Expert insight - Lauren Meadows responds to Scenario 2: The one where the curriculum leader wants to change the game…
by Lauren Meadows
Lauren Meadows, Curriculum Lead at Unity Schools Partnership, responds to our scenario: “The one where the curriculum leader wants to change the game…”, below.
For a reminder of the scenario, it’s embedded!
Scenario 2: The one where the curriculum leader wants to change the game…
Liz is responsible for Curriculum and Assessment at her school and has been deputy head there for a year now. She previously worked at the school as a teacher and phase leader and gets on well with the staff team (so well she heads up the Thursday night pub quiz team the ‘smartboard squad’)
In this scenario, Liz will have to balance her desire to drive forward at pace with a need to take people with her. She has shown a clear commitment to this in the way she has approached introducing potential new schemes. There are clear echoes of the EEF’s Explore phase of their implementation guidance in how she has sought feedback from the teaching team and looked at a range of schemes before she makes her decision.
What is crucial in this scenario is not just the change itself but the reasons for the change and the reasons that she believes this new scheme will improve outcomes. The very best way to achieve this is to do some ground work first, rooting her presentation to staff in what the evidence tells her about:
How the current scheme is serving their pupils, with particular focus on those experiencing disadvantage
How the new scheme reflects all that we know about what works in the classroom, specifically the science of learning
Establish the dissatisfaction
Many years ago, a very wise systems leader told me ‘without first establishing the dissatisfaction, there is no impetus for change’. In Liz’s case, this is vital. If her teaching team do not feel a sense of dissatisfaction, they will not feel inclined to change. This needs to be handled carefully and sensitively so that the teaching team do not feel that the dissatisfaction is a reflection of their practice, but of how the current scheme is serving their pupils.
Agreeing the ‘known knowns’ could be a helpful place to start. This is a simple process of reaching collective agreement about what makes a high-quality Geography curriculum in its design, pedagogy and resourcing. This may also include being explicit about the aspects that there isn’t collective agreement about (known unknowns). Once these ‘known knowns’ have been identified, they can be used as a framework through which to review the current scheme of work and the proposed scheme of work. This should bring into focus the potential issues that Liz is wanting to solve with the introduction of a new curriculum and from here, staff are more likely to buy in to the proposed changes.
Root decision making in evidence
Liz should be using the evidence bases we have available to us as a lens through which to review each potential scheme of work. This includes thinking about how content is organised in the curriculum, how pedagogy is embedded into the scheme and how resources are built to maximise pupils’ chances of success. Being explicit about this with the teaching team will help them see how the proposed new scheme could remedy the issues that they have identified in the first task. By doing this, it will allow Liz to check her team’s understanding of some of these key evidence bases but will also help the teaching team to understand her reasoning for the selection of a new scheme.
Build a PD programme with a balanced design
The EEF’s effective PD guidance could act as a great framework for Liz to use to develop the PD design for introducing any new scheme of work. This includes opportunities to build knowledge, motivate teachers, develop teaching techniques and embed practice. If teachers are reticent to adopt a change to their practice, the PD programme will need to be sufficiently robust and longitudinal to change teachers’ habits and behaviours over time.
It could be helpful to reflect on the bodies of knowledge that underpin the new scheme of work. Teachers will benefit from a strong understanding of how theory relates to the practice they are being asked to execute. For example, understanding some of the mechanics and evidence behind retrieval practice might help teachers better understand why they are being asked to enact certain aspects of the scheme of work. Likewise, understanding the finite capacity of the working memory might help teachers to understand why resources in the scheme have been developed in a certain way.
Once this strong foundation has been established, Liz can consider how to use a combination of PD time, gallery lessons, instructional coaching and other PD mechanisms to introduce the scheme to staff. It will be important for her to recognise that staff will need a tailored approach to PD, perhaps with some requiring more focussed support than others and others benefitting from different approaches to development. Building a strong culture of psychological safety around this will be crucial – this is rooted in strong relationships, with a shared goal of servitude to children.
Linking her monitoring schedule directly to the PD schedule could be a great way to break down what feels like a big change to staff, into several smaller steps. This will also help the team to feel that they are moving together through the change, which brings opportunities to build meaningful social support into the programme.
Once teachers have a clear view of the benefits of the change to students, they may then consider the impact on themselves as teachers. Liz should be alert to these concerns which could include:
Increased workload
A sense of disempowerment
Potential gaps in subject knowledge
Habitual changes to practice
Considering these in advance, Liz can demonstrate to staff that she has considered the potential risks of the change as well as the benefits. It will also allow her to consider how she can work with the team to navigate these potential risks. This mitigation planning demonstrates empathy and balance but crucially sets the expectation that the team will work together to manage the change successfully and in the interests of the pupils that they serve.