BESA CORNER
In our regular feature highlighting the work of members of the UK education suppliers’ trade body BESA, Education Today this month hears from FOCUS EDUCATION on The Learning Challenge Curriculum; and MARK OVERLAND of Primo Toys asks how we as a society can help to overcome gender bias in our children.
The Learning Challenge Curriculum
We are all aware that there is no ‘one size fits all’ school curriculum; this mind-set forces our creativity and places little emphasis on cross- curricular threads which are essential to students’ well-rounded comprehension and understanding of the subjects in hand. Whilst it is vital to maintain an understanding
Clive Davies, OBE
of the shape of the education sector, in the classroom teachers must assert greater
autonomy than a regimented national curriculum allows. To bolster this, and to counter the prospective changes of the 2014 curriculum change, Clive Davies, OBE, created The Learning Challenge Curriculum in 2012. The Learning Challenge Curriculum is fluid and adaptable, and over
the years it has evolved with schemes of work introduced for subjects such as Geography, History and Science; as well as on behalf of individual schools. In 2016, the latest addition – a focus on mastery and depth – was also added. A fluid curriculum has been vital to the continued development of
schools and pupils, allowing the teacher to choose the units and plan the topics taught to fit the context of the school and local area. A unique, bespoke and adapted curriculum with common threads
throughout, The Learning Challenge Curriculum provides students with an in depth yet expansive understanding. Furthermore, subjects are interweaved increasing students’ ability to apply the curriculum to everyday life - not merely gaining subject-specific knowledge. The emphasis on progressive and continuous learning, with
opportunities to link with creative or expressive arts in each topic, and where appropriate, literacy and numeracy, creates a curriculum of breadth and balance. This filtered into a Year 4 lesson, the objective of which was to understand the changes in Britain over the past 100 years. To exemplify these changes and help reflect on them, they produced and acted out their own silent movie focused on entertainment. This helps to facilitate deep thinking and greater pupil involvement, with heavy emphasis on personal review to ensure learning gaps are easily distinguished. For students to learn they must be able to link their learning to
everyday scenarios, therefore relatable examples are woven into the curriculum. For example, the Year 1 science unit on ‘Everyday Materials’ links directly to ‘Three Little Pigs’, with every topic starting with a question such as ‘Which materials should the Three Little Pigs have used to build their house?’ Liz Bamley, Head teacher at Oakdene Primary School, has noted that
the bespoke Learning Challenge Curriculum has allowed staff to mould the curriculum to make it their own, and it has been a great lever in terms of raising standards, improving behaviour and attendance. She describes The Learning Challenge Curriculum as: “An excellent
framework which will fire the imagination of teaching teams”, also reflected in others’ outstanding Ofsted reports. A curriculum must be dynamic and interdisciplinary; and it must
nurture cross-curricular knowledge to allow students to make connections and establish weaknesses of their own. Creativity must be encouraged to allow for deep-thinking and a wider knowledge of subject areas; to allow students to transfer their knowledge into everyday life. Ultimately, the Learning Challenge Curriculum fosters both student
and teacher creativity to ensure an adaptable curriculum tailored to suit the needs of the learner.
uThe Learning Challenge Curriculum:
http://www.learningchallengecurriculum.com/
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www.education-today.co.uk
Tackling gender bias
in schools and society I have spent most of my life in some form of educational institution, as a student and later as a secondary teacher and school leader across four different continents. I am also a father to two young girls, one of whom has started her journey into formal education. This leads to the point of this piece of commentary – attitudes to learning ‘smart’ subjects such as maths, science and, now, digital literacy. As my background is teaching mathematics, I have been tasked with
Mark Overland
helping my daughter with basic maths skills, and have been met with resistance from the onset. I don’t know whether I can say fortunately or not, as this resistance is not related to her computational skills, understanding or the notion of ‘being smart’. Rather it highlights a lack of other crucial skills like resilience and creativity, that as of yet aren’t in a place where I feel confident in her facing the scary world of tomorrow. With my education hat on, I’ve tried to figure out what’s going on. So where does this gender bias it begin – how can I help my daughter
overcome the barriers that already exist in her mind? A recent study by Cimpian, Bian, Leslie and Cimpian found that
‘gendered notions of brilliance are acquired early and have an immediate effect on children’s interests.’ The research showed that: ‘Specifically, 6-year-old girls are less likely than boys to believe that members of their gender are “really, really smart.”’ The conclusion is that cultural stereotypes are a prime factor and further impact all the education decisions from that point forward. So how do we overcome institutionalised barriers? A fundamental
change in the conversations and language needs to occur within the classroom itself. How do we make this happen? As the classroom has always been a
microcosmic reflection of society at large, it makes sense to start with changes in the classroom and then work to the wider school community – after all, it does take a community to raise a child.
Let’s start with language in the classroom Teachers need to be inspirations which children want to emulate. Teachers – you are reflective by nature – examine the planning that you do. Is there at least gender equality in displayed work and/or other famous people presented to children? What about the language in the class - is there an overt dialogue that is gender neutral?
Conversations continue at home Within the school community let’s change the parental dialogue from: ‘I didn’t get maths either’ (insert any subject into that quote), to: ‘Let’s figure it out together.’ I guarantee a parent is able to do the subjects required of a child aged 5-11. If we, as parents, are not confident with the way in which that ‘difficult’ subject is taught, then we should ask the teacher.
Conversations with the school I guarantee a good school will jump at the chance to help parents and share the responsibility of education. What’s the worst that could happen? You spend more time with your child developing a bond that needs to be rock solid when larger challenges present themselves, or you gain a better understanding of how the school educates your child so you can support their development.
All too often schools get the blame for the outcomes of formal
education, so let’s be fair in stating the influencers on children come from a much wider base than a single teacher can overcome. It takes a community to raise a child. Let’s share the responsibility and watch our children become the creators of tomorrow. I, for one, accept the challenge and will tackle pre-existing constructs.
April 2017
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