Active discussions

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

"Knowledge Curriculum"

32 replies

WindDoesNotBreakTheBendyTree · 25/09/2018 19:43

Hi DD has just started secondary (not transitioning well but that is another thread).

They are starting a new "knowledge curriculum approach" which involves homework from every lesson learning facts/information and then they are tested next lesson. She brings home photocopied sheets with for eg the list of characters in Midsummer Night's Dream or naming the parts of a sewing machine to learn. Sometimes 4 subjects worth per day.

It sounds like Michael Gove's wet dream set in a chapter of Hard Times ... am I right to be worried? Anyone else got experience of this?

FWIW its a very mixed catchment/cohort with a high proportion of kids with SEN, strong on nurture, but heavily criticised in last inspection for not getting the best results from the more able by Ofsted.

OP posts:
Original poster
WindDoesNotBreakTheBendyTree · 26/09/2018 01:01

@kokeshi - nope it was memorise the names of sewing machine parts for DT/textiles. Seemingly unrelated to their project for the term

Apparently this is the approach up to GCSE.

OP posts:
Original poster
WindDoesNotBreakTheBendyTree · 26/09/2018 00:58

@noblegiraffe "So long as they are not just sitting around reciting facts and not writing essays!" This is exactly what I am worried about. Cognitive load learning without application. Sounds shit to me, esp for higher ability pupils.

@walkinggirldeadfan - well she's been sent home to memorise facts by rote - also some stuff not covered in class on several occasions, ergo meaningless. Knowledge is useless without understanding surely?

do either of you have any experience of teaching using this method or having a child who is at a school using it?

OP posts:
Kokeshi123 · 26/09/2018 00:57

"Sewing machine parts" sounds a bit obscure, but perhaps the terms they were memorizing were "broadly applicable" terms, like the kind of gizmos found in most electrical devices.

It's hard to get much traction on a topic unless you memorize some core content (like trying to become a ballet dance without spending time doing drill and barre work etc.). They will no doubt move on to "do things" with the content they have learned as well.

Just be glad she is not coming home with "build a castle out of marshmallows" or "conduct your own research on a topic which the school has taught the kids nothing about" type homework assignments.

noblegiraffe · 26/09/2018 00:49

It’s not a Nick Gibb initiative as such, it’s a trad/prog knowledge/skills debate and he’s very much in favour of emphasis on teaching knowledge.

It’s the antithesis of ‘why do I need to learn stuff when I can look it up on the internet’. Ken Robinson probably hates it.

Knowledge organisers are very fashionable at the moment, and it makes for easy homework setting, reducing workload. So long as they are not just sitting around reciting facts and not writing essays!

Walkingdeadfangirl · 26/09/2018 00:45

Why do you think it is wrong to learn facts about a subject/topic they have been studying in class? Confused

Original poster
WindDoesNotBreakTheBendyTree · 26/09/2018 00:35

hmm I think its more distinct than that
is it a common thing? DS is at a different school and it's a very different, much more holistic approach and it's a much better school
sounds distinctly retrogressive to me
no other homework, no books sent home, just a list of facts to learn per half term for each subject. tests every lesson.
a quick google suggests its a Nick Gibb initiative and also applied in the Michaela schools etc.

OP posts:
noblegiraffe · 25/09/2018 23:06

Schools have always taught knowledge, this is the latest fad for packaging it up as something special.

It won’t do her any harm to learn stuff. Obviously she’ll need to be able to apply that knowledge but I assume they’ll be doing that too.

Swipe left for the next trending thread