Narrator

Engage is the first phase of curriculum implementation

In this phase, school leaders and teachers explore aspects of the new syllabus to identify and plan changes required for effective implementation.

School leaders and teachers will participate in a variety of activities supported by new and existing resources. 

These include:

• understanding the research underpinning changes in the new syllabus
• accessing and leading evidence-based professional learning to familiarise school leaders and teachers with the new syllabus
• identifying staff and student needs
• aligning plans and resourcing to a School Excellence Plan (SEP).initiative.
• allocating time to evaluate, select, adapt and create resources to teach the new syllabus
• planning the school approach to student assessment and reporting to parents.

During the engage phase, you could consider these reflective questions with colleagues:

• Do staff understand the new syllabus and the evidence underpinning the changes?  
• How will the new syllabus affect classroom practice? 
• What resources are required to commence syllabus implementation and meet planning and programming, assessing and reporting requirements?
• Does the plan for implementation allocate time for reflection and evaluation?

Professional learning, resources and advice are available to support school leaders and teachers throughout curriculum implementation.

During the engage phase, it is important that school leaders and teachers are exploring and planning to effectively implement the syllabus.

The length of time for this phase may vary depending on your school context. It may be shorter or longer than a year. You may move in and out of this phase depending on the syllabus you are implementing.

To support you, role-specific curriculum implementation journeys have been created for principals, middle leaders and teachers with links to professional learning, resources and advice.

For more information visit the department’s phases of curriculum implementation web page.

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Purpose of resource

The phases of curriculum implementation (Engage, Enact, Embed) can be used as a guide to support activities and reflective thinking in schools when implementing a new syllabus. They are informed by evidence for effective implementation in schools and aligned to department policies. These phases can be used flexibly across a range of schools and in variety of specific roles to guide effective curriculum implementation.

Target audience

The audience for this resource is school principals, school leadership teams and school staff.

When and how to use

Curriculum implementation is core and ongoing business in schools and effective curriculum implementation drives student growth and attainment, and school improvement.

New syllabuses provide schools with a unique opportunity to re-focus and place curriculum at the heart of school planning. This resource can be used to highlight the thinking schools may consider during each phase of curriculum implementation. Reflective questions and suggested activities are included to support this process for specific roles in both primary and secondary schools.

Research base

This resource was developed by the Curriculum Directorate. The research base used was NESA’s NSW Curriculum and the department's What works best in practice.

In addition the following research was considered:

• Albers, B and Pattuwage, L. (2017). ‘Implementation in Education: Findings from a Scoping Review. Melbourne: Evidence for Learning
• Dao L, (2021) ‘Challenges and enablers encountered by a curriculum leadership team in implementing the national curriculum in one Australian school’, Leading and Managing, 27 (1): 77-98
• Gouëdard P, Pont B, Hyttin S, Huang P (2020) ‘Curriculum reform: A literature review to support effective implementation’ OECD working paper, no. 239 20-45. OECD Publishing [Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development], Paris
• Jones, C and Anderson M (2001) ‘Managing curriculum change. Learning and Skills Development Agency, London
• Sharples J, Albers B, Fraser S, Deeble M, Vaughan T. (2019) ‘Putting Evidence to Work: A School’s Guide to Implementation, Evidence for Learning.

Alignment

Alignment to system priorities and/or needs – NSW Curriculum Reform.

Alignment to School Excellence Framework:

• Learning domain – Curriculum, Assessment, Reporting
• Teaching domain – Effective classroom practice, Learning and development
• Leading domain – Educational leadership

Alignment with the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers – 2.3, 6.3, 7.2

Contact

Email questions, comments, and feedback about this resource to contactcurriculumimplementation@det.nsw.edu.au using the subject line ‘Phases of curriculum implementation’.