The curriculum in education is something that holds a lot of importance, but can be viewed and discussed in many different ways being that there are so many details within it. It is comprised of those things which students are expected to know and do by the end of the school year. This is something that has been around for a very long time and with this being said, there is the need to update and alter it every so often in order to continue a beneficial education within our changing society. There is a lot of controversy involving the curriculum and its contents due to how decisions are made or who gets a say in making these decisions involving curriculum development. There are so many different considerations to be made when it comes to the curriculum, specifically what should be included and what should not be included. I have never truly considered how difficult the process of forming and developing the curriculum can potentially be, due to the simplistic view that I have always had of it.
Within the reading “Curriculum Policy and the Politics of What Should Be Learned in Schools” by Levin, he discusses curriculum decisions and the relations to politics. There is the main idea that “curriculum decisions and choices are shaped in large measure by other considerations – ideology, personal values, issues in the public domain, and interests” (Levin, 2008, p. 22). After understanding the general idea of public policy and politics in terms of government, it became easy for me to see the connection these things have with curriculum decisions. They are very similar in many ways, including the idea of how not everyone can be pleased by each of the decisions made, in both government politics and curriculum politics. There is also a lot of pressure and responsibility seen within both of these types of politics. They must focus on the priorities and only consider the demands that are reasonable, which shows me how hard this can become. It is described that “because schooling is seen as so fundamental to the development of our children, it can turn into a battleground for wider social disputes” (Levin, 2008, p. 15). This is why it makes sense for there to be a lot of debate within curriculum decisions. These debates are about things such as what should be included in each subject or at what grade level certain things should be implemented. There are many disagreements that come up when mentioning certain topics being included in the curriculum, such as sex education, and after discussing this in class, I know how serious these debates can be. There is the idea that policy involving education should be derived from experience or knowledge according to educators, but politically, “evidence and experience are not enough to drive decisions, and they may be among the less important factors” (Levin, 2008, p. 13). This is something particular that I find hard to believe because evidence proves something to be true and is usually preferred to alternative methods. This is an interesting way to look at curriculum and explains a lot about how certain things become so extended within education, showing specifically why there are people who agree with the curriculum and some who don’t.
In the reading “The Saskatchewan Way: Professional Led Curriculum Development” by the Saskatchewan Teachers Federation (STF), we see that the curriculum can be complicated and is not as easy as it may seem. It is said that “the degree of success of curriculum reform and implementation depends upon the depth and genuineness of the involvement of teachers” (STF, 2016, p. 2). I can see why there is the belief that it is important for educators to be a part of this curriculum development, because I do agree. The teachers are the ones acting upon the guidelines of the curriculum through their pedagogical methods, which is why I see it to be crucial for them to have a say in what the curriculum involves. The teacher involvement was meant to assist the students’ experiences with the curriculum, but it also had more benefits such that “it allowed teachers to see curriculum as something dynamic and relevant, not an immutable imposition from above” (STF, 2016, p. 5). This is something that I did not think of when it comes to teacher involvement, but it is important since teachers often think poorly of the curriculum. They also go on to mention how it is important to include a variety of other parties in curriculum renewal, such as educational partners, parents, students, and the community. This is important to recognize because these voices are the ones being directly affected by these decisions and are the ones who hold all of the experience and knowledge. With this, it is important to consider that “as you delve deeper and consider everything that is taught and learned in a classroom, curriculum becomes much more involved” (STF, 2016, p. 3). I believe that The Saskatchewan Way lays out a process for the curriculum to be beneficial, and even though it still may involve some disputes, it can ultimately be successful in the end.
As these readings have shown, there are a lot of things to consider when thinking about the curriculum. We can see a difference in what people believe is the best way to approach curriculum development. Within Levin’s writing, there is a focus on the importance of curriculum decisions being “part of a much larger public debate that often extends beyond education to larger questions of public goods” (Levin, 2008, p. 22). This recognizes that there is an importance in having the say of educational expertise, but that this alone could result in decisions failing, which is why they bring in the importance of politics. In contrast, the STF has ideas that revolve around the necessity for teachers to lead the way in curriculum development, while still being assisted by other parties. It is stated that there is “the importance of teachers being deeply involved at all levels and in all aspects of curricular change if education is to change for the better and, ultimately, if students are to benefit” (STF, 2016, p. 8). There are so many different things that people would like to see included in the curriculum, but there is only so much time, which is why it is so important to create a curriculum that aims to efficiently benefit the students.
References:
Levin, B. (2008). Curriculum Policy and the Politics of What Should Be Learned in Schools. In F. Connelly, M. He & J. Phillion (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of curriculum and instruction, pp. 7-24. Los Angeles, CA: Sage.
The Saskatchewan Way: Professional Led Curriculum Development. (2016). Saskatchewan Teachers Federation, pp. 1-8. https://drive.google.com/file/d/1FwQqfod6RqG_c73DP7a2kZGttSjDwghP/view
Hi Brianna, sounds like you got a lot out of these readings! I agree with a lot of what you’ve expressed here. See you in ESCI 300 this afternoon lol!
Tanner
Great job delving into this topic, Brianna! I liked that you mentioned the topic of sex education being controversial, as for my critical summary I did “death and education” and it was in the same position as sex education; it is always so interesting to me to hear the sides of this kind of debate. Awesome read, and I’m glad I picked this one to read over before our discussion today, haha.
Hey Brianna, I have to agree with you that I have also never thought about and considered how complicated curriculums and the process of making them can be. It becomes so easy for students, teachers, or parents to critique the curriculum in schools, without the full understanding and awareness of everything that goes into them. I liked that you specifically laid out what each article concluded about curriculum and the ways they believe will be most beneficial moving forward as well as the hiccups that occur as well. I also have to agree with you that the Saskatchewan Way could be the most beneficial process and implementing of the curriculum.