1. Knowledge Building Curriculum in the Middle
School of KingsWay School

2. ‘This We Believe’ Characteristic
1. Curriculum that is relevant, challenging, integrative and exploratory This We Believe in Action
– National Middle School Association 2005

3. What is a Knowledge Building
Curriculum?
Two Sides of the Coin
Guy Claxton: http://edtalks.org/video/education-moral-enterprise
The residue of the curriculum is more important than the content
Students forget most of the content of what they have learned but retain the values, the frames
of mind and the mind-set needed for the future
Yong Zhau: http://tedxtalks.ted.com/video/TEDx-Traverse-City-Yong-Zhao-Te
Students should be taught to become global entrepreneurs
Teach students the skills to invent jobs rather than the skills to find jobs

4. What is a Knowledge Building Curriculum?
David Perkins: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7UnupF-uJk
Students need knowledge that has relevance, impact and influence in their local
community, in their country and globally.
Entrepreneurial, transferrable and future-focused skills that include problem solving,
creativity, innovation and lateral thinking are essential for life and the rapidly-changing
future our students face.

5. Views of knowledge and their Implications for Schooling
In the past Now
Knowledge was conceived of as something developed and known by
experts, which could be passed on from teacher to student or manager to
worker.
Knowledge is dynamic and key to the process of creating new
knowledge. It comes into being “just in time” to solve specific problems
as they emerge.
A school’s job was to transmit knowledge, and the students’ job was to
absorb it in preparation for their lives after school.
Curriculum development involved determining which knowledge students
would need for their future roles and organising this knowledge into logical
sequences of curriculum units that could be taught using step-by-step
methods.
It is no longer possible to accurately predict exactly what knowledge
people will need to draw on as they move through life. To support their
ability to develop new knowledge, learners need opportunities to build
their sense of identity – to become self-reliant, critical, and creative
thinkers; to be team players; to learn to use initiative; and to engage in
ongoing learning throughout their lives.
Education structures assumed a certain degree of stability and predictability
in the kinds of jobs and social roles that people could move into once they
left school.
The jobs and social roles that people move into once they leave school
are constantly evolving as a consequence of social, economic, and
technological developments. In an increasingly globalised,
interconnected, and interdependent world, people who are able to work
with knowledge are seen as a key resource.

6. What is a Knowledge Building
Curriculum?
The Flip-side of the Coin
Elizabeth Rata http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11120838
Students are short-changed by an emphasis on teaching skills rather than content
Academic knowledge is what makes us intelligent. The practice in doubting, criticising, and
judging that such knowledge demands is also essential for a democratic citizenry.

7. What is a Knowledge Building
Curriculum?
Jane Gilbert: http://www.nzherald.co.nz/opinion/news/article.cfm?c_id=466&objectid=11127235
It isn't enough to see knowledge as an end in itself, to "fill up" students with existing knowledge.
It's what students can do with knowledge that matters.
They need knowledge to think with, to find more knowledge, and then to think in more complex
ways. They need knowledge to work with others who have different knowledge, and they need
knowledge to create new knowledge.

8. Next Steps for the Middle School?
Be intentional about how the Key Competencies are used in the classroom programme
Shift focus to student-led and more personalised learning
Look at the learning environment to determine what changes are needed to suit 21st century
learning demands
Adopt and adapt new ideas that fit in with the special character of our school