Changing our models of curriculum design: personalised curriculum creation through coaching

Janet Finlay, Dawn Wood, Margaret Christian, John Gray, Tam Mason

Motivation

• Flexible curriculum for part-time work-based learners (Leitch, 2007)

• Responsive to employer requirements• Address coherence issues

• Initially: Leadership for prospective head teachers

PC3: Personalised Curriculum Creation through Coaching

Funded through JISC Curriculum Design programme

Coaching:

non-directive, learner-focused, personal support process

enables learners to assess their own learning needs and identify their own solutions.

Personal vision:Where I wish to

go

My real self: developmental opportunities

Personalised curriculum

development

Learning, development and

achievement

CoachingIn PC3

Based on Intentional Change model (Boyatzis and McKee, 2006)

Coaching vs mentoring

“A mentor has experience in a particular field and imparts specific knowledge, acting as adviser, counsellor, guide, tutor, or teacher.

In contrast, the coach’s role is not to advise but to assist coachees in uncovering their own knowledge and skills and to facilitate coachees in becoming their own advisers.”

Jonathan Passmore, 2006

6

The PC3 approach• Use coaching to facilitate personalised

curriculum creation• Learners work with a personal coach to

– assess their learning needs– select appropriate provision or construct awards (or

module sets)– access resources and learning support– negotiate assessment– review progress and adjust plans

• Do this through a specific module

7

What we did

• Pilot PLC module– M level school leaders– 10 students

• Promoted coaching for learning– Coaching forum– Staff development

Outcomes - pilot• Ongoing (now ending November)• Observations

– Digital literacy issue – access level (Beetham)– Coaching is a 3- or 4-way relationship– Coaching cannot be entirely learner-led– Clear contracting vital

• Developing framework for short “critical point” coaching sessions

Outcomes – promoting coaching

• Conflict between employer demand and characteristics of coaching– Flexibility not always wanted by employers

• Demand within PDP & CPD• From September

– Including coaching in PDP for L1 Sport Science– Developing CPD programme for Mental Health

nurses around coaching model

Questions raised

• What is “curriculum design” anyway?– Changing models of curriculum – does it

need to be “fixed” at validation?• Can we link PDP to curriculum design?• Can coaching be used to enable

flexibility?

References

• HM Government. 2007. World Class Skills: Implementing the Leitch Review of Skills in England.

• Passmore, J. ed. (2006) Excellence in Coaching, Kogan Page• Boyatzis, R. and McKee, A. (2006) Intentional Change, Journal

of Organisational Excellence, Summer 2006, 49-60