Report

The value of a knowledge-rich curriculum

This report from UK think tank Civitas offers an insight into the merits and realities of a knowledge-rich curriculum.

This essay collection is a multi-author anthology bringing together a wide range of professionals from teaching, education leadership, policy and academia to discuss the aims, impact and potential of a knowledge-rich curriculum approach in schools.

With the goal of engaging school leaders, policymakers, teachers and parents/carers alike, the collection presents contributions ranging from subject-specific accounts of knowledge-rich excellence to discussion of the role that a knowledge-rich curriculum can play in tackling socio-economic disadvantage – alongside seeking to address criticism of a knowledge-rich approach.

Focusing on the English education system, this timely collection closely explores both the thinking underpinning a knowledge-rich approach and the practical realities of its implementation. Comprising an authoritative line-up of 17 authors, the essay collection therefore sets out to detail how a knowledge-rich approach translates into everyday school life, across both primary and secondary education. Writing from a variety of professional backgrounds, the collection’s authors draw on their experience to cover questions ranging from the relevance of a knowledge-rich curriculum for all learners and the conditions a knowledge-rich approach requires for success, to the challenges that today’s knowledge-rich education advocates face.

Charting the essential features and promise of a knowledge-rich approach, whilst also engaging with its potential vulnerabilities, the collection offers an invaluable opportunity to enhance understanding of and insight into the merits, practices, debates and classroom realities of a knowledge-rich curriculum.