Questions:

• According to the Levin article, how are school curricula developed and implemented? What new information/perspectives does this reading provide about the development and implementation of school curriculum? Is there anything that surprises you or maybe that concerns you? 
• After reading pages 1-4 of the Treaty Education document, what connections can you make between the article and the implementation of Treaty Education in Saskatchewan? What tensions might you imagine were part of the development of the Treaty Education curriculum?

According to the Levin’s (2007) article school curriculum is developed and implemented differently than what or how I thought it was. I understood how the curriculum is controlled by the state or government, and I believe there is some hidden agenda as to what is included in the curricula development depending on who is in charge of said curricula. But as I am beginning to learn, not only in education but in life how politics plays such a large role in everyday life and society. Levin (2007) comments on how school curricula is developed by governments and other sanctioned authorities for standard use in schools across an area, saying education politics determine education policies through the political agenda.

A quote I found rather interesting while reading from Levin (2007) is, “Politicians are no more self-serving or indifferent to evidence than educators or civil servants”. This quote was followed by an example where not every voice of the public will be heard, but how people wanted more out of every subject in terms of material and knowledge, but no one wanted a longer day. Now as someone trying to implement a policy, how do you take that information and make changes, couldn’t be easy.

Implementing the curricula is difficult according to Levin (2007), and it is also difficult to see the results after something has been implemented. The issue that arises is that there is policy after policy coming into fruition, once one policy has been implemented, a new one is on the verge of being implemented (Levin, 2007).

After reading the first 4 pages of the Treaty Education document I wasn’t sure about the connections between the Levin article and this document other than how, again, the ministry of education, the same way curricula are developed and implemented is the same here. There is no change to the process. It seems like again, a dragged-out process with so many working parts and policies, and politics that go into developing a curriculum. This could bring tensions as Treaty peoples and the history of Indigenous peoples have a different way of doing things, a different system. Looking over some of the slides for this week, how everyone has a say and how everything is up for debate. The government is pushing for one thing, the curriculum is saying another, and the public’s beliefs and voice are in another direction.