A curriculum fit for purpose

Core Subjects.

The core subjects in the National Curriculum are English. Mathematics and Science. The content of these subjects is largely theoretical, impractical and overly burdensome for your average person.  Most of us remember or use very little of what we are taught in schools in our adult lives. We literally spend our childhoods in school learning stuff to pass exams and then never use it again. Don’t misunderstand me – learning for learning’s sake can be fulfilling. But also, don’t be persuaded that the current curriculum is fit for the purpose of preparing our children to be strong, resilient successful adults in the days ahead.  My degree in Religious Studies was very interesting at the time but it didn’t help me have a critical view of my role in society or set me up with a clear sense of purpose in my life and it won’t help me if the lights go off and the water supply goes down.

In contrast, I contend that an Essential curriculum should teach core competencies which remain useful and applicable into adult life serving not on the individuals but also their community.  All children could learn how to look after the basic needs of survival in a way that promotes and develops strong convictions of service to themselves, the community and to nature. These competencies could be taught in such a way that the children grow in independence and confidence, retaining their innate ability to think in divergent ways, imaginatively and creatively whilst recognizing and honouring their individual gifts and talents.  They could explore what it is that makes their hearts sing and what they can contribute to the well-being of all.

Taught through play, song, story, demonstration and practice the core subjects I propose are; 

1. Water

2. Fire

3. Shelter

4. Food

5. Communication

6. Navigation

7. First Aid

What do you think of my list?  If taught well could it cover all that we need as an individual human and as a species?  

Respectfully learning about water, for example,  would mean we not only know where to find it, make it clean enough to drink, swim in it, sail on it and fish in it but some of us would also be moved to sing about it, tell stories about it, dance and make pictures inspired by it whilst others would want to study the physical science of water.  

I do not contend that my list is necessarily exhaustive but I do maintain that it is better than what is on offer in our schools. The question I ask myself is, is this curriculum just a nice idea in my head or can we as parents, grandparents teachers and carers bring this curriculum to life, today, in our homes and communities?  

Joanna

Back to basics

Joanna & Jason by the campfire, Suffolk, England.

So, here I am saying the authors of the National Curriculum have got it wrong.  That the content of our modern curriculum is not fit for equipping our children for adulthood.  

What then might be an alternative?

I believe we need to go ‘back to basics’.  Back to the foundations of life itself and rediscover the fundamentals.  

Our society has lost connection with these essentials. Our children’s education system and the society in which they are being raised ensures this disconnection is handed down the generations. The curriculum teaches unhelpful and impractical knowledge in a way that crushes originality, creativity and strength of mind, body and spirit. 

Consequently, we struggle to be connected to self, each other, community, and to Nature, the Earth and other species.  We are at odds with ourselves, each other and the planet.  We are not in ‘right relation’.

In order to redress this, we the parents, carers, grandparents and elders must begin again to be in ‘right relation’ and teach our children accordingly.  And we must do this by leading the way, through our actions and examples.

There is a well know poem by Dorothy Law Nolte entitled Children Learn what they Live.  Many teachers have it stuck up on their classroom walls to remind us that our expectations and relationship with each child will directly influence the child’s inner and outer behaviour and self-image.  It reminds us that we teach not merely by talking but, more powerfully, by example.

I have adapted her poem – I don’t think she will mind.

If children live with gratitude, they learn to be grateful.

If children live with acceptance, they learn to accept.

If children live with connection, they learn to connect.

If children live with humility, they learn to be humble.

If children live with community, they learn to commune.

If children live with nature, they learn to be natural.

If children live with strength, they learn to be strong.

If children live with caring, they learn to care.

If children live with honesty, they learn the truth.

If children live with right relation, they will be in right relation.

What does this phrase ‘right relation’ mean?  

My definition is that to be in right relation means we approach everything in this world, seen and unseen, with profound respect, gratitude and humility. We take nothing for granted.  We know that everything is part of the great web of life and we act accordingly with appreciation and consideration. 

I believe that a relevant, useful, nurturing and wholesome curriculum has its feet firmly planted in the rich humus of relationships.  

Relationship with the fundamentals of life – water, earth, air and fire, demonstrating the sanctity of water, articulating how blessed we are that the Earth provides our food, appreciating the air we breathe and the safety of our homes. 

Relationship with ourselves – learning and teaching in a community, understanding how and why children learn, allowing the progression of learning through natural development.

Relationship with others - sharing our space with other species, protecting and standing up for all life.

The Essential Curriculum is rooted in the idea of ‘right relation’.  

Joanna

An Essential Curriculum for the future

Joanna relaxing in the comfort of her debris hut . . .

If you have a child in state school you are probably familiar with some of the vagaries of the National Curriculum.  I was a teacher for many years and loved my job. However, I heartily disliked the National Curriculum and as the strictures became more stringent, I reluctantly left formal education and began teaching outside instead.  I believe it is imperative that we examine and challenge the assumptions on which the National Curriculum is based. 

In the introduction of the Statutory Guidance on the National Curriculum framework for Key Stages 1 – 4 (2014) it states:

“The national curriculum provides pupils with an introduction to the essential knowledge they need to be educated citizens. It introduces pupils to the best that has been thought and said, and helps engender an appreciation of human creativity and achievement.”

My question is ‘who decided?’  Who decided what is ‘essential’ for children to learn? Which great minds agreed on what is and is not ‘essential knowledge’?  

I imagine committees of academics, each one an expert in his or her field, sitting around highly polished tables, arguing over the non-negotiable content of skills and knowledge from their chosen specialised area.

The Introduction to the National Curriculum also states that every school must offer a curriculum which;

‘prepares pupils at the school for the opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life.’

So now I ask, how did the authors of the ‘essential knowledge’ decide what would be necessary for the ‘experiences of later life’.  What experiences of later life do they mean? What crystal ball are they using to predict what life will be like for our children in 10, 15 ,20 years from now?  Do we trust their vision and foresight?

Personally, having taught the National Curriculum for many years I do not give their prescience much credence.  Whist teaching the programmes of study I found much of the government sponsored curriculum psychologically, emotionally and spiritually damaging.

Also, given that I alternate between grief, fear and rage at the prospect of the future of a collapsing eco-system I find most of it inappropriate and irrelevant.

You may be less pessimistic than me and more like my young friend, Billie, who has a small child. She does not allow herself to contemplate the doomsday predictions for fear of slipping into a pit of despair.  Even so, she acknowledges the potential unpredictability of the future and wants a curriculum that equips her child accordingly: a curriculum and an education system that is humble enough to admit that the knowledge and skills our children  will need are going to be different from those we were given. 

So when considering the ‘opportunities, responsibilities and experiences of later life’ I want to ask what skills and knowledge might be needed by a successful adult in the near future? What will be truly helpful for them to survive and thrive in the forthcoming upheaval and time of change? What will allow them to be connected to themselves, to others and to the Earth?

 I contend that this is a vital question for anyone raising and educating a child.  I believe that we no longer need a National Curriculum but instead we need an Essential Curriculum.  

Joanna

Stall warning

Quite early in my flying training my instructor took me out over a large reservoir nearby and we climbed to about 9000 feet. 

He talked about students being afraid of stalling, so today we were going to practice and learn about stalling.

I cut the power to idle and held the attitude as the speed decayed to the point where the airflow separated from the wings and lift was no longer produced.

We were now not flying at all, we were falling. 

My instructor said to me, “Well here we are, we’re stalled, it’s ok isn’t it? It’s perfectly comfortable, we’re still breathing, we’re still alive and nothing very terrible seems to be happening does it? But if we don’t do anything about it we will hit the ground at 5000 feet per minute and that will really spoil our day”.

The recovery involves something that seems counter-intuitive, you push the nose forward towards the ground that is now rushing towards you, as pilots say, you “change the attitude”.

I learned a big lesson that day which I took into my everyday life, it put things into perspective.

From then on, if I was presented with a problem I would ask the question “If I don’t do anything about this will I or anybody else die”? If the answer was no then the problem wasn’t that great after all.

The problem today is environmental collapse.

There is little doubt that the intricate web of life on Earth is unravelling and it is due to human activity, we’ve broken too many of the threads and it’s starting to fall apart rapidly.

The web of life has stalled, we saw the signs of it approaching but we failed to pay enough attention to it and for now, it’s kind of ok isn’t it? 

We can kid ourselves that everything is fine.

It’s comfortable enough, we’re still breathing, we’re still alive and nothing very terrible seems to be happening - yet.

But like stalling, we must look at it, we must pay attention or we will certainly crash and burn and take many other species with us - and that would really spoil our day.

One of the lessons about aircraft stalling is to understand the aerodynamics, to recognise the symptoms of an approaching stall and to correct it, if the aircraft stalls you’ve done something wrong and you must recover calmly but without delay. 

The same principle applies to the environment, we have a clear understanding of the ‘aerodynamics’ of environmental damage, we know the reasons for the stall. 

We are going to have to accept the situation, not ignore it, and do what is necessary to recover right now, calmly and without delay.

If we stop mishandling the ecosystem it will recover quickly and naturally, we just need to stop causing damage to it.

The tricky part is that this will require a total change in the way most humans do things, it will take a complete revolution in thinking, we will need to make the natural world the most valuable and important thing in the World. 

In other words, the recovery drill requires a change of attitude.

It involves coming in to proper relationship with the Earth and all things in it, it means remembering and honouring the absolute essentials of life that apply to all things.

So let’s apply the lesson I learned in my flying lesson that day, “if we don’t do anything about this, will we or anything else die”? 

The answer is a resounding yes.

Here at Perfect Rucksack we are doing what we can to help develop and apply the recovery drill, we are building a curriculum to help you and your family to learn and to teach the essential skills for life that our children and the children of the future will need to help them create a new culture in balance and harmony with the natural world.

Jonny