for students and that's something that 00:04:15.817 --> 00:04:21.617 we take very very seriously. Teaching is a very personal thing every teacher likes to teach in his 00:04:21.617 --> 00:04:27.137 or her own way, and that's what makes them the best sort of teacher they can be. 00:04:28.386 --> 00:04:34.946 need to support that. It's hugely important that whatever the curriculum is, it has in 00:04:34.946 --> 00:04:41.526 built into it sufficient flexibility so the teacher can deliver the subject content in 00:04:41.526 --> 00:04:44.886 the way that suits them best and also suits the students best. 00:04:45.166 --> 00:04:48.926 It's good to have some clear guidance of what the end goals are going to be and particularly 00:04:48.926 --> 00:04:52.646 how students are going to be assessed and what they're going to be assessed on in the 00:04:52.646 --> 00:04:58.186 exams. But there needs to be some room in how I can teach my subject in order to suit 00:04:58.186 --> 00:05:01.926 the different learning styles and to tailor learning to individual students. 00:05:01.934 --> 00:05:07.774 Another important consideration that really is not talked about much these days is that 00:05:07.774 --> 00:05:13.274 education really should be an enjoyable experience for students. Learning about the world in 00:05:13.274 --> 00:05:18.894 which we live, learning languages, learning to do new things, these are all exciting opportunities. 00:05:18.894 --> 00:05:23.794 And I think it's critical that we don't lose the enjoyment aspect because also if students 00:05:23.794 --> 00:05:26.374 are enjoying their learning, they will learn better. 00:05:31.934 --> 00:05:33.934 .