Getting Out Into the Real World:

alternative curricula and the school library

What’s an alternative curriculum?

• Breaks away from subject-based learning

• Focuses on developing skills not imparting information

• Most learning is based around interdisciplinary projects.

• Emphasises ‘Learning to Learn’

Alternative curricula

‘Learning to learn’ – skills-based learningInformation literacy

New terms for old ideas

http://www.pemberley.com/janeinfo/gmsukegs.gif

Teaching your grandmother to suck eggs?

John Cabot CTC

Learning to Learn

The Cabot Competency Curriculum

CITYTECHNOLOGYCOLLEGE

OHN CABOTJBRINGING LEARNING TO LIFE

AND

LIFE TO LEARNING

Cabot Competency Curriculum

First term: discrete competency teaching

Eight projects over the year

Two per term Cross-curricular in nature

SUBJECT NUMBER OF LESSONS

Project 1 8

Project 2 8

Innovation Day 3

Science 3

Technology 3

Literacy 5

Numeracy 5

Physical Education 4

E-Citizenship 2

Expressive Arts 2

Euro time 2

A Week in the Life of CCC

1st Project – New thinking

• The core ‘competencies’ of the programme are established

- ‘Thinking skills’ such as de Bono’s ‘Six Hats’- Different learning styles• Students will not pick up competencies

without specific teaching• Need to teach learning styles and encourage

students to develop in areas where they are weak

Learning to Learn – Balancing Skills and Knowledge

• Learning-styles awareness

• Citizenship

• Managing information, people and situations

• Research and study skills

• Leadership and team skills

• Skills for independent learning

• Thinking skills

• Good communication skills

• Skills of reflection and evaluation

Tutor Group:

Name:

Year 7

Competence Passport

SELF-EVALUATION

Geography

Citizenship

History

InformationTechnology

Design Technology

Science

Art

ReligiousStudies

English

Bristol: Innovative City

Celebration City Many curriculum areas

one theme

Innovative CityHow do we fit into our city – and how does

Bristol fit into the world?

• Read Treasure Island

• Draw maps of Bristol

• Create and ‘bury’ time capsules

• Visit local areas of historic interest

• Time line for Bristol Future

• Construct house for the future

• Compare city with other Bristols around the world

Celebration CityHow and why does the community of Bristol

celebrate?• Research secular and religious festivals

• Produce ten-minute ‘Newsround’ reports in groups

• Make balloons & have balloon fiesta

• Look at the animation festival – produce own animations

• Look at twin towns

What makes a good project?

• The task must be big and have a real life feel• The teacher and students develop the project• The task challenges and develops multiple intelligences• The task has clear and worthwhile outcomes• The task uses content from 2 or more subjects• The task takes some time to complete• The task is not entirely classroom-based• The task involves making consequential decisions• Completion depends on teamwork• Completion depends on adult help/advice• Completion demands high levels of feedback• Completion is celebrated and evaluated by an appropriate

audience

CLASSROOM

The Key Aspects

• Students frequently work in teams

• Students actively solve problems

• Students publicly exhibit their learning

• Students reflect on what they are doing

• Students are taught strategies for learning

• Students develop social skills through the curriculum

• Staff can use a wider range of teaching and learning strategies

• Staff are freed from the National Curriculum

Opinions on CCC

Alternative Curricula

and the Library

Practical Issues

• Project-based learning means a greater demand for library resources, often with many students needing the same resources at the same time.

• Emphasis on independent study results in students using the library more, often without a teacher.

• Projects can be difficult to resource – topics are often very different from traditional curriculum topics. Especially difficult to find relevant books.

Opportunities for librarians

• The need for more, and more diverse, resources helps to make the Library ‘star of the moment’

• Experience of teaching information literacy is directly relevant, so librarians are in the position of being resident experts

• Being released from the National Curriculum makes it easier to create integrated information literacy projects

• It is possible to remodel your role – you can become an information literacy coordinator rather than delivering the whole IL programme yourself

Taking control

It’s easy for an alternative curriculum to make you feel overwhelmed, left out of the loop, or redundant

Take control – make it work for you!

At the beginning – problems with CCC and IL

• The old information literacy programme was still relevant – but too easy for the CCC students

• Students failed to transfer skills from library-based lessons to other lessons

• There was a lack of authentic learning situations in IL lessons

• Students did not perceive the librarians as specialists in areas such as IT

Solution – stepping into the alternative curriculum

• Library staff move into role of information literacy coordinators

• Library creates some of the content for the alternative curriculum

• Teaching staff take over the teaching of some ‘library lessons’

• Information literacy model used to underpin alternative curriculum

What do I already know?

What do I need to find out and why?

Where and how can I find this information?

How should I record and use this information?

How will I present this information?

EVALUATE!

Year 7Information LiteracyPole-to-Pole Project

Assignment Overview

Students will have the opportunity to investigate different countries across the globe and discuss language, culture, wildlife, etc. They will have the opportunity to apply the thinking skills they have learned so far in CCC. They will also gain an understanding of a further range of information literacy skills and apply them in an authentic context. The project will reinforce CCC and equip students with a range of skills which can be applied to all research projects in future.

Specific Learning

Objectives

Students will understand how to plan and structure research projects using a simple 5-step research plan (hand-up). They will select and use different information resources and explore ways in which they can exploit these most effectively. They will apply information skills in an authentic context and understand how different techniques can work for them. Students will also extend the use of WWW and EBI to evaluate their own work.

Differentiation &

Assessment

All students’ needs will be catered for by differentiation of input and outcome. The independent nature of this project offers an opportunity for students to work at differing paces. Students are encouraged to self-evaluate using WWW and EBI and progress is also recorded against the CCC Passport. Final projects will be given an assessed mark in order to increase the sense of authentic research.

Information literacy – Pole-to-Pole Project

What’s new and what works

• Students receive the library’s information literacy programme via ‘normal’ lessons, so are more likely to transfer the skills

• Teaching staff are involved in delivering information literacy and pass on their knowledge to their departments

• There is a whole-school plan in place for building upon CCC, so Year 7 information literacy strategies are referred back to in subsequent years

• The library takes on a specialist role without the burden of delivering all information literacy lessons

Lucy Pearson AHRC Collaborative PhD Student

Seven Stories: the Centre for Children’s Books & Newcastle University

lucy.pearson@sevenstories.org.uk

http://informationliteracy.stikipad.com