Page 3 - Sticky Knowledge 2 EDITED VERSION

What do we mean by a
‘knowledge-rich’ curriculum?

There is an expectation that our curriculum has to be ‘knowledge-
rich’. What does this mean?

? Amanda Spielman (2018) explains that, ‘The accumulated wealth of human
knowledge, and what we choose to pass on to the next generation through teaching
in our schools (the curriculum), must be at the heart of education’

? So what do we need to take into account when planning and assessing our
curriculum? Here are some key features to think about:

? The curriculum is a mastery of a body of subject-specific knowledge defined by
each school

? Skills are the by-product of the knowledge, not its purpose

? Schools must decide on the ‘invaluable knowledge’ that they want their pupils
to know as the content of the curriculum

? Learning is defined as an alteration in long-term memory. If nothing has altered
in long-term memory, nothing has been learned

? Progress means knowing more and remembering more

? Knowledge is generative or ‘sticky’

? Vocabulary size is related to academic success, and schooling is crucial for
increasing the breadth of pupils’ vocabulary

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