Designing the Classroom Curriculum Designing the Classroom Curriculum | Page 51

Lynch, Smith, Howarth
Table 5.6 (in Chapter Seven), provides an overview of the knowledge domains which locate and organize
the respective learning outcomes in each KLA syllabus.
A syllabus-learning outcome (SLO) is complex. By complex we mean each outcome statement has been
devised to be achieved over the course of a KLA/ Subject ‘Stage, which is usually two school years. This
means each SLO/ Subject is inclusive of many sequential and inter-related knowledge bits --- known as the
hierarchy of knowledge (see Lynch and Smith, 2011 for more details) --- to be sequentially programmed and
‘taught’ by the teacher (i.e. one piece of knowledge has to be taught and learnt before progressing to the
next and so on).
For example, if you are to teach algebraic equations (e.g. X + Y = 2X + 24) a knowledge of number and
algorithms, amongst other things, needs first to be taught and thus understood. Further, in order to achieve
the extent of a SLO the teacher has to determine where to start and what bits to teach and in what order for
each student. This is where Instructional Learning Outcomes (ILO) comes into play. While the process of
developing ILOs is often internalized by the experienced teacher, this process is MOST important for the
novice and should be planned in written form. We elaborate this process in chapters which follow.
An ILO is, in effect, the Syllabus Learning Outcome broken down into its ‘instructional bits’. In completing
this process the teacher identifies the component knowledge pieces (what constitutes the teaching content)
and the knowledge hierarchy (what is taught first, second and so forth) which enables the teacher to decide
to what extent each ILO needs to be focused upon so as to achieve the overall SLO in each student. The
syllabus is most helpful in this process (review the syllabus’s “scope and sequence” chart). The profiling of
students now comes into focus. So, ILO’s are used to focus the teacher to the specific and sequential parts
of the SLO and thus provide instructional guidance. See Figure 5.1 for more details.