Structure and Development of Australian Curriculum - Report Example

Structure and Development of Australian Curriculum: Curriculum has been defined differently by various scholars and groups. In broader terms, Hass defined curriculum to refer to a total collection of personal experiences by learners in an education plan that aims at the attainment of wider goals and the particular narrower objectives thereof, designed either in a theoretical research or professional practice framework, (Hass, 1987). This paper will examine the structure and development of the Australian curriculum in terms of scope and sequence, assess the view promoted by the curriculum regarding purpose or goal of education, its contribution to the teaching, learning, and assessment processes, and examine the extent to which the curriculum caters for the needs of the 21st Century learners. The Australian curriculum is one that has been developed to cover four different aspects of curriculum; the core curriculum, the formal curriculum, the chosen curriculum and the meta- curriculum. The core curriculum basically encompass the general abilities required, developed and used by every person in life, alongside the new daily developments with whose acquaintance all people seek. The formal curriculum is premised upon rules and regulations to do with discipline and the related knowledge and formula aspects. The chosen curriculum is a product of individual creations which result from choices of student and teachers. Meta- curriculum is a product of efforts of all good schools through activities aimed at establishing and preserving character growth and development of learners at both individual and community levels. The Australian curriculum is a whole curriculum and therefore covers a broad view of curriculum since it has incorporated all the above four aspects. While it prescribes the core curriculum and the formal curriculum for all Australian students, parents schools and teachers have been given the opportunity and responsibility to make decisions related to the chosen and meta- curricula. The Australian curriculum defines the expected learning activities and their quality for all Australian youths throughout the education process. It has been generally structured in a consistent manner across all levels of the learning process. The curriculum structure has various elements including: rationale which seeks to define where and for what reason learning is in school curriculum, intentions which discover the main lessons which students will be able to exhibit as a result of curriculum utility, and the organisational framework of the school curriculum. Other elements of the Australian curriculum structure include; content descriptions, achievement standards, general capabilities and cross-curriculum priorities, (Brady, 2010). The general capabilities in the curriculum structure are based on subject contents and refer to the talents, behaviours and individual personality. The Australian curriculum covers seven general capabilities which are; competence in information and communication technology, numeracy, intercultural understanding, literacy, ethical behaviour, critical and creative thinking, and personal and social competence. Achievement standards in the curriculum capture the general progress learning including; the educational quality, level of students’ understanding and the level of knowledge and skill sophistication. The information on achievement standards is meant to help teachers in planning and monitoring the entire learning process and in decision making regarding appraisal practices for purposes of consistency. The Australian curriculum covers three cross curriculum priorities; sustainability, Australia-Asia relations, and histories and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. It is worthwhile mentioning that the Australian curriculum has been presented and is available for online users on www.australiancurriculum.edu.au. By visiting this site, online users can access, download and print any needed content in a more flexible manner, (Marsh, 2010). Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA) is charged with the responsibility to progressively develop the Australian curriculum. The development process starts on a “shape paper” which spells out the rationale and objectives of the area of learning and the way in which skills and knowledge will be understood and transmitted in the education process. Informed by the shape paper, writing of the curriculum begins by draft outlining the content achievement standards guidelines. The process of curriculum development is characterised by a series of intensive consultations and reviews in all phases. The ACARA Board must approve the curriculum draft before it is presented for endorsement by Australian education minister pending publication, (Brady, 2010). A fundamental driving motive in Australian curriculum development is the need for excellence and equity support. For this reason, the curriculum endeavours to recognise learners’ diversity right from the onset. Every student is assumed to have the ability to learn and therefore every student’s educational needs are highly valued. Students have high standards and expectations set for them to achieve and are assessed and appraised by the teachers who then account for individual student performances and development rates, (Morris, 2010). The Australian curriculum is developed with an understanding that students are faced with a number of challenges including; socio-economic factors, differences in personal learning abilities and histories, complexity and variety of dynamic needs, and language factors. One major example of diversity of learners in Australian schools is to do with students with English as an additional language or dialect (EAL/D). These students come from different sets and in Australia; they may either have come from overseas, or are from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. They join schools in Australia from diverse educational sets characterised by their first languages and therefore need be afforded necessary support in order for them to nurture proficiency in English language. Although the curriculum objectives are same for all Australia students, EAL/D students require extra support in terms of time and teaching focused toward helping them meet their individual English needs. To this end, the schools, state and regional education leaders have established policy and strategy measures aimed to assist teachers in their effort to support potential realisation by EAL/D learners. In order to support the curriculum, an EAL/D document is being drawn to be used at national level in defining and addressing requirements related to development of language proficiency. The Australian curriculum presents teachers with a flexible approach to their work hence making it possible for teachers to personalise their scheme of work in order to meet and satisfy special education needs for learners who happen to fall in this category. This helps the learners with special needs to adjust to the modes of instruction and assessment hence compete fairly with their peers. In some circumstances, it takes teachers to deliver instruction and assessment based on content from a different year level of the usual curriculum. To provide an all inclusive curriculum, ACARA is set to come up with supplementary content and achievement standards curriculum for the students with considerable intellectual disability, (Hannon, 2007). In view of the 21st Century learning, the Australian curriculum envisages inevitable change and is therefore characterised by the following: first, that the concept is not always about new learning, instead, it is about life relevant and continuous learning. This means that everything that is relevant must undergo continuous change. Secondly, the Australian curriculum anticipates competence in rising application of advanced information technology. Third, the curriculum aims to improve human potential, provide better service and ensure creative thinking requisite for solving complex problems of the contemporary society. Finally, the Australian curriculum recognises that high standards can be attained by everyone provided they have sufficient time and necessary support, (Wyatt-Smith, 2008). The Australian administrations have pledged to render their total support, both in terms of national structures and resources, to the process of developing a national curriculum of a world-class order that would meet the needs of the 21st century learner. For this reason, all ministers of education have endorsed by signing the “Melbourne Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians”. To help develop the scope and sequence of Australia’s new curriculum, both in terms of content and achievement standards, various talent holders all over the country including academics and scholars have been asked to contribute to the process. The Australian curriculum is undergoing a detailed upgrading to put it at par with high ranking overseas curriculum. Online enhanced consultation has been established to enable participation of interested parties from the general community including individual, schools, and teachers in final product refining, (Rogers, 1999). Given the advancements in information and communications technology expected in the 21st Century, the Australian curriculum is being tailored by expert groups to establish challenging standards without necessarily overloading the curriculum. Significant attention is drawn by the Australian curriculum to both the general capabilities and cross-curricular themes which were mentioned in the previous section of this paper, but of importance, the formal curriculum (comprising the traditional framework of range and series) is also retained. These processes are important in ensuring that quality basis for knowledge; skills and intellectual capacity are established to meet the 21st century general capabilities and needs of the people, (CISCO, 2008). Unlike in the past where curriculum was published in form of hard copy, currently, the Australian curriculum is presented online. This helps to foster flexibility and ease with which the content can be edited and updated especially due to the expected high volume and complexity of information in the 21st century. More so, those who access the curriculum online will be able cross-examine its complex structure and make necessary adjustments to suit individual needs. A primary school for instance, without necessarily referring to the learning area, will be able to sort by years, data relating to either content or achievement standards or both, an aspect which will enable development of school curriculum with characteristically advanced cross-curriculum assimilation. On the other hand, it might be beneficial for a school to develop curriculum by year level with substance suitable to native, Asian and feasibility standpoints primarily to enable consistency in gaining and grasping of pertinent issues and knowledge by the learners, (McDonald, 1999). The Australian curriculum will allow for online linking of instruction to curriculum by a simple click of a button or two. Thus teachers will be able to better plan and produce a substantive curriculum as opposed to lip service, to the expected 21st century general capabilities and cross-curriculum viewpoints. For example, it will be easy for a 9th year science teacher in secondary school to limit attention to the entire results for the 9th year and the two year levels adjacent with the aim to effectively address and manage the class’ levels of achievement range, (Marsh, 2010). The Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) has been put up at the national level to champion support implementation of the Australian curriculum alongside other professional bodies and agencies including ACARA. The aim of this is to foster the required 21st century change management in the teaching and learning process. In the recent past, Australian has experienced shortage of skills, and a high success differential at both national and international levels, between remote and urban based students, high and low-SES learners, and between native and non-native students. These challenges have necessitated quick response from the government, the education sector and the commercial sector toward ensuring sustainable education achievements by the Australian students and meaningful economic contribution to enhance future living standards for all. Studies have confirmed that it is economically more viable to invest in improving lower level educational achievements than focusing on producing more graduates. When more students complete school, more will engage in meaningful nation building hence contribute to increase the nation’s productivity, (Business Council of Australia, 2007). In summary, the Australian curriculum seeks to re-define and reconceptualise Australia’s youth educational goals and expectations in the wake of global dynamics of the 21st century including but not limited to environmental, technological and socio-economic challenges facing the learners. Because of this, social harmony and national output have been given high priority by the Draft National Declaration whose major objectives are to empower and support both schools and the education process deliver high quality learning atmosphere open for everyone. However, for these objectives to be met; there has to be a well designed innovation plan that will encompass both national and regional interests of professionalism and accountability in both staffing and retention. Special focus should be given to meeting special educational needs of various groups of learners, (MCEETYA, 2008). In conclusion, the Australian curriculum development aspiration to become world-class in the 21st century is a noble idea worth everyone’s support. Although its attainment may not be guaranteed, it can go a long way in enhancing future teaching and assessment processes. Curriculum development can never be said to be perfectly completed since it is a continuous process subject to change. Australia must capture any available opportunity to improve on the structure of the curriculum inline with global change. References: Brady, L. & Kennedy, K. (2010). Curriculum Construction (4th ed.). French’s Forest: Pearson. Business Council of Australia, (2007). Restoring Our Edge in Education: Making Australia’s Education System its Next Competitive Advantage, Business Council of Australia, Melbourne. CISCO, (2008). Equipping Every Learner for the 21st Century, CISCO Systems, San Jose, California. Hannon, V. (2007). ‘Disciplined innovation’, 2007 Education Research Forum, Department of Education and Early Childhood Development, Melbourne. Hass G. (1987). Curriculum planning, Allyn and Bacon. Marsh, C. (2010). Becoming a teacher (5th ed.). French’s Forest: Pearson. McDonald, J P (1999). ‘Redesigning curriculum: New conceptions and tools’, Peabody Journal of Education, 74 (1), 12–28. Ministerial Council for Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs, (2008). Draft National Declaration on Educational Goals for Young Australians, MCEETYA, Carlton. Morris, P & Adamson, B, (2010). Curriculum, Schooling, and Society in Hong Kong, Aberdeen: Hong Kong University Press. Rogers, B (1999). ‘Conflicting approaches to curriculum: Recognizing how fundamental beliefs can sustain or sustain school reform’, Peabody Journal of Education, 74 (1), 29–67. Wyatt-Smith, C (2008). ‘Standards as central to improving student achievement’, EQ Australia, Curriculum Corporation, Carlton (forthcoming). Read More