Week Three

 

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 the school curriculum? Is there anything that surprises you or maybe that concerns you? 

Understanding how school curricula are developed and implemented starts with understanding how politics and educational policies work. Ben Levin said, "Policies govern just about every aspect of education- what schooling is provided, how, to whom, in what form, by whom, with what resources, and so on." (2008, p.8). I think it's valuable to learn about how Levin immersed himself in the world of politics and policy-making to understand how the curriculum is formed. One of the dilemmas he learned in policy-making is that while educators want policies based on their knowledge and experience, politicians argue these policies are not necessarily what people want or would accept. Curriculum politics and policy choices are pretty affected by larger issues of school change and improvement and rising theories of how to shape educational outcomes. There are multiple things to learn about curricula. Most are organized around two levels of objectives: broad goals and more specific learning activities and outcomes. When creating curricula, there's a much-needed discussion of what subjects are needed, when, and how much, as well as the content within the subjects. Curriculums also consider the teaching of important topics like AIDS, smoking and drugs, eating disorders, and more. Another dilemma that I found in this reading was that people wanted more teaching on all of the subjects but did not want to prolong the school year; however, it's evidently a challenge to squish all of the teachings in so little time. Another dilemma concerns the important value questioning of social and philosophical issues. There will be people opposing certain topics based on how controversial they might seem. 

There are so many people involved in curriculum politics: federal, provincial, and local. People in powerful positions can especially influence the status of curriculum policies. Teachers, principals, senior administrators, and more are also involved in curriculum reviews. Levin explains that there's a formal process for creating and revising curricula, primarily involving bringing together groups of experts and sector represen­tatives to draft the elements of a new or revised curriculum. Teachers of the subject will often be in the majority, with representation from post­ secondary subject experts as well. The processes are often organized and to some degree directed by government officials from ministries of edu­cation. Typically a curriculum review or renewal process would include examining the existing curriculum, gathering data as to the strengths and weaknesses of current arrangements, con­ sidering various ideas for changes, and trying to arrive at a consensus on recommendations for the new curriculum.

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?

Because curricula are shaped by the policies and theories that rise, Treaty Education was also part of many discussions made by curriculum groups. Mandatory Treaty Education was introduced in 2007. I think the integration of Treaty education is an example of how we can see curricula forming. Here's the process as stated in the document: "A Curriculum Sub-committee of the Shared Standards and Capacity Building Council guided the development of the K-12 Continuum for Treaty Education. This was a comprehensive consultative process with the following partners: the Federation of Saskatchewan Indian Nations, the First Nations University of Canada, the Office of the Treaty Commissioner, the Curriculum Sub-committee for the Shared Standards and Capacity Building Council, and the Ministry of Education. The continuum is intended to be used by educators and others interested in supporting Treaty Education." This new continuum includes its own outcomes and indicators. Basically, the need for Treaty Education probably came from rising protests and calls for Truth and Reconciliation, which was officially enacted in 2008.