January 15 Individual Reflection

What is curriculum?

A curriculum is a set of rules, standards, or requirements that teachers need to meet in order to effectively teach. Essentially, the curriculum is a government document in which teachers are able to locate it online for each grade that they might be teaching. Not only does this curriculum set out by the government provide rules, standards, or requirements to meet, it also is seen as a foundation for a teacher’s lessons. With this curriculum, a teacher is able to create lesson plans that incorporate what the government feels should be required in learning. 

What are the purposes of education?

In my opinion, I feel that there are several purposes of education. To begin, a major purpose is to inspire students to always try their best. A major opinion of mine is that not only should education in the school system be academic, but it should also be centered around teaching students how to treat others and act in several scenarios. While sharing knowledge is key to education, it should also be fun, especially for the younger grades. If the learning is fun, the students will pay more attention which is a lot more beneficial in the long run. In summary, the purpose of education is to provide knowledge to students that is both academically and behaviourally/how to act as well as including intriguing lessons. 

What is the role of teachers in the development and implementation of curriculum?

The role of teachers in the development and implementation of curriculum is to provide students with this knowledge that I mentioned in the previous question. Teachers should carefully examine the curriculum before creating lessons and then once lessons are created, they should check once again to ensure the lesson plan correlates to the curriculum requirements. Additionally, teachers have a role to ensure that the students continue to stay focused on the lessons being taught. To do this, teachers need to create lesson plans that both implement the curriculum but are also fun. As well, teachers should allow for modifications to be made within the lesson plans if there are some students in the class developing at a faster pace. To achieve this, there should be additional options in the lesson plans created that either adapt to the next goal or level in the curriculum. 

What is the relationship between curriculum and the purposes of education? 

The relationship between the curriculum and the purpose of education is to be able to share knowledge while also meeting the outlined criteria. Both the curriculum and the purpose of education foster the aspect of development in a student’s learning. Therefore, they both create ways for growth. For example, the curriculum has several goals, outcomes or requirements that allow for students to further develop as the unit progresses. As well, a purpose of education is to create lesson plans that share knowledge and are fun, so the teacher creates lesson plans that also allow for a student to further develop throughout the unit.