Curriculum, or the substance of what is taught, is the core business of schools, and yet little exists in the way of a theory of curriculum for educators. This book sets out the principles of curriculum theory and provides a common framework and practical strategies for the successful implementation and effective management of powerful knowledge-based curriculum for all. Offering powerful insights across the subject divides, the book explores the key elements of curriculum design including progression, sequencing, substantive and disciplinary knowledge, and the relationships of subjects to their sister disciplines. Providing a crucial foundation for school leadership, it covers: curriculum in the contexts of learning, organisational culture and key philosophical and moral ideas an explanation of thirteen specialist subjects, with outline mapping of the knowledge an emphasis on the cultural elements needed for sustained excellence in curriculum work within schools the codification of curriculum and the multiple values of documents for curriculum thinking and execution. Enabling leaders to analyse and discuss subjects beyond their specialisms, this essential text will equip readers to implement real change by leading intelligently and effectively on curriculum.

Educational books can help teachers engage in quality CPD (Continuing/Continuous Professional Development), but how do we find the time to read the latest literature? And if we have the time, how do we know what to choose or what we should do with what we read? Born from a real-life book club, The Edu-Book Club helps teachers and school leaders to navigate the wealth of evidence-based CPD by bringing together key publications on teaching, assessment, and curriculum. It shows how the ideas and research presented in these publications can be translated into everyday classroom practice, to help teachers and school leaders develop and inform these practices for their own professional and classroom development. Drawing on a diverse range of books and including practical advice on how to set up and run a book club, each book club session covers: The rationale for choosing that title An interview with the author with accompanying visual notes A summary of the key ideas Key takeaways and implications for classroom practice With an accompanying website featuring the video interviews and additional resources, accessible at https://glt-alwayslearning.co.uk/posts/glt-friends-book-club-edu-book-club, this will be a valuable resource for teachers and school leaders at all stages of their careers.

Schools need to have purchase on the curriculum: why they teach the subjects beyond preparation for examinations, what they are intending to achieve with the curriculum, how well it is planned and enacted in classrooms and how they know whether it’s doing what it’s supposed to. Fundamental to this understanding are the conversations between subject leaders and their line managers. However, there is sometimes a mismatch between the subject specialisms of senior leaders and those they line manage. If I don’t know the terrain and the importance of a particular subject, how can I talk intelligently with colleagues who are specialists? This book sets out to offer some tentative answers to these questions. Each of the national curriculum subjects is discussed with a subject leader and provides an insight into what they view as the importance of the subject, how they go about ensuring that knowledge, understanding and skills are developed over time, how they talk about the quality of the schemes in their departments and what they would welcome from senior leaders by way of support. We have chosen this way of opening up the potentially difficult terrain of expertise on one side and relative lack of expertise on the other, by providing these case studies. They are suggested as prompts rather than the last word. Informed debate is, after all, the fuel of curriculum development. And why Huh? Well, 'Huh?' may be John's first response when he walks into a Year 8 German class but, in fact, we chose 'Huh' as the title of our book as he is the Egyptian god of endlessness. As Claire Hill so eloquently comments in her chapter, “Curriculum development is an ongoing process; it’s not going to be finished, ever.” And we believe that 'Huh' captures a healthy and expansive way of considering curriculum conversations.

How can education be a vehicle for social change? This book looks at how different educational theories can be used to address complex and vital issues in society by exploring key concepts and challenging traditional thought through an educational lens. Each topic area is explored in both theoretical and practical terms with direct application to the classroom throughout. Key topics include: The climate crisis The Black Lives Matter movement The rise of right-wing populism The experience of LGBTQ+ students in school The impact of COVID-19 This is essential reading for anyone training to teach at any age phase and students undertaking the academic study of education.

Written by Richard Bustin , What are we Teaching? Powerful knowledge and a capabilities curriculum offers a fresh perspective on curriculum design, arguing that subjects are key to enabling young people to develop the powerful knowledge needed to flourish in a complex modern world. Moving ideas beyond the 'traditional vs progressive' debates that have dominated education discourse, Richard Bustin challenges the overarching emphasis on exam performance at the expense of the broader benefits of subject knowledge and capabilities such as critical and creative thinking. What are we Teaching? explores curriculum debates in relation to the current school climate, considering factors such as knowledge-led education, teaching to the test, and the challenge of teacher retention and recruitment issues. It includes new research involving teachers in real schools engaging with powerful knowledge, and it prompts teachers to evaluate their responsibilities as 'curriculum makers'. The book invites teachers to consider why their subject specialism is important as part of a whole school curriculum vision, and a provides language with which to articulate that. Part One introduces the key theories on which the book is based, including different ways of making sense of knowledge, skills and values in the curriculum, powerful knowledge and educational capabilities. What are we Teaching?is research-based, using voices of real teachers who engaged with the question 'what makes your subject powerful knowledge for young people', and Part Two, which focuses on different subject areas, examines these testimonies. The final part offers advice on building a powerful knowledge and capabilities rich curriculum in schools. Each chapter includes a set of reflective questions which can be used as part of ITE training or staff CPD. Essential reading for teachers, senior and subject leaders and curriculum coordinators.

Develop your professional identity and feel prepared to teach! This core text for the Professional Studies module is linked to the CCF and supports trainees to develop their knowledge, understand their role as a professional and to engage with practice and theory. Using real experiences, it helps tackle common pitfalls of the early stages of secondary teaching. Each chapter outlines the topic, describes any debates or alternate perspectives and suggests further reading or study. Readers are supported with ideas for reflection, learning activities, and assignment support in this easy-to-use title, enabling a clear intent and a structured implementation of a professional studies curriculum.

A powerful school culture can unite staff in a common vision, shape positive behaviours and attitudes, and create the conditions for the staff body to work as one. As the recruitment and retention crisis deepens, staff culture is more important than ever. This book explores how schools can develop a culture where individuals take pride in their work and actively seek and embrace development and challenge, seeing the big picture of the school and cherishing their role in it. Drawing on key ideas from systems theory, psychology, anthropology, business and philosophy, this book explores the key ideas we need in order to understand culture and the concrete steps we can take in order to intentionally develop our staff culture in a positive direction. Each chapter features powerful input to strengthen our understanding alongside probing reflections to guide our own development. Written by a leading practitioner and designed to support reflections and planning for concrete actions, this is essential reading for school leaders and head teachers wanting to develop an authentic, powerful and positive school staff culture. School Staff Culture benefits from a completely free school development package, with session plans, slides and resources to structure a programme of sessions for leadership and specialist culture teams. The package supports the input, reflection, discussion, evaluation and contextualised application and review that will really bring the ideas in School Staff Culture to life in a school, and can be downloaded from www.routledge.com/9781032121963.