Four years ago, Learning Together recommended a review of the Tasmanian school curriculum to establish exactly what we wanted our children and young people to know, understand, value and be able to do as a result of their education.
Extensive community consultation and research were undertaken to support the development of a new curriculum. The result was the Essential Learnings which is being used this year for the first time in all government schools from Kindergarten to Year 10.
The curriculum is organised around five ‘essentials’ - Thinking, Communicating, Personal futures, Social responsibility and World futures - which describe what young people need in order to succeed in the 21st century. Students are still taught knowledge and skills from subjects such as English, mathematics and science. This learning is built into the curriculum through the 18 elements of the Essential Learnings which describe what students need to learn in each of the five essentials. Examples of these elements include Being literate, Being numerate and Inquiry. The titles have changed to connect important aspects of learning and focus on those which are most relevant to students.
The essentials and elements are the same from Kindergarten to Year 10. The level, or standard, that a student is expected to achieve for each element, however, changes as a student progresses through school. Therefore a student’s progress can be clearly seen as they move from one year to the next. The standards are set through a rigorous process that ensures assessment for students is consistent across the state.
In 2005, each student’s report will provide feedback on progress against three elements of the Communicating and Personal futures essentials - Being literate, Being numerate and Maintaining wellbeing. Reports will gradually include information on progress against other elements as assessment against them begins, and in 2009, each student will receive a full Essential Learnings report. The reports will not only show how each student is performing relative to the standard expected from their year group, but for the first time, provide a comparison with all students in the same year around the state.
To ensure that the system is fair and comprehensive, schools have developed reporting agreements with parents and carers that describe how reporting will occur to suit the school’s individual context.
There has been a major focus on professional development, moderation and the development of resources to assist teachers. The new curriculum will allow teachers to spend more time on core teaching and planning, as assessing becomes part of classroom work and will take place in a less crowded curriculum.
With the introduction of the Essential Learnings, Tasmania has a proven, tested and academically supported curriculum. The fact that others, both nationally and internationally, are following our lead supports what we already know-that Tasmania’s new curriculum is world class.
Essential Learnings