'Vague and woolly' is the criticism of the new curriculum
Reactions from teachers to the proposals for the new curriculum presented yesterday are 'not very concrete', 'vague' or 'woolly'. They are critical and notice that the curriculum review is not shared by colleagues.
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As chairman of the Dutch Association for Mathematics Teachers, teacher in VMBO Ebrina Smallegange closely followed the curriculum developments in her field of mathematics & mathematics. “What I am happy about is that the development team recognizes that mathematics is an extensive subject and that it cannot be done with less. I also think the extra attention for statistics is very positive. "
To care
But, there are concerns. For example, the proposed innovation for vmbo-t is much too 'abstract'. Smallegange: “They have gone too far with the algebra building blocks, such as removing brackets and working with x and y formulas. They want to go much further than the current exam requirements, while the lower years of VMBO only last two years and many students move on to MBO where they do not need those abstract formulas at all. I miss the justification for why this was chosen. In pre-vocational secondary education, it is much more about applying mathematics.” In addition, the mathematics teacher had higher expectations about the cohesion between the subjects. “The proposals say nothing about real collaboration and what is learned in which subject. So we have not made any progress with this.”
Mathematics teacher VMBO Ebrina Smallegange: 'The proposed innovation for VMBO-T is much too abstract'
Smallegange finds the process inefficient. “Curriculum specialists are missing in the development teams. That is really a profession in itself. The teachers who focused on this were given too little time and an immense assignment. When they look at the upper school curriculum, it is better to examine the problems that already exist. And don't start from scratch. ”
Real problems
What CEO Jeroen Goes of Fluvium (20 public primary schools) noticed is that the curriculum is not alive among his teachers. According to him, the proposals do not solve the real problems. “I'm talking about the teacher shortage, the inequality of opportunities and the decline in language and math performance. This curriculum suggests that education has an inward view and does not move with the world. Good schools already keep up with digital developments and are constantly changing. For now, I'm not going to turn things upside down here. The teacher shortage is our biggest problem. ”
Chairman of the board Jeroen Goes: 'This curriculum suggests that education looks inward and does not go along with the world'
In total, produced nine proposals for learning areas. Expertise center SLO will develop core objectives and attainment targets based on this. German teacher Martin Ringenaldus studied the field of English and modern foreign languages. “The proposal is vague, the language is woolly and I have no idea what it means for my lessons. A curriculum review is fine, but include what you want to teach students. What vocabulary do they need, what expressions and themes. ”
Mainly English
The proposal is mainly written for English, says the teacher. “It often says 'further development', but you don't get German and French at all in primary school. So why 'further develop'? Why should English have a status over these languages? I miss the substantiation for that. ” In addition, Ringenaldus' dilemma is often that he has to prepare his students for the exam in which reading skills are mainly tested. “Practicing exams is important because otherwise they will not pass the exam, but they will not learn the language from it. Unfortunately, the proposal does not provide a solution for that. ”
Marjonne Maan teaches history at Gymnasium Haganum. She is also critical of the proposal for her field of people & society. “The proposal is vague. In terms of content, for example, it is not clear whether or not you should teach the Holocaust. In history we wonder internationally whether we are teaching too much from a Western perspective. It's not about that. ”
Return
Theo Douma, chair of the Curriculum.nu development group, said in an interview on this website that the current attainment targets are vague, so that the teaching methods in particular now determine what is learned. 'We wanted to make explicit again what students should know and be able to do, so that teachers can make their own choices. We want to give education back to those who are in front of the class. '
