North West Curriculum Development Project

The records constitute a relatively comprehensive documentation of the Project. They comprise minutes and papers of the steering committee and finance and general purpose committee along with a range of administrative papers about the Project. Also included are some of the course handbooks produced as a result of the Project and several publications by project members reporting the Project. The papers do not include any significant records from the local development centres.

The North West Curriculum Development Project was one of a number of studies of the school curriculum undertaken in the late 1960s and early 1970s in connection with the raising of the school leaving age to 16 (enacted 1972), and the development of the Certificate of Secondary Education (C.S.E.) examination. The purpose of the project was to devise new forms of curriculum appropriate to these secondary school pupils, but based on the active contribution of practising teachers. The Project was funded by the Schools Council, and comprised fifteen local development centres run by thirteen North West LEAs, whose work was coordinated by the University's School of Education. Each local centre would be in contact with more than 20 secondary schools in its area. The School provided facilities for the local centres to discuss and refine their work. The Project was managed by a steering committee, on which practising teachers comprised the majority, and the project leader was Allan Rudd of the School of Education. Its work commenced in 1967, when regional groups were set up for ten curriculum areas. These prepared handbooks, which were further studied and tested in local developments centres. In 1974 the work of the NWCDP was transferred to the Delegacy for the Training of Teachers.

The collection is arranged into the following series:

• FED/4/1 - Minutes and papers of the Steering Committee
• FED/4/2 - Minutes and papers of the Finance and General Purposes Committee
• FED/4/3 - Administrative Documents
• FED/4/4 - Publications and Reports relating to the Project
• FED/4/5 - Course modules