Welcome to EDCI 620

School Curriculum

Agenda

• Introductions• Journaling• Tea Party Activity• Review Syllabus and Website• Entering the Conversation: An overview• Anticipation/Reaction Activity• “Losing the Race” read and discuss• Defining Curriculum

Who Am I?

Your Turn

• Take a name tent and fold it first

• Write your first name and draw a symbol that represents one of your accomplishments as a teacher oror something about yourself that not too many people know (unique talents, skills, abilities).

Journal

What do you wish to accomplish, learn, and do with a master’s degree in curriculum and instruction? What are your goals for this course? What are your future career goals?

Tea Party

• During this activity you will mingle with at least three different people or groups of people.

• The subject of conversation is based on the journal topic.

• Each time I say switch, you will find a new person or group to mingle with.

Career Goals Chart

Syllabus Overview• Course Objectives: Students will…

• Synthesize course content and relevant prior experience.

• Understand and appreciate the history of education: what world events and movements influenced education, and how education changed to accommodate societal changes.

• Examine the tenets of educational philosophy and the impact on curriculum and instruction orientations and implementation.

• Develop an understanding of and analyze cultures of curriculum and

instruction in relation to theory, practice, political, social, and moral issues.

• Evaluate the impact of educational policies and standards on curriculum and instruction orientations.

Instructional Model

• The seminar approach will be the primary method of instruction for this course. You will be responsible for careful reading of the text materials without which informed discussion each class meeting cannot take place. Class members contribute to each other's learning through discussion, presentation, and sharing. My role will be that of a resource person and as such may once in a while include extended elaboration of issues and topics in the form of mini-lectures. Seminar approach entails democratically oriented, self-directed discussion in small- and large-group formats. Dialogue with class participants, individual and group activities, presentations, and problem-solving exercises will also be used as instructional strategies.

Attendance:• This course is scheduled for forty hours of

academic contact hours. Approximately ninety percent of the time will be used for class meetings. Students are responsible for using the remaining time to do assignments. Attendance and punctuality are a very critical part of your grade. 25pts points will be deducted for the first class meeting missed, 50pts points for the second, and no credit will be given if three sessions are missed. Arriving late and leaving early will impact your participation grade in the class.

Assignments• Class Participation 85pts

• On-line Responses 40pts

• Paper 1 50pts

• Paper 2 50pts

• Group Presentation 75pts

• Final 100pts

On-line Response:

• Students will be expected to continue the class dialogue online a total of eight times this quarter. Students will respond to posted essential questions raised in class. Responses should clearly articulate a perspective. References to course readings, personal experience, class discussion, and/or other resources should be made as well as references to useful books, websites, and articles. More questions may be generated.

Final Exam

• The final exam will consist of a timed writing event similar in structure and form to the comprehensive exams students will take to graduate from this program.

Course PoliciesCell Phones:• All cell phones will be turned off during the class session, unless approved by the

instructor prior to the beginning of class.

Materials: • Bring all previously assigned reading with you to class. Everything we will read in this

class will connect to what we read before. You should be able to “refer to the text” as you make connections during discussion.

Discussion:• Follow the Learning Conversation Principles during discussion:

• LCP’s—Learning Conversation Principles*

• Listen with intent to understand, rather than to respond. (No side-bars)

• Open your mind to new learning and practice.• Invite differences and move away from “either/or” thinking and

embrace “and”• Wonder in front of each other.• Assume and exhibit good will.

Comprehensive Examinations

“Comps”

Three Essay Questions

1. Foundation and Philosophy Question

2. Research Question

3. Curriculum Emphasis Question

Initiating Yourself Into the “Discourse of a Community”

• The phrase "Burkean parlor" comes from Kenneth Burke's parable of the parlor in The Philosophy of Literary Form.

• Imagine you enter a parlor. You come late. When you arrive, others have long preceded you, and they are engaged in a heated discussion, a discussion too heated for them to pause and tell you exactly what it is about. In fact, the discussion had already begun long before any of them got there, so that no one present is qualified to retrace for you all the steps that had gone before. You listen for a while, until you decide that you have caught the tenor of the argument; then you put in your oar. Someone answers; you answer him; another comes to your defense; another aligns himself against you, to either the embarrassment or gratification of your opponent, depending upon the quality of your ally's assistance. However, the discussion is interminable. The hour grows late, you must depart. And you do depart, with the discussion still vigorously in progress.

Discourse for the Ages…

• A common standardized curriculum is necessary to close the achievement gap.

• Ability grouping is necessary.• School reform starts in the home.• Students learn more when classes are

teacher-directed as opposed to student-centered.

• Education is a political act.

Guiding Questions: Excerpt from Dumbing Down Our Kids: Why America's Children Feel Good About Themselves but Can't Read, Write, or Add by Charles Sykes

1. What aspects of society do schools reproduce?

2. In your opinion, who or what is to blame for the current state of education?

3. Is the author’s argument credible?4. What is the solution?5. What should we be teaching?6. Ultimately, what is the purpose of

education?

Did You Know?

What is the purpose of education?

School CurriculumEssential Questions:1. What is meant by the term curriculum?2. What is the relationship between curriculum

and instruction?3. What are the bases for curriculum planning?4. What criteria can be used to plan, develop,

and implement curricula?5. What are four broad goals for the

curriculum?6. How do values influence curriculum

planning?

Our purpose is not to settle these questions, but to understand the processes involved in planning a curriculum.

In order to…Professionalize our decision-making.

• One who is professionally accountable has the ability to use knowledge, methods, and skills that the profession has developed through past experience, theories, and research.

Definitions of Curriculum1. A course of study; derived from the Latin

currere, meaning to run a course.2. Subject-matter; the information or

knowledge that students are to learn.3. Planned learning experiences4. The experiences, both planned and

unplanned, that enhance (and sometimes impede) the education and growth of students (Parkay and Stanford, 1998)

Curriculum and Instruction• The terms curriculum and curriculum planning

also refer to the instruction and planning for instruction which are essential elements of effective educational programs.

• Effective teachers are those who engage in the full spectrum of curriculum and instruction---from planning the what of the curriculum to planning the how of instruction.

Curriculum Planning1. Curriculum planning is the process of

gathering, sorting, synthesizing, and selecting relevant information from many sources. The information is then used to design experiences that will enable students to attain the goals of of the curriculum.

2. Since instruction often has a greater influence on learners than the preplanned curriculum, planning for instruction should be a major part of curriculum planning.

Bases of the Curriculum

• Social Forces

• Theories of Human Development

• The Nature of Learning

• The Nature of Knowledge

Social Forces• Societal goals

• Conceptions of culture

• The tension between cultural uniformity and diversity

• Social pressures

• Social change

• Futures planning

Theories of Human Development

• “Knowledge of human development is an essential basis of the curriculum because it allows curriculum planners to provide for age-related and individual differences among learners.” (Hass and Parkay, 2006)

The Nature of Learning

• Learning styles• Differences among learners• How does the learner process

information?

• Various learning theories can guide curriculum planners so that they provide for these differences.

The Nature of Knowledge• What knowledge is of most worth?

• What is worth knowing?

• “The existing practice [of curriculum development] is perplexing; no one knows on what principle we should proceed---should the useful in life, or should virtue, or should the higher knowledge, be the aim of our training; all three opinions have been entertained.”

Preparation for Next ClassVisit the class website and download the course PDF file under “Reading”

• Print out all or selected portions of PDF file if possible• Sign up for ASCD Smartbrief (click link on webpage)

Click on the category “09-24-07 Session 1.” • Directions:• You will find a list of essential questions raised in today’s class. Please post a

comment in response to one or more of the questions raised to further discussion and understanding of these important issues. Please refer to “Criteria for Online Response” to see how responses will be evaluated.

Criteria for on-line response: Creating community for life-long learning (5-0pts)

COMMENT MUST BE POSTED BEFORE 6:00PM SUNDAY EVENING to receive credit

Depth: Response clearly articulates perspective. References made to course readings, personal experience, class discussion, and/or other resources. Useful books, websites, and articles may be shared. More

questions may be generated.

Etiquette: Responder uses first name and last initial. Respect for differing opinions is evident. Response reflects a professional educator in

form as well as tone.

Response to Others: An attempt is made to respond to at least one

other comment unless you are the first post.

Reading– Read: Pgs. 10-25 course pdf

– “The Paideia Proposal,” by Mortimer Adler.

– “The Case for Essentialism vs. The Case for Progressivism,” by Bagley and Kilpatrick.

– “Traditional vs. Progressive Education” by John Dewy.

– Chapter 1 in the course textbook.

Preparation

Using a T-graph or in paragraph form list or summarize the main tenants of an essentialist/traditional pedagogy and a progressive pedagogy. Describe your own practice in these terms. Where do you stand in the debate/conversation? How/where do these educational philosophies position themselves in your workplace?

React to five or more quotes/statements from the “Paideia Proposal” using the “Dialectic Response Format.” Find example and template on class website under today’s date.