Curriculum and Teaching

Here are 4 ways to consider curriculum:  what is your personality type and where does it fit in these theories?

1. Curriculum as a body of knowledge to be transmitted.
2. Curriculum as an attempt to achieve certain ends in students - product.
3. Curriculum as process.

4. Curriculum as praxis.

It is helpful to consider these ways of approaching curriculum theory and practice in the light of Aristotle's influential categorization of knowledge into three disciplines: the theoretical, the productive and the practical.

Here we can see some clear links - the body of knowledge to be transmitted in the first is that classically valued as 'the canon'; the process and praxis models come close to practical deliberation; and the technical concerns of the outcome or product model mirror elements of Aristotle's characterization of the productive.
    - Curriculum Theory and Practice

We are all at the same starting gate.  Find your true strengths. 
It has been a pleasure reading all of your deep and thoughtful postings. 
I finish with the words of Dr. Seuss:

I like nonsense, it wakes up the brain cells. Fantasy is a necessary ingredient in living.  It's a way of looking at life through the wrong end of a telescope. Which is what I do, and that enables you to laugh at life's realities.” 

Cheers,
Helen

"Curriculum expectations and the role of teachers"

The curriculum is created to develop students’ knowledge, understanding, and skills that it’s needed for adult life and employment. Now, in this curriculum, teacher and students have some responsibilities. Teacher is not anymore a giver, or a transmitter who deliver information; on the other hand, the students are not the receiver of this information. The teacher is a facilitator who helps and guides students to improve knowledge and skills that students are expected to develop. This teachers’ facilitative role is demonstrated through the creation of lesson plans and syllabi within the framework of the curriculum. In other word, the teachers’ responsibilities are to teach and to create, enrich, develop and implement learning materials to meet students’ needs. Once the needs and interests of students are satisfied, they (students) will be more engaged with the content of the lessons through doing and thinking rather than listening and seeing. Certainly, this way, teachers can pretend they have played their fundamental role in achieving expected standards.

curriculum expectations, mastery of learning and the role of teachers in achieving expected standards

The development of a curriculum involves more than simply deciding the academics of student learning. I agree with Natasha and Katrina that social, cultural, and environmental influences must be taken into consideration in the development and implementation of a curriculum. As important as the development of a curriculum is however, I believe that curriculum expectations are most strongly affected by the implementation of curriculum, because it is my belief that in life the most important thing is not what we are given, but what we do with what we are given. The ways that we teach a curriculum will change depending on the students we have in our class. The lessons that work for one group of students will not necessarily work for another and it is important to be aware of the social, cultural, and environmental factors that affect students' lives and attitudes as well as their personality types and learning styles. By understanding these different factors we can determine and meet curriculum expectations by tailoring lessonplans to the student and not the curriculum.

I do not believe that mastery of learning exists. Learning is a lifelong process and a constantly evolving skill. we can never be masters at it because with every new piece of information we discover or skill we develop we open doors to new frontiers of further learning. It isn't possible to know everything there is to know about a subject , and it is constantly necessary to update our knowledge through examinations of new research and studies. We also gain insight through personal experience and thus we do not stop being "learners" just because we become teachers.

The teacher plays a large role in the achievement of expected standards, but this role is similar to their role in meeting curriculum expectations. It is the teachers responsibility to use flexibility and creativity to use their knowledge of social, cultural, and environmental influences as well as personality types, internal motivations for behaviour (particularly misbehaviour), and learning styles to formulate lesson plans that support students of diverse needs. By utilizing this knowledge to adjust the instruction of subjects to suit each student you are supporting and deepening the learning process and therefore its outcomes. By supporting and deepening a student's learning experience you will also support and deepen their achievement of expected standards.

Final Entry

As we discussed in our reading facilitations last week, cirriculum expectations can be very difficult for teachers to achieve. Often the main focus is on reaching these standards and there is not time for self development beyond academic standards. Even learning skills such as self regulated learning are important for children to grasp for further academic studies and organizational life skills. It is the teachers job to guide students through their learning and show them as well as teach them what they need to learn. Providing students with Blooms taxonomy shows them the process that they must go through in order to learn concepts. Students often underestimate the process of learning and showing them how to learn and giving them the opportunity to control it themselves is invaluble.

Teachers need to go through self discover to find their own style of teaching. It is interesting that in the Coolaborative vs cooperative article is defines both as different ideas. When i was working on my wildcard project that focused on cooperative learning I assumed that the terms were interchangable. I like how this article calls coolaborative learning a teaching philosophy. It really is, how you set the tone in the classroom and how you have children working together is a teachers way of teaching and that is their idea or philosophy of teaching.

My portfolio focuses on how I have developed through this course. I am learning to reflect on my work and it is allowing me to grow as a future teacher. Through this process I have learned that staying true to yourself by bring your passion to the classroom fosters creativity and excitment among students. I feel that a teaching philosophy is born out of your passions and through reflective practive you can continue to grow and scupt your philosphy.

It is hard to deal with failed expectations of self and of others. In setting expectations there is also the risk of failure. No one likes to fail. The fact of the matter is, as upcoming teachers, we are all going to be subject to failed expectations. But, failure to meet expectations is also an opportunity to embrace change and growth in learning. Failure to meet expected standards and curriculum expectations provides teachers with the opportunity to examine, differentiate, modify, revise, analyze, formulate and access themselves, their teaching practices, their students, the curriculum, etc. I now reluctantly realize that this is best done through written narrative of our journeys. Change comes about from imaginatively and critically thinking about who we are as teachers. In reviewing Bloom’s taxonomy, I am reminded that as teachers we need to scaffold students’ (and our own) creative and critical thinking. Creative thinking generates ideas that are unique and imaginative. Critical thinking is about making decisions, analyzing and breaking down something methodically into its component parts by distinguishing and differentiating through one’s own thought process. Combining the two will empower students (and teachers) to unlock their potential.

On my own journey in attempting to become an expert teacher, I will be able to analyse and synthesise my teaching methods and the curriculum, but sadly ...or maybe quite possibly thankfully... I realize that this is going to take some time to master. I set many high expectations and standards for my personal achievements. I am grudgingly realizing through this course and the multiple things that we need to keep in mind when teaching (ie: personality traits, learning styles, fair methods of assessment, continual reflection...) that I will not be an expert straight out of the gate. In fact, I know that I will likely not reach mastery until I am preparing to retire. Accepting this fact is both painful and liberating for me, as I desperately want to achieve greatness but knowing that I won’t get their immediately relieves some pressure. It frees me to explore and make mistakes. To set expectations and positively learn from failures in expectations.

I also have high-expectations of my children to set personal goals of educational attainment for themselves, and to strive to reach those goals. I would imagine as a teacher I will also have high-expectations for my students’ learning, as well. So, how do my own personal views of the curriculum affect these expectations? And will my biases regarding student attainment affect how I interpret the curriculum? I would hope as a new teacher that I would be able to recognize these biases and not alter curriculum just to achieve the desired outcome. Although, as a rookie teacher, I have to wonder if I will be apt to giving students too much guidance and not enough room for self-discovery?

"Awareness is the greatest agent for change." — Eckhart Tolle

Curriculum & Mastery of Learning

In regards to curriculum expectations, I definitely agree with Natasha in that there are various factors like social, cultural, and environmental aspects that must be taken into consideration when the curriculum is being implemented. Within the outlined curriculum, teachers have the flexibility to teach the students in their class in a way that will meet the students’ needs as diverse learners. As teachers, our job is to help students achieve mastery of knowledge and skills. Through the following video on drive and motivation (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6XAPnuFjJc), we come to understand that it is not the rewards that will help students succeed, but rather the mastery that we help them achieve. As the video discusses, we all have an “urge to get better at stuff” because when we do, it is satisfying. In order to help students achieve mastery, I believe it is best if teachers practice methods of teaching that are consistent with the findings on how we learn.

We Learn…

10% of what we read
20% of what we hear
30% of what we see
50% of what we both see and hear
70% of what is discussed with others
80% of what we experience personally
95% of what we teach to someone else

curriculum expectations/mastery of learning/teachers expected standards

curriculum expectations:

I think the creation of curriculum needs more thought into the implementation process of it. Many factors need to be understood so that an effective curriculum can be established to meet the needs of the students:

-social

-cultural

-environmental

Being aware of the gaps that are visible within the education system and learning more about how to fill them in is the most effective way to get started. This can help move towards a future were education can accommodation all students.

Mastery of learning:

I don't think once you graduate from university and PDP, the teachers learning stops. Being continually involved in the growth of the education system, that is continually evolving to fit the needs of society, is the most important job a teacher should engage in. Weather it be updating and maintaining skills, or learning all new ones, the teachers role outside of the classroom, is a necessity to ensure the school system and their instruction can elude the best possible outcome from their students.

Teachers expected standards:

While reading Mamchur, B&S, and the other articles related to this course I have found myself thinking, "wow this is really overwhelming, how can I possibly keep up. I do not know If I have what it takes to reach every student individually." However, I have come to realize as long as the teacher is actively aware of all the components involved in the classroom(personality types, diffrent behavior strategies, social and cultural aspects...ect.) they will be equipped to form some solutions to issues that arise. Second, as I already mentioned, it is very important that what the teacher learned is in constant practice or is being upgraded and expanded. Their knowledge is the best tool they can use in the classroom, never stop learning and you will never be unamazed at what you can produce.