The Problem of Common Sense- #1 Blog Post
How does Kumashiro define common sense? Why is it so important to pay attention to common sense?
- Kumashiro defined common sense as what everyone should know. Common sense is considered to be consistent with the daily ins and outs of everyday life and often results in giving us a sense of comfort by helping us to understand the things that are constant and repeated in our lives. We have to be attentive to common sense because it is not common for everyone and we have to work to make things normalized to make the become common sense. We also have to examine what is considered common sense to ensure it is what we want to be taught in schools and if it is not we must challenge it.
What type(s) of curriculum did Kumashiro encounter in Nepal
- Kumashiro encountered the lecture-practice-exam approach while in Nepal. Their students were previously expected to follow along in a textbook where the information was directly from and then they would answer questions and do practice questions for homework. The entire school year followed this textbook to ensure completion by the end of the year.
What type of curriculum model is the commonsense model in our Canadian school system? What might be the benefits and drawbacks of this model?
- The curriculum in Canada is set to incorporate different subjects, mainly the core four subjects. The school day is made up of divisions of these subjects into different time slots and they use textbooks but also use other resources to teach students information in each subject. We do not follow a textbook directly all year long with one big test at the end because it is not common sense here that that is an adequate way to test a student’s abilities. This is good because it gives students different chances to highlight their strengths in different subjects. However, it could also be a disadvantage because some teachers may be better equipped to teach some subjects over others which could affect the level of education in that subject for the children.
Hi Stella! Your view of commonsense is very similar to my own. I like how you used the word comfort to describe commonsense. While I pondered on this word, I thought to myself how it could be applicable to my life. Commonsense is like a routine; eventually it becomes so normal to you that you do not even have to think about what you are doing, leaving you comfortable. I also agree that an evaluation should regularly be done within classroom around the idea of commonsense. Some students may not have the same common senses as others, or perhaps the material being taught is beyond a certain grade level’s understanding.
the classroom Kumashiro worked in followed a strict guideline of textbook learning and highly weighted examinations.
I found that the Curriculum as a Syllubus and Curriculum as s Product were good representation models of this teaching/learning approach. These focus on performance and learning as a whole and do not focus so much on the social and behavioral aspects of learning.
That being said, the way you described Canada’s curriculum was quite similar to the Curriculum as a Process and Curriculum as a Praxis. These focus less on the textbook and examinations, and more about the personal growth within students and a wider variety of learning opportunities. I agree that this way of learning allows students to find their strengths and weaknesses or their likes and dislikes. I feel like a disadvantage could be that exams and tests may not be as strictly talked about and enforced within classrooms, leaving the students less prepared as what they could have been if they were properly taught.
Hi Stella! Your view of commonsense is very similar to my own. I like how you used the word comfort to describe commonsense. While I pondered on this word, I thought to myself how it could be applicable to my life. Commonsense is like a routine; eventually it becomes so normal to you that you do not even have to think about what you are doing, leaving you comfortable. I also agree that an evaluation should regularly be done within classroom around the idea of commonsense. Some students may not have the same common senses as others, or perhaps the material being taught is beyond a certain grade level’s understanding.
the classroom Kumashiro worked in followed a strict guideline of textbook learning and highly weighted examinations.
I found that the Curriculum as a Syllubus and Curriculum as s Product were good representation models of this teaching/learning approach. These focus on performance and learning as a whole and do not focus so much on the social and behavioral aspects of learning.
That being said, the way you described Canada’s curriculum was quite similar to the Curriculum as a Process and Curriculum as a Praxis. These focus less on the textbook and examinations, and more about the personal growth within students and a wider variety of learning opportunities. I agree that this way of learning allows students to find their strengths and weaknesses or their likes and dislikes. I feel like a disadvantage could be that exams and tests may not be as strictly talked about and enforced within classrooms, leaving the students less prepared as what they could have been if they were properly taught.