The History of Curriculum Planning Essay Example for Free

The History of Curriculum Planning Essay An effective curriculum depends on its design. When developing and planning a curriculum, educators must focus on student success. According to Danielson (2002), â€Å"educators follow clearly defined steps that are designed to link the local curriculum to state and district content standards† (p. 81). Once a state has established a Standard Course of Study, educators can design a curriculum that will provide the most appropriate education possible for the diverse learners in that state. This will prepare students to become successful, contributing members in a 21st century society and global economy. In this paper, the author discusses the historical and political influences on the current curriculum practices, the effects of English Language Learners (ELL) and Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol (SIOP) laws have on curriculum development, and the impact of gifted education on the evolution of curriculum development. Many political and historical influences on education come to mind, notably, the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act and cases involving religion. Politics plays a very important part in curriculum development. The main component of politics is funding. Educational institutions rely on funding from federal, state, and local governments. These funds are used to hire personnel, build and maintain educational facilities, and purchase resources needed to define established goals. Failed programs such as No Child Left Behind have proved to be expensive and caused an increase in the achievement gaps among students. Designed to bridge achievement gaps, NCLB has not helped, but because it focuses on high-stakes testing, increased funding is needed to pay for the training, testing materials, and administration. Furthermore, NCLB focuses on literacy and math, leaving little time in curriculum for history, science, and the arts. â€Å"Any balanced curriculum should highlight the interconnectedness of various fields of knowledge, expose students to a  wide variety of experiences that can help them clarify their interests and talents, and incorporate appropriate ongoing assessment to gauge student mastery† (Cawelti, 2006, p. 67). Not only are there the issue of narrowed curricula and funding, research indicates NCLB has detrimental effects on minority and low-income students ((Woolhether, 2012). These students do receive the best education possible, because they are faced with overcrowded classrooms and teachers whose priority is â€Å"teaching to the test†. Education will continue to suffer as students are coached to pass tests and not taught a curriculum that will prepare them to live and participate in the 21st century. The other issue, school prayer and religion expression, has an impact on curriculum. Even though the court case Engel vs. Vitale (1962) sided with Engel concerning prayer in schools, it did not quell the issue of religion. Educators have to be careful when selecting resources for the curriculum. Choosing activities with religious undertones could pose problems for educators, such as musical and reading selections. However the move toward giving religion a role in education includes establishing guidelines that specify how students can pray in school, how religious clubs can have access to school facilities, and how teachers can incorporate religion into the curriculum (Brown, 2012). Increasing immigration in the United States has led to a large population of children who live in homes where English is not the primary language. To provide the best possible education for these diverse students, curriculum planning must include elementary school programs, such as ELL (English Language Learners) and SIOP (Sheltered Instruction Observation Protocol) that address their needs. Some schools may offer several programs to accommodate these students while other schools may offer only one program. Some identified programs are (1) the English-language monolingual program where the child is in a regular English-language monolingual classroom; (2) the English-monolingual-plus-ESL program where the child is i n a regular English-language monolingual classroom, but receives instruction in English as a Second Language (ESL); (3) the Transitional bilingual education program where the child is placed in a bilingual education classroom and receives some form of English-language instruction, but also is taught in Spanish; (4) Maintenance bilingual education program, where children are placed in a bilingual education classroom and receives some form of English- Spanish instruction.  This program helps students develop full proficiency in both languages; (5) the structured immersion program where the child is in a classroom in which the subject matter is presented in English, but in a manner that students with limited English-language proficiency is insufficient (Honigsfeld, 2009). These programs are beneficial if the number of ESL teachers to student ratio is sufficient. Often funding issues lead to budget cuts in these areas. A positive for NCLB is that it allocates extra support for programs designed to help ELL students’ progress. The impact of gifted education on the planning of the curriculum is positive, but may also have some negative effects. The use of the multidimensional Curriculum Model (MdCM) helps educators to better prepare gifted students for the changing world, providing them with the skills needed for the 21st century (Vidergor, 2010). This model could be used as a framework for curriculum design and development that will reach and teach gifted students. The negative effects of gifted education include funding issues for hiring teachers capable of teaching gifted students and allocation of funds. Again, movements such as NCLB have overlooked the population of gifted students. Collaboration and planning a curriculum that uses differentiated instruction is an effective way to reach gifted students. Since funding is in short supply for gifted education, reaching out to community leaders will help them gain an understanding of the needs of gifted children. This can help dispel the myth that â€Å"gifted children can make it on their own† (Roberts Siegle, 2012). To save gifted education and serve gifted students, some schools are turning to the Schoolwide Cluster Grouping Model (SCGM). â€Å"When implemented well, the SCGM represents one viable solution for providing effective and consistent gifted services within certain budget restraints† (Brulles Winebrenner, 2011, p. 35). This model allows school leaders to embed gifted education services into the school system, making it possible that all students’ needs are met (Brulles Winebrenner, 2011). Funds will still have to be allocated for teacher training. Classroom instruction should reflect societal needs, the needs of students, and recommendations of experts in their field of study. These are important components when planning an effective curriculum. It is clear that ELL program models do not work for everyone, in other words, ‘one size does not fit all’. NCLB has proven beneficial by the allocation of funds to certain departments; however, it  must be revisited and revamped before it will be completely effective. Unfortunately, it does solve the problems that cause students to be left behind. NCLB also has a negative impact on gifted education. Emphasis is placed on lower achieving students and efforts to make these students proficient on standardized tests. A well-planned curriculum should be rigorous and demand from students higher-order thinking skills. References Brown, M. (2012). 50 years later: High court’s school prayer ruling still fuels religious liberty debate. Deseret News. Retrieved July 15, 2013 from http://www.deseretnews.com/article/865558046/50-years-later-High-courts-school-prayer-ruling-still-fuels-religious-liberty-debate.html?pg=all Brulles, D., Winebrenner, S. (2011). The schoolwide cluster grouping model: Restructuring gifted education services for the 21st century. Gifted Child Today, 34(4), 35-46. doi:10.1177/1076217511415381 Cawelti, G. (2006). NCLB: Taking stock, looking forward. The side effects of NCLB. Educational Leadership(64)3. 64-68. Danielson, C. (2002). Enhancing student achievement: A framework for school improvement. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. Alexandria, VA. Engel v. Vitale, 370 U.S. 421 (1962). Honigsfeld, A. (2009). Ell programs: Not one size fits all. Kappa Delta Pi Record, 45(4), 166-171. Roberts, J., Siegle, D. (2012). Teachers as advocates: If not You—who?. Gifted Child Today, 35(1), 58-61. doi:10.1177/1076217511427432 Vidergor, H. E. (2010). The Multidimensional Curriculum Model (MdCM). Gifted Talented International, 25(2), 153-165. Woolhether, L. (2012). The effects of NCLB on low-performing and minority students. Retrieved July 16, 2013 from http://www.ehow.com/info_7930134_effects-nclb-lowincome-minority-students.html

It is Impossible to Accurately Imagine What is it like to be a Bat Essa

It is Impossible to Accurately Imagine What is it like to be a Bat Insofar as I can imagine this (which is not very far), it tells me only what it would be like for me to behave as a bat behaves. But that is not the question. I want to know what it is like for a bat to be a bat... - Thomas Nagel In order to take the above request seriously, one must assume that bats have experience and consciousness. Assuming so, one must then imagine the consciousness that a bat must live with. Its brain is "designed to correlate outgoing impulses with subsequent echoes, and the information thus acquired enables the bat to make precise discriminations of distance, size, shape, motion, and texture comparable to those we make by vision." (Whereas we humans rely on sight to create our vision of the universe, bats rely on sound.) Because any argument of any creature's existence must be based on the human epistemology, the question is now not how bats perceive the universe, but how a bat's perception compares to the human perception. Such a comparison may never be genuine or correct, but by...

Bourdieu, P. Language and Symbolic Power Essay

French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu, in his work, Language and Symbolic Power (1991), describes the power of language in relation to politics, social institutions, economics, and education. He views language as a means of communication but more especially as a competitive means of pursuing interests and objectives. He explores the traditional approaches to language but emphasizes that language is more important and beneficial when it is understood in the social context. â€Å"The social uses of language owe their specifically social value to the fact that they tend to be organized in systems of differences which reproduce the system of social differences† (p. 54). The connections between literacy and social positioning can be analyzed through the different forms of capital – economic, cultural (i.e. knowledge, skills and other cultural acquisitions, as exemplified by educational or technical qualifications), symbolic (i.e. accumulated prestige or honor), etc., which can be accumulated through family or social institutions (Menard-Warwick & Dabach, 2004). Central to the discussion are the two concepts ‘linguistic market;’ and ‘linguistic habitus’ that are considered as â€Å"sites of struggle and competition where individuals or agents strive to maintain or alter their position and where their capacity to compete is determined by the volume of capital they possess† (Riagà ¡in, 1997, p. 39). Linguistic capital, together with other forms of capital, defines position of an individual within the social hierarchy (Riagà ¡in, 1997). Bourdieu also speaks of a linguistic market competence as capital. His extensive use of the language of economics (e.g., markets, profit, price, investment), according to Riagà ¡in (1997), implies that individual adopts linguistic strategy that contributes to a realization of desirable outcome like profit that symbolizes prestige. Social dynamics will then contribute to the understanding of the role of education. For Bourdieu, literacy learning involves interrelated aspects of complex individual, social, and cultural contexts. This multidisciplinary perspective allows us to increase our knowledge and deepen our understanding of concepts and ideas that might form social groups. In the academic field, the habitus provided educators with a different way of viewing social institutions where students and teachers act and react analytically based on their practices, perceptions, and attitudes already in place. Teachers and students are viewed to have socially structured resources and competencies that enable them to use language in dealing with and understanding relationships, hierarchies, and literacy practices (Gutierrez & Stone, 2000). â€Å"Sociology can free itself from all the forms of domination which linguistics and its concepts still exercise today over the social sciences only by bringing to light the operations of object construction through which this science was established, and the social conditions of the production and circulation of its fundamental concepts† (Bourdieu , 1991, p. 37). The use of language through the power of media is also associated to the fields of politics and social sciences. Bourdieu’s dynamic model of the relationship between society and politics explains how language is used in political systems that affect social conditions. For instance, people who share common culture and social networks are likely to shape their own social institutions. The Civil Rights Movement in The United States (US) is an example of how social institutions are developed. In addition, Bourdieu also explains through the concepts of habitus, symbolic power, religious capital, and field the occurrence of social movements within institutions like religious groups. For example, the introduction of women’s ordination movement in the Catholic Church (Stone, 2001). It is therefore important to consider Bourdieu’ concepts of ‘linguistic habitus’ and linguistic market, as well as the different capitals in analyzing discourse social, political, and economic processes and changes because language should not only be viewed in the traditional perspective but also in the different context to maximize the use and functions of language in specific fields of study and practice. References Gutierrez, K. D. & Stone, L. (2000). Synchronic and diachronic dimensions of social practice. In C. Lee & P. Smagorinsky (Eds.), Vygotskian perspectives on literacy research: Constructing meaning through collaborative inquiry (pp. 150-164). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press. Menard-Warwick, J. & Dabach, D. B. (2004) â€Å"In a Little While I Could Be in Front†: Social Mobility, Class, and Gender in the Computer Practices of Two Mexicano Families Computer Users Tend to Develop Literacies Most Compatible with Their Current Lives Programs for Adult Learners Need to Make the Technology A Meaningful in This Context. Journal of Adolescent & Adult Literacy 47(5), 380+. Riagà ¡in, Pà ¡draig Ó (1997).Language Policy and Social Reproduction: Ireland, 1893-1993. New York: Oxford University. Stone, Lora (2001) â€Å"Misrecognition of the Limits†: Bourdieu’s Religious Capital and Social Transformation. University of New Mexico. Retrieved October 13, 2007 from http://www.jcrt.org/archives/03.1/stone.shtml.

Racism A Contagious Virus - 1130 Words

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