Developing a quality curriculum in a technological era
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Developing a quality curriculum in a technological era Peter Twining1 · Deirdre Butler2 · Petra Fisser3 · Margaret Leahy2 · Chris Shelton4 · Nadine Forget‑Dubois5 · Michel Lacasse6 Accepted: 24 October 2020 © Association for Educational Communications and Technology 2020
Abstract There is considerable rhetoric internationally around the need for national curricula to reflect the changes that are taking place in the world outside school. This raises questions about what a quality curriculum in a technological era should look like, and equally challenging issues about how to achieve the necessary changes in schooling in order for such a curriculum to be realised. This paper summarises the views of 11 experts from seven countries. It introduces a sociocultural framework that highlights the complexity of achieving alignment between policies and practice spanning the national to local school to classroom levels. Three key issues that underpin alignment are then explored, each of which link with the issue of trust: • stakeholders engagement; • teacher professionalism; • summative assessment.
By exploring and exemplifying these three issues the paper indicates potential ways of addressing them and provides ‘tools to think with’ to enhance future curriculum development initiatives. Keywords Curriculum · Schools · Alignment · Partnership · Teacher professionalism · Assessment · Trust
* Peter Twining [email protected] 1
School of Education, The University of Newcastle, Hunter Building, University Drive, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia
2
School of STEM Education, Innovation & Global Studies, DCU Institute of Education, St Patrick’s Campus, Drumconda, Dublin, Ireland
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College of Health Care of ROC van Twente, Hengelo, The Netherlands
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University of Chichester, Bognor Regis Campus, Bognor Regis, Upper Bognor Road, West Sussex, UK
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Conseil Supérieur de L’éducation, Gouvernement du Québec, Québec, QC, Canada
6
Université Laval, Department of Foundations and Practices in Education, Québec, QC, Canada
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Context We live in a rapidly changing world that is struggling “to respond to economic, environmental and social transformations – including technological advances, climate change and migration” (OECD 2019, p. 9). These transformations, and in particular the impact of digital technologies, have increased demand for higher order skills, competencies and knowledge. They have also led to uncertainty about the future, for example: the potential impact of artificial intelligence on some workplaces; how to keep up with an accelerating pace of change; or how to manage global competition for skills (OECD 2019). Within this global context, the school sector is expected not only to meet the demand for new, higher-order skills and competencies but also to prepare students to thrive in a future where the competencies and knowledge they will need to succeed are constantly changing. This is not about learning about digital technology per se, it is about how our digital
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