Curriculum Reform
In November 2003, the Minister for Education and Training released the Blueprint for Government Schools (PDF – 1.2MB). The Blueprint outlined several initiatives for continuing improvement and progress in the quality of Victoria’s government school system. A key initiative of the Blueprint was the development of a new curriculum for all Victorian schools in both government and non-government sectors. The Minister requested that the new curriculum contain standards of achievement at significant points within the stages of learning that clearly specify what students should know and be able to do.
The first step in responding to the Minister’s request was a review of curriculum from 14 national and international jurisdictions. The details of this review were published in Curriculum Victoria: Foundations for the Future (PDF - 319KB).
The case for curriculum reform
While the CSF was based on best practice at the time of writing, subsequent research into how students learn led to the case for curriculum reform. The CSF was seen as being too prescriptive in the content being covered. The key learning areas were seen as separate areas of learning rather than being linked. Key capabilities, such as communication, thinking skills and interpersonal development were also not included in the CSF.
