Found this post by Lizanne Foster on the Facebook page for the Surrey Teachers Association:
If you’re feeling overwhelmed by all the information about the new curriculum, this blog written by a prof at a university is a brilliant synopsis not only of the curriculum but also of a post secondary institutions’ perspective of the new curriculum.
Some extracts:
This blog post was written to give a high-level overview of the changes in the new BC K-12 curriculum and how these changes may impact post-secondary institutions.
The curriculum has less “knowing” and more “doing” along with focusing on the big ideas. Students should come into post-secondary hopefully with stronger skills, strategies and processes for applying and doing the learning. The previous K-12 curriculum had a lot of ‘knowing’ and a larger amount of content to attend to, whereas this new curriculum is focused on the “how” of learning in a subject area.
Students should be arriving in PSE institutions with greater awareness of the learning process, how to go about applying their skills and knowledge and will seek to understand the bigger ideas and principles for new courses and learning experiences. In addition, students will have had more choice, flexibility and experiences in personalizing their learning coming into post-secondary education.
Possibly the bigger underlying concept with this new framework is the shift from content-focused curriculum (more linear and focused on testing, assignment and exams at end of topics, chapters, themes or modules) to a concept and process-oriented curriculum (more spiral in shape and focused on revisiting concepts and content many times throughout a course) with frequent and varied assessment as learning experiences to guide students in understanding their growth and development. This may be the more challenging component for all educators in redesigning and enhancing their assessment and instructional methods.
The opportunity for post-secondary educators is to look at their curriculum and classes and take this opportunity to reassess how learning happens.
Are there elements of the new K-12 curriculum that could be extended or enhanced in university and college classes?
Would chatting with Gr. 10-12 teachers on how they are teaching a specific discipline in this new curriculum model assist post-secondary educators in making learning a more seamless experience for students?
Might this new curriculum provide opportunities for collaboration and connections to create professional learning for both the K-12 and PSE sector?
The new K-12 curriculum provides both sectors will opportunities to grow and learn from each other.
The rest of the blog can be found at:
5 Key Changes in BC’s New K-12 Curriculum: What are the Implications for Post-Secondary?
