Anthony anderson - on the importance of good planning
Have you ever had a recipe disaster? Let me tell you about one I distinctly remember. I enjoy cooking and trying out new things, which is fine if it’s just you tasting the final result. However, it all gets a bit risky when other people are involved in sampling the (in my case) eventual outcome.
On one particular occasion I was cooking up a culinary storm (reality was poised to bite) in preparation for the arrival of my new in-laws. My wife and I had been married about a month and hadn’t had guests for a meal before, so it was an important event at the time. The starter was some avocado creation fresh from a fancy cookbook which involved using a blender to create a sort of cold soup. I used our new Braun vario for this affair and was proud to place my dish in front of my wife’s parents ready to show them what a good choice she had made.
It was a shame I’d forgotten to take the plastic guard off the blender blade before I used it for the first time. Everybody was rather polite at first, but I do remember that picking the fractured plastic out of one’s teeth in between spoonfuls did become a little wearing after a while, even for me. I think the whole thing did end in laughter, but I can’t quite remember whether it was at my red face of embarrassment or the dish itself. . .
Have you ever had a curriculum disaster? It all looked good on paper, but somehow in the unforgiving world of the classroom where you have three seconds before you lose all the students’ attention it doesn’t seem to have quite the same fizz? I’ve certainly been there, as the tide seems to rise to begin to turn against you. How it’s now easy to see that a little more thought, a little more careful planning would have made all the difference, but it’s often too late.
How a curriculum is designed is just as important as how it is delivered. This should never be skimped on, because it short-changes students of the musical entitlement they deserve. In the many schools I have visited and worked with in recent years I have seen all kinds of practice. Some strong and some not quite so strong. The design of the curriculum is one area which causes real problems. The same seems to be true in published materials where rather weak models can be held up as examples to exemplify. Is it curriculum disaster rather than curriculum design that holds sway?
I like to think not, but there remain serious questions to be asked. Where is the musical development in planned schemes of work and programmes of study? How does one topic build on and lead to the next – or indeed does it? Why are students studying the things they are and why are these areas in the order they are? Is there any unified thinking behind the music curriculum? Do the students know what they are doing and understand why and its relevance? Do they understand how what they are doing today relates to last week or last month and can they determine for themselves the common threads? Do they know and understand how to improve? Is assessment too little or too much in evidence?
I know, I know, so many questions and so few answers. But are we asking these in our own curriculum planning? Not even calling it that and simply thinking of a way to fill the void that is next week is not going to give young people the best music experience that they deserve. We have a lot of freedom to decide in what ways the curriculum can be delivered at KS 3. This needs to be used carefully and thoughtfully.
I do not have all or even some of the answers, but my teaching this year has been demanding in terms of curriculum planning for the new GCSE. Thinking through how to deliver this in the best way and planning new resources and approaches has been very difficult and hugely time demanding. Things have not always gone as I hoped they would. However, it has also been greatly rewarding and I have seen learning that would never have happened without that little bit of extra preparation. Now is a good time for planning, so let’s take the time and our thinking about next year and put them to good use. It will surely be worth it come September.
Anthony Anderson
