Summary

A negotiated curriculum allows students to choose (within set parameters) the content of a module. By empowering students to choose topics that they find the most urgent, important, or interesting, the practice of a negotiated curriculum enhances student engagement, active learning, and inclusivity.

Theory

This practice is underpinned by the principles of active learning, student engagement, and student voice. By making students co-creators of the curriculum, the tutor can empower students to take responsibility for their learning and enable them to choose the topics that students, rather than staff, see as most relevant to their lives or to their programme of study. As all students in the module engage in the process of choosing topics, this practice has the opportunity to be highly inclusive. Where appropriate, it can be used as a methodology to decolonise the curriculum and ensure that wider perspectives are brought into the module. The pedagogy also works to destabilise hierarchies of power within the classroom as students, rather than staff, may bring their own expertise to bear on the topics.

How it Works

1. Highlight to prospective students in the module catalogue that while the broad parameters of the module are set, the specific topics will be chosen by students at the start of the module. (If this is not done, students can be confused or alarmed by the lack of detail about the module content, or lack of resources).
2. Alert the library that there is a negotiated curriculum on this module and that therefore your reading list requests will not be submitted until the start of term. You will need to bear this in mind when choosing readings for the relevant topics – e-resources are essential.
3. Before the first session, direct students to come to class with suggestions of topics for study, within the broad parameters of the subject of the module. This can be as open or as directed as you feel comfortable with.
4. In the first session, let all students make suggestions for topics, and a case for why their preferred topic is important and relevant. Once a list is created, then (if necessary), the tutor should check and adjust this list. You may want to group suggested topics together or split them up to suit the lengths of your sessions. You can also advise on whether a particular topic is suitable for the module, and add topics of your own.
5. If the list is longer than the number of sessions, allow students to choose the topics from the list that they are most interested in. Multiple rounds of hands up voting works well. Keeping this element interactive and fun creates community cohesion within the group. You may want to limit their choices to ensure a diversity of topics. If an individual student’s preferred topic is not chosen by the group, advise them that they can still pursue it as part of their assessment, where possible.
6. After the first session, set the syllabus for the term based on the students’ choices. Make sure that you have carved out the necessary time to do this – it is time consuming, especially if students choose topics that you are not familiar with. You may wish to set the first few sessions on topics that you have taught before. Set readings and resources as usual. It is also possible to ask students to locate relevant resources themselves for a given week, or to ask the student who chose a particular topic to lead that session.
7. Enjoy! While it is a lot of work in the first week or two of the module to set up, the high levels of student engagement make a negotiated curriculum a really rewarding pedagogy for both students and staff.

Practical Example

The module, “America in Black and White?” asks students to place contemporary issues around race and racism in the United States into historical context. They choose the contemporary topics that are of most importance to them, and through the sessions we explore together the historical contexts of these topics.

Individual Perspective

Doing this for the first time can be quite intimidating – and time-consuming. However, the rewards are immense: these have consistently been my most engaged seminar groups, in part because the students are so interested in the subject matter that they have chosen, and also because *I* am more interested: each year there is at least one topic chosen that I know little about, and therefore I am learning along with the students. This creates a real sense that we are learning together, and disrupts the power hierarchies of the classroom, making for a more cohesive community of learners.