What makes an excellent primary curriculum?

In this episode, David Marshall welcomes guests James Page and Dr Cindy Gause-Vega to discuss the question:

What makes an excellent primary curriculum?

James Page is Chief Executive of Haringey Education Partnership (HEP) which has 120 member schools and supports 35,000 school-age children.

Dr Cindy Gause-Vega is an educational consultant based in Prague focused on professional learning and collaborative inquiry-based learning. She is former elementary school principal in the Czech Republic with experience working across three countries and two continents.

This episode is part 1 of 2 looking at the value of curriculum, with a focus this week on the primary sector.

The word curriculum stems from the Latin verb currere, meaning 'to run'. The noun translates as 'racecourse' an apt metaphor for all the things curriculum has come to mean for schools today.

Early in this episode, the idea of a road map is mentioned as another metaphor for a curriculum, something which can both define and limit what a it is and can be. What is not in question, is the value of curriculum design to excellent education and the importance of a well-thought-through curriculum to children everywhere.

Mentioned or linked to the episode:

• Haringey Education Partnership website can be found here: https://haringeyeducationpartnership.co.uk/
• HEP has recently been working with Christine Counsell and Steve Mastin to develop the Opening Worlds curriculum. https://openingworlds.uk/what-is-opening-worlds/
• Jerome Bruner was an influential psychologist who has set the groundwork for thinking about inquiry-based education: https://www.structural-learning.com/post/jerome-bruners-theories
• Michael Young developed the term 'powerful knowledge' and expanded the concept as a foundation for curriculum design: https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/applying-the-powerful-knowledge-principle-to-curriculum-development-in-disadvantaged-contexts/
• The ResearchEd Guide to the Curriculum, edited by Clare Sealy and published by John Catt educational is a great collection of articles on curriculum development and can be found here: https://www.johncattbookshop.com/products/the-researched-guide-to-the-curriculum-an-evidence-informed-guide-for-teachers
• HEP runs its own podcast 'HEP Talks' which can be found here (and on all podcast providers: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/hep-talks/id1608692574

The Rest is Education is a podcast founded by Ross Borthwick, David Marshall and Aaron Huber, now with Isabel Rich as a co-host. Email any questions or comments to therestiseducation@gmail.com.

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