In the past, curriculum design was most often a top-down approach. People outside the educational setting designed it and then handed it down to practitioners as a finished product. This pack provides examples of how settings and schools, educators and practitioners have impacted learning by experimenting with co-designing the curriculum.

First, educators have worked collaboratively to create curriculum programmes and have interpreted the guidelines to fit the context of their settings and schools and the needs of their learners.

Second, educators have applied their skills and experience to experiment and prototype ideas.

Finally, they have carefully monitored their progress, learned from feedback and built on their successes. This prototyping culture is supported by structures that give time for educators and practitioners to plan, teach and assess together.

How do you use this to improve practice?

You can use the case studies to prepare for a short professional learning discussion that could form part of your weekly meeting or professional development slot. There are more developed Practical Activities that you can set aside planning time to explore alone or with colleagues.

Session 1: How do you approach Curriculum Design in your school or setting?
For example, what is unique about the context of your school or setting that you could amplify when considering the Curriculum Design of IDL projects?

Session 2: What challenges do you face in your school to be able to co-design and prototype the curriculum?
For example, how do you ensure there is adequate time and space to plan collaboratively?

Session 3: What aspects of the Curriculum Design approaches from the Curriculum Stories could you apply in your school or setting?
For example, would you consider experimenting with a design cycle approach?

Explore these examples

Calderglen High School, East Kilbride: transforming the senior phase

Interdisciplinary Learning offers new opportunities for learners to succeed when working at SCQF Level 4.

Calderglen High School’s shared planning and interdisciplinary teaching improved the progress for learners who might not progress to SCQF Level 5 courses. Pairing two subjects together in unit-based cross-curricular courses helped learners make real connections, and they were motivated to continue making progress in learning. Download the full case study.

Key features of IDL at Calderglen High School

• Educators co-design IDL units with subject pairs.
• School supports collaborative professional learning by creating space and time for collaboration.
• School uses a flexible design cycle to experiment, prototype and evaluate IDL units.
• School is focussed on improving the impact on a learning progression for National 4 students.
• Teachers have buy-in because of the success and are motivated to be a part of future projects.
• Learners have buy-in because of the clear connections between subjects and the broader definition of success.

Resources:

SWAY: Calderglen High School Curriculum Rationale

Inverlochy Primary, Fort William: Band culture to inform learning culture

The unique experience of playing a musical instrument and being part of the school’s Band Class project has helped shift the learning culture of Inverlochy Primary. As a result, children can connect the discipline and successful learning habits of playing an instrument in a group setting with the concentration and effort required to make progress in other areas of their learning.

Key features of curriculum co-design at Inverlochy Primary:

• HLH Instrumental Music Service working in partnership with the primary school to collaborate on planning curriculum design.
• Curriculum design borrowed and tweaked an existing model for the unique context of the school and area.
• Creative and bold decisions were made regarding funding streams to support the project.
• Learner and community buy-in and relevance were crucial. Learners made real-life connections between learning to play in a band and learning across the curriculum.
• The project is unique to the context and geographical community of the schools.
• The project is about growing children as musicians, but it is also about developing a common language and culture of learning built around high expectations, effort and togetherness.

Downloads

PDF file: Full case study and discussion prompts (748 KB)

PPT file: Practical activities (421 KB)

PDF file: Practical activities (235 KB)

Next Steps

Tell us how it went:

• On social media, using the hashtag #curriculumstories
• By email curriculuminnovation@educationscotland.gov.scot