Curriculum for Wales

What do our learners need to learn and why?

Curriculum for Wales is a purpose led curriculum with a focus on learning. Curriculum for Wales states that a content focused curriculum does not guarantee meaningful learning, only certain topics are covered to some extent; schools and practitioners must understand the shift from content to meaningful learning. This framework gives schools and practitioners the autonomy to select learning for their learners that should enable them to realise the four purposes of the curriculum.

'All curriculum development should have a clear purpose in mind. A clear understanding of the purpose of learning and why specific knowledge, skills and experiences are important helps focus the planning of progress and learning and teaching.'

The Journey to curriculum roll-out 2021

The shift from content to learning

The most important thing to understand about Curriculum for Wales is that it is purpose driven and this means that the emphasis moves from what learners know to the people that they will grow up to be. A school's curriculum should promote learning that will equip all learners for ongoing learning, work and life. With the shift in Curriculum for Wales moving from content to learning it is really important that we have a good understanding of what that actually means.

Response and Reflection

This is an image from our region which could be used as a stimulus for learning in Humanities.

Curriculum for Wales requires practitioners to focus on the learning, not the content. Consider what learning could come from this stimulus. Try to shift your ideas from content, topics or themes to thinking about the learning outcomes.

Consider the 3 questions below:

What is the learning here?
Why is this learning important for our learners?
Does this learning enable them to progress towards the four purposes?

How do we go about selecting learning for our curriculum and how do we decide what our learners need to learn?

During the engagement phase of curriculum development you will have engaged with the curriculum materials and had time for sense-making. Schools may have updated their vision for learning, and it is suggested that you co-construct a vision for learning, which you may have written as a statement if that was helpful, which captures what you want for your learners in Humanities.

We suggested that you:

seek inspiration from the four purposes and their characteristics,
gain a deeper understanding of the vision of Humanities and understand what is new in the guidance,
explore the needs of your learners and the needs of your communities
consider other local and national priorities
and consider societal, environmental developments which will have implications for learning in this Area

This vision for learning in Humanities could be your starting point for selecting the learning.

What do our learners need to learn in Humanities?

Your vision for Humanities

How can your co-constructed vision for learning inform your selection of learning and identify what your learners need to learn?

Consider how your vision can provide a starting point from which you can begin to identify what your learners need to learn.

Your vision for learning represents the aspirations for your learners and therefore you need to refer to it throughout the design process. Analysis of the vision will identify key aspects of learning that you may choose to permeate through your curriculum for Humanities. An exemplar vision is used in the response and reflection exercise below.

Response and Reflection

In the exemplar vision the text in bold highlights some possible learning that has been identified in this vision for learning. Once the learning has been identified, discussion needs to take place with questions such as:

What knowledge, skills and experiences do the learners needs to develop a sense of wonder?
What kind of experiences will help them become active contributors?
What important issues facing humanity will you need to focus on and how will you plan to develop their understanding of these issue?

The vision for learning could be the starting point for your discussions on what your learners need to learn.

Statements of what matters

All practitioners need to be aware of the fact that every statement of what matters includes detail that lies beneath its headline 'title' and it is here that the learning for that statement is expressed. These statements of what matters are statutory in Curriculum for Wales.

In Humanities the learning has been expressed in five statements which support and complement one another, and should not be viewed in isolation. They act as a ‘lens’ through which topics and issues can be explored, giving practitioners the flexibility to identify those which are relevant to the needs of their learners, their school or setting and their community. Together they contribute to supporting the learners to realise the four purposes of the curriculum.

Before looking at the statements of what matters for the Humanities it is important to consider the relationship between the statements of what matters. Within the Area they are to be considered as equitable and non-linear and there are clear interconnections between the statements. This means that statements should not be addressed in isolation. Curriculum for Wales is an holistic curriculum and therefore the learning may encompass many aspects from a number of the statements of what matters. The integrated nature of the learning should also mean that aspects of other statements from other Areas may be addressed and this is where transference and deeper learning will occur. When planning for learning we would encourage you to consider all 27 statements of what matters.

The statements of what matters set out the key understanding learners must develop and the mandatory cross-curricular skills.

The Journey to curriculum roll-out 2021

Enquiry, exploration and investigation inspire curiosity about the world, its past, present and future.

Events and human experiences are complex, and are perceived, interpreted and represented in different ways.

Our natural world is diverse and dynamic, influenced by processes and human actions.

Human societies are complex and diverse, and shaped by human actions and beliefs.

Informed, self-aware citizens engage with the challenges and opportunities that face humanity, and are able to take considered and ethical action.

Response and Reflection

On the right you will see one of the statements of what matters in this Area.

Learning has been identified by highlighting and underlining key phrases within each sentence. Carefully consider whether the phrases are identifying learning or the outcomes of the learning.

This activity will support you to identify what your learners need to learn within this statement. We suggest you share and compare your ideas with your colleagues and put ideas together for the learning in your curriculum.

Repeat the process with the other statements of what matters, and you are sure to see commonalities between them, which is a reflection of how interconnected they are. You will also start to see common language develop across the AoLEs.

Key questions to consider during this activity

What do your learners need to know and understand?
What knowledge, skills and experiences do your learners need to develop the learning you have selected?
Why is this learning important and how does it enable your learners to work towards the four purposes?

One approach to this stage of curriculum design could be to create a table similar to the example provided. In this example you can clearly identify the selected learning from the statement of what matters and how this has been interpreted to consider the essence of that learning. Space has been provided for the practitioners to consider the knowledge, skills and experiences that their learners need to develop. Examples have been provided on how this learning could develop some of the characteristics of the four purposes.

It is essential to remember that as you develop your curriculum that statements of what matters should not be developed in isolation.

Next steps

As your next steps we suggest the following:

Revisit your AoLE vision
Select learning from your AoLE vision
Select learning from each statement of what matters
You will want to discuss the best way to record and represent the learning that you have selected.
Finally it will be important that you share your learning with other AoLEs.

You will probably find that there are commonalities in the learning with other AoLEs. This learning offers opportunities for collaboration and to build connections across the curriculum in order to create a holistic and meaningful learning experience for the learner.

It is important that you invest time together as teams to develop this step of selecting the learning in Humanities and consider the knowledge, skills and experiences that will support your learners to progress towards the four purposes of Curriculum for Wales.

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