Fundamentals of Curriculum Development

 1. Think about the standard of "goal-based design" (p.304), and the "Design-Down, Deliver-Up" Model (p.290), how does such philosophy resonate with curriculum alignment? 2. Imagine now you have total control over curriculum development and are creating a yearly planning guide - how do you plan to align assessments with learning objectives? How often and in what forms do you plan to assess the students?    1. When using goal-based design, alignment is extremely important. If the goals and objectives are the most important thing for the school and community at large, educators need to be sure the students are doing things that lead up to those goals. To do this, educators need to sure that the goals match up with the summative assessments and the formative learning experiences. If the summative assessment is not properly aligned with the learning goals, we cannot be sure if the students have met the objectives or not. Similarly, if the formative work is not aligned w...

Have you adopted Farrel's backwards planning model as a teacher in planning lessons? Does it help align written curriculum, taught curriculum and assessment? Why and why not? Think about the indicators that matter most to you - how do you plan to evaluate the classroom culture and teaching effectiveness in the future?      I do follow several elements of the backward design model in my lessons. After deciding the student objectives for the unit, I come up with an assessment, and then a learning plan so that students can meet those objectives. I create these learning plans based on aspects of the objectives. Typically I like the students to do tasks by using the 'ripple' strategy. That is, first, they do the task individually, then they go over what they have done with a partner, and finally, we share with the whole class. By doing it this way, students have the opportunity to do a task their own way before hearing the ideas of others. For the summative assessment, I will ...

Do you prefer the naturalistic or technological approach? Based on your content background, do you see any possibilities to adopt a dual approach in curriculum design and instructional delivery?     The technological and naturalistic approaches to education both have their merits and their disadvantages. In the technological approach, the learning objectives take priority. First, the educator decides the objectives, and then assessments and learning experiences are crafted that will let students use and show their mastery of those objectives. Planning a student's education with backward design in this way has a lot of benefits. Firstly, planning a curriculum like this allows for a clear sequence to be followed. Students would be expected to learn certain things at certain times. This would make data collection fairly straightforward as the teacher can see who is meeting the objective and who is not. After the data is collected and analyzed, the teacher can adjust the curriculu...

Why do you think Finland out-performed so many developed countries with such equitable and non-consequential guiding notion? Is there any ideas or rationale behind that speak to you? As an educational leader, what elements could and should our society adopt from Finland to improve our educational programs?     As a well-fare state, Finland strives for equitable opportunities for all of its people, regardless of superficial qualities, such as socioeconomic status. Finland does not separate its education system from its democratic ideals, and this has shown a great payoff for its people. In a true democracy, opportunity and fairness should be available to all people, and this should include the education sector. Education is vital for a democracy in that an educated populace will be more likely to vote for good policies. They will also be able to weed out bad ideas and inaccurate information from unreliable sources. A democracy cannot be healthy if only the wealthy and elite thi...

Based on your teaching/learning experiences and pedagogical philosophy, do you consider yourself to be a linear thinker, holistic teacher, Laissez-Faire advocate, critical theorist, traditionalist, empiricist, or reconceptualist? Why?      All of these pedagogical philosophies have aspects that are appealing and unappealing to me as an educator. For example, vertical alignment, an aspect of linear thinking, is very important for a school. A teacher would need to know the prior knowledge and learning experiences of their students so that they can deliver new and appropriate units of study. However, focusing on linear thinking above all else, including equitable practices, would be problematic in ensuring quality education for all students.       There is also a time when traditionalist education may be useful. As an English Language and Literature teacher, I have read Shakespeare's sonnets with my students before. Students may notice a rhythm and meter ...