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ANNEX A
A CURRICULUM FOR EXCELLENCE
Values
1. Wisdom, justice, compassion and integrity: the
words which are inscribed on the mace of the Scottish
Parliament have helped to define values for our
democracy.
2. It is one of the prime purposes of
education to make our young people aware of the values on
which Scottish society is based and so help them to
establish their own stances on matters of social justice
and personal and collective responsibility. Young people
therefore need to learn about and develop these values. The
curriculum is an important means through which this
personal development should be encouraged.
3. To achieve this, the curriculum:
- should enable all young people to benefit
from their education, supporting them in different
ways to achieve their potential;
- must value the learning and achievements of
all young people and promote high aspirations and
ambition;
- should emphasise the rights and
responsibilities of individuals and nations. It
should help young people to understand diverse
cultures and beliefs and support them in developing
concern, tolerance, care and respect for themselves
and others;
- must enable young people to build up a
strong foundation of knowledge and understanding
and promote a commitment to considered judgement
and ethical action; and
- should give young people the confidence,
attributes and capabilities to make valuable
contributions to society.
4. In essence, it must be inclusive, be a
stimulus for personal achievement and, through the
broadening of pupils' experience of the world, be an
encouragement towards informed and responsible
citizenship.
Purposes
5. Our aspiration for all children and for
every young person is that they should be successful
learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and
effective contributors to society and at work. By providing
structure, support and direction to young people's
learning, the curriculum should enable them to develop
these four capacities. The curriculum should complement the
important contributions of families and communities.
Principles for Curriculum Design
Challenges and enjoyment |
Young people should find their learning
challenging, engaging and motivating. The
curriculum should encourage high aspirations
and ambitions for all. At all stages, learners
of all aptitudes and abilities should
experience an appropriate level of challenge,
to enable each individual to achieve his or her
potential. They should be active in their
learning and have opportunities to develop and
demonstrate their creativity. There should be
support to enable young people to sustain their
effort. |
Breadth |
All young people should have opportunities
for a broad, suitably-weighted range of
experiences. The curriculum should be organised
so that they will learn and develop through a
variety of contexts within both the classroom
and other aspects of school life. |
Progression |
Young people should experience continuous
progression in their learning from 3 to 18
within a single curriculum framework. Each
stage should build upon earlier knowledge and
achievements. Young people should be able to
progress at a rate which meets their needs and
aptitudes, and keep options open so that routes
are not closed off too early. |
Depth |
There should be opportunities for young
people to develop their full capacity for
different types of thinking and learning. As
they progress, they should develop and apply
increasing intellectual rigour, drawing
different strands of learning together and
exploring and achieving more advanced levels of
understanding. |
Personalisation and choice |
The curriculum should respond to individual
needs and support particular aptitudes and
talents. It should give each young person
increasing opportunities for exercising
responsible personal choice as they move
through their school career. Once they have
achieved suitable levels of attainment across a
wide range of areas of learning the choice
should become as open as possible. There should
be safeguards to ensure that choices are
soundly based and lead to successful
outcomes. |
Coherence |
Taken as a whole, children's learning
activities should combine to form a coherent
experience. There should be clear links between
the different aspects of young people's
learning, including opportunities for extended
activities which draw different strands of
learning together. |
Relevance |
Young people should understand the purposes
of their activities. They should see the value
of what they are learning and its relevance to
their lives, present and future. |
6. Although all should apply at any one
stage, the principles will have different emphases as a
young person learns and develops. So, for example, the need
for breadth will apply very strongly in the earlier stages,
to ensure that a child will gain knowledge and
understanding across a wide range of areas of learning.
More options for specialisation will be available later,
once essential outcomes have been achieved. The nature of
choice will also change as a child develops, for example
starting with choices in play activities, moving through
choices in topics and contexts for learning and eventually
reaching opportunities for decisions between programmes
which may have implications for subsequent careers.
7. There will need to be sufficient
flexibility in the way in which teaching and learning is
managed to find the right blend and balance for each young
person for their particular stage and circumstances. To
enhance opportunities and allow greater personalisation of
learning, schools will need to look beyond their own
expertise and resources so that their students can have
access to suitable provision. This may be through
technologies to make connections between learners and
teachers at a distance, or partnerships with other schools
and colleges.
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