Module Information

Module Identifier
EDM2820
Module Title
Curriculum Design and Realisation
Academic Year
2025/2026
Co-ordinator
Semester
Semester 2
Reading List
Other Staff

Course Delivery

 

Assessment

Assessment Type Assessment length / details Proportion
Semester Assessment Portfolio  Portfolio of resources for use to support curriculum design in a chosen AOLE with rationale and justification for their selection. 4000 Words  100%
Supplementary Assessment Portfolio  Portfolio of resources for use to support curriculum design in a chosen AOLE with rationale and justification for their selection. 4000 Words  100%

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of this module students should be able to:

Analyse and evaluate different approaches to curriculum design in relation to teaching, learning and leadership.

Critically engage with curriculum development philosophies, programmes and policies in other international jurisdictions.

Critically analyse strategies for change in relation to curriculum realisation and implementation.

Evaluate different curriculum design approaches and to critically appraise the various implementation processes that accompany curriculum change within education institutions and systems

Brief description

This module is designed to enable students to engage deeply with the concepts and the international research that have informed recent curriculum development in Wales. It will enable students to consider curriculum design and realisation in different contexts, including their own. The module will equip students to evaluate different curriculum design approaches and to critically appraise the various implementation processes that accompany curriculum change within education institutions and systems.

Aims

This module equips students with an understanding of the purpose and principles of curriculum design in relation to effective teaching, learning and leadership at all levels. The module aims to develop in students a critical understanding of the strategies needed for changing and implementing a curriculum, for example, the place of subsidiarity. This module will enable professionals to apply their knowledge and understanding of curriculum development in their own context and to compare this with curriculum design and realisation in other settings.

Content

  • Exploration of different curriculum theory and design models including purpose-led curricula.
  • International comparisons of curriculum models including NZ, Norway, Singapore, Canada and Netherlands and their implications for a Welsh context;
  • Critical engagement with the previous assessment regime in Wales, its difficulties and how new approaches will have an impact on professional practice;
  • Engagement with the principles of progression and the relationship between school-level curriculum and learner progression over time;
  • Engagement with iterative design and development models, including engagement with learner voice;
  • Critical consideration of curriculum development and medium of instruction, with a focus continuum-specific and appropriate approaches to Welsh language development both through curriculum delivery;
  • Critical engagement with the international debates around the role and selection of curriculum knowledge and content.

Module Skills

Skills Type Skills details
Adaptability and resilience Continue to advance their knowledge and understanding, and to develop new skills to a high level. All module content is intended to challenge students to reconsider what they think they know, to adopt critical mindsets and to be ready to adapt what they do, in light of the new knowledge and understanding they encounter during the module.
Creative Problem Solving Demonstrate self-direction and originality in tackling and solving problems and act autonomously in planning and implementing tasks at a professional or equivalent level.
Critical and analytical thinking Conceptual understanding that enables the student: - to evaluate critically current research and advanced scholarship in the discipline - to evaluate methodologies and develop critiques of them and, where appropriate, to propose new hypotheses.
Professional communication Typically, holders of the qualification will be able to: Deal with complex issues both systematically and creatively, make sound judgements in the absence of complete data, and communicate their conclusions clearly to specialist and non-specialist audiences.
Real world sense And holders will have the qualities and transferable skills necessary for employment requiring: - the exercise of initiative and personal responsibility - decision-making in complex and unpredictable situations - the independent learning ability required
Subject Specific Skills A systematic understanding of knowledge, and a critical awareness of current problems and/or new insights, much of which is at, or informed by, the forefront of their academic discipline, field of study or area of professional practice. Students will be assessed for their knowledge and critical awareness relating to the module topic. All students will be expected to relate this to their own practice.

Notes

This module is at CQFW Level 7