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BIG IDEAS 

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Are you curious for more? Would you like to get in touch? Feel free to contact our lead directly for any questions or inquiries you may have. Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc) Director tikvah@studioblended.com +31 6 42 47 29 69

Image: “Architectural Sketch by Cazú Zegers © Cazú Zegers – all rights reserved.”

SYNOPSIS

(Follows)

VIEW PDF (OPEN SOURCE)

(PDF image and link follows soon 2026)

© Copyright Tikvah Breimer, STUDIOBLENDED

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
See Tikvah Breimer (MSc MAEd MSc)

KEYWORDS
Higher Education, Constructive Alignment, Modular, Technical, Educational Design.

LICENCE
This work is licenced under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Licence.

HOW TO CITE
Breimer, T. (2026) Big ideas. STUDIOBLENDED. Available: LINK (follows)

THINKPIECE

Why not read our Thinkpiece (2 pager) - forthcoming, to discover more about how big ideas are used in our methodology for technical curriculum design?

REFERENCES

Biesta, G. (2024) ‘Taking education seriously: the ongoing challenge’. Educational Theory, May 28. Available: https://doi.org/10.1111/edth.12646(Accessed: October 27, 2025).

Biesta, G. (2022) World-Centered Education; A view for the present. New York and London: Routledge.

Biesta, G. (2009). Authority is relational. Rethinking educational empowerment. Albany, NY: SUNY Press.

Dewey, J. (1902), The child and the curriculum. Chicago IL, University of Chicago press, reprinted in Hickman, L.A. and T.M. Alexander (eds.) 1998, The essential Dewey, Vol. 1. Bloomington IN: Indiana University Press.

Mitchell, I., Keast, S., Panizzon, D., and Mitchell, J. (2016), ‘Using ‘big ideas’ to enhance teaching and student learning.’ Teachers and Teaching, pp. 1-15. Available: doi: 10.1080/13540602.2016.1218328

OECD (2020a), Curriculum (re)design, a series of thematic reports from the OECD Education 2030 project. Available :https://www.oecd.org/content/dam/oecd/en/about/projects/edu/education-2040/2-1-curriculum-design/brochure-thematic-reports-on-curriculum-redesign.pdf (Accessed: 26 November 2025).

OECD (2020b), Curriculum overload: A way forward, OECD Publishing, Paris, Available: https://doi.org/10.1787/3081ceca-en (Accessed: November 14, 2025).

Osberg, D. and Biesta, G. (2021), ‘Beyond curriculum: Groundwork for a non-instrumental theory of education.’ Educational Philosophy and Theory, (53)1, pp. 57-70. Available: doi: 10.1080/00131857.2020.1750362

Schoot, M. and Sluijsmans, D. (2021), ‘Het dichtgetimmerde curriculum; Over de doorgeschoven verschuiving van inhoud naar vorm in het hoger onderwijs’ [The boarded up curriculum. About the current shift from content to form that has gone too far in higher education’], Edukitchen, 28 July [In Dutch]. Available: http://edukitchen.nl/het-dichtgetimmerde-curriculum/ [Accessed: October 27, 2025).

Tyler, R. 1947 (2013) Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Wiggins, G. and Mc Tighe, J. (2005) Understanding by Design. Expanded 2nd edition. Alexandria Virginia USA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.


William, D. (2014) Principled Assessment design, SSAT. The Schools Network, London UK.
[see also his website https://dylanwiliam.org/Dylan_Wiliams_website/Welcome.html ]

FOOTNOTES

[1] Find the Dublin descriptors for instance here https://create2021.utwente.nl/doc/DublinDescriptors.pdf

[2] The Bologna Declaration states that: “A learning outcome is a measurable result of a learning experience which allows us to ascertain to which extent / level / standard a competence has been formed
or enhanced. Learning outcomes are not properties unique to each student, but statements which allow higher education institutions to measure whether students have developed their competences to the required level. Learning outcomes describe what a learner is expected to know, understand and
be able to demonstrate after successful completion of a process of learning. They are statements of concrete and verifiable signs that show how the planned competences, including the required levels of knowledge, are being developed or acquired.”
(Lokhoff et al., 2010, pp. 21–22). See also https://education.ec.europa.eu/education-levels/higher-education/inclusive-and-connected-higher-education/bologna-process[accessed May 25, 2024].

[3] See for example this working definition (after Lynn Erickson 2001, 35 in Wiggins & McTighe 2005) which states that big ideas are:

-      Broad and abstract

-      Represented by just one or two words

-      Universal in application

-      Timeless- they carry through the ages

-      Represented by different examples that share common attributes

MORE DESIGN ANGLES WE USE

Technical resilience
Big ideas
Paradigm shifts/decade strong
Simplicity and decluttering
Human resilience
Modular
Innovative and deep pedagogy
Assesment / evaluation
Time dimension
Evidence-based design
Financial health and resilience by (re)design
Multi- Inter- and transdisciplinary
Flexibilisation and personalisation
Blended



Curios? Feel free to contact our senior advisor and teacher trainer directly:
tikvah@studioblended.com

Resilient education that stands the test of time - by design.