In an article for Communio called Towards a Distinctively Catholic School I tried to outline a way of rethinking curriculum design,
integrating a faith perspective. One paragraph read as follows:
What if the curriculum were organized around a core of basic human skills - thinking, remembering, communicating, and the use of tools - taught through languages, logic, mathematics, handicrafts, design and computing? Around this core and drawing upon it, the rest of the curriculum would follow three interwoven themes corresponding to the three traditional "levels" of the human personality: body, soul and spirit. The first or physical theme would comprise subjects from the natural, practical and human sciences, exploring the outward or tangible world through physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, history, geography and economics, with an "applied" dimension in technology. The second theme would comprise the "humanities," exploring the interior human world of consciousness, thought and expression through literature, music, poetry, dance, painting, philosophy and comparative religion. The third theme - that of "spirituality" - would introduce the world of Christian revelation, of theology and Scripture, of grace and its influence on human life. In our idealized picture, the whole school would be permeated by an ethos of prayer and moral virtue: this would, of course, depend on the character of the teachers themselves. The integrating force behind the curriculum of such a school would be love: love for creation, love for humanity, love for God - and finally the love between pupils and teachers.
Another, entirely secular approach, is represented by the increasingly popular International Baccalaureate. See what you think of this. The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme is a two-year curriculum, primarily aimed at students aged 16 to 19. It leads to a qualification that is widely recognized by the world's leading universities.
What if the curriculum were organized around a core of basic human skills - thinking, remembering, communicating, and the use of tools - taught through languages, logic, mathematics, handicrafts, design and computing? Around this core and drawing upon it, the rest of the curriculum would follow three interwoven themes corresponding to the three traditional "levels" of the human personality: body, soul and spirit. The first or physical theme would comprise subjects from the natural, practical and human sciences, exploring the outward or tangible world through physics, chemistry, biology, ecology, history, geography and economics, with an "applied" dimension in technology. The second theme would comprise the "humanities," exploring the interior human world of consciousness, thought and expression through literature, music, poetry, dance, painting, philosophy and comparative religion. The third theme - that of "spirituality" - would introduce the world of Christian revelation, of theology and Scripture, of grace and its influence on human life. In our idealized picture, the whole school would be permeated by an ethos of prayer and moral virtue: this would, of course, depend on the character of the teachers themselves. The integrating force behind the curriculum of such a school would be love: love for creation, love for humanity, love for God - and finally the love between pupils and teachers.
Another, entirely secular approach, is represented by the increasingly popular International Baccalaureate. See what you think of this. The International Baccalaureate® (IB) Diploma Programme is a two-year curriculum, primarily aimed at students aged 16 to 19. It leads to a qualification that is widely recognized by the world's leading universities.
