To fail or not to fail.....that is the question

When I designed my education system, I tried to think about pragmatics as much as possible, and I really believe that everything we do should have a purpose. (a la Tyler) The more I think about it, the more I realize that assigning failures serves no purpose. I do not believe for one second that failing a child is in the best interest of that child, the school, or society.

Theory vs Practice

I talked to the other two members of my admin team about their definitions of curriculum. I was not surprised that they had very different ideas about the definition. That helped me think about the fact that every single one of my classmates also had a different definition of the word. In the end, it is just a word and how we define it may not be as important as the motivations behind its design. Curriculum is everything that happend in the classroom and it is important that educators have a clear purpose in mind during implementation.

Accountability

I have a whole new take on educational purpose and direction after reading Tyler. His message is simple, know what you are doing, why you are doing it, and how you will know when you have succeeded. I think the field of education needs some of this accountability. The problem occurs when context is not taken into account. By context, I mean socioeconomics.

Kudos to Peter

Watching Peter's presentation last week absolutely blew me away. I owe him a debt of gratitude for the inspiration it provided and the ideas it gave me. It was of professional quality and the message contained within was powerful. The next time I present I am going to push myself to learn to try new things and come up with something much more innovative.

Paper Writing

I actually enjoyed writing my paper. It has been awhile since I have really enjoyed academic writing. This was different for me because I was able to discuss topics about which I am genuinely interested. I love talking about the purpose of education and, I guess, philosophy. I have to say that my philosophy as explained in my paper was very different than I thought it would be at the outset. I am sure that it will continue to change over time and I would like to undertake a similar task periodically throughout my carreer. I think it would be a useful excercise in professional development for all teachers to go through so that they have a more clearly defined personal mission statement.

Purpose of Assessment

I found Darryl's statement that, "the best way to affect substantive change in a school is to hire 20 first-year teachers" to be quite interesting. I went back to my school and watched with that in mind and I have come to disagree. I see many veteran teachers who are far more able to affect change than their younger colleagues. The reason is simple, first-year teachers are too busy trying to survive to make a substantive change. It may be true that they can be manipulated to do the bidding of the administration more easily, which could amount to change, but would that change be substantive and sustainable? In my experience, teachers with some understanding and experience with students, the education system, and the individual school are better equipped to affect a change of a substantive nature.

A New, Better Definition of Curriculum

My new role as an administrator has afforded me opportunities to observe other teachers in action. In watching two different teachers teach the same class on consecutive days, it became obvious that my definition of curriculum should have focused on the teacher. It is within the teacher's power to dictate pace, mood, and atmosphere. The teacher's actions decide whether a crisis is made worse, or de-escalated. The teacher has the opportunity to correct behavior through subtle influence or by dictum. The teacher has tremendous flexibility in how they choose to deliver material, and, frankly, little accountability in the event they decide to deviate significantly. If, as Steve suggested, curriculum was "everything that occurred in the classroom", the importance of the role of the teacher can't be over-stated.

Curriculum as Praxis - Friere

Friere's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" is an interesting and ideologically infused read. Friere asserts that it is the duty of the education system to infuse a spirit of inquiry and activism into students. Friere states that "the true word - which is work, which is praxis - is to transform the world." His goal is to create dialogue and justice. This is admirable, and I am sure there was no malice in Friere's mind when he wrote - there are, however, problems.



Friere's goal to liberate and eliminate class distinction through the education system is Utopian and unrealistic. An examination of human existance, from the extermination of the neanderthal, in prehistory to the construction of Babylon, Egypt, Greece, Rome, Europe, and America, tells us that humans do seek to dominate eachother. The intellectual in all of us can identify ethical minefields in the establishment, expansion, and consolidation of every human enterprise. These breaches of ethics and morals reveal an innate desire to gain, control, and dominate. To change human nature seems an unrealistic goal for an education system.



Proof of this point exists in the practical application of Friere's "Pedagogy of the Oppressed". University students of education laud the moral fibre of Friere, then proceed into the profession and accomplish almost nothing pertaining to emancipation of the masses.

Topic - Based Curriculum

I am currently teaching Social Studies 9 as designed by the Ministry. I am becoming more and more frustrated with the 'wish-washy' nature of the course. The course is designed with entirely thematic units bearing such obtuse titles as "Change", "Time", and "Causality". I tried to follow the guide, I really did, but alas, I have deviated significantly. Rather than teaching flowery concepts, I have decided to teach ancient history. This has resulted in a fairly dramatic deviation from the curriculum guide. I have come to loath "Social Studies" because of the inherent vagueness. It is supposed to be a fusion of sociology, history, geography, phsychology, geology, and language arts, but this seems a lofty goal. In attempting to accomplish a great deal of conceptual learning, much is lost. Having taught History 10, 20, and 30, I can attest to the fact that students are not keenly aware of causality, change, time, sociology, psychology, or any of the other themes or concepts as articulated in Social Studies 9. I would like to see a directional shift toward more of a topic - based approach. I remember discussing topic-based curricula in North Battleford and immediately thinking about my SS 9 course. Topic-based curricula make the purpose of the course more clear and make evaluation more accurate. In making goals simpler and more attainable, you actually accomplish more. I think Tyler would approve.

A Brief Critique of Tyler

After reading Tyler, I was left wondering how to define the purpose of education. It seems to me that to design a curriculum based upon purpose is impossible because of local variations. The purpose of education is certainly unique to each small region and each micro-economy. For example, to define the purpose of education in a jurisdiction the size of Saskatchewan is nebulous to say the least. Students in the jurisdiction of Saskatoon Public and students in Black Lake exist in vastly different social, political, and economic contexts. This makes it impossible for the Ministry of Learning to design objectives and evaluative criteria that are relevant for both student bodies. This is only one example of the myriad of 'mini-worlds' within our province.

This is not to say that Tyler's Ratonale has no place in curriculum design. Merely that his approach may be too generalistic to suit a group of people as diverse as Canadians. While purpose and evaluation are important, they are peculiar to region. I believe that Tyler's rationale does not pay sufficient heed to the human element of the educative process.

Principles and Aims of Education

That education should be a principled endeavor seems obvious. Nevertheless, in order to eliminate opportunity for deviance from the desired principles, definition and articulation are useful agents of preservation. Education must be based on social justice, progress, and the development of productive, democratic citizens. Students must leave our system with not only knowledge and basic skills, but also with the ability to think critically, analyze, evaluate, and, perhaps most importantly, to empathize. These aims and principles must be mirrored by the design of schools and systems, as well as the intentions of educators and administrators.

Definition of Curriculum

Curriculum is a course of study containing a deliberately planned set of objectives, materials, teaching strategies and evaluative criteria based on knowledge or values important to the controlling factions of any society. Whether society desires to maintain the status - quo or to attempt to progress, its primary tool is the curriculum as disseminated, both explicity and implicitly, by the education system.