Curriculum for Wales - The 4 Purposes

 

Curriculum For Wales - The 4 Purposes

#15MFCymruTeam

The aim of this post is to take a deeper look at The 4 Purposes within Curriculum for Wales.

The aim is to address the questions above and stimulate some thought and discussion around enacting Curriculum for Wales at a School, Areas of Learning and Experience or even subject level.

In short, the Four Purposes provide us with the What! This is the big picture! The shared vision that links us all together in a common endeavour. So let’s dive in!

The above quote from the Curriculum For Wales documentation clearly illustrates the 4 Purposes are the starting point and aspiration for the whole curriculum. A clear purpose to enable all learners to become ambitious, capable, enterprising, creative, ethical and informed, healthy and confident people equipped to take a fully functional and effective role in society.

On one hand, these look appropriate and sensible aspirations for all learners that many would find it hard to disagree with. Yet, on the other hand, they can seem hugely challenging and ambitious beyond reality given the issues surrounding poverty and levels of literacy in general. On the surface they're obvious but considering the lengthy process to arrive at them and the huge distilling process and deep consideration to agree upon them, this is now the vision for all learners and the driver for the curriculum changes.

One of the issues that immediately arises is do all schools in all sectors have a shared understanding of the fully-loaded purposes contained here? What is a purpose? What does it mean and how does it align with curriculum thinking and planning to take such a central place in the curriculum documentation?

A quick search of the word provides these definitions that may, or may not, help us to grasp at a deeper level why they’re central to everything.

The reason, motive, impetus, grounds for, point of and cause for the curriculum is to mould and release these creative, enterprising, informed and healthy individuals into society. It is therefore primarily the What of the curriculum. It’s the big picture, the driver, the impetus, the reason and the motivation for the whole endeavour.

In a nutshell, the 4 Purposes are in-fact one purpose with four facets that interlink and intertwine to realise the whole vision. The Learner possessing these dispositions as a result of their experience through the system.

It’s also interesting to consider the verb form of the word purpose here too! Intention, aim, plan and overall design for the purpose of education is the ground of Curriculum for Wales; and the 4 Purposes are the centre piece. Let’s dig a little deeper and explore each aspect of the whole purpose in more detail.

• Expectations and challenge
• Knowledge
• Skills
• Questioning
• Problem Solving
• Communication in Welsh and English
• Explaining ideas and concepts
• Using number
• Interpreting Data
• Applying mathematical concepts
• Using digital technologies
• Analysing information
• Researching
• Evaluating critically

= LIFE LONG LEARNERS

• Knowledge and application of knowledge
• Creation of ideas and products
• Thinking creatively
• Reframing and solving problems
• Identifying and grasping ideas
• Taking measured risks
• Working collaboratively with roles and acting responsibly
• Expressing emotions and ideas in a variety of ways
• Giving time, effort, energy, knowledge and skills to benefit others

= TO PLAY A FULL PART IN LIFE AND WORK

• Finding, evaluating and using evidence to form views and opinions
• Contemporary issues 
• Values
• Democratic responsibilities and rights
• Actions and consequences when making decisions
• Knowledge of self, community, culture, society and the world both now and in the past
• Respecting others and rights within a diverse society
• Sustainability

= Citizenship of Wales and the World

• Values – spiritual and ethical
• Wellbeing – mental and emotional 
• Confidence, resilience and empathy
• Application of knowledge to inform lifestyle - diet, exercise and mental health
• Finding information to support lifestyle and decisions
• Physical activity
• Measured decisions for lifestyle and risk management
• Participation
• Relationships
• Overcoming hardships
• Knowledge and skills to be as independent as they can be

= LEAD FULFILLING LIVES AS VALUED MEMBERS OF SOCIETY

Let's pause and take a breath for a minute! The 4 Purposes are far from being buzzwords or small aspects of the curriculum. They are, in reality, the very detailed reasons, motivations and desire for the curriculum. As we consider the design process, all the planning and development should be driven by these over-arching purposes, reasons and motivations for our young people as they journey through the system.

This does not mean we will all have to address every aspect individually and nor should we consider them in isolation from each other. For example, each purpose contains knowledge in some form or measure. Knowledge is the foundation or basic starting point for learning and the whole curriculum and they're clearly established within the purposes themselves. The ability to apply knowledge in new contexts also repeats itself often, so the purposes in fact encapsulate the whole range of learning approaches and experience. There's lots of scope from direct instruction to project based learning and these purposes do not favour one above the other but both at the appropriate time for a specific purpose. This is further illustrated in the subsequent skills requirements and pedagogical principles within the document.

How does all this fit into any serious discussion about developing Curriculum for Wales?

It really doesn’t matter which graphic, blog, article, webinar or discussion you encounter concerning Curriculum for Wales, the Purpose of the curriculum is central. It purposefully puts the Learner at the centre and rightly so. However, as we look at how this will be achieved, we can also see the Purpose, therefore the Learner, is also the centre of the SLO model and all we do as educators to enact the curriculum going forward. In looking at the SHARED VISION section of the model, it is clear that we need to have a collective, deep and clear understanding of the purpose of the curriculum in order to address how to enact it meaningfully. Does this have implications for Professional Learning?

To conclude this quick post, I thought it would be reasonable to address in more detail what the 4 Purposes are not and suggest some further reading! There are lots of myths and misconceptions, where some have some validity and others are obvious false dichotomies. Check out the links below about Dispelling Myths! For instance knowledge v's skills or direct instruction v's inquiry based learning. The fact is clear, the document itself and The 4 Purposes, as I hope I’ve illustrated, are broad enough that schools can and should select from the best of all approaches (best bets) and the 12 pedagogical principles as they design learning experiences that are suitable for their context. The difficult discussions are really about mapping potential SOW against the Purposes of the curriculum and What Matters statements before launching into considerations of other aspects. There are so many difficult discussions and decisions yet to be had about content and assessment and how we achieve cohesion  across the whole learner experience.

We cannot and should not try to measure the 4 Purposes or teach them in isolation from each other. The purposes are the embodiment of our learners.  Check out the Character Dispositions post below!

A final thought! How do we as educators and establishments model these dispositions effectively? Do you think we've made a good start?

The Curriculum for Wales – Dispelling the Myths – Part 1. | Curriculum for Wales Blog (gov.wales)

The Curriculum for Wales – Dispelling the Myths – Part 2 | Curriculum for Wales Blog (gov.wales)

Character dispositions. Teach them. Model them. Develop them. Celebrate them. But, please, don’t measure them. | teacherhead

Update:

Since writing this post, the following research paper by Jane Gatley has been shared with us so we are adding it here for those interested. It creates another line of thinking with regard to the 4 Purposes as an aims based curriculum approach and the AoLE's as a subject based approach to curriculum which leads to some tension between the two.

Can the New Welsh Curriculum achieve its purposes? - Gatley - 2020 - The Curriculum Journal - Wiley Online Library