A lack of clarity in Curriculum for Excellence (CfE) over the knowledge that pupils need to acquire as they progress through school could have “potential consequences for attainment and understanding”, according to research carried out by Education Scotland.
An Education Scotland paper outlining the early findings from “a package of pilot curriculum reviews” - including maths, health and wellbeing, social studies and modern languages - has been uncovered by Tes Scotland using freedom of information legislation.
The paper - presented to a meeting of the Scottish government’s Curriculum and Assessment Board (CAB) earlier this year - highlights this “lack of clarity” over knowledge has “potential consequences” for the primary to secondary transition.
Secondary staff ‘starting again’
It says “variations in the knowledge base of learners moving to secondary from feeder primary schools” is undermining the “confidence of secondary staff” who are responding “by ‘starting again’”.
This was “viewed as a potential barrier to progression”, says the paper, which adds that “similar challenges” were identified in relation to the transition between the broad general education (BGE) in S1-3 and the senior phase from S4-6.
The Education Scotland paper says: “It was felt that problems such as these could be addressed by providing greater clarity (and thus consistency) of what learners would be expected to know by the end of the primary stage.”
It also says that “greater clarity on the knowledge learners should have” is needed “at key points in learning”. It says this would support moderation and improve tracking and monitoring.
However, the paper acknowledges that there is a balance to be struck between “greater clarity on the position of knowledge” and “over-prescription”.
The role of knowledge in CfE has long been identified as an issue.
The review of CfE, carried out by the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) reported in 2021 that “the role of knowledge appears somewhat fragmented and left to interpretation at the school level”.
It added that this lack of clarity around knowledge could be a “reaction to previously overloaded, content-dominated programmes” - but warned it could create “the misleading impression that a strong knowledge base is no longer a priority.”
Education Scotland’s “package of pilot curriculum reviews” has been carried out in response to the 2021 OECD report and has “focused specifically on reviewing and clarifying the position of knowledge within curriculum areas”.
At the time of the Education Scotland paper - which was prepared for the CAB meeting on 30 January - reviews had been held in maths, health and wellbeing, social studies and modern languages, with expressive arts and English/literacy due to follow.
‘Big ideas’ or ‘core literacies’ model
One way “to provide greater clarity on the role and position of knowledge”, says the paper, could be to adopt a “big ideas” or “core literacies” model. It says this would mean organising the BGE “into broader learning areas, for example, based on cross-curricular themes”.
The paper adds: “These ‘core literacies’ could aim to ensure learners are literate and numerate, have the digital knowledge and skills required to operate in a rapidly changing society, are politically, financially and scientifically literate, understand sustainability, are culturally literate and secure in their own health and wellbeing.
“This could then provide a rationale for the elements of knowledge to prioritise and act as a basis for developing a common base of knowledge and skills for all learners by the end of the BGE.”
However, the paper acknowledges that “tensions…exist between such an alternative purpose for the BGE and...the senior phase”.
It says this was noted during the pilot reviews as a particular problem for “hierarchical subjects” such as maths.
Criticism of ‘downgrading of knowledge’
Professor Mark Priestley is a member of CAB. He - along with colleagues Dr Joe Smith and Professor Lizzie Rushton - wrote a response to the Education Scotland paper.
The University of Stirling academics say they are “delighted to see this topic getting some attention” and that “the issue of knowledge, and specifically the so-called downgrading of knowledge, has long been a source of criticism...of competency-based curriculum approaches such as CfE”.
They say the Education Scotland paper provides “a useful starting point for addressing what is a crucial curricular issue” and that there is “considerable work required to reframe the curriculum to take more account of the importance of knowledge”.
They add that “big-ideas frameworks” show “considerable promise as an approach to specifying knowledge in a coherent manner” and could be “a replacement for the competency-based framing of CfE”.
Improvement to CfE
In February, Tes Scotland revealed that the government is considering reviewing CfE every 10 years, to ensure it remains “fit for purpose”.
The Education Scotland paper says the pilot curriculum reviews have been carried out “in parallel” with this activity and that it will publish a paper on the “position of knowledge” in CfE in April 2024.
In the wake of Scotland’s disappointing Programme for International Student Assessment results, education secretary Jenny Gilruth said 2024 would mark the beginning of improvement to CfE “in a planned and systemic way” - and that maths would be “the first curricular area to be revised”.
She also said that literacy and English would be “the next priority for curriculum update”.
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