MA Geography Education 2015-16geocapabilities.org.gridhosted.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Ho… · Martin Clarke Geography Education MA Leading the Geo Curriculum 7 The aims of

MartinClarke GeographyEducationMA LeadingtheGeoCurriculum

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MA Geography Education 2015-16

How can a curriculum artefact be used to give students and teachers a holistic view of a syllabus?

[and thus a way of understanding and producing a Geography that both adheres to the demands of the examination syllabus and the values of

teachers?]

By

Martin Bernard Clarke

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Abstract

This report argues that awell-chosen curriculum artifact can be usednot only to

illustrateandilluminateaparticularsectioninaprogrammeoflearning,butalsoto

give students a ‘roadmap’ ofwhat they are to study. If successful, thiswill allow

themtomaintainaperspectiveontheirlearningthroughoutthecourseofacomplex

syllabus with a wide range of learning outcomes. For this to be successful, the

artifactmustinitiallyfulfilltherequirementsforanyusefulcurriculumartifact,and

criteriaforthisareoutlined.Itwillbearguedthatthisalsoallowsteachertogaina

greaterdegreeofcontrolofthecurriculummakingprocessandcaninspirehim/her

togaininspirationforteachingideasandgreaterpedagogicalcontrol.

Thereportgoesontoarguethatanartifactcan inspireteachersandhelpthemto

gain greater control of the curriculum, inspiring them to argue for changes in

imposed syllabuses and curriculums that benefit curriculum design as well as

pedagogy, using the example of the IBDP Environmental Systems and Societies

course.


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Introduction

ThecurriculumartifactIhavechosenisaninfographiccalled“OurPlanetfromTop

toBottom”(Tate,2010http://tinyurl.com/gwap4ug.)Myintentionistousethis

artifactinanumberofways.FirstlyIwillattempttodefineacurriculumartifactand

todistinguishitfroma“starter”oranillustration.Secondly,Iwillexplorewhethera

curriculumartifactcanbeusedtoillustrateawholesyllabus(ratherthanatopicor

aunitofwork)inwaythatmakeitcomprehensibletostudents.Thirdly,Iwill

examinetheextenttowhichsuchanartifactcanbeusedbystudentsandteachers

asawayofturninganexamsyllabusintoacurriculum:incurriculummakingtouse

theGeographyAssociation’staxonomy(GeographyAssociation,2014)

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WhatDefinesaGoodCurriculumArtifact?

Inmoredevelopedeconomies,teachershaveaccesstoanalmostunlimitedrangeof

sourcestoillustrate,challengeandinspirestudents.Withaconnectedcomputer

almostany‘object’-image,song,movieclip,cartoon–again,thelistgoesonandon

–canbecalledupinseconds.Outsidetheclassroom,studentsliveinaworldwhere

thisisalsoacommonplace.Tofindaphotographof,say,MountSt.Helenserupting

istrivialandonemightappearinanyGeographytextbook.Butwhyusea

photographwhenYouTubecanshowfootageoftheactualeruptiontakingplace?

Satelliteimageryisdisplayedwhenonecheckstheweatherononesphone.But1Thespellingofthiswordseemscontentious.FromthispointonMartinhasusedartifact,notartefact.

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curriculumartifactmustbemorethansimplyanarrestingimage,a‘starter’oran

illustration.Thisisnottosaythatsuchthingsarenotusefulpedagogicaltools–to

besure,agoodartifactwillbeengaging,illustrative,andpossiblysurprising-butto

assertthatsomethingmoreisneededforanobjecttobecomeacurriculumartifact.

Firstly,tobeacurriculumartifact,theimage(inthecaseofmyexample)mustbe

carefullychosenaspartofthecurriculummakingorcurriculumplanningprocess.It

mustbeintegratedintotheoverallschemeofworkandlearningoutcomesinawell

thoughtoutmannerdesignedtoincreasedepthofunderstandingortoportraya

conceptinanewlight.

Followingonfromthis,acurriculumartifactmust“havelegs”;thatisitmustbe

somethingthatcanbereferredbacktooveralongperiodoftime-inthiscaseover

thewholeofaniGCSEcourse.Ifsuccessful,thisreferencingwillnotjustbedoneby

theteacherbutwillbeadoptedbystudentsasaninstinctivetoolthatimprovestheir

understandingandaidsclarificationwhenthedemandsofasyllabusorschemeof

workthreatencloudunderstandingincomplexity,detail,oramultiplicityoftopics.

Inshort,itcanhelpstudentstomaintainanimageofthewoodwhenthetrees

threatentocrowdin.

Agoodartifactwillalsoprovideadifferentperspective.Theexampleofathesong

(GeographyAssociation,2012)giveninthecoursereadingsforthismodulecanhelp


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studentstoviewmigrationinanewwayandremindstudentsofthehumanstories

ofmigration,andperhapsgeneratehumanunderstandingandempathy.

Inaddition,suchperspectivescanleadstudentstodevelopinterdisciplinarylinksin

classandteachertodeveloptheseatthecurriculumplanningstage.Thesongmight,

forexample,promptaGeographydepartmenttoworkwithanEnglishdepartment:

could,Auden’s“RefugeeBlues”(Auden,citedinMedelson,2007)orasimilarly

themedpoembecoveredatthesametimeastheunitonmigration?Theresult

couldencouragestudents(andteachers)toemployabroaderrangeofthinking

skillswhenaddressingthetopic,allowingittobecontextualizedinawidersense

andapproachedwithgreatersubtlety.

Agoodcurriculumartifactshouldideallycontainsomethingforalllevelsofabilityin

aclass,keepingallstudentsintheZoneofProximalDevelopmentinVygotzky’s

(1978)terms.Allstudentsshouldbeabletoseeitasanillustration,ascaffoldoran

aidtounderstanding,andstrongeronesuseitasalaunchpadtomoredifficult

concepts,approachesandwaysofthinking.

Clearly,itwouldbeaskingalotforanyindividualartifacttomeetallofthese

criteria.Equallyclearly,theartifactinitselfcandoverylittleofthisjob.Foran

objecttobecomeacurriculumartifactitneedstobeembeddedinbothpedagogy

andthecurriculummakingprocess.Inmyownclassroomexperience,Ihavefound

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thatexaminingwhetheranobjecthelpstoconveyPowerful(Geographical)

Knowledgeisagoodtestofwhetheranobjecthas‘madethejump’toartifact.

Inaddition,theartifactneedsto‘hithome’;toresonatewithstudentsinawaythat

allowsitsimpacttobelongterm.Thisisoftenthehardestthingtopredict,andall

teacherswillbefamiliarwithusingaparticularanalogyorillustrationorevenajoke

thatstudentsrefertoorallyorinwritingbecauseithasmadeanimpactorhelpedto

clarifyadifficultconcept.

TheEnvironmentalManagementSyllabus

TheCambridgeEnvironmentalManagement(EvM)syllabus(Cambridge,2014

http://tinyurl.com/z7zdr6c)isapopularchoiceinmyschoolwith11students(athird

ofthecohort)choosingitasanoption.Itiswidelyviewedastheeasiestofthe

Humanitiessubjectsandsoattractsadisproportionatenumberofweakerstudents

keentoavoidHistoryorEconomics,aswellasanumberofkeenHumanities

studentswhoopttotakeitalongwithHistoryorEconomics,aswellaskeen

scientistswhoseeitasthemost‘sciencey’oftheHumanitiesoptions.Geographyis

notofferedasaniGCSEoptionatmyschool.ThismeansthatEvMisouronlyavenue

toinculcategeo-capabilitieswithintheformalcurriculumandthatwedosoto

classesofmixedability.


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Theaimsofthesyllabusareforstudentstoacquire:

(Cambridge2014,p.9)andhassustainabledevelopmentatitscentre(p.11).

ThestudyoftheEarthisbrokendowninto4spheres;Lithosphere,Hydrosphere,

Atmosphere,andBiosphere(p.12)witheachofthespheresbeingstudiedinthe

followingway:

(p.12)

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Table 1: Cambridge iGCSE Environmental Management Syllabus Matrix

(Cambridge 2014)

Assessmentisbyathreepaperexamination(myschoolhasoptedforthepaper4

AlternativetoCoursework-courseworkbeinganoptionthatformsPaper3)overa

totalof4hrsand45minutes.Clearly,thiscoursecoversawiderangeofcontentand

theexamboardprovidesagooddealofstrictguidanceabouthowthisistobe


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approached.Thecurriculumplanninganddevelopmenthaslargelybeendoneforthe

teachersanditcouldbearguedthatagooddealofthecurriculummakingisalso

outlinedinthesyllabus.Itisalsoworthnotingthattheexamcancoveraverywide

rangeoftopicswithinthesyllabus(seeAppendix1foranexampleofapastpaper).

CurriculumMakingandtheUseofArtifacts

Mychosenartifactanditsuses

Mychosenartifact,“OurPlanetfromToptoBottom”isaninfographicshowingthe

planetfromthedepthsoftheMarianasTrenchtotheedgeofspace.Itisillustrated

withvariousnaturalandman-madepoints(forexamplethewreckoftheTitanic,the

highestpointthatbirdsfly,thealtitude‘deathzone’forhumansetc.).Itisintended

tobenefitbothstudentsandteachersinthefollowingways:

(A)Forthestudent

(i)Asawaytoquicklyillustratethescopeofthesyllabus.

Wearerequiredtosendstudentsanelectroniccopyofthesyllabuswhichis,of

course,writtenprimarilyforteachersandinthiscaserunsto30pages.

(ii)Toillustrateandmakemorecomprehensibletheconceptofspheres.

Aperhapsmoreobviouswaytodothiswouldbesimplytostatethatwearestarting

formthecentreoftheearthandworkingoutwards,butinpracticemanystudents

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haveaproblemwiththeabstractconceptofdividingtheplanetintospheres,a

conceptattheveryheartofthesyllabus.Theartifactisusedasawayofmakingthis

conceptmorecomprehensibletostudents.

(iii)Toprovidea“safehome”.

Thissyllabusisverywide-rangingintermsofthecontentthathastobecoveredand

itiseasyforstudentstoloseanoverallpictureofwhatisbeingstudiedastheyjump

from,say,theimpactsofminesoncommunitiestothecompositionofgasesinthe

atmosphere.Theinfographicisahandyandeasytounderstand‘map’tohelp

studentsfindoutwheretheyareandtherelationshipbetweenapparentlydiverse

topics.Thisisparticularlyusefulinnon-traditionalsubjectthatmaynotfitwith

students’expectationsaboutwhataschoolsubjectshouldbe.

(iii)Toscaffoldandtoenhancewithdifferentlearners.

Inadditiontoillustratingspheressothatlessablestudentsgainapictureofwhat

theywillbestudyingforthenexttwoyearsandhowthisisbeingorganized,itcan

alsobeusedtostretchstrongerstudentsandtochallengethemwithothernew

concepts.Forexamplethesplittingoftheearthintospherescanbeusedto

illustrateideaoftaxonomyandthesometimesarbitrarynatureofsuchschemes.For

ableandlessablestudents,theartifactcanallowthem…

(iv)…tochallengethesyllabus.


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Forexample,itquicklybecomesclearfromtheartifactthattheBiosphereoverlaps

otherspheres.Notonlydoesthisencouragequestioningabouthowthecourseis

arrangedbutbringsupthevitalnotionofinterdependenceandinteractionbetween

thespheres.Also,studentsmightquestionwhetherthelistofspheresisexhaustive,

andIhaveusedtheBBCseries“LifeintheFreezer”(Attenborough,1993)to

illustratethecryosphere,somethingnotmentionedonthesyllabus.

(v)Tomakecross-disciplinarylinks

Forexample,betweentheideaofahumanaltitude‘deathzone’

(Biology/respiration)oroceandepthsandpressure(Physics/gaslaws)

(vi)Toquestiontheartifactitself.Whatpartsofthesyllabusdoesitfailto

convey?TwoobviousareasaretheLithosphere(lessablestudentswillusuallybe

abletogetthisveryquickly)andtheconceptsofexploitationandmanagementof

resources.Whenstudentshavebeenabletocomeupwiththese,Iwilluseanother

infographic,“MiningforOilandOre”(http://tinyurl.com/zsgpwlp)whichemploysa

similar‘top-to-bottom’scheme.Thiswouldlikelybethefirstexampleofanotheruse

oftheartifact,namelyassomething…

(vi)…tobeaddedtobystudents.

Whenitismadeintoalargeprintoutfortheclassroomwall,studentscanaddwork

toit,augmentitwithotherresources,anduseittoplot‘where’weareinthe

syllabus.Thisisanotherillustrationofthepointmadeaboveaboutanartifact

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havinglongevityasoneoftheattributesthatdifferentiatesitfromaresourceor

object.

(B)Fortheteacher/curriculummaker

Manyofthebenefitsfromusingtheartifactfromthepointofviewofthestudent

willalsoapplytoteachers.Forexample,itmayprovokethoughtsaboutinter-

disciplinarylinks,orwaysofscaffoldingtopicsandassignmentstoaccommodatea

rangeofabilities.Itmayalsoassistwithplanning,sequencing,andtime

management,particularlyifmorethanoneteacheristeachingthecoursetoa

particularclass.Inmyschool,forexample,thesplitisbetweenYear10(taughtbya

Biologist)andYear11.

Iwouldfurtherarguethatanartifactsuchasthiscouldhelpteachersascurriculum

makersmovefromasyllabustoamadecurriculum.Forexample“illustratingand

makingmorecomprehensibletheconceptofspheres”(Student(ii)–above)

illustratestheneedtodifferentiatebetweenasyllabus(spheres)anda

curriculum/pedagogy:howdoweinterpretasyllabus,runwithit,teachit?As

LambertandMorgan(2010,p.49)putit,

“…wecanbesurethatthecurriculumasexperiencedbychildrenandyoungpeopleintheclassroomis,atleastinpart,theonethathasbeenmadebyteachers.Teachersarethecurriculum-makers”.


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AndwhileRawling(2008,p.116)pointsoutthatthecurriculummakingprocess

neednotbemadeobvioustothestudent,Iwouldarguethatthismightnotbe

inappropriatehere,showingstudentshowanartifactcanbeusedto,“deepen[their]

knowledgeandbroadentheirunderstanding…graduallyreach[ing]awarenessand

gain[ing]understandingofthebigideasorconcepts”.Biddulph,Lambertand

Balderstone(2000)linkthisprocesstotheuseofcurriculumartifacts,pointingout

thatthey,

“…representanalternativewayto[think]aboutpreparingsequencesoflessons.Ratherthanstartingwiththetopicsandtheaims,westartwithanartifactofsomedescription”(p.67)

Inotherwords,theartifactratherthanthesyllabusbecomesthestartingpointfor

thethinkingofteachersaswellasstudents.Iwouldsubmitthatthiscomesinthe

curriculumplanningand–inparticular–curriculummaking-stagesusingtheGA’s

termsforthecurriculumprocess.

TheG.A.’scurriculumglossarydistinguishesbetweencurriculumdesign,

development,andmaking.Whiletherewillbesomeoverlapbetweenthese,the

modelmightlooksomethinglikethefollowingintermsofanationalexamination

syllabusornationalsubjectcurriculum:

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Table 2: Curriculum process (adapted from Geography Association

Curriculum Making Glossary, GA 2014)

GANomenclature GADefinition Conductedby… Degreeof

individual

teachercontrol

Curriculum

Development

An umbrella term that can

encompass design (national

specifications or

programme of study),

planning

Government(if

NationalCurriculum)

School(choiceofexam

subjectstooffer,the

examboard.

Zerotolow

CurriculumPlanning The process that results in

a scheme of work. It

involves taking account of

various factors and

influences, including the

needs and interest of the

young people,

developments in the subject

and wider policy and

society concerns such as

citizenship, diversity

education and community

cohesion

Schooland

Department

Lowtomedium

CurriculumMaking The creative process that

'puts the plan into action'

(although this is not

necessarily a simple, linear

process). All teachers apply

curriculum making skills,

whilst planning may be led

by a designated individual

such as the head of

department or geography

leader). Curriculum making

is concerned with balancing

pupil needs with content

selection and pedagogic

Subject

team/individual

teacher

Relativelyhigh,but

arguablybeing

diminished.


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strategy. It is concerned

with and 'making geography

happen'.

LambertandMorganemphasizehowthesestagesoverlapinthediagrambelow:

Figure 1: Lambert’s scheme showing interrelated aspects of curriculum

making (2010, p. 50)

Yetthisdiagramimpliesamuchgreaterdegreeofchoiceanddiscretionforthe

teacherthanisexperiencedbythoseofusgivenaniGCSEexaminationsyllabusto

teach.InShiro’s(2013)terms,the“scholaracademic”modewillbetothefore

becauseoftheexternallyimposedsyllabusandexternallyassessedexaminations.

Theselatterwillbeusedtoassesstheperformanceoftheteacheraswellasthe

students.

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However,inhelpingteacherstothinkaboutasyllabusandhowtoteachit,a

curriculumartifactcanhelpthemregainsomecontrolofthecurriculummakingand

planningprocessthattheymightotherwiseseeashavingbeentakenfromthem.

Theremovalofthiscontrolhasbeenanon-goingprocesslastingmanyyearswith

equallymanytwistsandturns,asoutlinedbyRawling(2001)andWalford(2001).

Inwhathecallsthe“culturalrestorationist”view(onegivenfurtherstrengthunder

MichaelGove):“school-basedcurriculumdevelopment[does]notfeatureinthis

vision”(p.35).Theteacherintheclassroommaythusfeelherselfconsignedtothe

roleofcurriculumdeliverer.Thismaybeespeciallytrueifthedemandsof‘box-

ticking’andothercommandandcontrolmeasuresmeanthatateachermaynot

havethetimetomakeacurriculumfromasyllabusevenifshefeltempoweredtodo

so.

Roberts(1995)pointsout,however,thatteachersarenotalwaysquitesosupine.

Herstudyexaminesthereactionsofteachersinthreeschoolswithdiffering

philosophiesofGeographyeducation,curriculumandpedagogy(whatRobertscalls

content-rich,framework,andprocess)andtheirreactionstotheimpositionofthe

UKNationalCurriculum.Ineachoftheschools,thefirstreactiontothenew

designedandmandatedcurriculumwastoaskhowwellitfittedwithwhatthe

teacherssawastheneedsoftheirstudentsandtheirviewsofwhatmadeforgood

Geographyeducation.Wheretherewasaconflict,


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“theheadsofdepartmentwanttopreservetheirwayofcurriculumplanning,theywanttocontinueenjoyingteachingandtheywanttokeepwithinthelaw,asfarastheycan.Thereisaprocessofadjustment,buttheinfluenceofthepreviousvaluesseemsdominant”.(p.201)

Inotherwords,whenfacedwithanimposedcurriculumorsyllabus,teacherstend

towonderhowtheycantakecontrolofit.Iwouldarguetheuseofcurriculum

artifactscanbeonetoolhelpingthemtodothis.Toexplain,Iwillcomparesomeof

myresponsestotheEvMsyllabuswiththereactionofsomeoftheteachersin

Roberts’studywhenfacedwiththeNationalcurriculum.

EvM and the National Curriculum

Inbothcases,curriculumdevelopmentandmostcurriculumplanninghavebeen

takenoutofthehandsoftheteachersandtheywillquicktofocusonwhatis

consideredpoororlackingintermsofcontentandmethodology.Inmyowncase

withEvM,IseeaclearlackofGeo-capabilites(mappingandscale,forexample)and

focusonEnvironmenttothedetrimentofSpaceandPlace.InRoberts’study,a

teachercommentsonthe,

“enormousoverloadingandIhaveaverygreatconcernthatwewillactuallycoverallthecontent.Istillfeelthattheydon'ttrusttheprofessionaljudgementofteacherstochoosecasestudyexamples.Ican'tunderstandwhyinthedevelopingworldyouhavetodoNigeriawhenyoucan'tdoGhana.”(p.198)

Weareboth,asRobertshasit,equatingcurriculum(syllabusinmycase)with

content,orlookingattheframework(thespheresinmycase)asdefiningthe

curriculum.

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Inthecaseoftheteachingthedevelopingworld(inthequoteabove)Iwouldargue

thatacurriculumartifactmighthelpteachersimprovecurriculummakinginthe

contextofthesetcurriculum,andtoadapttheirpedagogytoincorporateexternal

demandswiththeirandtheirdepartment’sviewsonwhatGeographyeducation

shouldlooklike.Forexampleavideo,picture,infographic,orobjectmightleadtoa

professionaldiscussionaboutwhattheteacherswouldlikestudentstolearnabout

sub-SaharanAfrica.Whatskillscanbeused,whatgeo-capabilitiespromoted,what

knowledge,insightsandunderstandingaretheyhopingtoconvey?Notonlymight

thismakethechoiceofcountryseemlessimportant,itmightinspireteachersto

bringinworkcontrastingcountries(GhanaandNigeria,say)inordertoavoid

givingstudentstheimpressionthatanundifferentiated‘GlobalSouth’exists.Inmy

ownteaching,forexample,IhaveusedanimageoftheCBDofLagos(Bappah,2015)

andaskedstudentstoguessthelocation.Africaisrarelyofferedasananswer.This

imagecouldbe‘workedup’intoanartifactthatallowstheteacherstofollowthe

Nationalcurriculumandpreparestudentsforassessmentwhilegivingincreased

curriculummakingpowertotheteacher.

InthecaseofmyEvMsyllabus,theinfographicallowsmetoseewaysofintegrating

morespatialconceptsandHumanGeography(thehighestcities,theeffectoftheBP

oilspill–bothofwhichareontheinfographic)intothecurriculum.WherecanIget

insomemapwork?HowcanIuseHongKongandChinaasexamples?More


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generally,howcanIseethesyllabusasastartingpointratherthanandending;how

canImakeasyllabusintoacurriculum?

Tobesure,notallcurriculumartifactsareintendedtoapplytoallofasyllabusor

nationalcurriculum(norshouldtheybe)andfindingandplanningtouse

curriculumartifactsisonlyonepartofcurriculummaking.Equally,anartifact

cannotmaketheexternalconstraints(thelawofthelandorthefinalexam)

disappear.However,itismycontentionthatwellchosenandskillfullyemployed

artifactscanempowerteachersaswellasstudentstoworkwithafuller,more

roundedcurriculumthatisbetterfittedtotheeducationalphilosophyoftheschool,

theviewsoftheteacher,andtheneedsofthestudents.Itmayalsoforceteachersto

answerthequestionposedbyLambertandMorgan(2010):“Whatkindof

geographerareyou?”(p.163).Thisquestionisparticularlypertinentwhenschools

andteacherscanfeelthemselvestobetossedaroundinshiftingideologicalwindsof

increasingintensity.Rawlings(2001)endshishistoricalsurveyoftheseshifting

ideologieswithaquotefromEducationGuardian:

“Inmoderntimeswehavebeenplaguedwithasuccessionofshort-livedideologiesineducation…likemarcherstowardsanewdawn,andnoonehastheslightestideathatitwillturnouttobeanuglymorning…Butonecannotsimplyditchallformsofideologyandassumethatthesystemwillcontinuetoworkequallywell.Theseideologysustainedteachers,helpedthemtogetoutofbedinthemorning,toworkwithasenseofpurposeandgocheerfullyintoschool…”(OrmellinEducationGuardian,March1992quotedinRawlings,2001)

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ThisechoesthesentimentsexpressedbytheteachersinRoberts’studywithschools

concludingthat,wehaveto‘getonwith’butwewilltrytodosoinwaysthatreflect

ourbeliefsaboutwhatconstitutesgoodeducationalandpedagogicalpracticeand

whichanswerstheneedsofourstudents.Curriculumartifactscanbeatoolhelping

teacherstoaccomplishthisbut,again,thisrequirestimeandfreedom.Increasingly

prescriptivecurriculumsandsyllabusesimposedfromabove(especiallywhen

coupledwithonerousbureaucracyandmoreexaminations)cantakethisaway.A

cynicmightarguethatthisistheintention.OneoftheschoolsinRoberts’study

facedwiththislatestiterationofideologyandcurriculumdesignfromonhighmore

orlessthrewinthetowel.Aseriesoftextbookswere“usedinalmosteverylesson”

andtheauthorwaspraisedforhaving,“donehisworkinmakingsurethatitfitsall

thestandardsofattainmentandsoon.He’sdoneitallandthere’sachecklist.”(p.

200)ThisremindedmeoftheoldsalespitchfromIBMtopurchasingmanagers

claimingtriumphantlythat,“nobodyevergotfiredforbuyingIBM”.Itistrueand

depressinginequalmeasure,acalltoabandonriskyinnovationandsensitivityto

individualneedsinfavourofbuyinginasafe,one-size-fits-all,ready-madepackage

thatcanbe‘delivered’easilyandthenunpluggedwhentechnology/ideological

fashionchanges.Textbookpublishers(andcomputerfirms)willbereadywith

anotherpackaged“solution”(nodoubtincludinga“checklist”)whenthisinevitably

happens.

Thatteachersatthechalkfacegetevidenceoftheefficacyofthese“short-lived

ideologies”onstudentlearningisusuallyignored,sothetemptationtobuythe


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textbookpackageandbecomeacurriculumdelivererisstrong.ButasIhave

suggested,theuseofcurriculumartifactscanhelpteachersfindwaysofthinking

thatallowthemtoregaincontroloverthecurriculummakingprocess,evenwhen

curriculumdevelopmentand(increasingly)planning,aredecidedonhigh.

StandingIntheWayofControl–thecaseofIBEnvironmentalSystems&

Societiesandteacherfeedbackinfluencingcentralizedcurriculumdesign.

Togofurther,itispossiblethatthetypeofthinkingonthepartofteachersthat

curriculummakingwithartifactscanengenderandinfluencecurriculumdesign.

TheIBdiplomaprogrammeforcedstudentstochooseonesubjectfromeachofsix

subjectgroupsincludingScience(Group4)andIndividualsandSocieties(Group3).

ThismodelofthesixgroupsformedthecoreofthedesignedIBcurriculumas

shownbytheIBCircle(itwasaoriginallyahexagon)below.

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Figure2:TheIBDiplomaProgrammeModel

Source: IBO Logos and Programme Models (n.d.)

Oneresultofthiswhichteachersfedbackinlargenumberswasthatstudentswitha

biastoHumanitiesofSciencesubjectsweretakingmakingparticularchoicesfor

their‘sixthsubject’–theonetheyleastwishedtodobutwereforcedintobythe

curriculumdesign.ScientistschoseStandardLevelEconomicsinGroup4,seeingit

asthemost‘Science-y’Humanity,whileHumanitiesandArts-inclinedstudents

pickedStandardLevelBiologyinGroup4asbeingtheleast‘science-y’/most

Humanitiesor‘Arts-y’oftheSciences.Teacherspointedoutforexample,thatifon

weretopickaSciencesubjectasthelasttobeformallystudiedbya17-year-old,

StandardLevelBiologywouldnotbethatsubject.Asimilarcasecouldbemade

againstanaspiringscientistendingherHumanitieseducationwithStandardlevel

Economics.


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Partlyasaresultofthisfeedbackfromteachers,theIBOrespondedintwoways.

OnewastointroduceEnvironmentalSystemsandSociety(IBO,n.d.,

http://tinyurl.com/hmmzjfk)whichwasspecificallydesignedtomakestudents’last

experiencewiththesesubjectareasmoreappropriateandmeaningful.More

radicallyfromtheIB’spointofview,theymadethesubjectcross-disciplinary,so

thatscientistscouldtakeitinGroup3astheirHumanityandHumanitiesandArts

studentscouldtakeitinGroup4astheirsciencesubject.Thisrepresentedahuge

changeintheIB’scurriculumdesign.

Iwouldnot,ofcourse,claimthischangeasavictoryfortheuseofcurriculum

artifacts.Iwould,however,suggestthatitinpartresultedfromthetypeofthinking

andcurriculummakingthattheuseofcurriculumartifactscanprovoke.

Conclusion

Mostcurriculumartifactsareconstructedtobeapplicabletoasubsetofa

programmeandtoallowstudentstoapproachatopicfromadifferentand

unfamiliarangleandtoenhancelearningbychallengingpre-conceptions,showing

widerrelevance,andhintingatcross-disciplinarylinks.Ihavearguedthata

curriculumartifactcangobeyondthisinanumberofways.

Firstly,anartifiactcanbeusedtoprovideanoverviewofacourseorsyllabus.As

suchitcanhelpstudentstocontextualizeindividualunitsofstudy,showthe

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connectionsbetweenthem,andprovideasafe“homeport”whenalargesyllabus

seemsoverwhelming.

Secondly,itcanhelpteachersintheplanningprocess.Bygivingstudentsand

teachersasharedoverviewtheartifactcanbeavaluableaidtocurriculumplanning,

andthisisperhapsamoretypicaluse.However,anartifactwithawiderscopesuch

astheonereferredtointhisreportcanalsobeatoolforcurriculumplanning.As

such,itiscapableofreturningtoteacherssomeofthepowerandautonomythat

theyhavelostinthefaceofincreasinglyprescriptivesyllabusesandnational

curriculums.Anartifactcanledtoprofessionaldiscussionsandcollaborationamong

teachersanddepartmentsthatallowthemtomakecurriculumsthatreflectthe

needsoftheirstudentsinplaceandtime.

Thirdly,thisfreedomcanmovebeyondsubjectareas,asacurriculumartifactthat

attemptstoprovideanoverviewoflearningandlearningoutcomescanfacilitate

cross-disciplinaryanddepartmentallinks.Thiscan,inturn,leadtoaschool’soverall

curriculumbecomingmorerelevantandappropriatetostudentsandtobemore

controlledbyteachers.Thiscaneventaketheformoffeedbackfromschools

resultingincurriculum-settingbodiessuchastheIBmakingchangestosyllabuses

andevenprogrammestructures.

Moregenerally,Iwouldarguethattheprocessofselectingandintegratinga

curriculumartifactcanhelpteacherstoanswerthequestion,“Whatkindof


25

Geographerareyou?”Itcallsforathoughtfulevaluationofthesyllabusandlearning

outcomes,aswellasthetypeofpedagogythatwillbeadopted.Thiscanhelp

teachers,departmentsand(throughinterdisciplinarylinking)schoolsmakea

curriculumthatreflectstheirvalueswhileconformingtotheneedsofexternal

syllabusandcurriculumdesigners.

26

Appendix

1) Links to Syllabus, Past Papers and Mark Schemes for Cambridge Environmental Management (0680)

Syllabus

http://www.cie.org.uk/images/128370-2015-syllabus.pdf

Paper1

http://www.cie.org.uk/images/196687-november-2013-question-paper-

11.pdf

Paper2


22.pdf

Paper4(alternativetocoursework)


41.pdf

MarkschemePaper1

http://www.cie.org.uk/images/185795-november-2013-mark-scheme-11.pdf

MarkschemePaper2


MarkschemePaper4


2)IBEnvironmentalSystemsandSocietiesSubjectBrief

http://www.ibo.org/globalassets/publications/recognition/4_envirsyssl.pdf


27

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