HAA first professional Learning session on the new South Australian Curriculum under development

 

The Public Education strategy, with the purpose: Children and students learning and thriving.

Download at https://www.education.sa.gov.au/purpose-media/Learn-and-thrive-plan-on-a-page.pdf

Welcome HAA current and future members,

My name’s Kirby O'Connor and I am on the HAA Interim Council representing the pre-service teacher voice for HaSS Association Australia.

We welcome you to our first blog entry. As a reader, throughout HAA's blogging journey, you will read a variety of blogs from HAA council members and specialized contributors. Topics will be tailored around HaSS, events, workshops, mentorship and resources.

If you are a member/specialist and passionate about a HaSS related topic, contact HAA to share your own blog post at president@hassaa.org.au

The interim council is pleased to report on the success of our first member’s event: Introduction of the new SA Curriculum under development. The information session was held on the 21^st of August 2024. The HAA council was thrilled to see 46 members attend HAA's first professional development zoom workshop.

The HAA Interim Council, July 2024

At an online session, attended by 38 HAA members on 21 August, the new SA Curriculum was presented by Susie Jones and Tara Baron from the Department of Education. The breakdown of the new SA curriculum structure was insightful and clearly highlighted the purpose and importance of successful young SA learners.

The DfE team highlighted how its current 2024 school roll out is going and the changes that have been made in the learning standards in accordance with feedback. The current phase of the SA curriculum is in Term 3 2024 and is called “Focus and Explore.” Its aim is to introduce the four new learning areas of HaSS, HPE, Science and Technologies. The development team in this phase will discuss and define the focus, engage with consumers, approach and pace alongside professionals and sites. The final phase will roll out in Term 4 2024 and will look further into and refocus engagement again to set up for a 2025-2027 full adoption.

The collaborative presentation by Susie (Primary Sector) and Tara (Secondary Sector) aligned the current Australian Curriculum v9 to the new SA Curriculum for both sectors. Both presenters broke down the first iteration of the HaSS learning standards with examples of a reception and year nine year-levels shown. The purpose, wording, sequence, structure, content, achievements, and outcomes were clearly defined for members.

The Essential Learning Standards of conceptual understanding, dispositions and capabilities.  

·         Capabilities - Do

·         Dispositions - Be

·         Knowledge - Understand

o    Conceptual Understanding

o    Supporting Content Descriptors

 

The first iteration of HaSS in the SA Curriculum was deconstructed from ACARA v9 and consulted upon by SA education professionals, academic institutes, SA community and cultural groups, as well as SA learners. The overall messaging was “its simplified.” The presenters showed the 31 current ACARA v9 concepts, general capabilities and cross curriculum priorities. It was iterated that DfE wants professionals to engage in the content and participate in open discussions to provide feedback to implement a final product effectively. 

Susie Jones and Tara Baron, DfE Curriculum Managers for HaSS

Both presenters spoke passionately of the importance of SA learners needing access to meaningful HaSS education. On review of the Public Education Strategic Plan, I was pleased to see the extensive list of data, surveys, community context reports, and consultations. This was done with SA community and cultural groups, diverse minority group panels, corporations, professional associations, individual specialists, academic institutes, and lastly and most importantly, children! Which is the part I personally liked.

First Nations Australian voices are represented directly in the curriculum writing. SA Aboriginal communities were consulted upon, and Aboriginal learners’ voices are present. Such as this quote from a Year 9 Aboriginal student "I hope that the future students will be excited to go to school every single day. I also hope especially Indigenous students feel as though they’ve finally found where they belong”.

SA Curriculum has simplified content with locally relevant HaSS concepts, alongside learner capabilities and dispositions.

These six concepts fall under the Knowledge /Conceptual understanding of HaSS.

• Identity and society
• Significance and scale
• Place, space, and environment
• Change, decisions and actions
• Perspectives and interpretations
• Relationships and interactions

 HaSS Dispositions

• Disconcerting
• Empathetic
• Responsible
• Curious
• Conscious (socially, politically etc.)

HaSS Capabilities linked to ACARA v9 Content descriptors.

• Critical inquiry
• Personal and social
• Ethical understanding
• Intercultural understanding