Tansy Jessop presented on the development of a new curriculum framework for an Irish university. The presentation outlined the consultation process, which included curriculum cafes and card sorting activities to gather input. A thematic analysis of the consultation responses informed the framework. The presentation discussed theories of knowing, acting, and being that underpinned the framework, aiming for a balanced, multi-dimensional approach. It also covered the process of reviewing all courses to align with the new framework and tensions that arose throughout the process.

1. Tansy Jessop
Irish National Forum for the Enhancement of T&L
9 April 2019
Who
am I?
How do I
know
this is
true?
What is truth?
Any evidence
to back it up?
This is costing
me a fortune –
do I care about
truth claims?

2. 2
• Our context: who we are
• Your thoughts about curriculum (and a card game)
• Developing our framework: the process (more cards!)
• The theory behind the framework
• Bringing about culture change
• Tensions and how we might overcome them
The workshop

3. Who we are
• Mid-sized, applied,
modern university
• Maritime, Arts, Sports
• Teaching-focused
• 12,000 students
• 70% first generation
• Diverse, low income
• Upward trajectory

4. Why a new curriculum framework?
Make a
difference to
the student
experience
The DVC
said so…!
Let’s get
systematic
and
consistent
Shared
educational
purpose
Let’s be
thoughtful and
theoretical

5. • You have 18 statements
about curriculum
• Agree 9 statements to
create your diamond 9
• Place your favourites
towards the top discard
your six least favourite
Curriculum: diamond 9

6. Curriculum (n) running, chariot, course
What’s going on here?
What could possibly go wrong?
Who are the stakeholders?
What are their interests?

7. Balancing the WHAT, HOW and WHY
PRODUCT: structuring and managing content
(WHAT)
PROCESS: the lived experience (HOW)
PRAXIS: wider purpose of HE, social justice,
equality (WHY)

8. Curriculum is…
…complicated
conversation
…a verb
‘currere’
rather than a
noun
…an intellectual
rather than an
institutional or
bureaucratic pursuitWilliam Pinar

9. Stage 1: Generating the framework
• Solent ‘distinctives’
• Aspirations
• Lived experience
• Other models

10. Where did we begin?

11. Consultation
(not just another brick in the wall)
 900
comments
 Responses to
7 dimensions
 Mainly from
students

12. Consultation: 9 x curriculum cafes
(n= 143/182 academic)
• 62 Kiviat charts
• 65 individual
reflections
• 373 coloured cards
• 73 typed pages of
ethnographic field-
notes

13. 1 3
• What would you want to see in a curriculum
framework at your university?
• Write down three crucial things: one per card
• Thematically analyse responses
Card activity

14. Thematic analysis of n=373 cards

15. Thematic analysis: first cut

16. Theory behind the framework
• Balancing knowing, acting and being (Barnett
and Coate 2004)
• Significant learning (Fink 2003)
• Intellectual journeys (Perry 1998; Baxter-
Magolda 2001)
• Personal knowing (Polanyi 1954;1966; Palmer
1983)

17. How big are your circles?
(Barnett and Coate 2004)
• Knowing is about
content
• Acting is about
becoming a historian,
actor, psychologist, or
philosopher
• Being is about
understanding yourself,
orienting yourself and
relating your
knowledge and action
to the world
Knowing
Being
Acting

18. L.D. Fink (2003)
Creating significant
learning
experiences: an
integrated approach
to course design on
college courses
Significant Learning (Fink 2003)

19. Learning how to learn
Caring
Human dimension
Integration
Application
Foundational knowledge: Topics A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I…
Learning-centredparadigm–
multi-dimensional
Content-centred paradigm – one dimensional
Content vs learning-oriented (Fink 2003)

20. Intellectual development in a nutshell
Model Stage 1 Stage 2 Stage 3 Stage 4
Perry Dualism Multiplicity Relativism Commitment
Baxter
Magolda
Absolute
Knowledge
Transitional Independent
Contextual
self-
authorship

21. 2 1
Personal knowing

22. 2 2
Solent’s real world curriculum

23. P R E S E N T A T I O N T I T L E – G O T O I N S E R T > H E A D E R & F O O T E R T O E D I T T H I S T E X T 2 3
Making it happen: reviewing all courses

24. 2 4
53 programmes in
16 departments in
six months!
Oh no, 11
departments
to go!
There have been triumphs!
And there have been casualties…

25. P R E S E N T A T I O N T I T L E – G O T O I N S E R T > H E A D E R & F O O T E R T O E D I T T H I S T E X T 2 5
Curriculum Framework
Workshop 2:
Vision, ideas,
philosophy

26. 2 6

27. P R E S E N T A T I O N T I T L E – G O T O I N S E R T > H E A D E R & F O O T E R T O E D I T T H I S T E X T 2 7
CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK
WORKSHOP 3

28. Listen and write
Talk to a partner about your unit, as if they are a student. Tell
them:
• What is novel and exciting and significant about the unit
• What they will learn and become through the unit
• How they will learn and be assessed
• What knowledge and capability they will take away from it
• How it links to industry and to other units on the degree
PARTNER: Please jot down key words while they talk.

29. The old unit descriptor

30. The new unit descriptor

31. Are we there yet?

32. Tensions
• Quality assurance and enhancement
• Consistency or creativity
• Compliance culture or culture change?
• Cynicism or hope
• Initiative fatigue or excitement
• New wine in old wine skins…

33. Can the caged bird fly?

34. References
Barnett, R. and Coate, K. 2004. Engaging the curriculum in higher education.
Maidenhead: Society for Research into Higher Education & Open University
Press.
Baxter-Magolda, M. 2001. Making their own way: Narratives for
transforming Higher Education to promote self-development.
Davies, Mark 2017. Developing 'A Personal Knowing': A Grounded Theory
Study. PhD. University of South Wales.
Fink, L. Dee 2013. Creating significant learning experiences: an integrated
approach to course design on college courses.
Palmer, P. 1983. To know as we are known: Education as a Spiritual Journey.
HarperOne.
Perry, W. 1998. Forms of Ethical Intellectual Development in the College
Years: A Scheme.
Polanyi, M. 1966. The Tacit Dimension. Chicago. University of Chicago Press.
Polanyi, M. 1958. Personal Knowledge: towards a post-critical philosophy.