The purpose of curriculum is to guide teaching; provide teachers with clear goals of what is to be accomplished in the classroom. We, as teachers, are the implementers. We put the curriculum into action. We are given a document and it's our job to decide the best way to use it. This means that all teachers, I believe, should be implementing curriculum differently. I believe this because all students are different therefore all classrooms are different; which means that in order to meet the needs of students our instructional strategies should be varied. Even though we are all teaching the same content (at each grade level) the way we deliver it should often look very different.
I do not believe we have as much control in designing curriculum as we should. I agree with the J. Curriculum Studies article that the more teachers are involved in developing the curriculum the better understanding there will be. If teachers are teaching something they understand and more importantly believe in; better teaching practices will occur.
The curriculum that I have I enjoy teaching. I feel everything that goes on in my classroom is relevant and important. I provide real-life examples to my students as often as I can so they understand not only the content but the reason why they should know it. There are some things that are not in the curriculum that I do teach because I feel it is important-such as manners, good character, ect. My goal as a teacher is to not only provide the students with the curriculum they need but also skills and life lessons in order for them to be well rounded individuals.
Good point about how there is no way that we can implement curriculum the same. We all have different students, teach in different settings, and have different personalities. So you are right - it has to be different. With all the talk about curriculum fidelity and national curriculum we do have to take into consideration that there is no way we can all do it the same. Is this a problem or just a fact of life?
ReplyDeleteI like your point about teaching things that are not in the curriculum such as manners, good character, etc. As a teacher of young students I feel that this is very necessary. A high school teacher in my county has often commented that "Elementary teachers teach students, we teach subjects." We must teach our students how to communicate with each other and (as you said) those important life lessons.
ReplyDeleteDr. Clarke, I don't see it as a problem, but I'm sure the curriculum writers do. Well, maybe not a problem as much as an obstacle. If we (teachers) all were teaching the same curriculum the same way I believe that many students would be left behind. As much as this next comment may make administrators cringe; I teach to the students, not the test.
ReplyDeleteI also completely agree with your comment about teaching things outside the curriculum as well as within it. So many of my students do not learn proper manners from home... It is up to me to teach them! For example, today I had a student (first grader) tell one of the cafeteria workers to give him some money! Where in the world does this come from?! That it is okay to just ask anyone to give him some money? We must not only teach the wide variety of subjects within the curriculum; we must also teach a wide variety of subjects outside it.
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