Skills versus knowledge – Let’s explore the conundrum using a haiku poem

by | Oct 1, 2018 | Wellbeing

Skills versus knowledge?

There is a clear form

To write haiku poetry

That I need to know

——-

Two fives and a seven

Syllables are key to this

Carefully structured

——-

To use the form well

I must pull the words apart

For this I need skills

——–

 I need to know words

To make my prose explain

About haiku poems

———-

Reading and writing

Are the skills I need to have

To finish the poem

———–

I love the genre

No need for anything to rhyme

Just rhythm and style

Glynis Frater

Just a bit of fun but hopefully it demonstrates what I am saying,

Skills versus knowledge: my thoughts below

Skills versus knowledge – Let’s explore the conundrum using a haiku poem

OFSTED’s research published in 2018 into how the curriculum is planned and implemented focused on three different approaches to curriculum planning,

  • Knowledge led
  • Knowledge engaged
  • Skills led

The College of Teaching’s new magazine IMPACT focused in its 4th edition on the curriculum.  It is well worth a read.  The conclusion I draw from both the OFSTED report and the collection of essays within the IMPACT magazine is that skills have their place as an integral part of learning in the first as well as the second and third of the suggested approaches.  In one article, Designing a primary knowledge-rich curriculum which focuses on the knowledge-led approach, there is clearly an emphasis on rich and deep subject specific learning.

However, the need for pupils to have access to materials and resources that are ‘text-rich’ is cited as essential.  In order to access rich text linked to knowledge acquisition requires the skill of comprehension, the ability to read and draw inference and the competence to sift and select the relevant information in order to demonstrate understanding.  

The term skill was deftly left out of the observation of the need for rich text.  Reading is an essential skill and one that is fundamental to all learning.  Subject specific learning requires the same level of comprehension skills as scaffolded learning in English or literacy and those teachers who are not specialists in English may not have the relevant skills or understanding to ensure that pupils can access the complex language in say a piece of History source material or an unfamiliar piece of science explanation.

I don’t disagree with the three approaches to curriculum design. My thoughts are that we need to ensure that we always identify the skills that are fundamental to deepening learning and to building a seamless continuum that ensures pupils become unconsciously competent in their ability to apply their knowledge across a wide range of contexts within the national and the wider curriculum.

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