Welcome To the Curriculum Organiser

 

The Curriculum Organiser is an electronic curriculum planning and organising tool that makes it easier for teachers and school leaders to translate the Outcomes into classroom practice. The program is designed to link curriculum (planning) to pedagogy (classroom teaching practice).  Outcomes pedagogy is an integral part of the program. 

 

The key principle underpinning the program is to align the curriculum with system requirements, ie. To translate policy into practice. The curriculum content is thus designed to achieve the outcomes and to meet other requirements. It is updated annually to reflect changes.

 

The power of Curriculum Organiser comes from the combination of

 

  1. the clarity of understanding and application of the layers, linkages and lenses that are needed to successfully operate in an outcomes environment. It brings the parts of the jigsaw together.
  2. the practical exemplars of curriculum content that are provided to assist planning.
  3. the ease of use of the software
  4. the organisational capability of the software
  5. the value adding. Documents are retained and continually improved.
  6. providing a pathway for Information Technology in education

 

  1. The Layers, Linkages and Lenses

 

The conceptual framework for Curriculum Organiser is based on linking the following four layers: 

a)      System 

b)      School

c)      Teacher

d)      Student

 

All layers are essential to teaching in an “Outcomes” environment. 

The stakeholders at each layer have different responsibilities and thus use different ‘lenses’ to view documents.

·    ‘System’ personnel are responsible for determining outcomes, providing policy guidelines and establishing accountability requirements.

·    The ‘School’ is responsible for organising a coordinated, coherent curriculum plan.

·    ‘Teachers’ have a major responsibility in translating these requirements into classroom practice. Teachers will spend most time in the ’Teacher’ layer as it focuses on the process of preparing materials for classroom teaching / learning.   

 

The objective of Curriculum Organiser has been to make sense of the linkages and to reduce teacher work-load, while increasing effectiveness.  One reviewer described Curriculum Organiser as “taking the work out of teaching” by which he meant that there would be less time planning thus providing more time for core work - class teaching and assessing.

 


  1. Curriculum content

 

Curriculum content is provided for all the key learning areas, in a way that incorporates the System, School, Teacher layers above.  The layers are linked in a simple and logical way to enable schools and teachers to perform their roles successfully. There are over 1400 pages of exemplars across all the various Curriculum Organiser products from Prep/Kindergarten, Special Education, Primary and High School to Year 10.   Nothing is prescriptive and the exemplars that are provided can easily be modified.

 

  1. Ease of Use

 

The Curriculum Organiser is easy to use. The exemplars are available for immediate use in the classroom, or they can be adapted to suit the individual school/teacher/student requirements. The program is largely based on the well known ”Microsoft Word” functions. Teachers quickly become effective users of ICT for planning, teaching and assessment.

 

There is also the flexibility to import personal documents into the “Contents-Tree”. Planning documents are also easily shared between colleagues. 

 

  1. Organisational capability

 

Curriculum Organiser allows the quick and simple management of digital files at home or at school and for the easy transfer of files from one location to another.  This powerful digital file management capability is applicable to all levels of users from individuals to groups of schools.

 

The program also facilitates ‘whole of school planning’. There is the facility to share any document produced by a teacher or the curriculum leadership team -  at the click of a button.  

 

Curriculum Organiser is in effect a ‘School-based Curriculum Branch’ that promotes a coordinated, coherent, comprehensive learning program across the school.

 

  1. Value Adding

 

The efficient storage and access processes ensure that documents can be continually improved.

 

  1. Pathway for Information Technology in Education

 

Teaching is increasingly reliant on information technology.  The Curriculum Organiser is entirely consistent these trends in using ICT for planning and teaching and provides pathway for future developments.