In our annual Teacher reader surveys, we ask you what you want support with for the upcoming school year. In recent years, many of you have explicitly requested for us to publish content on curriculum implementation.
New curriculum leadership resources designed to support whole-school curriculum planning and implementation of the Australian Curriculum have recently been published by The Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority (ACARA).
Developed in response to feedback from educators and school leaders requesting practical support for curriculum implementation, the resources cover 8 key aspects of curriculum planning and implementation.
‘These new resources offer practical guidance for school leaders to support collaborative curriculum planning approaches in their schools,’ Kathryn Tully, Executive Director, Curriculum at ACARA tells Teacher.
‘We believe that these resources will be especially valuable for small schools with multi-age classes. The resources are designed to be adaptable for different school settings, sectors and communities, helping our teachers to bring the Australian Curriculum to life in their classrooms.’
The 8 key aspects
The 8 key aspects covered in the resources are:
- Building teacher capability
- Using the Australian Curriculum
- Sequencing learning
- Including all learners
- Aligning curriculum and assessment
- Planning for multi-age classes
- Engaging with the community
- Evaluating resources
Tully says that principals and school leaders will find these resources particularly useful at the start of the planning process. ‘A reflection tool has been developed to enable leaders to reflect on existing practice, identify strengths and prioritise areas for improvement, thereby supporting targeted approaches to whole-school curriculum planning,’ she explains.
Each of the 8 sections include downloadable tools, guiding questions, planning templates, workshop materials and practical examples. ‘School and curriculum leaders can access resources such as workshop presentations which can be adapted to their school context to support reflection and improvement,’ Tully says.
She adds that it is important to provide a range of tools for educators so that school and curriculum leaders can select the ones that are most suitable for their setting and their specific needs. ‘School and curriculum leaders can achieve positive outcomes for their school by using the resources’ clear processes, advice and examples in school-based professional learning activities or to guide team and faculty meetings.’
Including educators in the resource development
The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) and the Australian Catholic Primary Principals’ Association (ACPPA) were 2 of the key stakeholders involved in the development of these resources.
In addition, primary and secondary school educators from across the country were partners throughout the process. The resources were also piloted in 34 schools across multiple jurisdictions.
‘We know that the likelihood of change being embraced or implemented well in a school is greatly influenced by personal commitment. Personal commitment grows when an individual has a voice,’ Julie Murkins, Senior Research Fellow at ACER, tells Teacher.
‘ACARA's development model for these resources has been a deliberate and positive contribution to giving voice to Australian teachers. Similarly, having sector voice will have strengthened the content of the resources, making them more accessible and relevant.’
Supporting school improvement
Schools utilising ACER’s School Improvement Tool will be familiar with the domain dedicated to the leading of systematic curriculum implementation.
‘The core characteristics detailed in that domain align with the key messages contained in ACARA's curriculum resources, making for a highly consistent set of messages to schools,’ Murkins explains.
Gez Mulvahil, Executive Officer at ACPPA, says curriculum is clearly a major focus for schools when they are looking at their School Improvement Plans and that access to these new resources will be of benefit.
‘These resources are a tangible way to support school leaders in the implementation of the Australian Curriculum. Having a consistent approach to curriculum implementation that has been well developed by ACARA will help to build capacity of leaders and honour the many constraints that schools face,’ she tells Teacher.
Using the resources in your own school context
Tully shares that some of the ways that principals and school leaders could use the new resources include:
- working through the 8 aspects of whole-school curriculum planning with their leadership team to identify areas for future planning and focus
- using the advice to guide discussions on school improvement plans
- using the guiding questions as prompts or focus points for professional learning communities
- using the advice to ensure collaboration sits at the heart of whole-school curriculum planning
- using the resources to bolster existing approaches to building teacher capability in curriculum planning.
She adds that when using the reflection tool, school leaders receive advice to review their existing approaches to assessment. The advice and supports in this aspect of the resources include:
- guiding questions to prompt thinking and reflection and narrow the focus for improvement or change
- research summaries to consider which evidence is most meaningful for their context
- a 5-step process and associated planning templates to support teacher-designed, curriculum-aligned formative and summative assessment
- a staff workshop to support capability in designing curriculum-aligned assessment
- a professional learning course to support leaders to further build their own knowledge and expertise
- links to other national resources from AITSL, AERO and ACARA to support whole-school approaches to assessment.
For leaders in a regional, rural or remote setting where professional learning can be difficult to access, Mulvahil says these resources provide the opportunity for a consistent approach within the school.
‘School leaders could look at Building Teacher Capacity alongside Multi Age Classes and/or Including All Learners. There are questions, quizzes and scenarios that would be excellent prompts in staff Professional Learning Communities (PLC), fostering conversations about whole school planning and implementation, specific to their context.’
You can access the resources here.
