What is curriculum?¶

I remember going to a library and feeling overwhelmed with so much information and knowledge contained in one building. Knowing I’d only be able to absorb a small amount of this information and knowledge in my lifetime. This realisation raised an important question: what knowledge is actually worth focusing on?

Curriculum in education is a guide to the information and knowledge that is important.

The clearer you are about where you want students to go, the better chance you have of getting them there. John Hattie's large-scale research into what works in education points to backwards design as one of the most effective approaches to learning — starting with a clear picture of what students should know and be able to do, then designing the path to get there. Doug Lemov observed something similar in practice: effective teachers spend more time identifying outcomes and less time selecting activities than their colleagues.

As Laurence Peter put it, "a curriculum is a path through knowledge. If you don't know where you're going, you'll probably end up someplace else."

Curriculum is also an inheritance. Humanity has spent thousands of years working out what is worth knowing and how best to pass it on.

"Throughout history wise men and women have applied themselves to these problems in the service of their own development and that of humankind. Rather than start from scratch, why not draw on thousands of years of experience, and millions of hours of reflection and practice?"

— Think yourself better: 10 rules of philosophy to live by, The Guardian, 2023

What makes a good curriculum¶

Start with why¶

A good curriculum helps students understand not just what they are learning but why it matters. Connecting content to purpose gives students a reason to engage and helps knowledge stick.

Knowledge builds incrementally¶

A good curriculum guides students through content in small, connected steps, with plenty of opportunity for repetition and consolidation before moving on. Each new idea should rest on solid ground.

Knowledge is valuable¶

A curriculum should be built on the conviction that what students learn matters. Knowledge is not just a means to an end — it is intrinsically worth having.

Knowledge is concrete¶

Good curriculum specifies what students should actually know and be able to do, not vague dispositions or generic skills. The more concrete the content, the easier it is to teach and assess.

Knowledge fits how our brains work¶

Content should be organised and sequenced in ways that reflect how people actually learn - building on prior knowledge, making connections, and reducing unnecessary cognitive load.

Clarity and coherence¶

A good curriculum is clear about what to teach and coherent in how it fits together. Teachers should be able to read it and know what is expected without having to guess or interpret.

The value of knowledge changes over time¶

Some knowledge remains relevant indefinitely. Other knowledge becomes outdated. A good curriculum recognises this and is designed to be maintained and updated accordingly.

Knowledge can be true or false¶

A curriculum should be grounded in what is well-established and accurate. This matters both for the content selected and for how students are taught to evaluate knowledge claims.

Forgetting is part of learning¶

People forget. A good curriculum accounts for this by building in repetition and spacing, so that important content is revisited over time rather than taught once and assumed to be retained.

Standardisation enables shared understanding¶

When curriculum is standardised, teachers, schools, and resources can work from a common foundation. This makes collaboration possible and reduces unnecessary duplication of effort.

Repetition supports retention¶

Encountering content once is rarely enough. A good curriculum is deliberately cumulative, returning to important ideas in greater depth as students progress.

Differentiation accounts for student diversity¶

Students arrive with different prior knowledge, experiences, and needs. A good curriculum acknowledges this and supports teachers in adapting without losing coherence or rigour.

Complexity is managed, not avoided¶

Learning involves genuine complexity. A good curriculum does not oversimplify, but it does sequence complexity carefully so that students are challenged at the right level at the right time.

Modularity allows flexibility¶

A good curriculum is structured so that units and components can stand alone, be reordered, or be combined in different ways without losing their integrity. Like building blocks, they should be designed to connect.

Feedback is built in¶

A good curriculum is designed with assessment in mind, so that teachers and students can tell whether learning is actually happening and adjust accordingly.