Designs For A Future School Curriculum - NSW Curriculum

NURTURING WONDERAND IGNITING PASSIONDesigns for a future school curriculumNSW CURRICULUM REVIEWInterim ReportOctober 2019www.nswcurriculumreview.nesa.nsw.edu.auNSW Education Standards Authority

NURTURING WONDERAND IGNITING PASSIONDesigns for a future school curriculumNSW CURRICULUM REVIEWInterim ReportIndependent Review LeadProfessor Geoff Masters AO

2019 NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) for and on behalf of the Crownin right of the State of New South Wales.ISBN978-1-74301-215-4The documents on the NESA website contain material prepared by NESA for and on behalfof the Crown in right of the State of New South Wales.With the exception of the logos of the State of New South Wales and the NSW Education StandardsAuthority (NESA), any material protected by a trade mark and where otherwise noted, all materialpresented in this particular document is provided under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial4.0 International licence.The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the Creative Commons 0/) as is the full legal code code)The material may contain third-party copyright materials such as photos, diagrams, quotations, cartoons andartworks. These materials are protected by Australian and international copyright laws and may not be reproducedor transmitted in any format without the copyright owner’s specific permission. Unauthorised reproduction,transmission or commercial use of such copyright materials may result in prosecution.NESA has made all reasonable attempts to locate owners of third-party copyright material and invites anyone fromwhom permission has not been sought to contact the Copyright Officer.Phone: (02) 9367 8289Fax: (02) 9279 1482Email: copyright@nesa.nsw.edu.auDisclaimerAs this is an independent review, the report does not necessarily reflect the views of the New South WalesGovernment.This document when attributed must be titled as Nurturing Wonder and Igniting Passion, designs for a futureschool curriculum: NSW Curriculum Review Interim Report.Published by NSW Education Standards AuthorityGPO Box 5300Sydney NSW 2001Australiawww.educationstandards.nsw.edu.au

vPREFACEIn May 2018 the NSW Government announced a comprehensive review of the New SouthWales (NSW) school curriculum from Kindergarten to Year 12 to ‘ensure that the NSWeducation system is properly preparing students for the challenges and opportunities of the21st century’. The announced Review was described as the first major review of the entireschool curriculum since 1989 and would ‘take into account and expand on’ the findings of the2018 Gonski Review to Achieve Educational Excellence in Australian Schools.1This report is an interim report of the Review. It has been produced as a progress report and a basisfor consultation on the broad directions it identifies. Following these consultations a final report will beprepared, including recommendations, and delivered to the Minister for Education and Early ChildhoodLearning in the first half of 2020.Through public consultations across NSW, meetings with several dozen stakeholder groups, and more than2000 short- and long-form online submissions, the Review has sought and received views on the currentcurriculum and, in particular, on desirable features of the future school curriculum. People have beengenerous with their time and deeply thoughtful in providing advice. They have welcomed the opportunityand challenge to envision a curriculum appropriate to school education well into the future.A strong and consistent message received by the Review is that change is required. The current curriculumarrangements are not the arrangements that will best serve children and young people of NSW in thefuture. The crowded nature of the curriculum, including the amount of content that some syllabuses expectteachers to cover, is not conducive to teaching in depth or helping students see the relevance of what theyare learning. The lock-step nature of the curriculum, including the specification of what should be taught,when it should be taught, and how long should be spent teaching it, does not provide the flexibility teachersrequire to ensure every student is appropriately challenged and making excellent progress. Teaching andlearning in the senior secondary school are perceived to be overly focused on examination preparation,maximising the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR), and university entrance, and insufficientlyfocused on equipping every student with the knowledge, skills and attributes they will require for furtherlearning, life and work.Many people encouraged the Review to be bold in its recommendations, reflecting the belief thatsubstantial change is required. This Interim Report attempts to do this by providing broad directions forreform. Beyond identifying desirable adjustments to the existing curriculum, it proposes general designconcepts for a possible future curriculum. The Review envisages syllabuses that are leaner in content andmore focused on developing deep understandings of disciplinary concepts and principles; a curriculumstructure that better recognises and accommodates the wide variability in students’ levels of attainment;the closer integration of theory and application and an increased focus on building students’ skills inapplying knowledge; and a more integrated and broader approach to the senior secondary curriculum thansyllabuses focused primarily on knowledge or primarily on skills.A consequence of focusing on broad design concepts is that questions relating to practical implementationare not yet answered. The proposed curriculum reforms are seen as a long-term agenda, possibly requiringa decade of planning, trialling, revising and then implementing. A first question is whether these areappropriate directions for reform. That is the purpose of the next stage of consultations. For each proposedreform direction, a set of questions has been posed to prompt discussion and debate.1Department of Education and Training, Through growth to achievement: report of the review to achieve educational excellencein Australian schools, Australian Government, Canberra, 2018, viewed 25 July 2019, -excellence-australian-0 .

CONTENTSPreface .vTerms of Reference . viiiExecutive Summary .x1.1The Context .The evolution of schoolingA changing worldThe changing student populationEvolving understandings of learningCurrent policy prioritiesCurriculum challenges14567112.Community Aspirations .Unlocking every student’s learningMaximising social benefits of schoolingPromoting wellbeing and building characterDeveloping knowledge and deep understandingBuilding skills in applying knowledgeA curriculum that meets every student’s needs131314141619213.Community Concerns .Amount of curriculum contentIncreased expectations of schoolsAn inflexible curriculumExternal tests and examinationsDominance of ATARSenior years curriculum242426283436384.Guidance from Learning Research .Deep understandingMotivationProgress in learningLearning environmentsMetacognition4242434445465.Guidance from Reform Initiatives .Flexibility and teacher autonomyStructuring the curriculumGeneral capabilitiesVocational learningSenior secondary projectsProficiency standards474748525557606.Design Principles .Learning with understandingSkills in applying knowledgeHigh expectationsAn inclusive curriculumEmotional engagementContinuity of learningRecognition of diversityPersonal learning goalsCurriculum flexibilityInformative assessmentStudent agencyIntegrated learning62626364656667697071727374

7.Reforming the Content of the Curriculum .Creating a less crowded curriculumPromoting deep understandingBuilding skills in applying knowledgeA common entitlement76767879808.Reforming the Structure of the Curriculum .Creating a more flexible curriculumRestructuring the curriculumSetting high expectationsMonitoring whether learning is on trackEnsuring continuity of learningAssessing and communicating learning848486888991929.Reforming the Senior School Curriculum .Creating a more integrated curriculumRecognising progress and attainmentIntroducing a major projectRedefining learning areasReviewing ATAR94949596979910. Leading Reform . 102Conveying urgency102Building alignment103Reforming content104Reforming structure105Reforming assessment108Leading pedagogical change110Leading school change112References . 113

viiiNURTURING WONDER AND IGNITING PASSION NSW CURRICULUM REVIEW INTERIM REPORTTERMS OF REFERENCEThe NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) has been tasked with ‘a review of the NSWcurriculum to ensure it equips students to contribute to Australian society in the21st century’ (the Review).The Review is conducted in a context of a high performing NSW Education system, which strives tomeet the needs of a wide range of students, including those who are Aboriginal, or from culturally andlinguistically diverse backgrounds, or living with disabilities.The Review will undertake a comprehensive community engagement process to seek the diversity ofviews in the community, including the views of young people, parents, employers and those involvedin the delivery of school education. These Terms of Reference have been developed following targetedstakeholder engagement.The aim of the Review is to enhance the effectiveness of school education in NSW to: provide an education that engages and challenges every child and young person in learning,rewards them for effort and promotes high standards, andprepare each student with strong foundations of knowledge, capabilities and values to be lifelonglearners, and to flourish in a world in which rapid technological advances are contributing tounprecedented economic and social change in unpredictable ways.The Review will consider the strengths and weaknesses of the current NSW curriculum, its relationshipto the Australian Curriculum and its accessibility to the diverse learners of the NSW community.The Review, in developing its recommendations, should:1.2.3.4.articulate the purposes of the school curriculum, including underpinning philosophies andprinciplesidentify essential knowledge, skills and attributes as the common entitlement for all learners,ensuring parity of access to learning that is necessary for success, taking account of:a. the evidence on how skills and attributes are acquired through knowledge-based disciplinesb. the extent of overcrowding in the curriculumc. the appropriate scope for school community choices about contentexplain how the curriculum could be redesigned and presented to better support teaching, learning,assessment and reporting, including by considering:a. the desirability of identifying priorities for learning at different stages of schoolingb. the appropriate level of detail in curriculum documentsc. the breadth and depth of studyd. ways of improving every learner’s transition into school and across the years of schoolinge. ways of enhancing the options and pathways for all students to further education and workidentify the implications of any new approach to curriculum design for:a. assessment and reporting (including NAPLAN, the Record of School Achievement and theHigher School Certificate)b. pedagogical practices and teacher workloadc. teacher preparation and ongoing professional learningd. school organisation and regulatione. relevant legislationf. measuring the quality and impact of schooling.