Connecting the Curriculum Across the Years
Connected teaching across the years is vital for learning
Why do we sometimes teach the same topics to the same learners year after year?
Sometimes it is because we think they don’t remember, sometimes it is because we want to do it differently, or in a more sophisticated fashion and sometimes it is because we don’t realise that they have met the ideas before!
Main Section
‘Starting from where learners are’ is a slogan which seems to make sense, and re-teaching concepts and techniques which have been learned previously is obviously inefficient. It is also reasonable to give pupils opportunities to consolidate and practice what they have previously learnt. The challenge for the teacher is to find a balance whereby pupils feel that they are making progress in their understanding and/or growing more confident in their use of mathematics. The following resources give an insight into fine tuning this balance:
Coordination of assessment, institution, resources and planning (Bryk at el 1993, Poreter 2002, Smith & O’Day 1991)
Sensible connections and coordination between topics studied in each subject (Newman et al 2001 p298)
Are you building on what learners know from previous years?
Are you making use of learners powers to learn mathematics? [building mathematical learning power]
Probes & Prompts
How often do you review what the children have learned and understood over a block of previous teaching on a maths concept?
What questions and/or investigations do you ask/give the children in order to assess this effectively?
How does this inform your future planning?
Do you plan for a week at a time in detail or for the first few days with the flexibility to change direction in order to meet the needs of your children?
Taking Action
Meet with colleagues teaching other year groups and consider how learners' mathematical thinking is being developed over time.
Meet with colleagues teaching other subjects and consider how learners' mathematical thinking could be extended in different subjects/aspects of the curricula.
Case Studies
Many primary teachers in my local authority are planning in a totally different way to the way they used to a few years ago. Nowadays, they map out the whole picture of the children’s learning journey over a two or three week block clearly stating intended outcomes. They briefly plan the objectives and activities which are flexible enough to adapt or change as necessary over this ‘journey’. They then plan a review session for the first lesson to check out the children’s prior learning of key concepts. As a result of this they plan a more detailed series lessons. On a daily basis they assess the success criteria and how the children have moved forward in their learning or if they have picked up misconceptions which need addressing to inform their planning for the next lesson.
In addition to this they look for ways to link with other areas of the curriculum e.g. science, geography, art in order for their maths to be relevant and ‘real-life’ whenever possible.
Research Sources
Categories
Constructs, Curriculum, Pedagogy