Overview of the BC Curriculum
The objective of this section is to provide an overview of the 10 elements of the BC Curriculum, and as they pertain to the Crofton House Senior School curriculum. Links to key curriculum resources are provided to guide further reading of the most recent documents.
Ten Elements
1. Focus on learner-centred and flexible learning. Personalized options enable students to participate in choosing course content. An inquiry-based, hands-on approach encourages students to take more personal responsibility for learning. Teachers have greater flexibility in creating learning environments that are relevant, engaging, and novel, promoting local contexts and place-based learning.
2. Curriculum structure has common components, regardless of subject. These components work together to support deep learning.
a. Core Competencies( what students will be able to demonstrate) – intellectual, personal, and social proficiencies demonstrated across curricular areas.
b. Big Ideas( what students will understand) – generalizations, principles, key concepts.
c. Learning Standards – Curricular Competencies( what students will be able to demonstrate) – skills, strategies, processes demonstrated within a curricular area.
d. Learning Standards – Content( what students will know) – essential topics and knowledge.
3. Provide learners with a strong foundation of Core Competencies, competencies that are driven by global and technological changes.
These competencies encompass the intellectual, personal and social skills students need to develop for success in life beyond school and to become educated citizens. Core Competencies are embedded within the learning standards of the curriculum. They come into play when students are engaged in“ doing” in any area of learning. Together, the literacy and numeracy foundations and core competencies contribute to the development of educated citizens. The Core Competencies are:
a. Communication – the set of abilities that students use to impart and exchange information, experiences, and ideas to explore the world around them, and to understand and effectively engage in the use of digital media.
b. Thinking – the knowledge, skills, and processes we associate with intellectual development.
c. Personal and Social – the set of abilities that relate to students’ identity in the world, both as individuals and as members of their community and society.
4. Courses are not designed to stream students into easier or difficult pathways. All courses allow for different teaching methods and all students are able to access any course.
5. Indigenous worldviews, perspectives, and content thrive in all curriculum( K-12). For example, place-based learning and emphasis on Indigenous ways of knowing reflect the First Peoples Principles of Learning in the curriculum.
6. Literacy and numeracy skills are developed through applications in all curricular areas. A sustained focus is on reading, writing, and math as the core skills necessary for all students, including applications in the graduation years.
7. Expanded course options in each subject area. The course options reflect a broad diversity and respond to emerging trends and student preference.
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