Curriculum Development

Community Learning providers are having to rethink and reshape their community learning curriculum offer to respond to localism, local strategies and the reform of public services, as well as the fallout from austerity. A community learning curriculum for the current times needs to be inclusive, wide ranging, highly flexible, and very responsive to the social and economic needs of diverse groups. This means reaching new people, building resilience and equipping people to find solutions to individual and community challenges.

The curriculum offer should be founded on research that offers a robust analysis of the local strategic context as well as the full spectrum of community learning needs. Working with partners is often the most effective way of adding social value and developing the most creative and effective learning opportunities.

Involving learners and other partners in co-designing the curriculum will ensure that it is relevant. This requires creative approaches to support them to articulate their knowledge of what they need in terms of curriculum design. Creative approaches that extend the range of methods used for recruitment, modes of delivery and teaching and learning will be required to attract new and different learners and deliver the new curriculum.

The community learning curriculum might include some or all of the following types of learning that:

• Enriches life by enabling people to fulfill their ambitions, pursue their passions and interests, address health and well being needs, and build resilience and confidence.
• Builds skills and knowledge for local leadership.
• Builds capacity to shape or manage services, local spaces and amenities to make sure they meet community requirements.
• Enables democratic and civic participation, activism and volunteering, engages communities in dialogue about local issues and supports them to begin addressing them.
• Supports pathways to employment.
• Supports the development of life skills including English, maths, and financial and digital capabilities.
• Enables parents to support their children and raises the aspirations and education achievement of all family members.