What should be done to reduce overcrowding?
APPA notes the recommendations in the Review of the Australian Curriculum aimed at
addressing overcrowding. The Review also makes a number of recommendations about
particular subjects and learning areas.
APPA notes in particular the two options offered by the Review for the structure of the
curriculum (Donnelly & Wiltshire, 2014: 143-6). While not fully supporting either model,
APPA’s general preference is for that proposed by Professor Wiltshire, since it offers the
better hope of materially reducing overcrowding in the primary years. We recognise the value
in reducing the subject range in this model, achieved by integration of Humanities and Social
Sciences into a single subject in the primary years. APPA supports the intention to shift
content from the earlier to the later years. APPA proposes a model (see Fig 3 below)
following similar principles to that proposed by Professor Wiltshire.
The guiding principle for the approach proposed is to achieve a smaller core of essential
content within a rich curriculum. APPA argues that, at all points, the body of content
prescribed in the Australian Curriculum should be reduced. This can be achieved by:
• introducing specific learning areas and subjects somewhat later (and in one case not
at all) in the primary years of schooling;
• being clear about which subjects should be mandatory and which should be optional
or at school discretion; and
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• reducing the number of content descriptions (and in some cases the scope of content
covered in each description) to the number that can realistically be taught and learned
in depth, in a normal classroom, in the time available.
APPA also takes the view that all areas of the curriculum should be taught only if time and
resources are adequate to teach them well. This applies most specifically to Languages.
While there is support for the teaching of Languages in primary schools, APPA rejects their
inclusion in the curriculum where adequate time is not made available, and/or there is not a
qualified teacher, and/or the specific language cannot be maintained over a period of years.
APPA notes that there have been suggestions that primary schools could deal with the
problem of overcrowding by integrating elements of the curriculum through themes or
domains. While there are many cases of outstanding practice in curriculum integration, it
should not be seen as a time-saver. Integrating areas of curriculum does not reduce the
scope of student learning, or the time to be spent teaching key concepts and ensuring that all
children understand them. The material to be covered in the curriculum still has to be
covered, and children will need roughly the same amount of time and support regardless of
the pedagogical or organisational approach adopted.
As a general principle, each content description included should be allocated approximately
eight hours teaching time, as already occurs in some learning areas, with significant
variations to be formally justified. The test should be whether a teacher in a regular
classroom can deliver the curriculum in the time available to a group of students with all the
variation and range in capacity, orientation and experience that groups of children show. As
the Review of the Australian Curriculum notes, reporting respondent views about the causes
of overcrowding, the development of the documents: