My last post introduced some concerns with the Victorian and Australian Curriculum. A coherent, explicit and knowledge based curriculum are a maxim for effective lessons and improved literacy. The content that I am thinking about here is the knowledge inside science, geography, history, economics and civics and citizenship.
The realisation for a school about the importance of this content knowledge is often related to vastly improved understanding of how to deliver an effective reading curriculum.
If you haven’t already done so, reading Natalie Wexler’s The Knowledge Gap or listen to her on the ERRR podcast will give you and your school a sense of both why content knowledge is actually important and how it is entwined in improved reading practice.
Acknowledging and understanding this should force schools to tackle the question of the how and the what.
Primary schools on the whole plan and deliver science and the humanities with integrated or inquiry units. I think this is a mistake.
Primary teachers are resourceful and creative. The curriculum is vague, vast and time with students finite so you would think it makes sense then to teach subject knowledge in an integrated manner.
The problem though is that the planning and teaching isn’t explicit enough to build deep and sequenced content knowledge. Learning intentions, success criteria and planned review are either vague or non existent.
If you or your school want to deliver a content knowledge-rich curriculum then you need to start thinking about subject specific lessons as well as how to use your reading lessons. This is the first conundrum to be wrestled with.
The Learning Rainforest: Great Teaching In Real Classrooms, written by Tom Sherrington, would be the best place to start if you are confronted with the idea of moving away from integrated or inquiry units. In particular the idea of Mode A and Mode B teaching and getting an 80/20 split between them makes for interesting reading. He gives a brief overview of his book on YouTube here.
Then there is the what to teach. Ideally this is what the curriculum should give you, but it doesn’t. Remember, a curriculum should allow all students to have access to the same foundation of knowledge that the wealthiest, healthiest and happiest are privileged to secure.
You could start with Christopher Such. He has some brilliant resources he shares on his Primary Colour blog. For schools in Victoria, and Australia, using his science overview will show you what the curriculum should look like. Sections of the geography overview, particularly Year 4 and above, are also excellent. It would be easy to adapt the Year 2 and 3 overviews with a focus on Australia.
Following the links to Sherrington, Wexler and Such will lead you to E.D.Hirsch Jnr and the Core Knowledge curriculum. They will give an insight into the depth and breadth required to sequence the other humanities subjects.
Solving the how and what conundrums at your school will improve student content knowledge and student reading.
Just be aware that teacher knowledge is often poor, sometimes woefully inadequate, and support and guidance is needed. Don’t forget training teachers, and current staff, have often come through a system where content knowledge wasn’t privileged. This dilemma is the third conundrum.