3 questions in curriculum

 

 

 (Eisner, 2001) poses many questions in this piece.  Some questions are answered but often, he leaves them unanswered.  For this assignment, I have taken three pieces and given a brief answer to them.

I have made an attempt to take the three questions from three different areas of a school.

My first question is from interaction between the syllabus and world outside the school. My second question is from developing values of selflessness in the students. My final question involves the place of teacher education in a school.

 What connections are students helped to make between what they study in class and the world outside of school? (Eisner, E. 2001)

 “Project-based learning (PBL) is a dynamic classroom approach in which students actively explore real-world problems and challenges and acquire a deeper knowledge.” (Project-Based Learning, n.d.)

As the definition indicates, PBL involves a ‘real-world’ problem yet is a ‘classroom approach’. Hence it would make a connection between what they study in class and the world outside of school.

(Kochar, M. 2009) explores the idea using a simple newspaper. This is from her classroom for Maths. It is a simple project with a question, “How much of the newspaper is actually news?”

The idea appears to be for students to be aware of the amount of real news a newspaper really has. This probably would lead them to question the validity of the use of so much of paper in printing a newspaper. Perhaps when they grow up, they would select a newspaper that is mostly news or news from areas that they prefer, or they would print a newspaper with sensitivity to the environment.

The project is based on the students’ knowledge of middle school Maths that is ‘percentage, area and perimeter’. This is a simple yet noteworthy way of connecting real life with Maths in class.

 Do students have the opportunity to serve the community in ways that are not limited

to their own personal interests? (Eisner, E. 2001)

Yes, they have opportunities to serve the community.

“More than 5,000 schools so far have chosen to teach International Baccalaureate (IB) programmes, with their unique academic rigour and their emphasis on students’ personal development.” (Benefits of the IB, 2015)

One of the elements of IB program at grade 11 and 12 is called Service. This is the element that connects them to the needs of the community, and they are expected to serve without any selfish expectations.

Goldcrest International school, Mumbai, India had as the service activity, “…a student lead project that we refer to as the Maharashtra Rural Outreach Program where urban students connect with rural India in activities and engagement that lead to greater understanding and respect towards rural India.”

“IB students spend time in rural Maharashtra working with a village school. They engage in various activities from painting and refurbishing to running IT or sports classes, building sanitation blocks, holding classes on adolescent health, donating books and materials as well as setting up solar-powered lamps. This is funded by year-long fundraising done by the students.” Braccia, Frank, (2018)

 To what degree is professional discourse an important aspect of what being a teacher means in the school? (Eisner, E. 2001)

This is something that varies from school to school. I would take both sides of education in India to elaborate.

In India, in the government led teacher education programs are dismal. “A study conducted in Andhra Pradesh highlighted the fact that there was very little difference in the performance of students taught by teachers with a professional teaching degree vis-à-vis those taught by teachers with any other undergraduate degree.” Samhita. (2016).

However, teacher education can be with the school as a centre. Pathways World School Aravali. (2018) had a program in its primary years wing. It was teacher mentor teacher.

All primary teachers would gather in the projector room. One by one they presented their best lesson plan of the month. the other teachers would ask questions and comment on the lessons. However, the whole work was done in an atmosphere of calm acceptance and respect. Both the presenters and the viewers received something at the end of it. It created a healthy space for teachers to walk up to each other and discuss their plans.

In other words, teacher education can be just in the name or a robust plan to develop the teachers and have that as the centre of the program in the school.

 

References:

1.     Benefits of the IB, (2015).  https://www.ibo.org/benefits/

2.     Eisner, E.  What does it mean to say a school is doing well? In Flinders, D. J.,  &   Thornton, S. J. (Eds.), The Curriculum Studies Reader, Fourth  Edition  https://chrisdavidcampbell.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/eisener-2001.pdf

3.     Braccia, Frank, (2018). Empowering students through CAS programme,  https://brainfeedmagazine.com/empowering-students-through-cas-programme/

4.     Kochar, M. (2009). reviewing area and % using the newspaper.  https://humanemaths.blogspot.com/2009/01/reviewing-area-and-using-newspaper.html

5.     Pathways World School Aravali. (2018).  https://www.pathways.in/aravali

6.     Project-Based Learning. (n.d.).  https://www.edutopia.org/project-based-learning

7.     Samhita. (2016). The parody that is teacher education in India: Forbes India Blog.  http://www.forbesindia.com/blog/economy-policy/the-parody-that-is-teacher-education-in-india/