Power Up Your Curriculum

Great teaching starts with a great curriculum. But how good is the curriculum in your team or school, and how can you make this even better than it is already? In this book, through a focus on pitfalls, principles and practical approaches, we will unpack both these questions. We will start by exploring the relationship between knowledge and skills, debunking myths that the curriculum should be focusing on one or the other: skills are knowledge in action, so we need to focus on both. Next, we will discuss why a 'knowledge-based, skills-oriented' curriculum is the best shot schools have at raising attainment for all students and closing background-related attainment gaps. After that, we will turn our attention to meta-skills (such as critical thinking, problemsolving and creativity) and explore why, counterintuitively, the best way to teach these usually isn't to focus on them directly. Finally, through exemplification and a focus on the five 5Cs of a content-rich curriculum (clarity, connection, challenge, collaboration and change), we will explore how teachers, schools, local authorities and trusts can develop a great curriculum in their own context, including practical strategies to support its continuous development. Prepare to power up your curriculum!