Below are some of the questions we are most frequently asked by teachers, journalists, academics and other people interested in Opening Minds.

About the curriculum framework

What is a 'competence'?

A competence is defined by Opening Minds as an ability to understand and to do. Opening Minds encourages the explicit teaching of capability in five broad areas: learning, citizenship, relating to people, managing situations and managing information.

The competences do not replace subject knowledge in the curriculum; rather they complement National Curriculum content by looking at how knowledge is acquired and how it is used. To develop the competences in the classroom requires that students are working with content.

Competence can also be used to refer to the ability to undertake a formal skill to a certain level – for example to pass a driving test. We do not use the term in this sense, but understand the development of the competences set out in the Opening Minds framework as a lifelong learning journey.

What competencies does Opening Minds include?

The Opening Minds curriculum features 24 competences organised into five categories of competences: learning, citizenship, relating to people, managing situations and managing information.

Why is Opening Minds a curriculum 'framework' rather than a curriculum?

Opening Minds is not an ‘off the shelf’ curriculum that schools can buy. There are no schemes of work, lesson plans or materials available from the RSA. The competences provide a framework within which schools develop their own schemes of work and project plans – often borrowing and adapting the work done by other Opening Minds schools (see How can I get in touch with other schools that are doing Opening Minds?). One of the strengths of this approach is the ownership a school gains over its curriculum, the flexibility to design a curriculum that meets the needs of its learners, and the understanding of the competences gained by teachers during the planning process.

However, for schools considering implementing a curriculum based on Opening Minds, it also clearly has implications for the amount of planning and preparation work involved in the development of an Opening Minds curriculum prior to implementation.

How does Opening Minds fit with the National Curriculum?

Opening Minds is not an alternative to the National Curriculum; rather it is an alternative to the traditional way of delivering the National Curriculum and includes the explicit teaching of competences in addition to subject content. Schools have found that all of the required content of the National Curriculum can be covered using Opening Minds – and often much more besides – in a way that better engages their students and provides greater opportunity to develop Personal, Learning and Thinking Skills.

Can schools change or adapt the Opening Minds framework?

Yes. In fact, most schools opt to do so for different reasons. The most important reason is to ensure that competences are expressed in a way that students can understand, and that staff feel best expresses how their students need to develop. Some schools opt to have a focus on a particular area of competence, and may change wording or remove some of the competences accordingly. Still others choose to add competences, for example to give emphasis across the curriculum to skills related to their school’s specialism if they have one.

What subjects does Opening Minds apply to?

Schools doing Opening Minds choose which subjects they wish to teach through the competence framework: some schools bring everything in and some only one or two subjects. The most commonly integrated subjects are Geography, Citizenship and RE, and the least common are Design Technology and Physical Education.

The role of subject specialists in carefully planning the content of an integrated curriculum is key. The views of subject leads about opportunities for integration may well inform schools’ decisions about subject integration.

For further information about the patterns of subject integration by Opening Minds schools, please see Annex C in our report Opening Minds: Impact Update 2008 available for download here.

What are the benefits of Opening Minds?

Opening Minds was designed to help schools teach young people competences that will help them thrive in the real world. Schools implementing Opening Minds have cited improvements in behaviour, attendance and engagement with learning among students doing Opening Minds. They have also reported that their students are learning more independently and are taking more ownership over their work.

Teaching has also benefited in many schools, with teachers indicating that they are able to be much more creative and to address the needs of their learners better by developing and then teaching an Opening Minds curriculum.

For further information, please see our report Opening Minds: Impact Update 2008 available for download here.

Why have other schools decided to take up Opening Minds?

Schools cite creating more independent learners, developing real world skills, and improving students’ engagement as the three most important reasons for implementing Opening Minds.

This indicates that the reasons for implementation can be complex. They may well cut across addressing current issues of concern within the school – for example a perceived level of passivity among learners in many schools – to the vision the school has for its students when they leave – for example ensuring they are adequately prepared for life in the 21st century.

When did Opening Minds first start?

Opening Minds was piloted in 2000 and more schools have been taking it up each year since.

Is Opening Minds suitable for students with special educational needs?

Schools have found that Opening Minds can provide opportunities for learners with special educational needs to develop skills and confidence that a more traditional environment might struggle to provide.

By explicitly teaching and encouraging progression in competences such as team working, high level collaboration skills, critical use of information and dealing with difficult situations - including disappointment - some schools have found that students that struggle with academic work can excel at competence work thus raising self esteem, engagement and often progression in more academic work.

Is Opening Minds suitable for Gifted and Talented students?

Opening Minds has provided many schools with the opportunity to really stretch their Gifted and Talented students. Not only do some students who excel at academic work find some of the competences challenging in themselves (collaborative working and managing situations including disappointment are often key examples), but the open ended and learner directed nature of much Opening Minds work allows the more academically able to explore unlimited content rather than having to stop learning when the syllabus has been covered.

What age is Opening Minds suitable for?

The Opening Minds competences can be taught at any age. Opening Minds has largely been used by schools at Key Stage 3 (11-14 year olds), and most schools choose to implement it for Year 7 only.

However, several primary schools also use Opening Minds throughout their year groups, and a handful of schools make sure that the competencies are used alongside GCSE and A-Level provision at Key Stages 4 and 5.

What about subject knowledge?

Opening Minds is not an alternative to the teaching of subject knowledge – rather it is an alternative way of delivering it.

In terms of content covered many schools find that they are in fact able to cover more content under Opening Minds because of the commitment of students to their learning and the open ended nature of many projects. The explicit teaching of competences, rather than taking away from the teaching of knowledge, can equip learners to acquire, process and apply knowledge more fully than they might otherwise be able to.

The longer lessons and thematic learning employed by many Opening Minds schools has also allowed for a deeper understanding of subjects to be acquired by learners because they have more time to get behind their subject matter.

Depending on the nature of Opening Minds implementation, schools may exploit the greater flexibility it offers to combine approaches to a subject. For example by integrating much of the subject content into an Opening Minds project, but using a smaller number of timetabled subject lessons dedicated to teaching particular content in a more traditional classroom.

What about specialisms of teachers?

Thematic teaching often requires teachers to spend some time teaching outside of their subject specialisms. However, where this occurs it is recommended that subject specialists – and where possible subject heads – are deeply involved in the planning and review of Opening Minds. It is also the case that some schools are using team teaching for a portion of the timetable and so subject specialists are usually present as well.

What has been the impact on results and attainment?

Very few of the 200 schools using Opening Minds have had students take public examinations and as such the RSA has not yet conducted a review of the impact of Opening Minds on exam results and attainment levels. A forthcoming evaluation will be looking at the impact of Opening Minds on learners’ attainment levels as well as wider impacts on learning dispositions and well being.

How does Opening Minds work with GCSEs and A-Levels?

Opening Minds is usually taught in Key Stage 3 only, with students progressing onto GCSE and A Level study as usual. Some schools choose to retain emphasis on the Opening Minds competences throughout the school although the timetable for Key Stages 4 and 5 is based around subjects as required by teaching for qualifications.

About implementing Opening Minds

Where can I find the curriculum?

The curriculum framework is available from our website here. There are no schemes of work and no ready-made content available for download – each school has traditionally developed its own locally based curriculum, mapping National Curriculum content throughout.

How much does it cost?

The framework is free to use and requires no authorisation from the RSA or other body. There are no schemes of work to purchase so the costs will be in staff time in planning the curriculum changes.

How can I get in touch with other schools that are doing Opening Minds?

The Opening Minds School Community is an online directory designed to enable schools implementing or thinking of implementing Opening Minds to find one another. Click here to access the Community.

Is there training available?

The RSA provides training and consultancy to schools that are planning an Opening Minds curriculum. Please visit our training pages or contact education@rsa.org.uk for more details.

Who can I talk to about Opening Minds?

The Opening Minds School Community is the ideal platform for schools interested in Opening Minds to get in touch with other schools.

In addition the RSA Education team is always very happy to answer any questions about Opening Minds. Please get in contact at education@rsa.org.uk.

Is there anything I can read about Opening Minds?

The RSA has released a number of publications relating to Opening Minds and its impact and these are all available to download or to order from our website. Click here to view our list of publications.