As you know, large parts of a new draft of the English Curriculum came out in Term 3, 2024. I was particularly interested to look at its content, having been a major writer of the 2008 version. Our briefs were obviously very different – we were instructed to condense what was to be covered into an Essence Statement supported by a set of achievement objectives for productive (speaking; writing; presenting) and receptive (listening; reading; viewing) strands. This work was to be complemented by resources (such as the Literacy Learning Progressions) which gave greater detail on what was to be covered. The writers of the new draft were presumably instructed to include considerably more detail than we had included in the main document.
I was slightly apprehensive that the new curriculum would be very prescriptive on how new goals were to be addressed. But, on the whole, I am appreciative and supportive of the work that has been presented so far, especially related to the teaching of writing.
It advocates for a structured approach which I interpret as a need for planned, direct and explicit instruction on matters related to word, sentence and text formation. This, together with an emphasis on effective topic and task selection (‘having something to say’) and building independence/self-regulation, constitutes the essence of my research on effective writing instruction. And, of course, I hope that the joy of writing (and reading) by students will continue to be promoted.
Many of the above points appear to be evident in the new draft of the English Curriculum. I am pleased about this.
I am concerned, however, that some teachers may interpret the detailed lists of skills and strategies at each phase as what needs to be taught at that particular phase and nothing more. Bearing in mind that different students demonstrate different needs at different times, I am hoping that these detailed lists will be interpreted instead as what is expected of students at each phase and taught if necessary. For example, a student who had been at school for just three weeks recently produced a well-constructed sentence for me showing excellent phonemic awareness and mastery of some basic sight words on a subject that she was keen to share with me – I would hope that teachers recognised that she had very different teaching and learning needs than most others in her cohort and would plan/teach accordingly.
I am also concerned that some teachers might regard the detailed lists of skills and strategies at each phase as items to be taught in isolation and apart from each other. Instead, I hope that teachers will teach them within the context of real and authentic text creation. We know the benefits of ‘just in time’ teaching rather than ‘just in case’ teaching. But they do need to be checked for proficiency by each student at each phase.
These are just some of my initial thoughts on the new draft of the English Curriculum. I look forward to reading the completed version, especially when the contents for Phase 3 have been added.
Dr Murray Gadd
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