1. What is the purpose of curriculum? Or should we ask, what should the purpose of curriculum be? Testing, testing, testing.... As teachers/schools, we are told that our goal is to do well on the test. How we are perceived by society is determined by this, our school's report card. The problem is, this report card is too limiting. This leads to another question, and I'm not even going to pretend to know the answer..... Should we be more concerned about the long term effects of what our students learn and how they are able to use what they learn and apply it to their lives or how much information they can regurgitate on a test at the end of the school year? The purpose of curriculum should be to prepare students for life. Do they need to learn science, math, social studies and english to be successful in life? Yes, but they need to learn about them in ways that are practical and relevent to them. Current curriculum is too focused on the short term, it needs to be shifted to include some long term goals.
2. There is a difference between curriculum and instructional design. As a teacher in the state of Kentucky, I am given the curriculum I am expected to teach within 1 school year. I have no control over this. I do, however, have control over how I design my instruction/lessons. This enables me to use different strategies from day to day and make changes when I feel necessary to help my students understand the curriculum and reach their full potential. I feel that teachers should have more input in curriculum. Too often, curriculum is influenced by individuals who are not in a classroom on a regular basis. There are too many variables and unknowns involved. What works 1 day won't necessarily work the next, a student who behaves 1 day may be extremely disruptive the next.
3. My curriculum, or more so my instructional design, is constantly evolving. I do have constants in my classroom, certain behvior expectatins, etc. But, I have to adjust and make changes and improvements sometimes from 1 class to the next. And, I am always trying out new strategies and ways to keep my students focused and engaged. I just started a new reward system, both individually and between classes, based on missing assignments. For some reason, 7th graders don't see the need to do their HW. Imagine that! Anyway, my point is that as teachers, we are on the hot seat at all times, so to speak. Our instructional strategies/designs must evolve in order to meet the needs of our students and teach them curriculum that has not evolved as quickly as the students who are learning it.
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Hey Amy- really great post. Funny --today I reviewed an article for the Kentucky Reading Journal about exactly what you said in the first part of your post. What are we teaching the kids towards--passing the test or learning for life? Obviously we all would answer the later but do our instructional practices really convey that message. As you mentioned we do not always have the opportunity to shape curriculum but we do have input on what our every day teaching looks like. We will further explore this as this semester continues.
ReplyDeleteAmy,
ReplyDeleteI totally agree with you that our curriculum is not evolving as quickly as our students. The students today have to understand the relevance of what they are learning in terms of their own lives. If they don't feel it is relevant, they won;t learn it. This is definitely different from when I was in school. I never questioned why I needed to learn the absolute value of a number, I just knew that I was expected to learn it. That won;t fly in today's classrooms. Before you can get the students to learn the concept, you have to show them how it is important them. I am not sure I like this new paradigm to be honest.
You said it right in KY the curriculum is designed by those not close to the classroom and we don't have control over that but we do have that control over the design of our instruction/lessons/units. This is where we as teachers need to make it engaging for our students. I also agree that a lot of times we are teaching for them to pass the test especially in those tested grades and when I read your post and these articles and other posts I have to also wonder will they retain? Maybe long enough for the test but will it evolve as you said with them as they evolve and will they have that prior knowledge to build on the next year if it is not meaningful and engaging? So yes as Laura said above you have to show them how it is important to them. How it pertains to their life.
ReplyDeleteYes-test, test, test. At the beginning of the year it's all about providing real-world experience, teach life skills, expand beyond the curriculum. Then around February we hear; "Get that content in; content, content, content." Of course we all know content is important. However, is it important because it prepares students for life after school? Or is it important because we need the state funding and happy parents? Not every student is going to go to college-so why force them to take college prep classes? Would we be better preparing students if their courses related to individual goals?
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