Direct instruction (an approach) and constructivism (a theory of learning)

March 15, 2015

It is important to concede differences in the definitions of these pedagogies and in the premises on which we as teachers base our judgments of the purpose, contexts, specifications and constraints of various pedagogies.

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January 15, 2024

Preparing a primary science or STEM inquiry unit plan

January 15, 2024

Unit planning is very important. It is something all teachers continue to do throughout their career as a teacher.

To me, unit plans are a great place for teachers to demonstrate their professionalism. To demonstrate their thinking, teachers should treat unit plans as dynamic accounts of their teaching, rather than static records of their intentions. Treating unit plans as dynamic accounts enables teachers to explain what they have done (for others or for the future), justify their plans and decisions, analyse the impact of their actions (for student learning), and evaluate their teaching.

I hope this post helps teachers to develop their unit plans as dynamic accounts and reflect on the purposes of planning and teaching.

January 15, 2024

December 6, 2023

What is the role of curriculum? What makes a quality curriculum?

December 6, 2023

In a report released on Monday 27 November, 2023, educational reform consultancy Learning First claims to have conducted the first detailed benchmarking of the content of the Australian science curriculum against seven high-performing and comparable systems around the world.

The claim that this is the first benchmarking activity is just one of many errors in the report, which is rife with unsubstantiated claims, incomplete evidence, and gross assumptions, the most disturbing of which is that more “content” is a key indicator of quality curriculum (with the implication that good teaching is all about transmission of content).

Learning First is a company that claims to “build relationships… based on honesty, integrity and deep experience and expertise” and whose clients “include federal governments in various parts of the world.” Given their activities and clients, this report is worth scrutiny.

December 6, 2023

October 25, 2023

Five misconceptions about the curriculum (and what you really need to know)

October 25, 2023

In my work with teachers in curriculum and pedagogy over the years, I have noticed that several misconceptions about our Australian Curriculum: Science continue to be raised.

These misconceptions include:

The Science understanding strand is the only strand that should be planned for, taught, and assessed
Content elaborations must be taught and assessed
Each content description should be taught as a unit across a whole term
The curriculum is the only thing that should be taught
The goal of the curriculum is to prepare students for senior secondary science classes

Each of these statements is not correct! So what is? Let’s see what’s true.

October 25, 2023

February 9, 2023

Is jelly a liquid or a solid? And why this is a great inquiry question

February 9, 2023

I’m a big fan of inquiry questions, and some in particular stand out as worth embedding in our teaching. One inquiry question (from the Year 3 year level description in the revised Australian Curriculum: Science) in particular — “Is jelly a liquid or a solid?” — stands out. It’s there to support learning of the Science understanding sub-strand Chemical sciences content description “investigate the observable properties of solids and liquids and how adding or removing heat energy leads to a change of state,” as well as several of the Science inquiry strand content descriptions. Read on to find out why this is such a useful question for driving learning in Year 3…

February 9, 2023

June 4, 2020

What do you do with a PhD?

June 4, 2020

Someone recently asked me what I had hoped to achieve with my PhD. Whether naivete or idealism, I never aimed to achieve anything with my PhD. I just loved learning. I hoped it would allow me to perform work that was meaningful to me, that I could be passionate about. That work was, and remains, the enabling of teachers, especially primary teachers, to think and teach well.

June 4, 2020