The School Curriculum Ten Years Hence - UCET: Universities ...

curriculum which underpins it is by definition a visionary process,
requiring as it does an assessment of personal social and economic
needs more than ten years ahead.
There are also significant tensions between national and local
institutions and processes. The rapid shifts of power along the
continua from national to local over recent years have created even
greater uncertainties and have led to the disenfranchisement of
some key players. These threats have perhaps been realised to a
greater extent in England than elsewhere, but there are very real
possibilities of similar changes elsewhere.
2. Learner-centredness
Much of the group’s discussion focused on putting the learner at the
centre - very often construed by the group as ‘the voice of young
people’ - rather than either the teacher or the policy maker. These
discussions can be divided into three areas.
2.1 Curricular Principles
A learner-centred curriculum would ensure engagement with the
learner. This is still taken for granted in the early years sector
(although even there is pressure on this principle), where for
example in England there is still greater autonomy for the teacher
than at other stages. The personal development of the learner is a
key feature of the kind of curriculum planning supported by the
group and this would include a clear and explicit consideration of
the difficult field of moral values. An awareness of metacognition
should be built in from the start, so that from the earliest stages, it
should be assumed that learners are learning how to learn as well
as knowledge, skills and concepts. The social development aspect of
the curriculum must also be promoted. This relates both to the
social nature of learning and to the social network within which the
curriculum is set. So for example, there is concern that an
overemphasis on learning through ICT will make the process too
individualised. Also, the engagement and involvement of families
and local or wider communities are central to effective curriculum
development. Finally, there is a desire to see an increasingly
negotiated framework for the curriculum, so that it can be more
responsive, dynamic and flexible in recognition of the pace of social,
cultural, technological and economic change.
2.2 Changes to Schooling
At present the realisation of many of the foregoing aspirational
principles is severely hampered by arcane constraints on the formal
structures of schooling. The particular example given was that of
the calendar of the school year, but many others such as the