How much media is in Curriculum 21?

With the introduction of Curriculum 21 in many Swiss cantons, " media and IT" are becoming more important in primary schools. What exactly does it say and what does it mean for which age group?

Curriculum 21 sets out the skills that pupils should learn during their time at primary school, from kindergarten to year 9. On the one hand,the «Media and IT» module is about addressing and reflecting on media use outside of school. On the other hand, pupils should be prepared for the professional world with application skills and basic IT knowledge, as these are «required in practically every profession today», according to the Swiss-German Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education.
Thomas Merz from the Thurgau University of Teacher Education, who worked on the curriculum, points out that the curriculum demands far more than just the use of media in the classroom: "It's about preparing pupils for the new challenges of the digital society.

Online dossier on media skills

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There is a lot of background knowledge involved, students deal with the influences of media on society, the risks of using them, the importance of digital media for democracy, new professional skills, the abundance of negative news, their effects and much more."
The objectives of the «Media and Computer Science» module are

  • dass Schülerinnen und Schüler Medien und ihre Bedeutung für die Gesellschaft verstehen, kritisch hinterfragen und kompetent und verantwortungsvoll nutzen; 
  • dass Schülerinnen und Schüler verstehen, welche grundsätzlichen technischen Mechanismen hinter den digitalen Medien stecken, damit sie diese Grundkonzepte der Informatik nutzen können, um eigene Probleme zu lösen; 
  • dass Schülerinnen und Schüler Hard- und Software kompetent nutzen, um Informations- und Kommunikationstechnologien in der Schule, im Alltag und im Berufsleben einzusetzen. 

Im Zyklus I, der die ersten vier Jahre einschliesslich Kindergarten umfasst,

media skills should not be taught in a separate subject, but should instead be addressed across subjects where appropriate. The aims of the first cycle are, for example, for pupils to be able to switch on a device and log in, or to learn how to use media creatively in a level-appropriate way and to share their own media experiences.

As the pupils grow, so do the competence goals

In cycles II (3rd - 6th school year) and III (secondary level), the curriculum recommends that children attend at least two weekly media and IT lessons per year in order to systematically work on central, fundamental topics. Whether and how these times are adhered to is decided by the respective cantons. The skills objectives also grow with the pupils. In the third cycle, for example, they should learn to recognise the intention behind media contributions, use media to publish their own ideas and create algorithms for computer programs with variables and subroutines.
At grammar school level , computer science is an optional supplementary subject. The Conference of Cantonal Ministers of Education is currently discussing whether it should become a compulsory subject. At vocational schools, the picture is even more heterogeneous than at other schools, because the integration of new media here depends heavily on the desired job profile.

Digital revolution in the classroom. Our dossier in October 2017

How digital are Swiss schools? What do children and parents say about teaching with tablets and the like? How do teachers deal with the changes? And how do you protect pupils' data when everything goes digital?

Read all about it in our big dossier in the October issue. Order it here.

Read more:

  • Mr Wampfler, do digital media make schools better?
  • What does Curriculum 21 say about the media and IT module? What is in store for our children?