Transcript Curriculum

 Subject
Centered
 Teacher Centered
 Student Centered
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All teacher-centered
experiences of
curriculum
Some Subject-centered
experiences
Some student-centered
experiences
An optimal blend of
these varieties
A blend that had little
rhyme or reason to
recommend it
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All teacher-cente...
Some student-cent...
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Curriculum is something determined by
experts and authorities.
There is no right curriculum.
Curriculum should reflect the real world, be
practical, of use.
There are many curricula we can learn and
negotiate
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Authorities /Experts
Determine
There is no “right”
curriculum
Curriculum should
be the “real world”
There are many
curricula we can
learn
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Curriculum is all of the
experiences children have
under the guidance of
teachers.
Curriculum encompasses all
learning opportunities
provided by school.
Curriculum is a plan for all
experiences which the
learner encounters in
school.
Curriculum is subject to
perspectives, debate,
change
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Discipline – an area of study, with its own particular rules
and expectations.
E.G., the discipline of Economics, or History
Discourse – a system of statements that provide rules of
information and sets of practices within a social milieu
(Grant & Gillette, 2006).
E.G. “discourse of free-market capitalism.”
Theory– an argument about how to think about a
discipline or a discourse. Thinking about the
Nature of our thinking – “metacognition.”
E.G. Theory of the novel, or Theory of Evolution, or
Marxist Theory of History
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A teacher in a public school is an employee of
the district, which is an educational entity of
the state.
It is the province (board of education) which
has ultimate responsibility over the
curriculum.
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“I view curriculum as a particular, historically
formed knowledge that inscribes rules and
standards by which we ‘reason’ about the world
and our ‘self’ as a productive member of that
world.”
“Curriculum is a disciplining technology that
directs how the individual is to act, feel, talk, and
‘see’ the world and the ‘self.’ As such, curriculum
is a form of social regulation.”
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Expert knowledge shapes our thinking about
much in our daily life.
We think of it as “natural” but it is not…it is
built from expert systems of thinking.
We assume expert knowledge to be true.
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The earth revolves
around the sun
My friend loves me
It is below zero
outside
There is truth in the
world
My senses give me
factual information
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Nothing new…in 1909 E.L. Thorndike developed handwriting
standards measuring students’ penmanship performance
Standards consider content and performance and remove the
need for teachers to guess or make inferences about what
students need to know
Content standards specify what students should know and be
able to do
Performance standards specify the evidence needed to
demonstrate achievement
Tendency toward conservative visions of back to basics since
1983 A Nation at Risk Report
Tendency toward internationalism in curricular thinking
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“Although most educators…argue that these
standards are not the curriculum, standards do
suggest the learning experience and opportunities
that students should have under the guidance of
the teachers.”
“…for many teachers, the standards have become
the fusion of teachers’ public, professional, and
personal knowledge that disciplines their choices
and possibilities, and must therefore be thought of
as the effects of power.”
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The overt curriculum is the open, or public,
dimension and includes current and
historical interpretations, learning
experiences, and learning outcomes.
Openly discussed, consciously planned,
usually written down, presented through the
instructional process
Textbooks, learning kits, lesson plans, school
plays etc.
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Provides students with science, history, math,
literature
Provides students with the knowledge society
wants them to have…beyond the academics
Social Responsibility…the overt curriculum
should be “society’s messenger” (Benjamin
Franklin)
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In the 1600s…for religious purposes…Old Deluder
Satan laws (1642)
In order to organize what students should learn
and teachers should teach, The New England
Primer was published (1690)
In the late 1700s and 1800s, Americanization
1900’s Progressivism for Democracy in reforms
founded on thinking of John Dewey
E.D. Hirsch, Cultural Literacy
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The processes…the “noise” by which the overt
curriculum is transmitted
“they are also learning and modifying attitudes,
motives, and values in relationship to the
experiences…in the classroom.”
The nonacademic outcomes of formal education
are sometimes of greater consequence…than is
learning the subject matter….
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Notions of truth, ways of thinking, unstated
implications
Appraisals of self-worth
Social Roles
Middle-Class Perspectives
Attitudes and Behavior Required for Work
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As
As
As
As
an “A” kind of person
a future leader in my field
a hard worker
a solid middle class member
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Colonial – moral education
19th Century – “Americanization”
Early 20th …The Scopes trial…before Scopes,
religious faith was the common, if not
universal, premise of American thought; after
Scopes, scientific skepticism prevailed.
A Nation at Risk (1983) return to the “basics”
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When a topic is never taught:
“too unimportant…”
“too controversial…”
“too inappropriate…”
“not worth the time…”
“not essential…”
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Beneficial to self-esteem
Improved race relations
Higher SAT scores, grades
Better health for females, gender stereotypes
undermined
Higher career aspirations
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…our arguments over curriculum are also our
arguments over who we are as Americans,
including how we wish to represent ourselves
to our children
The Canon…defining what is central and what
is marginal
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Societal level…politicians, special committees,
experts
Institutional level…set at the school, district,
college…usually set along subject matter
disciplines
Instructional level…teacher planning and teaching
students
Ideological level…learning theorists and subject
matter specialists
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Textbook adoption states
Effects
Economies of scale
Censorship
“Mentioning Effect…”
Inauthentic text
Timeliness
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Content Standards
◦ Whose content?
◦ Traditional versus Progressive
◦ Today…debate over Scientifically Based Practices in
education.
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Annual Testing
Academic Improvement
Report Cards
Faculty Qualifications
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AYP
“Underperforming” by measurements
Students and parents offered options
Consequent Loss of Funding
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Browse State Website?
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Desirable, as they create
accountability
A mistake, they don’t
measure real learning
Positive for unifying
educational experience
Divisive and not
representative of
different groups’
experiences
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Individuals lost in sea of tests
Learning as exploration, creativity stifled
Use of threats and bribery counter to ethical
education.
Shifting emphasis from real issues to surface
issues
Detract from teacher autonomy
Creationism versus Evolution
 Core Knowledge, the Canon, versus
Multiculturalism
 Multiple Intelligences
 Critical Thinking Skills
 Metacognition
 Critical Pedagogy (and literacy)
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