Effective and progressive curriculum planning to ensure mastery is high on the agenda for OFSTED. At a recent conference, several eminent education experts suggested that the profession, especially those new to it within the last ten years or so do not have the skills to design a highly effective curriculum. We have a national curriculum which provides the building blocks of curriculum planning. It is what we do with it next that is likely to make it meaningful and accessible to all pupils in an individual school context.
The essential idea behind mastery is that all children need a deep understanding of the essential concepts and content they are learning so that future learning is built on solid foundations which do not need to be re-taught, catch up programmes should not be necessary as all pupils work towards the same outcome and pupils are confident enough to embrace challenge. A focus on mastery in mathematics for instance will help to sharpen the thought processes when developing this rich and innovative curriculum plan.
Mastery is policy because it is seen as the best way to raise standards and deepen learning for all pupils whatever their starting point. In a mastery classroom all pupils are capable of understanding and learning the concepts with time and the right teaching. The curriculum is designed as one set of concepts and ideas for all which includes the connections between them and the contexts to which they apply. The key ideas and building blocks are important for every pupil whether they are deemed a low achiever or a high flyer.
Which pedagogical principles to use in this approach is an essential part of the planning process. Lessons need to be carefully designed to ensure all pupils grasp the concepts through the development of their thinking, reasoning and problem-solving skills. Teachers need to know how to scaffold the learning so that pupils can see the connections, deepen their understanding and know how to put the concepts they are learning into context through topic work and practical examples. The evidence that will be there if pupils have achieved mastery will be their ability to use knowledge appropriately, flexibly and creatively and to apply it in new and unfamiliar situations.
There are a host of issues to consider even in this short explanation of mastery as to how to equip teachers both experienced and inexperienced with the skills and knowledge to deliver this approach, lets quantify this:-
- The curriculum needs to be planned so that it is seamless from key stage to key stage and from year to year, for example what is taught in year 2 needs to dovetail into what will be taught in year 3 and what has been learnt in year 1.
- There needs to be a consensus as to how to ensure pupils have mastery of the basic skills and how these are used to deepen and master more complex uses of these skills, therefore, teachers need to have a clear idea as to what constitutes deeper learning within a given concept, theory or idea
- This approach changes many teachers understanding of how to plan for differentiation and requires them to take risks themselves with allowing pupils to make mistakes or fail to succeed the first time
- Teachers need to have a sound repertoire of different pedagogical approaches that will encourage reflection, learning conversations and experiential learning
Join us for our training Mastery and deeper learning in literacy and numeracy across the primary curriculum where we focus on the theory and practical application of embedding a mastery curriculum, planning the curriculum, looking at the pedagogy and focusing on differentiated learning in a mastery context.
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