Curriculum development from a traditionalist perspective is widely used across schools in Canada.

The Smith articles examine methods for organizing schooling – these include both theories and practices.

The dominant mode of managing education today is in the productive form – also defined as  “curriculum as a product.” -Smith, Curriculum Theory and Practice

What is it?

” Product – Curriculum as an attempt to achieve certain ends in students.”  – Smith Reading

Examples:

-Curriculum that is pre-determined

-Clearly defined learning objectives and learning methods

-Technical, systematic, organized

-Categorical

-Leans towards a mechanistic way of viewing the learning process 

-Measurability is important

Think about…….

How have I experienced the Tyler Rationale in my own schooling?

There were stages of learning in each grade – For example – progressing through each level of math workbook each year and grade. Every year you start a new level and are expected to reach mastery of that level by the end of the school year ( as well as sometimes an introduction to the next level).

-Reading from staged learning literature, at the “expected” academic level e.g. vocabulary learning meets certain expectations.

-Social studies – pre-determined curriculum for each year of learning. (In my school years, we learned little about Indigenous histories in the North, although this is now changing).

-Learning and practicing patience – Waiting for the class to be finished their work together before we move on to the next stage -The class progressively moves through different stages together.

-Having a somewhat clear sense of expectations e.g. “this is the textbook we are learning from. This is the material you are expected to know and understand by the end of the school year.”

What are the limits of the Tyler rationale – and what does it make impossible?

-It does not consider that students learn at a different pace -It forces the teacher to pace the class according to the certain, predetermined stages of learning. There is less flexibility room for supporting individual growth and individual pacing.

This may present challenges for the learner who needs extra time and specialized attention to support their learning.

It may also create drawbacks for “quick learners” who grasp the material quickly, and they may become bored, disengaged, or even disruptive in the classroom. This can also create challenges with re-engaging this type of learner later on.

-There is less room for the teacher to be creative with the class.

-Children’s developing minds may have less space for expansive, creative growth in their thinking, as they are moved towards more focused, disciplined subject matters and ways of thinking, instead.

What are some of the potential benefits? What is made possible?

-Standardized.

-Testable learning outcomes; measurable.

-Ease of evaluation 

-Ease of creating structure and routine

More reflections…

Alternative schools have become more been rising in growth, in Yukon and elsewhere around Canada. One example is the ICount learning program for First Nation students in British Columbia. While cost is a barrier to attending, we may look to their models for inspiration. Montessori-inspired schools are structured to tailor learning to the individual person and follow their lead in moving through each stage of learning. Traditional school administrators and policy makes wising to move towards a more child-focused learning environment, and a less mechanistic one may benefit from reviewing the research-body on these school programs and incorporating more of their principles into traditional education.

As a Yukon Education student, I will begin to familiarize myself with the Yukon school curriculum and the dominant methods of teaching, as well as exploring alternative methods whenever possible.

How does Kumashiro define common sense?

Kumashiro notes that American teachers doing work in Vietnam were comforted and reassured from the beginning – that because they already had a “common sense understanding of teaching” from their years of experiences in America, they already knew how to teach in Vietnam”. In fact, they struggled to adapt to different rules and norms. Practices, that were taken for granted as “normal” there, were discovered to be different in Vietnam. These required time and attunement for the adaptation to new environments and norms. -The Problem of Common Sense

Why is it so important to pay attention to “common sense”?

-It means different things to different people

-Common sense: norms and standards – vary from place to place

-Making assumptions, without taking the time to ask questions or examine new environments first, can cause harm.

What commonsense understandings of curriculum and pedagogy do you bring with you into this course?

-Learning is standardized – In the Yukon, that means we follow the BC/Yukon Curriculum

-We follow a Fall to Summer school schedule – classes begin in the fall and go into early summer. 

-Time of class: Class begins in the morning, around 8:30 a.m. and ends in the middle of the afternoon, around 3 p.m.

-Learning tends to be grouped into subjects and usually scheduled into blocks of time e.g. 1-2 hours at a time. 

-Learning occurs in facilities – four-walled rooms, and big buildings: schools

-Classes tend to be 15-25 students

-Focus tends to be on the core disciplines such as English, Math, Social Studies and Science.

Further expanding on that…

-Increasingly, the Indigenous curriculum is being incorporated into Yukon classrooms.

-High school students are being taught about the history of residential school Alaska highway, and fur trade impacts over the last 200 years  –  and oppression of First Nations people in the North

-Children learn the First Nations languages in the schools and have the opportunity to attend various cultural activities.

First Nations “WAYS OF KNOWING AND BEING” are being increasingly incorporated into learning and into the classroom. Further, teachers and student teachers are given the opportunity to experience this way of thinking and seeing the world, but experiencing it for themselves, at places like culture camp, and through the wisdom and guidance of elders, teachers and the natural world.

My own values:

-Interdisciplinary learning

-Meeting standards but pushing the envelope

-Incorporating nature into the classroom

-Seeing and knowing each individual student, and also understanding the way the classroom functions as a whole

-Recognizing the deep and pervasive impacts that trauma has on learning, cognition and overall classroom experience, and taking steps to support wellbeing and community growth

-Creating opportunities for physical movement and exposure to fresh air and nature is imperative, and can be imported especially through multidisciplinary learning.

Barriers and Challenges

-Government requirements and standardization

Limits – Perhaps this is the biggest barrier to change of a system, but the need to keep order and organization within systems is pressing, it regulates the pace at which any kind of change can truly occur.

“Reinforcing certain ways of thinking, of identifying and of relating to others” includes ways that continue to feed into systems of oppression such as racism, sexism, ableism, colonialism, etc. -Kumashiro p. Xxxii

“As teachers, we are agents of social change.” - Dani Kluane