Various conceptions of curriculum continue to be used over time or are considered to be mainstream approaches, while others are not. These conflicting ideas surrounding curriculum have led to changes in dominant approaches and the evolution of curriculum over time. As a fairly new teacher, I have always heard my seniors talk about “the Harris years” and its impact on education in Ontario, so I had a limited understanding of the role of politics in the development of curriculum. In my educational program, I was always taught to follow the curriculum precisely, but I now have a deeper understanding of the role of inquiry and reflection in understanding the complexity of curriculum and how it changes over time. Al-Mousa (2013) states, “curriculum development and changes are based on understanding the foundations of the desired curriculum” (p. 21). The different conceptions of education emerge through a consideration regarding the desired content, goals, and organization that educational programs aim to fulfill.
Academic rationalism, technological curriculum, and social-reconstruction-relevance are three conceptions that remain relevant in education today. Academic rationalism was described as “the most tradition-bound of the five orientations,” (Eisner & Valence, 1974, p. 12). Sowell (2005) describes this approach as one of the most enduring conceptions to date. The establishment of specific disciplines/subject areas and organizing schooling through discipline-based methods seems likely to persist over time. In part, I believe that this makes educator qualifications and student academic achievement much easier to track. Al-Mousa (2013) also writes, “the approach of social reconstruction-relevance emphasizes that the curriculum provide the tools to enable the individual to survive and function effectively in an unstable and changing world” (p. 24). I believe that the focus on teaching students about social change and relevance of learning to real life situations will remain a central goal of education, although social change trends may evolve.
The conception of technological curriculum has also gained prominence, and I believe that it will persist over time. In my own teaching context, I have recently started teaching full-time for virtual school. The description of the technological curriculum aligns with the way that I feel my classes are going. Al-Mousa (2013) states, “not being able to give attention to the individual and the community is one major weakness of the systemic conception; its focus is mainly on the achievement of desired outcomes and expectations” (p. 27). I definitely feel that I am focusing more on evaluation and achievement, with less of a focus on community-building and giving attention to individual students.
I think that it is increasingly important to take on interdisciplinary approaches and adopt less traditional conceptions of curriculum. I can use a combination of curriculum conceptions to develop a much more holistic method of practice, focusing on the whole student and how their learning relates to the “real world”. Specifically, I can see the limitations of the technological curriculum (and how it is currently dominating my teaching style!) and can aim to integrate different approaches to be more inclusive, relevant, and fully meets the needs of my students. My views on curriculum will further develop throughout this course, which will definitely enrich my professional practice.
Shiro (2013) notes that the various visions for curriculum each centred around “distinct beliefs about the type of knowledge that should be taught in schools, the inherent nature of children, what school learning consists of, how teachers should instruct children, and how children should be assessed” (p. 2).
References
Al Mousa, N. (2013). An examination of cad use in two interior design programs from the perspectives of curriculum and instructors, pp. 21-37.
Schiro, M. S. (2013). Introduction to the curriculum ideologies. In M. S. Schiro, Curriculum theory: Conflicting visions and enduring concerns (2nd ed., pp. 1-13). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sowell, E. J. (2005). Curriculum: An integrative introduction (3rd ed., pp. 37-51). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Hi Karissa,
ReplyDeleteThanks for writing an interesting article. I love hearing about experiences of teachers from different provinces (I am a teacher in BC). I also felt like I had to use the curriculum as a 'script' when I first started teaching and it took me many years to understand that the curriculum is a complex document that can be personalized to fit different teaching styles.
Your thoughts about why academic rationalism seems to persist over time got me thinking about traditions and how it is so hard to change things that seem engrained in our society. Traditionally, schools have always been organized by subject matter and I don't see this changing over time. I also recognize that it is much easier to track student achievement when we are using an academic curriculum as opposed to a humanistic one. I never thought about the ease in tracking educator qualifications, though, so thank-you for this enlightening thought.
I was very interested to read that you are teaching at a virtual school that is technology driven. This has always been a contentious issue for me, as an elementary school teacher - technology rich environment vs. limited technology environment. I struggle with this knowing that technology is the way of the world and this is how kids will be learning throughout their lives. One part of me wants to jump right in but the other part of me feels that young kids are inundated with technology already. They have access to many kinds of devices at home and many of them spend hours using technology outside of school hours. I appreciate your honesty when you say that technology is limiting your ability to focus on individual students and community issues. I would be interested to know what your view on technology is in regular classrooms?
Thank-you for your post!
Nicole Preymak
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteHi Karissa,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your post on conceptions of curriculum. Your comment on technology being the way of the world and how kids will be learning throughout their lives resonated with me. If I hadn't taken on the PME program, I would not have learned to use a variety of technological online tools to showcase my learning including the blog. I can understand why academic rationalism, social reconstruction and technological curriculum are areas that remain relevant in education as these curriculum conceptions apply to the various PME courses that I have taken. I am curious to know how you perceive how assessment and how you would link assessment with the curriculum conceptions. The literature texts we read did not addressed in greater detail; however, it would be interesting to hear your thoughts on curriculum assessments. Perhaps with your virtual Art course that you are teaching, how will you assess your students based on the curriculum design?
Thank you!
May