Individual Reflection Log-Week 7 Curriculum

How has your definition of curriculum been shaped by the course readings and discussions? How and why has your definition of curriculum changed?


When I started this course, six weeks ago, I thought I knew how to define curriculum. I remember in my posting asking the question “Is it what the State wants our students to learn or is it what we want them to learn?” I did not know that there were so many different definitions for curriculum. Posner defines curriculum as that “which gives the basic lesson to be followed, and includes objectives, sequence, and materials. This is the curriculum upon which accountability is based.” Glathorn defines curriculum as that which is “found in written guides, lesson units, and scope and sequence documents.” The Partnership for 21st Century defines curriculum as, “essentially a design, or roadmap for learning, and as such focuses on knowledge and skills that are judged important to learn.”
I felt that these were all starting points in defining the idea on which curriculum is based. However, as I progressed through the course, I realized curriculum is more than just a roadmap and that what these definitions omit is something essential to the concept that is the substantial planning that goes into that document that teachers use in the classroom
It is clear that there are three essential elements that make up a curriculum: the written, the taught, and the tested. It is also evident that all three work in tandem. The written curriculum is the information in curriculum guides, state standards documents, and textbooks. The taught curriculum is what is actually taught by the teacher in the classroom, while the tested curriculum is the knowledge and understanding we assess. All three parts must be in harmony with each other so that the teacher knows what to teach, how to teach, and how to assess the students. I have come to understand that in order for the curriculum to be successful, when writing the plan there must be collaboration between teachers and the curriculum writers.
It is also clear as the world changes we must be flexible about how the curriculum will guide our students in the contemporary world. The Partnership for 21st Century calls on school: “to adopt a 21st century curriculum that blends thinking and innovation skills, information, media, and ICT literacy; and life and career skills in context of core academic subjects and across interdisciplinary themes” and “to employ methods of 21st century instruction that integrate innovative and research-proven teaching strategies, modern learning technologies, and real world resources and contexts.
Upon reflection I have come to understand the importance of preparing our students for the world in which they must live and how we must tailor our instruction to make them more successful in that world. We again confront new challenges in the composition of what makes for the best curriculum. As I was reading our local paper, The Maryland Independent, I can across a very interesting article titled; High-tech teaching tools offer options for schools: http://www.somdnews.com/stories/02182011/indytop172159_32398.shtml
It describes how technology is helping a Title 1 school in Charles County, Maryland to help disadvantaged students.