PATHWAY_TEMPLATE — Program Templates

What is a PATHWAY_TEMPLATE?

New in v0.6.10

A PATHWAY_TEMPLATE is an OAS specification type that acts as a structured bridge between Taxonomies (the curricular “law”) and pedagogical Recipes (concrete exercises).

It defines the official scaffold of a specific study program — for example, all the themes, literary texts, and exam requirements of the IB Spanish B SL — in a versionable, Git-traceable YAML format.

---

Position in the OAS Hierarchy

graph TD
    TAX["🏛️ Taxonomy<br/>(Standard / The Law)<br/>C0"]
    PT["📋 PATHWAY_TEMPLATE<br/>(Official Program)<br/>New layer"]
    REC["⚗️ Recipe<br/>(Pedagogical Recipe)<br/>C1"]
    CTX["📰 Context / Realia<br/>C2"]
    DIR["👩‍🏫 Directives / Teacher<br/>C3"]

    TAX -->|"defines themes"| PT
    PT -->|"guides creation"| REC
    CTX --> REC
    DIR --> REC

    style PT fill:#f0e6ff,stroke:#7c3aed,stroke-width:2px
    style TAX fill:#dbeafe,stroke:#1d4ed8,stroke-width:1px
    style REC fill:#fce7f3,stroke:#db2777,stroke-width:1px
    style CTX fill:#dcfce7,stroke:#16a34a,stroke-width:1px
    style DIR fill:#fef3c7,stroke:#d97706,stroke-width:1px

Layer	OAS Type	Description	Mutability
C0	TAXONOMY	Educational standards (IB, LOMLOE, AP…)	Immutable
New	PATHWAY_TEMPLATE	Official program for a specific course	Versioned in Git
C1	RECIPE	Recipe for a specific exercise	Created by teacher
C2	CONTEXT	Realia / source texts	Curated
C3	DIRECTIVE	Teacher adjustments	Dynamic

---

Problem It Solves

Without PATHWAY_TEMPLATE, a teacher creating a IB Spanish B SL Pathway started from scratch: no topic structure, no reference texts, and no pre-loaded evaluation criteria.

With PATHWAY_TEMPLATE:

1. The creation wizard shows a list of applicable templates for the teacher’s context (detected by country/standard).
2. On selecting tmpl.ib.spanish_b.sl, the Pathway auto-configures with the 5 IB themes, thematic vocabulary, and exam evaluation criteria.
3. The templateReferenceCode is recorded in the Pathway metadata for traceability and audit.

---

Anatomy of a PATHWAY_TEMPLATE (IB example)

SL — Standard Level

apiVersion: oas/v1beta1
kind: PathwayTemplate
metadata:
  referenceCode: tmpl.ib.spanish_b.sl
  title: "IB Spanish B — Standard Level (SL)"
  description: >
    Official template for the IB Spanish B SL program.
    Structures the 5 IB curriculum themes with subtopics,
    essential vocabulary, and assessment guidance.
  authorityScope: GLOBAL
  tags: [ib, languages, spanish, sl]
spec:
  themes:
    - id: identities
      title: "Identities and personal relationships"
      order: 1
      subtopics:
        - Self-esteem and personal values
        - Family and friendship
        - Social groups and cultural influences
    - id: experiences
      title: "Experiences"
      order: 2
      subtopics:
        - Daily routines and leisure
        - Travel and rites of passage
        - Traditions and customs
    # ... (5 themes total)
  assessment:
    paper1:
      description: "Reading and listening comprehension"
      weighting: 0.25
    paper2:
      description: "Written production (2 texts)"
      weighting: 0.25
    internalOral:
      description: "Individual Oral (IO)"
      weighting: 0.30

HL — Higher Level

apiVersion: oas/v1beta1
kind: PathwayTemplate
metadata:
  referenceCode: tmpl.ib.spanish_b.hl
  title: "IB Spanish B — Higher Level (HL)"
  description: >
    Official template for the IB Spanish B HL program.
    Extends SL with critical intercultural analysis, two
    required literary works, and the HL Essay (600-900 words).
  authorityScope: GLOBAL
  tags: [ib, languages, spanish, hl]
spec:
  themes:
    - id: identities
      title: "Identities and personal relationships"
      order: 1
      hlExtension: >
        Deeper analysis of comparative cultural perspectives,
        critical debate on identity and social construction.
        Includes work with literary texts.
  literature:
    required: true
    works: 2
    hlEssay:
      wordCount: "600-900"
      description: >
        Comparison between works or between a work and a non-literary text.
  assessment:
    paper1:
      description: "More complex texts than SL"
      weighting: 0.25
    hlEssay:
      description: "Advanced analytical written production"
      weighting: 0.20

---

Integration with the Creation Wizard

When a teacher starts the New Pathway wizard, the system:

1. Detects context: country, educational standard of the school (IB, LOMLOE, etc.)
2. Queries the API: GET /api/v1/taxonomy/options/pathway-templates?referenceCode=ib
3. Presents the selector: optional dropdown with available templates
4. Auto-fills: on selecting a template, the title, description, and topic structure are propagated
5. Persists traceability: the pathwayTemplateId is recorded in the Pathway metadata

Non-Intrusive Design

The template selector is completely optional. Teachers retain full pedagogical freedom to create Pathways from scratch if they prefer.

---

Template Catalog (v0.6.10)

IB Spanish B SL

tmpl.ib.spanish_b.sl
5 IB themes + SL Exam Preparation
Paper 1, Paper 2, Individual Oral

IB Spanish B HL

tmpl.ib.spanish_b.hl
5 themes + Literary Readings + HL Essay
Advanced critical intercultural analysis

Roadmap

Planned upcoming templates: IB Mathematics AA/AI, AP Spanish Language, LOMLOE ESO Mathematics, Cambridge IGCSE English.

---

Naming and Versioning

Templates follow the reference pattern: tmpl.{standard}.{subject}.{level}.{component}

tmpl.ib.spanish_b.sl              → root of SL template
tmpl.ib.spanish_b.sl.theme.identities  → specific theme
tmpl.ib.spanish_b.sl.exam_prep    → exam preparation pathway
tmpl.ib.spanish_b.hl.literature   → HL literary readings

Every change to a template is managed via Pull Request in ce-specs, treating the curriculum as audited, versioned code.