Good evening, I am hosting #ASEChat this evening, with a background in curriculum development in science, I am interested in the new emphasis on a ‘Knowledge-rich curriculum’, but what do YOU think a knowledge-rich curriculum for science should look like? And why?
Evening Mary. I think my two areas are 1. about ensuring enough knowledge to be able to apply and analyse and 2. the idea of knowledge adding to science cultural capital. Have enough experience of science to have things to talk about and to compare to #asechat
#ASEChat 2/2 from @ Ofstednews
"A rich web of knowledge is what provides the capacity for pupils to learn even more and develop their understanding." https://t.co/sGcoQGdCps
Evening Mary. I think my two areas are 1. about ensuring enough knowledge to be able to apply and analyse and 2. the idea of knowledge adding to science cultural capital. Have enough experience of science to have things to talk about and to compare to #asechat
To me knowledge rich has become the fashionable way of talking about well structured and conceptually progressive curriculum. It is not about the knowledge per se but how we are placing that knowledge and building meaning and understanding #ASEchat
Possibly though I have always believed in some knowledge for knowledge sake. I am not interested absolutely in science being all "relevant." The absolute need for relevancy at all times is a myth #asechat
I don’t think we have this in the current NC in England. All phases developed independently, how can it be progressive? #asechat i.e. show progression, not opt in to lessons if you feel like it
I wondered if #knowledgerich was a term used by those who look disparagingly at teaching skills (whatever skills may mean) #ASEChat Was it linked to times when Gove was at DfE?
Possibly though I have always believed in some knowledge for knowledge sake. I am not interested absolutely in science being all "relevant." The absolute need for relevancy at all times is a myth #asechat
I understand 'conceptually progressive' but I am less secure I have a clear understanding of 'well structured' when applied to school curriculums #ASEChat
We could argue about what knowledge to include in any curriculum, I think ‘knowledge rich’ is how whatever knowledge you have is linked together to form a whole aka curriculum planning and curriculum detail #asechat
This is why schools adopting ‘knowledge rich’ approaches are filling in the gaps with curriculum mapping, knowledge organisers and lots of support materials #asechat
I think there has to be a debate about what to include, as there is clearly too much science out there to include everything, so you need some agreed grounds for including or excluding #ASEchat
This is why schools adopting ‘knowledge rich’ approaches are filling in the gaps with curriculum mapping, knowledge organisers and lots of support materials #asechat
1/2 It's the idea that we are not saying Learn about something say the periodic table because its going to be useful in your adult life. Its a fundamental of science as an academic subject and so we need to learn about it. #asechat
It is all subjective at the moment. There is no definitive, research informed way of describing school level science content in as an interconnected set of concepts. For maths @CambridgeMaths are doing this. #asechat
In reply to
@ViciaScience, @MaryUYSEG, @CambridgeMaths
I think some nails were driven into the 'relevancy' coffin quite some years ago when someone asked 'relevant to whom?' and the answer appeared to be less than convincing #ASEChat
so what would a knowledge-poor curriculum look like in science? I was going to ask if it's possible but I believe I have seen and taught a scheme that fits this description! #ASEchat
2/2 I was in a conversation the other day with some maths teachers, and we were discussing do we have to explain the relevancy of everything we cover in the curriculum #asechat
Getting into nitty gritty, our Xmas Y11 mocks (2018 exams) showed Chemistry to be the Paper 1 that required knowledge. It required interconnected knowledge, beyond recall, and the Qs called for it. Can't waffle about structure and bonding. Can about renewables or health! #asechat
Do you think this is needed more in subjects other than science? For example acquiring the knowledge needed to fully understand an English text? #asechat
I agree about debating what to include in a curriculum but population a curriculum with knowledge will not make it knowledge rich, all curricula have knowledge after all #asechat
@ViciaScience agree here-also those who do not understand what learning means and how learning happens, theories of learning - and there are very many - they all have something of merit - and what is knowledge?!! #ASEchat
In reply to
@MaryUYSEG, @MarcNeesam, @_theteachr, @ViciaScience
I agree with @cleverfiend that it IS possible to have knowledge poor science curriculum, which IS just a load of facts learned to jump through exam hoops. #ASEchat
In reply to
@hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @cleverfiend
#ASEchat also ideas like the self correcting nature of science even though this can take a good while. However there are classic cases of big conceptual changes/revolutions
I think there are schools doing such work who have had funding. What’s interesting is internationally it’s more common for lots of detail to be provided about what a ‘national curriculum’ (framework) should look like in the classroom e.g schemes of work, detailed syllabi #asechat
My first year as an NQT we had a scheme of resource (we used to call it Bath Science) - there was little content and little skills in there. It was lacking in just about everything apart from pretty pictures in the textbooks #ASEchat
In reply to
@hecharden, @MaryUYSEG, @MarcNeesam, @_theteachr
You need several skills as well, including the skill of making sound judgements about which knowledge is relevant to a particular problem, if problem solving is one of your curriculum aims #ASEChat
I think there is a growing understanding you need knowledge in english, eg to understand simile eg if a character is described as moving with glacial slowness across the room, you need to know what a glacier is and does #asechat
In reply to
@hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
@ViciaScience agree here-also those who do not understand what learning means and how learning happens, theories of learning - and there are very many - they all have something of merit - and what is knowledge?!! #ASEchat
In reply to
@MaryUYSEG, @MarcNeesam, @_theteachr, @ViciaScience
Do you think we may end up with a QCA SoW equivalent? from these schools? https://t.co/FWYRzA0ABl that we’ll all have to adopt? #asechat (asking for a friend)
I think there are schools doing such work who have had funding. What’s interesting is internationally it’s more common for lots of detail to be provided about what a ‘national curriculum’ (framework) should look like in the classroom e.g schemes of work, detailed syllabi #asechat
That's the million dollar question ( or maybe £150,000 question in this case). I think the richness in learning comes from helping students see connections, and enabling them to make connections themselves #ASEchat
Unfortunately the people who appear to talk about curriculum relevancy scarcely look at this from the viewpoint of what is relevant to the learner at that specific point in the learners' lives #ASEChat
I think there is a growing understanding you need knowledge in english, eg to understand simile eg if a character is described as moving with glacial slowness across the room, you need to know what a glacier is and does #asechat
In reply to
@hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
I think that applying knowledge in new contexts SHOULD also be happening at GCSE and synoptic papers provide opportunities for students to show that they can make links across domains #ASEchat
In reply to
@DWalkerdine, @hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @cleverfiend
This is what people were saying knowledge rich curriculum enabled at the Wonder Years conference. So knowledge rich is about defining the knowledge you want ‘so someone can walk into any room and join the conversation’ and structuring it so it all fits together/builds #asechat
In reply to
@agittner, @hecharden, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
I suspect that in Science that we are not short of things to know but that it is how these link together and sensible orders of progression that are the parts of a knowledge rich curriculum in science needs to develop more#asechat
In reply to
@agittner, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
Arguably part of this has to be done at a school level but is the national curriculum fully enabling this approach and is there enough support materials out there to prevent reinvention of the wheel by every school in the country? #asechat
In reply to
@agittner, @hecharden, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
Who actually came up with the term 'knowledge rich'? ... it seems like they must be able to define it? ..or is it one of these terms tat was invented by a government team without them knowing what it actually was? #asechat
My worry is we now have thousands of schools developing their own curriculum and the point of the national curriculum is lost. Too much variation in the precise knowledge being taught in the system #asechat
In reply to
@agittner, @hecharden, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
Agree. And this is developed through wide reading. But we don't really encourage or expect wide scientific reading. Perhaps we should - we can all think of occasional students who have immersed themselves in science books and TV. #ASEChat
In reply to
@agittner, @hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
exactly - and it should not be acceptable to to be ok to say 'ah well I was not good at science/maths' and end up runnig a major company / the country ..... #ASEchat
In reply to
@MarcNeesam, @agittner, @hecharden, @NeedhamL56
Learning about periodic table is not just useful from historical/cultural point of view, or current utility point of view, but a more hidden 'by applying scientific thinking we can make more sense of the world' example, so it is good to think scientifically? #ASEChat
I fear as @ViciaScience science speculated it is a Govism, @NeedhamL56 it is about which battles to learn and might come from other subjects as opposed to knowing which sources to look at for the battles #asechat
In reply to
@staffdb66, @ViciaScience, @NeedhamL56
Who actually came up with the term 'knowledge rich'? ... it seems like they must be able to define it? ..or is it one of these terms tat was invented by a government team without them knowing what it actually was? #asechat
Who actually came up with the term 'knowledge rich'? ... it seems like they must be able to define it? ..or is it one of these terms tat was invented by a government team without them knowing what it actually was? #asechat
Yes. Many knowledge rich approach schools are specifying very carefully the expected knowledge throughout their curriculum and the order of it. Teachers focus on enacting what they given. #asechat
Can anyone give the missing word here to help me understand this (don’t want to compare knowledge rich to knowledge poor).
If, hypothetically, we could only develop one thing, then we have to decide whether the curriculum should be knowledge rich or ___________ rich. #asechat
Knowledge rich is a curriculum in which the knowledge content is specified in detail, is taught to be remembered, and is sequenced and mapped deliberately and coherently - according to an article in journal of chartered college #ASEchat
Probably - but I need a real example to be sure - recognising the concepts that you need to apply is important - at a lower level they might be cued to which area of science to apply - e.g. 'use your ideas about electric circuits to explain ...' #ASEchat
In reply to
@hecharden, @DWalkerdine, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @cleverfiend
We certainly don't do enough reading in science lesson from my experience and it something we should do more of. It helps build the science capital #asechat
In reply to
@ViciaScience, @MaryUYSEG, @NeedhamL56
Agree. And this is developed through wide reading. But we don't really encourage or expect wide scientific reading. Perhaps we should - we can all think of occasional students who have immersed themselves in science books and TV. #ASEChat
In reply to
@agittner, @hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
Is it because relevance of curriculum content should be determined at the local or even classroom level? Is that part of enacting a knowledge rich curriculum? #asechat
As someone who is at this very minute attempting to do a rigorous textual and thematic documentary analysis of a part of the KS123 curric I can back that up with heaps of evidence!!! #asechat
In reply to
@hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @agittner, @NeedhamL56, @MaryUYSEG
even if it’s totally irrelevant to the students in THEIR school? I don't really mean irrelevant, but there could be some things that just don't work in the new context #ASEchat
That *is* a risk but I don't see much invention going on. Some 'borrowing' between schools of KOs that conform to GCSE specs. Mostly schools are talking flannel about 'curriculum vision' and letting exam boards set the detail. #ASEChat But details I would/do add to NC...
Some folk like to present a situation where everyone is either a facts facts facts kind of teacher or a skills, skills skills kind of teacher and I hope that 'knowledge rich' is trying to say that you did need to know stuff but also how to apply it #ASEchat
Knowledge has meaning because it supports conceptual understanding and it is the concepts which allow you to innovate and consider evidence in a new way. Ultimately knowledge is the tip of the concept iceberg and is easier to describe thus the focus #asechat
In reply to
@hecharden, @_theteachr, @cleverfiend, @MaryUYSEG
I was thinking of carrot Gate #ASEchat but lots of examples in Chemistry. You could recall that diamond has a hight mpt from spec but if you predict high mpt for SiO2 then you understand giant structure and link with high mpt #asechat
In reply to
@MaryUYSEG, @DWalkerdine, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @cleverfiend
... include teaching atomic structure from quarks up whenever I think a class can handle it (any key stage) - it's the only time most will encounter it yet they are in popular culture. #asechat
I like this but would have preferred to see an ending that reads something like.....so learners can use and apply the knowledge in a variety of novel situations (or something like that) #asechat
Knowledge rich is a curriculum in which the knowledge content is specified in detail, is taught to be remembered, and is sequenced and mapped deliberately and coherently - according to an article in journal of chartered college #ASEchat
I adopted QCA back when I was doing outreach so I was familiar with it. My version of the QCA looked very different to a mainstream with higher attaining students. There are already free schemes out there but I don't think this is the biggest issue in sci ed #asechat
I believe @claresealy also made a good analogy of the curriculum as a TV series in thinking about what you need to know to follow the next episode (or at least I think I read a blog that said this) #asechat
In reply to
@MarcNeesam, @MaryUYSEG, @NeedhamL56, @cleverfiend, @ClareSealy, @ClareSealy
This is why knowledge rich is, at the moment and to my understanding, happening within individual schools. A lot are doing the same work with slight variations to meet their school needs. Lots of repetition of effort though on a lot of things. #asechat
Increasingly I worry that the language is used to be divisive. I saw someone yesterday almost spoiling for a fight between progressives and traditionalists, #ASechat
In reply to
@hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @_theteachr, @cleverfiend, @MaryUYSEG
I'd say that was a very narrow view of 'rich'!
I'd prefer it wasn't just taught to be remembered - that would imply all exam questions were recall - eew #ASEchat
Just made that point myself. Someone needs to make an edutwitter dictionary. Often arguments are due to differences in interpretation of key words. #asechat
Dont forget to read the work in progress on developing the science curriculum by RSC, IoP and RSB. Trying to get clear thinking in place before the next round of curriculum reforms https://t.co/q9DXZVjynU#ASEchat
I hope everyone is not reinventing the wheel. Surely subject associations should be key players in development of knowledge rich curricula? Lots of expertise already out there. #asechat
That’s what I was thinking. But which is more valuable? To help me I thought, do I want my surgeon to be knowledge rich or conceptually rich? Or my pilot? I think we need both for pioneers & game changers. The former to get the job done. But I know it’s not that simple! #asechat
Shall we start a #ASEChat glossary of 'ill-defined' educational terms?
Starters: assessment, practical work, skills, inquiry, group work, direct instruction, open ended,
Suggest in addition to factual stuff you need to know structure of knowledge in the discipline(s) & knowledge of how knowledge is produced, i.e. methods, technologies, standard procedures, etc. #ASEChat How do we know what we think we know? How certain are we?
What does that mean? Or look like? We have megalosaurus fossils locally and a 1% household radon problem - but we need to learn the same science through these. We have BMW, Jet and Brize Norton but they do training. I always end up finding the local argument patronising. #asechat
In reply to
@MarcNeesam, @ViciaScience, @agittner, @NeedhamL56
There is also the risk we have ‘knowledge’ in science not for the progression of later understanding/knowledge/concepts but because ‘wouldn’t it be lovely if they knew about X so that could apply that in writing next term’ A risk it is a back door to topic teaching #ASEChat
I sometimes think I take forgranted the fact that I learn things easily. My family laps up "knowledge" but maybe some students do need strategies to achieve this in school. #asechat
Shall we start a #ASEChat glossary of 'ill-defined' educational terms?
Starters: assessment, practical work, skills, inquiry, group work, direct instruction, open ended,
Its hard! (understatement) The pilot and the surgeon can learn the specific knowledge they need, but if they have no conceptual framework to hang these on, may be less responsive when life or death situation?? #ASEChat
And please lets not throw out the baby with the bath water. Just because something was introduced, last year, ten years ago, last generation etc etc does not mean it much of it was pretty good! #ASEChat
think it might get rather large!!! Think more important might be to start impressing on people that they must define what they mean by the terms they use. so the kowledge rich brigade need to explain what they actually mean!! #asechat
There is also the risk we have ‘knowledge’ in science not for the progression of later understanding/knowledge/concepts but because ‘wouldn’t it be lovely if they knew about X so that could apply that in writing next term’ A risk it is a back door to topic teaching #ASEChat
I think it’s because knowledge rich schools want things designed just for them. I mentioned the societies work on curriculum at Wonder Years (in a science specific session) and had the reply ‘but it still needs adapting’ as if that’s a reason not to look at it #asechat
My biggest problem with the new GCSE curriculum is that it is knowledge heavy and many schools have simply cut and pasted the syllabus into their time-plans and called it a curriculum. What support to teachers need to turn knowledge heavy into knowledge rich? #ASEchat
Its hard! (understatement) The pilot and the surgeon can learn the specific knowledge they need, but if they have no conceptual framework to hang these on, may be less responsive when life or death situation?? #ASEChat
I wonder if the schools quoted in this are the same as those with the 2.7 million pilot funding.... or have links to them #asechathttps://t.co/rm99oZpaob
This is why I always, in my day job, talk about ‘concept led curriculum’ design, which knowledge can then be placed into and defined at various levels #asechat
The Nuffield Coordinated Science textbooks and photocopiable resources are freely available on @STEMLearningUK Was that not a mapped curriculum? #ASEchat (P.S. Who’s still got their alpha electronics kits?)
In reply to
@ViciaScience, @hecharden, @MarcNeesam, @NeedhamL56, @STEMLearningUK
If your learning is ‘know that some substances are soluble’ and you define the knowledge required e.g terms, the constraints of what solids and liquids to involve it is then the teacher who decides how to bring that statement to life. If anything it should be empowering #asechat
In reply to
@ruthyie, @ViciaScience, @agittner, @NeedhamL56
Great question.. I think identifying key concepts would help. I gave a conference presentation in which my mantra became "all bullet points are not equal" #asechat
The curriculum content should be what it needs to be based on the needs of the system it is designed for. In the UK is some content superfluous and/or a dead end? Why have it? Keep it if the reason is valid #asechat
#ASEchat I understand that topic teaching might weaken understanding of knowledge structures, but might it not be beneficial in terms of learners having more idea of why we might want to know this?
Moving on .... from what is meant by knowledge to thinking about how you would approach writing the teaching sequence for a topic - what is the story you want students to know? What are the links to other domains that are necessary? 1/2 #ASEChat
This is where finding external expertise would be useful (despite what Ofsted are saying about not using external consultants) There is an expertise gap in the system, the trick is finding the right person to help #asechat
I said this last week - but without stated curriculum aims it is difficult to justify the content in the current National Curriculum. Just so much knowledge without being linked to concept or skill development (OK over egging the argument) #ASEChat
Conclusion I am leaning towards is that a knowledge rich curriculum is more likely to contribute to the running of society, whereas a skills/conceptually rich curriculum leads to advancement of society (a Venn diagram relationship of course, not mutually exclusive) #asechat
Sorry v late to #asechat, for what it's worth I think #knowledgerich is semantics which seeks to divide. Only once in 13yrs have I taught a knowledge-lite chem curriculum. We seem to be in constant reinvention mode, standing still would do us no harm at all.
What is interesting for science is aligning practical work to a knowledge rich approach. It could focus practical work on the proving and/or description of knowledge. Is that good or bad? #ASEChat
And once the world has stopped spinning and the trads and progs have stopped bickering then maybe we can Marie Kondo the curriculum, if it isn't useful and/or doesn't give us joy then why is it there? #asechat
Last question is difficult. Ultimately it would be good if every scientific concept was linked to another -central unifying concept- so the teacher has to decide which links to make to what is taught, and when they should be made. Should not be set down as a requirement #ASEChat
I don't think 'knowledge rich' implies conceptually poor - but then we come back to what we mean by knowledge, or understanding or skills or ....... #ASEChat
Now seems to be a good time for a science education organisation to sit down and develop what they think is a suitable (knowledge rich) science curriculum 5 - 19, and to see how much support it receives #ASEChat
Indeed, if the network of ideas is built from the beginning by the time students reach the end of the science education, they should have a good idea of what science is about, recognise its value to society, be able to hold up their end of a conversation in the pub #ASEChat
Good point. In KS4 I used to start electricity with electrostatics. Approach suggested by Joan Solomon. Included idea of positively charged nucleus & negative electrons at a stage where that might be appropriate. #ASEchat
Indeed, if the network of ideas is built from the beginning by the time students reach the end of the science education, they should have a good idea of what science is about, recognise its value to society, be able to hold up their end of a conversation in the pub #ASEChat
Honestly it feels like that at times... Want to bang a lot of heads together tbh. Trust me, I have time travelled through 100+ years of education and lots of things really haven't changed so maybe we should just unite as a profession.
Ah, so they way it is taught is left up to the teacher in the local setting but not necessarily what is taught. And you can't pin down what's interesting to each class because it varies with the cohort. #ASEChat
In reply to
@MarcNeesam, @ViciaScience, @agittner, @NeedhamL56
Honestly it feels like that at times... Want to bang a lot of heads together tbh. Trust me, I have time travelled through 100+ years of education and lots of things really haven't changed so maybe we should just unite as a profession.
or even go beyond the pub into the restaurant and consider what impact such a visit has on society, the economy, the global use of resources, peoples health etc #ASEChat
