Types Of Knowledge In The WA Curriculum

By Alice Hall & Ruhina Cockar

Ruth Ashbee defines curriculum as “knowledge structured over time”, so what do we mean by knowledge?

Different educational experts categorise knowledge in different ways. We may have heard knowledge referred to by different labels and at times the overlap between seemingly discrete ‘categories’ can be confusing. Subject to subject, we may also categorise knowledge slightly differently, so, at times, the labels may be slightly blurred. What is important as teachers, is that we understand the different types of knowledge, how they apply to our subjects, and how we incorporate them into our teaching. 

How are the types of knowledge defined? 

Types of knowledge can include:

• Declarative knowledge

• Substantive knowledge

• Procedural knowledge

• Disciplinary knowledge

• Tacit knowledge

  
  

“Substantive knowledge is the content that teachers teach as established fact – whether common convention, concept or warranted account of reality. You might want pupils to know of crotchets, percentages, the Treaty of Waitangi, Debussy or stem cells. In calling this ‘substantive’, we are treating the material presented as givens.

Disciplinary knowledge, by contrast, is a curricular term for what pupils learn about how that knowledge was established and how it continues to be revised by scholars, artists or professional practice. It is that part of the subject where pupils understand each discipline as a tradition of enquiry with its own distinctive pursuit of truth. It describes that part of the curriculum where pupils learn about the conditions under which valid claims can be made, and associated conventions such as what constitutes evidence or argument in that subject” (Counsell, 2020).

Procedural knowledge is a term that often accompanies declarative knowledge. Sometimes the definition of these two terms is given as ‘know how’ and ‘know what’. Procedural knowledge is the understanding of how something is done, the series of steps or actions taken to accomplish a goal, for example, following a recipe of set steps to create a meal. Some procedural knowledge is domain-specific (such as the understanding of using baking powder as a raising agent to bake a cake) and some is transferable across disciplines (such as plotting graphs, skills that may be taught in both Geography and Maths). 

Tacit knowledge can be much harder for students to describe. Sometimes called lived knowledge, tacit knowledge is often inferred and developed through lived experiences. Students may know, for example, that their friend is sad, but may struggle to articulate why (dropped facial expression, slouched posture, muted tone of voice, etc). Tacit knowledge can be very important in the learning process, however is often difficult for students to articulate in an explicit manner. 

How does Ofsted want us to use this understanding about types of knowledge? 

Ofsted refers to research from educational psychologist Sweller who states that, “Learning can be defined as an alteration in long-term memory. If nothing has altered in long-term memory, nothing has been learned”. However, transfer to long-term memory depends on rich processes. In order to develop understanding, pupils connect new knowledge with existing knowledge. Pupils also need to develop fluency and unconsciously apply their knowledge as skills. This must not be reduced to, or confused with, simply memorising facts.

In terms of how schools are expected to demonstrate this, Professor Daniel Muijis, Ofsted’s Deputy Director of Research and Evaluation said “It’s what you do, not how you label it that matters.” Schools will not be judged on whether they organise their knowledge under the labels ‘disciplinary’ and ‘substantive’ or any other organisational principles. They will, however, be asked about ‘what they do’ and as long as an approach or approaches can be explained clearly and is shown to be helpful in the school’s curriculum design work, then curriculum design can be judged to be effective.

How does this fit with the WA vision for the curriculum?

The WA curriculum, including the personal development curriculum, will support student success by ensuring that they know, do, and understand more. Effective road-mapping will help students link and relate topics to prior and future learning, building the metacognitive skills to become successful enquirers. Student-centred learning will be promoted through successful independent practice and the practical application of knowledge. This will be supported by appropriate instruction, modelling, scaffolding and guided practice. Our curriculum will be both a mirror and a window, reflecting all members of our community whilst challenging preconceptions and equipping students with the skills and experience to think critically.

Subject leaders and teachers should be able to distinguish and understand what the different types of knowledge are for their subjects. This should be guiding their curriculum design and therefore clearly expressed in unit plans and lesson planning. Students should be able to express their understanding through what they know, how they know it and how they might be able to attempt a problem (metacognitive understanding). Keep in mind that types of knowledge may look different from subject to subject, and it is important to consider how this may impact the teaching and learning in your subject area. 

Questions to consider: 

• What are the facts and methods that should make up the curriculum? What are the links between them?

• What is the necessary prior knowledge needed in order to access a particular topic?

• What are the features of excellent writing in a particular topic? How should these be mapped and explicitly taught across the curriculum?

• How can I continually review and develop our curriculum? 

  
  

References

Birgit Muskat and Marg Deery, 2017.  “Knowledge  transfer  and  organizational  memory:  An  events perspective”. Event Management 21(4), pp. 431–447. 

Christine Counsell, 2020. https://my.chartered.college/impact_article/taking-curriculum- seriously/  

Christine Counsell and Daniel Mujis, 2022 https://trivium21c.com/2020/01/26/ofsted-and- knowledge/ 

Ofsted Music Subject Review, 2021. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/research- review-series-music 

Ofsted Art aide memoire (in Third Space Learning), 2022. https://thirdspacelearning.com/ blog/ofsted-crib-sheets/ 

Primary Science Education Consultants, 2022. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= eduvDOHH3UQ

Bitesize Research: Impact Of The IB On Students Going To University

By Jaya Carrier

I hope you’re all having a good week so far - and have a restful and joyful break when it comes around. This term, with Sixth Form Open Evening, and with lots of YR11 Post-16 progression work taking place, we’ve been thinking lots about how to continually highlight the amazing benefits of an IB Post-16 education. As such, in this final bitesize of T2 and of 2022, I wanted to share some recent research published by the IB about students who have taken both the DP and CP programmes and their successes at university.

Objectives: To understand the impact of the IB programmes on students going to university 

Summary: 

• In the UK, students taking the IB were three times more likely to enrol in a top 20 university than their A level counterparts

• Students who have taken IB programmes were also more likely to obtain a 1st or 2:1 degree, as well as study at postgraduate level

• UK IB students were also more likely to have greater levels of critical thinking than their counterparts doing other programmes

• There is also compelling evidence about the impact of the CP programme on UK students going to university. For example, the research suggests that 70% of CP alumni obtain a 1st or 2:1 degree. 

• CP students also self-reported as having strong academic, work-related and personal skills.

  
  

How does this impact me and my practice?: 

Some reflections arising from this that might be helpful to consider are: 

• How confident do I feel in explaining the benefits of an IB education to our students?

• What information or support do I need to help me with this?

 

Please do get in touch if you would like to talk further about this - I’d love to hear from you! Have a lovely break, and wishing you all a Happy New Year!

Bitesize Research: Using Metacognition In Written Tasks

 By Jaya Carrier

I hope you’re all having a good week so far. Given its central importance in supporting student progress and learning, metacognition is something we’ve had lots of blog posts about. To add to this growing area, I was interested to see an Edutopia article focusing on the benefits of metacognition for writing skills. Objectives: To consider specific strategies for using metacognition in written tasks. Summary:

• The author suggests finding ways to encourage students to consider how they approach writing, what the barriers to writing might be, and strategies that help them to write successfully.
• The author suggests that these areas are important in addition to a rubric or success criteria
• The author recommends a number of ways to support metacognitive writing:
• 1) Keeping a journal or diary - this is where students take breaks during a longer writing process to write down their thoughts about the barriers, strategies and approaches they are taking.
• 2) Making a list of strategies - encouraging students to create an ongoing list of strategies they use when writing
• 3) Writing collaboratively - with the teacher, or with peers. Students can discuss the choices they are making in deliberate ways.
• 4) Using a graphic organiser - to collate thoughts about writing over time or during the writing process for a particular piece of work
• 5) Reflecting after writing - focussing on the ‘big picture’ with questions such as ‘what would you do differently if writing again? Why?’ or ‘what strategies did you use that worked well? How do you know?’

How does this impact me and my practice?: 

Some reflections arising from this that might be helpful to consider are: 

• How am I currently using metacognitive strategies to support student learning?
• Which of these metacognitive writing strategies can I incorporate into my practice? What support do I need to do this?

Please do get in touch if you would like to talk further about this - I’d love to hear from you!

Thoughts From A Visiting Teacher: University of Leiden

By Luca, Britt, Doris, Lola and Myrthe

We are students from the Netherlands in our second-last year to become teachers at the University of Applied Sciences Leiden. Last November 15^th we visited Westminster Academy to experience the differences and similarities between the British and the Dutch school systems. We were excited and learned a lot. We had a great time because of all the nice people we met. 
 
The first thing we noticed are the school uniforms. In the Netherlands it’s normal to wear casual clothing to school. Teachers are required to dress presentable, but whether you do that wearing a dress, a skirt or jeans doesn’t matter. Children are allowed to choose how to dress. To us it was a new experience to see all the students wearing uniforms and for all the teachers to be in business dress.
 
Another concept we are not familiar with, is the houses. Houses and house points are things we only recognise from the Harry Potter books. To see it in real life was a special experience for us. Something we noticed about Westminster Academy is the self-made lessons that are taught. In the Netherlands it’s normal for a school to have pre-made lesson plans. Teachers don’t usually make their own lessons. In the Netherlands they are trying to encourage teachers to find a balance in making lessons and using the pre-made lesson plans. The teachers at Westminster Academy showed us the joy of teaching self-made lessons and that the children can really benefit from it. 
 
After we had seen a few lessons, we also noticed that all the children are taught on the same level (i.e. mixed ability classes). In the Netherlands, especially in secondary school, there are different levels for children to learn at (i.e. students are streamed in all subjects in Secondary education). The level impacts the amount of lessons you have, the amount of years you spend at the school and the difficulty of the teaching material. This is a big difference to what we are used to in secondary school and is more similar to the Dutch primary schools. 
 
And maybe the biggest surprise to us, might be a silly one. We were really surprised to see that the children can get a warm lunch at the school. There were even different things to choose from. The lunches in the Netherlands are simple, cold and you bring them from home. The most common one is a slice of bread with some butter and cheese on it. It really felt like a special meal to us.  
 
We thank all the people for the great care we received at Westminster Academy. We had a great time!