The Role of Curriculum Principles in Effective Curriculum Design
Part 1 | Defining curriculum principles
A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of chatting with the brillliant
about all things curriculum. Firstly, we delved into curriculum principles — a conversation you can watch below. As with all good discussions, it spurred me to think more deeply about the role of these principles in shaping effective curricula.
In this mini series, I’ll share how my thinking has evolved. In this first post, we’ll explore what curriculum principles are, why they matter, and how they can be implemented in practice.
What Are Curriculum Principles?
Curriculum principles — often known as curriculum design principles — offer schools and educational leaders a framework to decide what is most important for their pupils in terms of the aims, purposes, and features of a curriculum. These principles are essential because:
Development: When designing a curriculum from scratch, they shape and guide the planning, organisation, and development process.
Evaluation: They provide benchmarks for assessing the curriculum as it develops.
Alignment: For schools considering adopting an existing curriculum, these principles can help determine whether it aligns with the school’s context and pupil needs.
Prioritisation: By stating what is important, we also implicitly define what is not important — which can inform curriculum decision making.
Examples from the Field
Below are examples of curriculum principles proposed by Dylan Wiliam, Mary Myatt and Oak National Academy (which you can find out more about here):
These are not definitive lists of principles, indeed Dylan Wiliam writes
Everyone will have their own ideas about what the most important principles of curriculum design are. The more principles one has, the more likely the list is to be comprehensive but the more unwieldy it will be. A short list would be easy to use, but would miss out important aspects of good curricula that need to be borne in mind.1
and shares his list as a starting point for schools. It is important that schools and leaders engage in a process whereby they identify what is important for their pupils.
Making Principles Discernible in the Curriculum
It is essential that the chosen principles are not merely theoretical but are clearly reflected in the curriculum. Otherwise, they risk becoming a redundant checklist. For example, one of Oak’s principles is ‘knowledge and vocabulary rich’. To enact this principle, so that it’s impact is visible in the curriculum, all lessons have a set of key learning points which describe the knowledge pupils are to learn in the lesson and inform the lesson design:
In terms of vocabulary, all lessons have a set of keywords that are shared at the start of the lesson and emphasised using bold font throughout. Plus Oak’s quizzes have at least one question that explicitly checks and assesses vocabulary:
Looking Ahead
In the next installment of this mini series, we’ll explore the differences between general (or generic) and specific curriculum principles and how each can be used to balance curriculum consistency with subject nuance.
Meanwhile, I’d love to hear your thoughts. Please share your feedback and join the conversation in the comments below!
Christine Counsell’s principles are worth absorbing too:
Curriculum needs to be sufficiently systematic (ideas need to encountered multiple times with increasing complexity) and sufficiently subject-sensitive (students benefit from playing ‘junior versions’ of how knowledge is acquired within domains)
And spiralling although this may be Wiliam's 'vertically integrated'.