Curriculum Making ..... is teaching with a purpose. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The diagram attempts to represent teachers' work in terms of 'curriculum enactment' or curriculum making.

Source: adapted from Geographical Association www.geography.org.uk/cpdevents/curriculum/curriculummaking/

 

Curriculum making has its origins in the early 20th century when, as Simon Catling (2012, p.428) explains, [John Franklin] "Bobbitt proposed that the school curriculum must focus on what was to be taught in schools for children’s learning and understanding to go beyond their everyday life experiences and knowledge (Bobbitt, 1918, p. 44). He identified extensive lists of human characteristics and abilities from which a curriculum should be created and organised to extend and deepen academic and vocational knowledge (Bobbitt, 1918, 1922). Such content information would be structured and sequenced to enable the curriculum to be planned across year groups as the basis for lessons".

 

At the beginning of the 21st century the concept of curriculum making was revived and re-interpreted by the Geographical Association as a part of their  work for the 'Action Plan for Geography' project, and by geography educators David Lambert and John Morgan, who clarified that curriculum making is not curriculum design,  and is it not quite the same as curriculum development or curriculum planning, all of which need to take place on a number of levels beyond the school. Nor is it not quite the same as lesson planning, which is a highly specific activity referencing materials, learning resources and particular lesson objectives achievablewithin a short period ( Lambert and Morgan 2010).

 

We contend that enabling "children’s learning and understanding to go beyond their everyday life experiences and knowledge", as Bobbit first argued, demands teaching powerful disciplinary knowledge (see Research page) through a curriculum making approach.

 

Curriculum making and GeoCapabilities

The curriculum, we argue, must be knowledge-led and the subject matter is very important. Secondary school geography teachers work within the context of the powerful disciplinary knowledge of their subject. But, this is not a matter of simply ‘delivering’ a selection of knowledge. Rather, the teacher aims to create a 'curriculum of engagement'. Thus, powerful pedagogies are essential if anything other than a relatively small proportion of children are to gain real access to powerful disciplinary knowledge. Good teachers take account of pupil's experiential and 'everyday' geographical knowledge and build upon this. Consequently, all teachers are - almost by definition - curriculum makers. However, curriculum making can be done well.... and it can be done less well. 

 

The capabilities approach, we argue, offers a framework for effective curriculum making because it helps bridge between the powerful disciplinary knowledge that underpins the curriculum with wider, deeper educational aims.

 

References

Bobbitt, J. (1918)  The curriculum. New York: Houghton Mifflin.

Catling, S.  (2012)  Teachers' perspectives on curriculum making in Primary Geography in England, Curriculum Journal, 24:3, 427-453, DOI: 10.1080/09585176.2013.801781

Lambert, D. and Morgan, J.  (2010) Teaching Geography 11-18: A Conceptual Approach.  London: Routledge

 

Explaining curriculum making

In this short video David Lambert explains the concept and practice of curriculum making in an informal conversation.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Download a transcript of this conversation here - which also has a timed version, so you can follow the conversation phrase by phrase as you watch the video. 

 

 

Coming shortly..........this page will link to:

Exemplars and case studies of curriculum making in geography. 

 

Meanwhile.........further information about curriculum making can be obtained from the Geographical Association website at  www.geography.org.uk/cpdevents/curriculum/curriculummaking/