Forever feeling guilty: How ineffective curriculum planning approaches can exacerbate teacher workload and undermine professional satisfaction

• Published in: Curriculum perspectives Vol. 44; no. 4; pp. 573 - 577
• Main Authors: Hunter, Jordana, Nguyen, Brad
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Singapore Springer Nature Singapore 01.12.2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Addition; Classrooms; Curricula; Curriculum Design; Curriculum Development; Curriculum Studies; Education; Educational Needs; Educational Opportunities; Formative Evaluation; Instructional Effectiveness; Instructional Material Evaluation; Learning; Lesson Plans; National Surveys; Point and Counterpoint; Self Efficacy; Student Surveys; Students; Teacher Effectiveness; Teacher Leadership; Teacher Response; Teaching; Teaching Load; Time; Australia; Enacted curriculum; School leadership; Australian Curriculum; Teacher collaboration; Whole-school curriculum planning
• ISSN: 0159-7868; 2367-1793
• DOI: 10.1007/s41297-024-00281-8

[...]it is important that high-quality curriculum materials for each subject domain are carefully sequenced across year levels so that students develop knowledge and skills in a logical progression and have plenty of opportunities for further consolidation (e.g., Shwartz et al., 2008). [...]Victorian guidance recommends a whole-school approach that enables schools to “plan a teaching and learning program that is sequential across year levels”, to minimise “the risk of repetition or serious gaps occurring” and ensure “all students receive the benefit of a guaranteed and viable curriculum” (State of Victoria (Department of Education and Training), 2020, p.9). A major additional benefit of a whole-school approach to planning is that once high-quality learning sequences and supporting materials are established, teachers’ individual planning load is reduced, and teachers’ focus can shift to the intellectual preparation required to enact these programs in the classroom, and to responding to students’ specific learning needs (Hunter et al., 2022a). Despite these benefits for students and teachers, two national Grattan Institute surveys conducted in 2021 and 2022 suggested that whole-school curriculum planning is not well-established in Australian schools. [...]current planning approaches are exacerbating the significant workload challenge teachers face.