What is a compelling learning experience?
A compelling learning experience is a real and relevant context for
learning through which young people recognise for themselves the
importance of learning to their lives, both now and in the future.
Learning becomes compelling when young people take an active
engagement with and responsibility for their own learning,
increasing the impact and potential for future development.
Teachers and school leaders have shared examples of their learning
experiences. They have certain characteristics in common, which are
summarised below.
A compelling learning experience:
gives learners a sense of autonomy, including the chance to
think critically, make decisions, take responsibility and manage risks
offers opportunities for cooperation and collaboration
broadens horizons and raises aspirations, offering contexts that
challenge learners and encourage them to step outside their
comfort zone
is real and relevant, connecting learning at school to the world
beyond the classroom
has a clear sense of audience and purpose
provides contexts that draw together several aspects of
learning: connecting different subject disciplines, focusing on a
specific subject, or linking learning through cross-curricular
dimensions or the development of personal, learning and
thinking skills
has clear learning outcomes relating to what learners need to
know and understand, the skills they will acquire and areas of
personal development.
The new secondary curriculum
Key areas of online support:
Aims – download the ‘Aims of the curriculum’ PDF
A big picture of the curriculum – view the video clip
of Mick Waters (Director of Curriculum) talking through a big picture of the
curriculum and download the latest version of the big picture
Subjects – use the comparison tool to compare curriculum opportunities
for different subjects
Case studies of compelling learning experiences already developed by
schools
Online tools to help design your compelling learning experiences.
This leaflet links to further guidance
available on the secondary curriculum
website (www.qca.org.uk/curriculum),
as well as guidance provided on the
CfBT website
(www.newsecondarycurriculum.org).
What is the purpose of this leaflet?
This leaflet has been developed to support schools in the design of
compelling learning experiences. It provides a framework of
guidance built around the three curriculum questions:
What are we trying to achieve?
How will we organise the learning?
How will we know when we are achieving our aims?
It also signposts further guidance available on the secondary
curriculum website, www.qca.org.uk/curriculum.
The new secondary curriculum aims to create successful learners,
confident individuals and responsible citizens. In order to realise this
aim, we need to find ways of bringing learning to life for all young
people. One way of doing this is to design rich and powerful
learning experiences.
We want all young people to be engaged with learning and to
recognise the value and importance of education in their lives. The
advice provided in this leaflet will help you to raise standards, so that
all learners can meet the challenges of life in our fast-changing world.
Order ref: QCA/08/3607
ISBN: 978-1-84721-610-6
Qualifications and Curriculum Authority, 83 Piccadilly, London W1J 8QA. Website: www.qca.org.uk
What are we trying to achieve?
How will we organise the learning?
The first step is to be clear about the learning outcomes you want to
achieve through any compelling learning experience. These could be
identified through discussions with staff and learners. Keep the
following questions in mind during your planning:
Once you are clear about what you want to achieve, establish the
types of experiences which could bring about those outcomes.
matching time allocation to learning need (for example short,
frequent and regular for skill development; longer periods of time
for deeper and more immersive learning)
getting the right people involved (for example using experts from
within and outside of your school community to help bring
learning to life)
putting learning in the right setting (for example planning learning
opportunities in and outside of the classroom, working in
partnership with schools and learners in other countries)
choosing the right approaches to teaching and learning (for example
getting the balance between instructional and active approaches)
setting clear quality criteria (for example, ‘We will know this
learning experience has been successful if our learners…’)
recognising where good connections can be made with other
aspects of the curriculum (either in other subjects, cross-curricular
dimensions or personal, learning and thinking skills).
ONLINE SUPPORT
ONLINE SUPPORT
These rich learning experiences should increase opportunities for
learners to: plan an event and take responsibility, show leadership,
work alongside experts or members of the wider community, work in
teams and fulfil the curriculum aims.
Go to the Curriculum in action section
and view case study films to see how
schools have developed their compelling
learning experiences – ‘Confidence
through leadership skills‘, and ‘History
matters‘ are good starting points.
Go to the cross-curriculum dimensions
section to determine which dimensions
will be the focus of your compelling learning experience.
Go to the Skills section and then ‘PLTS‘ to determine which of these
skills you can embed across your learning experience.
Go to the Subjects section, to determine which subjects will
contribute to your compelling learning experience. Within each
subject, the ‘Curriculum opportunities‘ page (section 4) is a good
place to start. On the right hand side of the page, the ‘View this
aspect of the curriculum’ sidebar allows you to compare subjects. Use
the level descriptors for your selected subjects to identify relevant
outcomes.
Go to Developing your curriculum, then ‘Introduction to activities‘ and
‘How do we organise learning?’ In the ‘Turning vision into reality’ section,
download resource sheet C. This will help you reflect on your current
curriculum, and on how you might organise resources and teaching and
assessment approaches to better meet your aims.
At the end of the experience, ask all those involved to share
their views, remembering to focus your questions on the learning
outcomes.
Finally, consider how your findings will inform future experiences to
make a positive difference to future teaching and learning.
ONLINE SUPPORT
National and international events such as the London Olympics 2012
provide opportunities for compelling learning experiences, as do
partnerships with schools in different countries.
Go to the Organising your curriculum section and then ‘Principles of
curriculum design‘. Click on ‘see Mick Waters’ in the ‘What is a
curriculum?’ section to view a video clip explaining the big picture of
the curriculum.
To evaluate the impact effectively, you will need to establish what
knowledge and skills learners already possess. During the
experience, observe and collect evidence of success, from a wide
range of sources appropriate to the context. Learners are one of
the most valuable sources of information, both in relation to
themselves and others. Be systematic in identifying the sort of
evidence you would expect to see if the learning is achieving what
it set out to do. This should be qualitative as well as quantitative, if
appropriate.
Integrating compelling learning experiences into your curriculum
should involve:
Another starting point is to look at the locality of your school to
design learning experiences that are real and relevant – such as
participation in a local regeneration or sustainability project, a local
art group or a business or STEM project.
Go to the Developing your curriculum
section and then ‘Introduction to
activities‘. Navigate to ‘Q1: What are we
trying to achieve?‘ and finally ‘summary‘. Download resource sheet F
to record what your learners are like now and what you would like
them to achieve as a result of the compelling learning experience.
You will only be able to evaluate the impact of a compelling
learning experience if you have been clear about both
expectations and learning outcomes from the start.
Schools that have developed an outstanding curriculum take control
of their planning with confidence and certainty. They have a clear
understanding of how the curriculum works and a clear vision of how
it fits into their goals, their learners’ needs, their location and the way
children learn.
What do your learners need to know, understand and be able to
do as a result of this learning experience?
What skills and personal qualities do you want them to develop?
How does this learning experience build on previous learning?
How will it contribute to future learning?
Go to the Aims section and download
the ‘Aims of the curriculum’ PDF.
Compare the aims with your own
objectives for your compelling learning
experience.
How will we know when we are
achieving our aims?
Use the advice in the Evaluating your
curriculum section.
At the bottom of the page, click on
‘how well you are achieving your aims’
and then ‘view the whole page’ for
further information.
Resource sheet E (in the ‘timely
information’ section) and resource
sheet F (in the ‘summary’ section) will support you in evaluating the
impact of your compelling learning experience for your learners.
Based on your discussions about what evidence to collect, how to
collect it, when to evaluate and who will take responsibility,
complete an evaluation plan to share with colleagues. Download
resource sheet H in the ‘Planning evaluation‘ section – this is a
template for an evaluation plan.