BSc Education / Course details

The study will commence with what a curriculum is, what its intention is, how it can support or hinder a teacher’s practice and student’s own thoughts around what a curriculum should do. There will be a lens on the English and Northern Ireland’s National Curriculum and students will be encouraged to compare with other countries globally.

The use of a reflective framework to understand themselves as a learner, reflect on their own experiences in education, and the influence they have had on their own philosophy of education including pedagogical approaches that they consider most effective, and why.

Students will develop a deeper understanding of planning practices for teachers including the strengths and limitations of discrete, thematic, child-centered and outdoor provision to support child engagement and learning. Students will draw upon previous study of learning theories and the work of Bourdieu to support planning that supports cultural capital and children with SEND.

Students will choose 2 curriculums globally to critically analyse the strengths and limitations of each using the knowledge that they have built throughout the unit. Students will be encouraged to reflect on their understanding of curriculum and how this has evolved throughout the unit.
 

Investigate what a curriculum is, how its design can influence teaching practice and develop the student’s own perspective of curriculum (Curriculum Theory)

Introduce a reflective framework and support students in using this to critically evaluate their own experiences.

Examine the strengths and limitations of thematic versus discrete medium-term planning and scrutinise thematic units of work from curriculums around the globe considering their effect on engagement, motivation and learning. This will build on prior learning of learning theories.

Examine the strengths and limitations of child centered learning, where the interests of the children inform planning in the Early Years with a focus on a range of EY curriculums globally.

Examine the strengths and limitations of outdoor learning, for example, at educational centers, and how to plan for these. This will include a virtual/ live trip to an educational setting and will further the students work on Bourdieu.
 

Theory: exploration of what is a national curriculum. Perspectives from academic literature.
Reflection from own schooling and beliefs of what it does/ should do. What was your own schooling like? Relate to learning theories.
Practical: Application of learning theories using primary science as an example. Use English curriculum to see LO’s, compare with Northern Ireland and Wales.

Theory into practice: Group formative task: students to deliver a 10-minute session in any subject and age range using two contrasting pedagogies from their chosen curriculum.
Present: Show clear links to the NC for their country of choice.

Debate: Discrete versus topic/thematic planning. How do they support pupil learning? Pupil engagement? Inclusion? (Reflect on own experiences of pedagogy and relate to learning theories). Consider the work of Bourdieu.

Poster preparation: to choose a country. Using their chosen curriculum, develop own thematic planning for a unit of study in their chosen country’s curriculum. Support given on using Power Point for poster presentations.

Poster presentation: Individual formative task: Peer review and tutor informal feedback on 10-minute presentation of the unit of study that makes links between curriculum, topic plan, learning objectives, and learning theories. Students will then get a week before submission to respond to the feedback and adapt their poster.

Theoretical debate and practical application: Explore whether child-centered learning supports inclusion of all children using global curriculum. (look at Northern Ireland, Italy, Sweden, Australia, India)

Peer study: Paired work: conduct a critical analysis between two countries’ pedagogical approaches for a specific age group in their chosen countries. Relate this to own experiences. (inc. inclusion)

Theory into practice: What is a critical analysis? Using curricula from different countries to critically analyse between two countries’ curricula (Inc. inclusion)

Peer review: examples of curriculum critical analysis. Introduce assignment.

MOSI trip: explore how outdoor learning can be used to support pedagogies of poverty and is part of our social responsibility.

The course will blend tutor-led input in seminars, with group work which is largely student-led but independently assessed, and practical work outside the classroom.

Students will create and present a topic-based plan in a primary school context on A2 format and write a critical analysis of their curriculum experiences as part of their assessment.

• Compile evidence from different curriculums globally to develop their understanding how they may differ across countries.
• Analyse the benefits and limitations of thematic planning, discrete planning and outdoor learning in order to support children inclusively.
• Formulate an argument around child centered learning and make links to key learning theories, and their own experiences and philosophy of education
• Compare and contrast  how different pedagogic approaches are applied in different countries
• Explain what a curriculum is, the benefits and limitations.

• Critically reflect upon their own teaching and/or learning in relation to education and analyse the influence this has had on their own philosophy of education.
• Critically reflect and evaluate key ideas in curriculum theory.
• Make a reasoned argument for a particular point of view and draw reasoned conclusions from their research and own experiences.

• Apply knowledge of thematic, discrete and outdoor learning to a medium- and short-term plan using their own choice of curriculum, subject and age group.
• Peer review – able to comment on the performance or work of a peer, identifying strengths and making constructive suggestions for improvement where appropriate

• Information Retrieval – ability independently to gather, sift, synthesise and organise material from various sources (including library, electronic and online resources), and to critically evaluate its significance.
• Presentation Assessment – capacity to make oral presentations, using appropriate media for a target audience.
• Creativity – able to be innovative and apply lateral thinking in problem solving and decision making

Written feedback via Turnitin

Bourdieu, P. (1986). “The Forms of Capital.” Pp. 241–58 in Handbook of theory and research for the sociology of education, edited by J. G. Richardson. New York: Greenwood Press.

Department for Education (2014) The National Primary Curriculum in England. Available at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/national-curriculum-in-england-primary-curriculum

Kember, D.Leung, D.Y , Jones, A , Loke, A.Y , McKay, J ,  Sinclair, K , Tse, H , Webb, C , Wong, F.K.Y , Wong, M & Yeung, E (2000) Development of a Questionnaire to Measure the Level of Reflective Thinking, Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education, 25:4, 381-395, DOI: 10.1080/713611442
https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/713611442?needAccess=true

Schubert, W. (1986). Curriculum: Perspective, Design and Possibility. Macmillan Publishing Company