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This week I'm digging into curriculum consultations — specifically the one currently open for Northern Ireland's Technology and Design curriculum, which I helped draft and which closes on 30 September.

Before getting into the detail, I wanted to clear up something that keeps coming up in conversations, including one I had only today: what a national curriculum document actually does. In England and Northern Ireland, these documents say what should be taught and why — not how to teach it. The how belongs to teachers, drawing on their professional knowledge of pedagogy and how design and technology capability develops over time. That distinction matters when you're deciding what to say in a consultation response.

I also share an insight from the international comparative research project I'm currently leading across fourteen countries: unlike England's three-page document, several other countries' policies go much further, setting out assessment, teaching time, and even pedagogical guidance. It's a reminder that “national curriculum” means very different things in different places.

Then I walk through the five questions in the Northern Ireland consultation one by one, explaining what each is really asking and how to use the optional comment boxes to make your response count — whether you teach in Northern Ireland or you're watching from elsewhere to see how a consultation like this works.

If you're in Northern Ireland, please do respond before 30 September — and talk it through with your department first. What would you want a new curriculum document to protect, and what would you happily see change? I'd love to hear your answer.

Why national curriculum debates feel so personal

Consultation on the Northern Ireland Curriculum 2028

Technology and design: Draft curriculum framework for Public Consultation

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