How to deal with curriculum overwhelm

Does the mere thought of ‘covering’ the curriculum make you anxious? Overwhelmed? Stressed? Me too. I hate that word, ‘covering’ -  it seems like we are just going through the motions, ‘ticking off’ each content descriptor as quickly as possible, just so that we can move on to the next one. It seems relentless sometimes, and there just seems to be SO MUCH CONTENT to teach. 

 

Whew. Deep breath. What if there might be a better way? Because I think there is, and I think that taking a future-focused approach is key. By focusing on the skills first, and making project based learning the vehicle through which both skills and knowledge can be developed together. 

 

I always thought that in order to cover the curriculum, that it was necessary to teach each content descriptor equally, or to the same depth (which often wasn’t very deep due to time constraints). In addition, each subject within my learning area (Humanities & Social Sciences) was taught separately - we would spend one term on geography, one on history, etc. However I would often notice a lot of double up, or some very similar themes across these subject areas. Nevertheless, I would dutifully teach each content descriptor regardless of whether similar content was taught the term before. That’s not even taking into account the fact that there are quite a lot of links across learning areas too! 

 

By implementing project based learning, a number of content descriptors can be made relevant. Furthermore, by adopting an integrated approach, in-depth learning can occur across subject areas, and even across learning areas. This allows students to make connections across the curriculum, in more of a ‘real world’ context. 

 

 

Don’t forget, even though we are obligated to teach all of the curriculum, it is not necessary to assess all of it (check your curriculum to see what evidence you are required to collect). So even though there may be quite a number of curriculum links that you bring into your project, you may choose to focus on just one or two specific areas to assess. This means that students have the opportunity to really deep dive into a particular area rather than gain a superficial surface knowledge of a number of areas. Not only that, but they then get to actually use the knowledge and develop their skills even further, perhaps by creating something new or taking action on an issue. As a by-product, students become more engaged in what they are learning, especially if an element of choice has been given to them during this process, as it allows for more personalisation of their learning. 

 

All of this means that the pressure comes off of teachers to constantly push their students through the curriculum with a constant cycle of PowerPoints and worksheets. We can be a bit more of a ‘guide on the side’ and instead focus on spending time WITH students during the lesson instead of IN FRONT of students. It gives us the time to build strong rapport and really get to know our students and how they learn, what their interests are and what drives them. How much better does that sound? 

 

In order to really make the curriculum work best for you and your students, it's important to spend a bit of time creating a teaching and learning program that helps to provide a meaningful and relevant context through which deep personalised learning can take place. Once you have your program set up with an overarching 'big picture' question, this will make it easier to design a project that will fit seamlessly into the curriculum and allow your students to develop important future focused skills that will be critical for their success outside of the school setting. 

 

If you would like to find out more about how to do this, I've got something to help you out.