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After two days of talking about curriculum, integration, STEM, STEAM and HASS I am left with more questions than I started with. In some respects, the concept of curriculum integration is simple. It is after all something that Primary teachers almost take for granted. But for Senior and Tertiary educators the question of curriculum integration is inherently complex. At all levels questions emerge of what curriculum integration might achieve, what purposes it serves, what it could and should look like and how it should be supported by curriculum planners. In the current climate, with its debate around the role of education within an innovation economy, shaped by technology and confronting demands for a STEAM enabled workforce the shape of our curriculum is under pressure. 

In the final weeks of 2017 a new Science & Technology Curriculum for Kindergarten to Year Six slipped into the schools of New South Wales. What does this new curriculum bring and what does it reveal about the nature of learning as we approach the year 2020?

Pedagogy and curriculum that engages students from low-socioeconomic backgrounds and is deemed personally relevant to the lives they live, are seen as important factors towards equality of outcome by Wrench, Hammond, McCallum and Price (2012). Their research involved designing a curriculum and pedagogy that would be highly engaging to students of low-socioeconomic status. 'The interventions involved curriculum redesigns that set meaningful, challenging learning task(s) (culminating in high quality learning products); strong connection to student life-worlds; and a performative expectation for student learning.' (Wrench et al 2012 p934)

Our learners will never now a world where Digital Technologies are not the norm. Using solutions developed within this space and with this mindset is already their normal. Unless they are to be slaves to this technology we must also empower them to be creators of digital solutions. To do this we must begin with recognising the challenges that a curriculum built around mastery of Digital Technologies brings to our teachers and seek to understand the supports they require.

As we make plans for how we will engage our students in their learning the decisions we make become fundamental to how they will grow to understand the purposes of learning. How our learners approach the curriculum and the disciplines is fundamental to the outcomes we may achieve for them. One path will set them up to view learning as the acquisition of information the other to see it as a process of asking and exploring questions of significance through the many unique lenses.

Last week I spent three days thinking about curriculum and all that it means to teaching and learning thanks to the Australian Curriculum Studies Association's biannual conference. It was three days of deeply thoughtful conversation and learning with just the right mix of academic research and ideas for grounded practice straight out of innovative classrooms and schools. With keynotes by Alan Reid, Dan Haesler, Bob Lingard, Robert Randall and Jan Owen combined with Masterclasses from some of Australia's leading educators there was much on offer. The biggest challenge was deciding which workshop you would attend when every session offered such outstanding opportunities.

I would like to propose that one cause of curriculum overcrowding is a phenomenon I refer to as "Idea Creep".

An important part of the role of any educator is that of planning learning sequences. Perhaps you are tasked with designing curriculum or more likely you are translating a mandatory curriculum into workable units of learning. The task is complex and there are multiple arrangements. The goal is to design units that connect students with learning in ways that are meaningful and relevant. A well-designed unit of learning fits seamlessly alongside other learning opportunities and the overall sequence of learning should match the learners developing expertise. As we plan units of learning we must consider a great variety of factors which impact the learning we design. Our knowledge of our students and where they are with their learning is crucial and a strong place to start. We also need to know what it is we are required to teach and have a grab bag of pedagogical moves that bring this content alive.

Perhaps the disruption of a global pandemic will prompt a rethinking of how education might be framed to best serve the needs of those who rely on it most? Perhaps now is the time to rethink the curriculum?

"Fun games for kids - The largest collection of curriculum games in the universe * Subjects > o Maths o English o Science o RE o PE o Music o Spanish o German o French o ICT o History o Geography o Design and Technology o Citizenship o Art and Design * Years > o Reception o Foundation o Nursery o Year 1 o Year 2 o Year 3 o Year 4 o Year 5 o Year 6 o Key Stage 1 o Key Stage 2 o Teachers * Game types > o Strategy o Action o Shooter o Construction o Simulation o Role play o Adventure o Sport o Puzzle Primary Games Smiley Logo "

Online, interactive, standards-based science curriculum www.science4us.com

The intent of this study is to document K-12 Web 2.0 policies, practices, and perspectives in American schools from the perspective of school district administrators. The study was made possible through the generous support of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation. The CoSN study methodology included: 1) the design and field testing of a Web 2.0 survey for three respondent groups: school district superintendents, curriculum directors, and technology directors; 2) the constructing of a representative, random sample from the 14,199 public school districts in the U.S. stratified by four locales (e.g., urban, suburban, town, and rural); 3) the data collection through online surveys; 4) the weighting of findings to ensure demographic representativeness; and 5) analysis and reporting of the results. The report is based on the surveys from nearly 1200 district administrators, including 389 superintendents, 441 technology directors, and 359 curriculum directors. The reader will note that throughout the report, Metiri identifies the respondent group(s) and the associated weighted number of respondents who answered any particular question or series of questions. The complete methodology for the survey is included in the Appendix.

Primary teachers in New South Wales (NSW) are this year and next integrating a new Science & Technology Curriculum. It brings with it a number of challenges and opportunities and while it has much in common with the existing curriculum, it will require some significant changes.

Get details of IGNITE campaign 2012 by CBSE board of education. Check out latest CBSE curriculum and education news on Extraminds.

This is a superb site from the TES with a large collection of great flash whiteboard resources for across the curriculum for Primary schools. There is something for everyone here! http://ictmagic.wikispaces.com/Cross+Curricular

A discussion of curriculum review and nationalisation reveals a messy field with no clear way of meeting the needs of all involved. What lessons might we learn from high-performing international systems and what are the dangers of borrowing ideas?

Students often become engaged learners when technology is a seamless part of their curriculum

Curriculum and teaching innovation April 2009 Ben Williamson and Sarah Payton, Futurelab The full version of this handbook is available to download in pdf format - see box below - or you can order a free hard copy. On this page you'll find the handbook's introduction.