What’s on the The Spiral Curriculum poster
A definition and 6 facts worth remembering.
Bruner's proposal that a subject should be revisited repeatedly, each return adding depth and formality to an idea the learner already holds in a simpler form.
- Each return builds on the earlier version, not beside it.
- Revisiting doubles as spaced practice.
- It requires the earlier version to be correct, not merely simple.
- Bad simplifications must later be unlearned.
- Coverage once and never again is the alternative it rejects.
- The spiral is a plan, not a repetition of the same lesson.
- Particles: a simple ball model in year 7, arrangement and energy in year 9, kinetic t…
The risk is a spiral that circles without rising. Each return has to demand something the earlier one did not.
Questions about the The Spiral Curriculum poster
- What’s on the The Spiral Curriculum poster?
- A definition and 6 facts worth remembering. Bruner's proposal that a subject should be revisited repeatedly, each return adding depth and formality to an idea the learner already holds in a simpler form. Each return builds on the earlier version, not beside it.; Revisiting doubles as spaced practice.; It requires the earlier version to be correct, not merely simple.; Bad simplifications must later be unlearned.; Coverage once and never again is the alternative it rejects.; The spiral is a plan, not a repetition of the same lesson.; Particles: a simple ball model in year 7, arrangement and energy in year 9, kinetic t…. The risk is a spiral that circles without rising. Each return has to demand something the earlier one did not.
- Who is the The Spiral Curriculum poster for?
- The Spiral Curriculum belongs to the Education section rather than to a school year, because humanities is not something one grade owns. Anyone learning curriculum & planning can pin it up — a beginner, a student mid-course, or someone revising years later.
- When should you use the The Spiral Curriculum poster?
- Use it to plan a subject across years instead of across a single term. A wall chart earns its place by being glanceable from where the work is happening, so The Spiral Curriculum belongs on the wall where that humanities work actually happens, within glancing distance, rather than filed away.
- What other posters go with The Spiral Curriculum?
- Backward Design, Bloom's Taxonomy and Cultural Capital sit alongside The Spiral Curriculum in the Education section. Printed together they make a wall rather than a single sheet, which is how a reference set actually gets used.Backward DesignBloom's TaxonomyCultural Capital
- Is the The Spiral Curriculum poster free to download and print?
- Yes. The Spiral Curriculum downloads as a free PDF with no account, no email and no watermark, like everything else in the Education section. Print as many copies as you like for a home, a classroom, a library or a tutoring group; reselling the file is the only thing the licence rules out.Read the licence
- What size does the The Spiral Curriculum poster print at?
- The Spiral Curriculum is a vector PDF laid out for US Letter, and prints on A4 with Fit to page — the same file, no separate download. Because every mark on it is drawn rather than photographed, it stays sharp enlarged to A3, A2 or A1 at a copy shop. Colour carries emphasis only, so a greyscale print of The Spiral Curriculum loses nothing.Printing guide
Related posters
Charts that sit alongside The Spiral Curriculum on the same wall.
Browse every Education poster, or start from the full catalogue.