Category: Curriculum

The purpose of Language Arts is to develop language skills in learners for them to reach mastery. The emphasis is made on such major elements as writing, reading, listening, and speaking. The curriculum is also focused on the necessity to make learners love literature, use correct grammar, etc.

A lot of attention is paid to language in the framework of the Montessori curriculum. From the very preschool education, children learn sounds of the letters and then transfer to their names because in this way it is easier for them to write and read. In this way, they also start writing before reading, as it is considered to be a less complicated activity. In addition to that, children get to know that every word has its particular function and that it should be used following some pattern.

The preschool and elementary school classes according to the Montessori curriculum allow children to develop spontaneous writing. In this framework, teachers do not concentrate on mechanics. Their task is to ensure that the words are down on the page. Of course, the first attempts to write something in this way are often not that good. But inventive spelling improves with time.

Montessori believes that reading is decoding of the words people keep in mind. That is why she starts teaching it with matching exercises. Printed cards with short-vowel words on them need to correspond to appropriate images. Thus, children can get to know new words and their meaning. Soon, pictures are substituted by word labels and lists, etc. Similarly, the complexity of the selected world alters and reaches long vowel digraphs.

Finally, the audition is introduced while reading some literature in small groups. Additional work can also be included, such as classes devoted to abbreviations, punctuation, capitalization, sentence analysis, etc. Grammar is discussed apart from the parts of speech (NAMC, 2013).

Teachers of the Language Arts maintain several roles to ensure that one’s students have an opportunity to receive a high-quality education. They act as a controller who pays attention to learner’s answers and behaviors. They encourage students to participate in all activities and act as assistants who support them and help when necessary. Teachers are great sources of information related to the Language Arts area, which allows them to guide students. In addition to that, they often help learners who need to work with other resources. Thus, they guide them regarding the usage of the Internet or various books, focusing on specific topics and educational purposes. Teachers are constantly evaluating their students.

They assess learners’ performance and notice achieved progress as well as drawbacks that need to be improved. In the framework of this role, they also define how all Language Arts’ objectives are fulfilled. Of course, teachers organize the working environment and processes. They determine the way all activities are maintained. Teachers provide instructions, according to which students do particular tasks and focus on those elements of the Language Arts that are underlined. What is more, educators are in charge of creating a positive atmosphere in the class so that every student participates in all activities and has an equal opportunity to obtain and master new knowledge and skills. As tutors, they are also expected to consider the individual needs of their students. They guide them on how to maintain self-study as well. In addition to that, teachers of the Language Arts have a range of external duties, such as meetings with other educators and parents. Still, they are mainly focused on the learners’ capacity to use English (What are the duties of a language arts teacher, 2016).

Children tend to have different needs in the classroom depending on their characteristics. However, when speaking about the issue in the framework of general education, it is significant to ensure that different types of perception are considered. Thus, materials selected by the teacher should both meet the objectives of the Language Arts and the needs of the learners.

Students with auditory learning styles should be involved in listening and speaking activities. It would be beneficial for them to listen to the text that is read by another person. The teacher can use a talking dictionary and an audio recording with the help of one’s laptop, tablet, etc. For students with visual learning style illustrations, videos, and any printed materials can be used. In this way, they have an opportunity to memorize information with their eyes and avoid a lack of understanding that could be faced if the information was just read to them. Those who have kinesthetic learning styles require special materials that can be touched. A teacher can resort to fingerspelling, use of response cards, or different model items (letters, toys, etc.) (Voltz, Sims, & Nelson, 2010). It is rather advantageous to use a game format because it is appropriate not only for kinesthetic students but also for the rest of the class, as children like to play. They can play board games that require communication, usage of images, and dices.

Reading and writing are often connected in the framework of learning activities. Still, writing is often seen as an objective of the class, while reading is perceived in different ways. It is discussed as a supportive activity and as a dominant force depending on the situation. The most effective is likely to be seen when writing and writing are tightly linked (Dartmouth, 2016).

The number of assigned readings is often rather extensive. For example, students are expected to read not chapters but the whole book, which is time-consuming. It would be better to limit their amount and allow the learners to have more time to focus on writing. Class discussions and writing assignments should focus not on the very content of the reading materials but specific issues and the construction of the argument. Teachers should provide the list of the course readings beforehand and discuss them with the students, identifying those elements that make them well-written so that the learners can not just obtain critical information but also follow the example. Similarly, students should receive some examples of poor writings.

For instance, due to the discussions in the classroom, learners have an opportunity to avoid them. It can be used to improve reading skills as well. To prevent students from being passive, teachers can encourage them to write in the margins. For example, they can make notes about the most interesting information or confusing questions. Learners can be encouraged to have a reading journal so that they can make notes and write down everything related to the course materials so that their understanding improves. In addition to that, they can write response papers to particular readings. In this way, their writing skills will become better, and a complete understanding will be achieved. In-class writing assignments can be used to guide class discussions. They are not time-consuming and can be based on readings.

In the framework of a Montessori classroom, listening activities are considered to be among the first ones. Children play silent games and listen to other people’s reading to differentiate words and phrases. Enormous attention is paid to the differences in tone and voice. Children are taught to perceive and understand the storyline as they listen to various texts. They work in groups and learn to listen to each speaker and to be attentive (grasp everything and not interrupt others). Dramas, songs, and poems allow them to practice pronunciation and intonation. Speaking is often mastered while expressing one’s ideas and beliefs (Mi Casa Montessori, 2013). Fun activities, such as the creation of some story sentence by sentence or a discussion of a favorite meal, encourage children to participate in oral communication.

In a Montessori classroom, children are taught how to write before reading. However, they develop their fine motor skill before practicing, as it ensures that their muscles can maintain the required actions. Thus, kids are occupied in such activities as polishing or dishwashing. Then they learn sounds in the way they are read and only with the course of time start relating them to corresponding letters. They can use colorful papers to construct words. At this stage, they focus on the ability to express themselves and do not pay attention to spelling or grammar. To enlarge children’s vocabulary, teachers teach them the words that refer to present experiences and natural things instead of some pictures and recordings. With the help of storytelling, the kids are encouraged to read (Kids Collective, 2015). As they can match letters and sounds, they use special books to master their visualization skills and improve reading.

The direct aims of the Language Arts activities and materials reflect the necessity to help children to master their listening, speaking, writing, and reading skills. In addition to that, they develop their sense perception, training them to observe, compare, decide, etc. Indirect aims refer to emotional enrichment, for example. Students also have an opportunity to develop their social skills through communication with teachers and other children. Their physical development improves especially fine motor skills. Kids also become more independent and learn how to be objective.

Practical Life activities can be used to prepare children for handwriting, developing their motor skills. For example, washing plastic dishes, kids practice their ability to hold large objects in their hands and manipulate them at the same time. At this time, it is enough for them to learn how to control a thumb separately. In this way, children work with their hands more. They become more stable and can move smoothly. Passing to the activities with tweezers, children improve their skills and learn to be more accurate, as they need to work with smaller objects. The eyedropper allows children to learn how to hold a little object in their hands and direct it to the required destination, which is also rather small. In addition to that, it makes kids conduct some extra actions when holding a dropper. They need to squeeze it with their fingers for a drop to fall. As a result, their fine motor skills develop, and they start controlling their fingers better.

Sensorial materials are also rather useful in this framework. With the help of knobbed cylinders coordination of fingers improves greatly. Mainly, it is targeted at the development of thumb and two fingers that catch things. On the next level, teachers can resort to geometric cabinet insets (MIKACJJ, 2013). They assist in the development of tactile skills and improve children’s ability to differentiate various shapes as well as to reconstruct them. Kids need to remember the shape of an object and correspond it to the appropriate hall so that they perfectly match. Similarly, they need to write letters according to the example. Needless to say that motor skills are also involved in this activity. Sandpaper letters allow to development of a muscular memory of the shape of the letters. Children memorize letters and correspond them to their phonetic sounds. In addition to that, they can see how each letter is written and follow this pattern to improve handwriting.

In the framework of Language Arts, reading should be taught based on speaking and writing skills. Professionals believe that there are two main stages of reading. During the first one, kids learn the mechanics of reading. They learn symbols and sounds that correspond to each other and try to decode them. When putting them together, children find out some words that are already familiar to them. During the second stage, kids learn to read phrases so that they do not focus on each word separately. Here, they can already consider grammar and syntax (Montessori primary guide, 2016). In my practicum classroom, similar stages of reading can be observed. However, the emphasis on already acquired writing skills is not that critical. While the Language Arts manual of the training program encourages us to avoid using images and pictures, they are present in the classroom. They tend to make children more interested in the task and willing to participate. Still, it should be admitted that they also distract attention from the main purpose of reading. In addition to that, pre-reading activities are not always properly maintained. But those that are to be maintained during and after reading are used. The test is processed in-depth, which ensures students’ understanding. They also review the information they have read and often discuss the content of the text.

Different pre-reading activities allow children to improve their skills. For example, they can match objects with corresponding beginning sounds. Such activity allows preparing a control of error (NAMC, 2007). When creating cards for matching, teachers should also create such cards so that objects and sounds on them are already matched. In this way, children have an opportunity to cope with this activity in the way they consider to be right, and then check whether they have done everything correctly, referring to the cards with answers on them. Control of effort can also be put into the reading materials. While working with cut-up sentences, teachers should prepare a list of sentences used for this exercise that is provided correctly with no changes. As a result, children will be able to gather words so that they create a sentence on their own and then check whether they have made mistakes or not with the help of this list.

According to the Montessori philosophy, children are ready to write when they can successfully cope with pre-writing activities, developed all required skills, and can color inside the lines properly. To reach this state, a child’s large muscles are to be developed. One should learn how to walk and talk. With time, fine motor skills should improve so that a kid can be able to hold and control little objects, such as a pencil that will be needed to write. Still, before a child tries to use it, one should develop eye-hand coordination and be able to follow moving objects. For example, one should cope with going after a ball or a pet. Further, the child’s hand should become stronger. One should be able to eat little pieces of food with his/her hands and grasp little objects. It is also critical to ensure that a child can catch things and hold the balance. The hand control can also be checked with puzzles. All in all, it is significant to ensure that the pencil-holding ability is achieved. Then it is possible to start working with writing and working supplies. Painting different objects and even walls can be beneficial. Finally, children can be encouraged to color geometric shapes inside the lines. If they cope with this task, they are likely to cope with wiring letters. Such development is usually observed between the ages 3-6, but it is more critical to pay attention to the child’s skills than one’s age (Jacobs, 2012).

References

Dartmouth. (2016). Integrating reading and writing. Web.

Kids Collective. (2015). Reading and writing with Montessori. [Web log comment]. Web.

Mi Casa Montessori. (2013). Language. Web.

NAMC. (2013). Language arts in the Montessori classroom. [Web log comment]. Web.

Voltz, D., Sims, M., & Nelson, B. (2010). Connecting teachers, students, and standards: Strategies for success in diverse and inclusive classrooms. Alexandria, VA: ASCD.

What are the duties of a language arts teacher. (2016). Web.

Jacobs, J. (2012). How children learn to write. Web.

MIKACJJ. (2013). Metal insets for children writing. Web.

Montessori primary guide. (2016). Web.

NAMC. (2007). Montessori prepared environment. [Web log comment]. Web.

Introduction

Curriculum alignment is a very significant element of the curriculum at schools. Curriculum mapping ensures that schools are in order with the requirements set out by the national government (Koczor, 1984). The following areas are relevant in the discussion involving curriculum alignment.

Lesson Components

The lesson under discussion is a third-grade science lesson with the objectives to let the students comprehend the value of science that it plays in their daily life, and amplify children’s consciousness of scientific happening that encircles them and instills a health concern in the subject among students (Koczor, 1984).

Instructional Resources

Third Grade Science Textbook by Gary Busey is the resource textbook used for this lesson. Most of the classwork relies on the textbook. Students’ needs, interests and abilities must be considered (Koczor, 1984). The textbook is appropriate as it simplifies science with inclusion of funny statements that are relevant to what they are learning. A picture of the solar system can also enhance learning science of the solar system.

Imaginations of a young mind on what their teacher has told them can be captured inspiring their thoughts. This picture will involve the students in learning hence keep them alert. Big size images appear more real to the learner, which enhance understanding and the information. A Fun Educational Website is used, for example, to enable the students to match names with the drawings among many others. This will enhance the students’ alignment between instructions and assessments (Smaldino, et al, 2008). This supports their learning experiences as they convey messages that children can actually see (Koczor, 1984). These are very important references to children who are learning how to read.

The three teaching resources are chosen for the science lesson described above since a picture helps a learner retain additional information. It also enhances the use of the visual capacity, which steams up the students’ curiosity in the subject (Spears et al, 1990). A textbook has well elaborated and detailed information about the topic. The level of organization in a textbook is high. The information in the textbook is balanced.

The textbooks when used as teaching resources are excellent. The level of organization in a textbook is very high and efficient for usage in class. Educational Website enhances the lesson due to the presence of 3-D images and other numerous educational tools. The educational tools on the website are easy to access and understand. It is an effective tool for time management as the information is easy to get (Koczor, 1984).

The Evaluation Checklist

Each area in the evaluation checklist is important pedagogically because it ensures that the children receive an individualized and relevant lesson.

• The design ensures that the chosen teaching resource has accurate, logical, and complete information which will ensure that the objectives are achieved. Through designing, unrefined content is translated into structured delivery. On observing the design of a lesson, the instructor prepares notes from the relevant source on a given topic (Shulman, 1987). Pedagogical evaluation of the design also ensures that certain teaching material is relevant to the chosen grade level. Relevant material is the one that has comfortable content for the chosen students.
• The procedure in which the information is delivered ensures that the learners are attentive and active. The incorporation of suggestions from students, the utilization of comprehensible input, and concept repetition are some of the procedures that ensure that a learner’s evaluation is done pedagogically. This will, in its turn, ensure active learning processes (Shulman, 1987). If teaching procedures are chosen well, learning will be made easier accordingly. This can be done by coming up with a set number of interactions that will ensure the learners are actively involved in the whole process. If a good teaching procedure is put in place, the learners are motivated and will be able to understand the concept. It is evident that procedures are very important pedagogically (Shulman, 1987).
• Clarity makes the content easy to understand. The layout of the material needs to be looked at to ensure that it makes it easier for the student to find what they need. Therefore, pedagogical investigation concerning the issue is very important. Clarity is also concerned with the additional material on the resource making it even easier for the students to learn.
• Efficiency ensures that only necessary information that will make the student learn the material is chosen for the lesson. (Fahey, 1986). A pedagogically efficient method requires a smaller number of individuals to enhance the understanding levels of a student. A class with a big number of students is desirable from the school point of view as it has a maximum student-to-teacher proportion which affects tuition-to-salary proportion. Such classes have a pedagogical low efficiency to slow learners or students with low intelligent quotients. A good practical assessment is better than technological knowledge in enhancing efficiency (Shulman, 1987). This means that an assessment is done to ensure that the lesson will make the student learn the indented material with enough materials.

Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate

The choice of culturally appropriate and linguistically sensitive material is important because recognition of cultural diversity in education is very important. Therefore, teaching methods are supposed to accommodate this point. The students relate the learning activities to their cultural practices improving the level of understanding. The teacher is to expose teaching material according to the students’ cultural viewpoints.

Linguistics also plays a role in the level of understanding of the student. If a teacher emphasizes the importance of the context of the information rather than the models of language, the learner then will feel comfortable in that class (Spears et al, 1990). Sometimes, choosing culturally linguistic resources is very hard. However, the importance of reviewing information carefully is essential. Several materials are used to make this possible.

The Use of Resources in the Lesson

A website will be used in this science lesson because it will keep the students drawn into the lesson and therefore be able to understand the lesson at their own pace. This is possible due to the availability of funny 3-D images that display the needed information in a way that will make the student understand the content and be attentive (Spears et al, 1990). An educational website has a wide range of information so it will be preferred to be used in this lesson.

The use of a textbook in this lesson may not be needed. This is because the use of a textbook will not keep students as engaged in the lesson as the website would. A textbook lacks funny information that will keep the learner actively engaged in the lesson. The information provided by the textbook is limited and therefore if used without other resources it might affect the level of grasping of the information by the students (Spears et al, 1990).

A picture will not be used in this lesson as the only educational resource. This is because the level of information provided by the picture is not well-illustrated for the students to be able to capture the required information (Spears et al, 1990). A picture is preferred to be used as an additional resource for illustration purposes. In general for this lesson to be understood well, all the teaching resources are to be used. A textbook provides the curriculum to be observed, an educational website provides the additional information needed for understanding the topic, and the picture offers relevant illustrations needed.

Works cited

Fahey, P. A. (1986). Learning transfer in main ideas instruction: Effects of instructional alignment and aptitude on main idea test scores. Doctoral Dissertation, University of San Francisco. Dissertation Abstracts International, 48-03A:0550.

Koczor, M. L. (1984). Effects of varying degrees of instructional alignment in post treatment tests on mastery learning tasks of fourth-grade children. Doctoral Dissertation, University of San Francisco. Dissertation Abstracts International, 46-05A:1179.

Shulman, L. (1987). Knowledge and teaching: Foundations of the new reform. Harvard Educational Review, 57(1).

Smaldino, S., Lowther, D.L., & Russell, J.D. (2008). Instructional technology and media for learning (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson. ISBN: 9780132391740

Spears, J. D., Oliver, J. P. (1990). Accommodating change and diversity: Multicultural practices in rural schools. A report of the Ford Western Taskforce. Manhattan, Kansas State University, Rural Clearinghouse for Lifelong Education and Development. ED 328 – 392.

Introduction

Curriculum theorizing is a deductive approach that explains the various perceptions of education. It communicates the different thoughts and diversities of the curriculum through an array of theories (Huenecke, 1982). The various professionals such as the curriculum consultants, teachers, researchers, educationalists, modernized students, and the supervisors have different perceptions of the curriculum. Curriculum developers receive vast suggestions from their advisors who invent new ways to upgrade the curriculum. The developers are in dilemma, wondering which curriculum to adapt because each proposed curriculum is supported with research that shows its workability. The gender, race, moral, modernization, postmodernization, and the aesthetic factors are just but a few of the overtly politicized aspects of curriculum theorizing.

There is vast diversification in curriculum theorizing that goes to the extent of discarding early theories. The allegations that curriculum theorizing is a cohesive field are perceived as fictitious (Pinar & Bowers, 1992). The educators who believed that curriculum theorizing is unified, or that it has boundaries are considered outdated because their ideas conflict with the current perceptions. In the globalized and modernized world, curriculum theorizing is unlimited, appropriate and adequate for all scholars around the globe. The new status quo in curriculum theorizing denotes that curriculum theorizing is an ongoing project that will never end as long as humankind exists. Curriculum theorizing is a set of interdependent theoretical approaches that are upgraded to have the capacity to accommodate flexibility and tolerance to meet the demands of the modernized and globalized world. This paper will address the overtly politicized aspects of curriculum theorizing.

Curriculum theorizing and institutionalization

The institution and the instructor are the two significant aspects that determine what the students will learn. Different learning institutions have instructors who approach curriculum theorizing in different ways, where some instructors act as intellectuals while others will act as researchers. The intellectuals will insist on adhering to the theorists’ perspective of curriculum theorizing while the researchers will adhere to the practitioners’ perspective, but in the real sense, one can derive theory from practice. The practitioners directly affect the students’ ability to contribute their ideas concerning the current theories, where students will have a tendency to stick to the critical traditions. Connelly, for example, was a stringent theorist who overlooked all his roles to engage in curriculum theorizing. Connelly overlooked his administrative duties at the university, his ongoing work with principals and teachers and even his pedagogy to involve himself actively in theorizing. The theorizing works of Connelly are widely acknowledged, but they caused him a lot of sacrifice. This shows that theorists have a natural and active engagement in curriculum theorizing regardless of what it would cost them.

As stated, different institutions have different approaches to handle students. An institution that has adopted the student-centered learning technique does not actively engage students in real sharing. Such institutions will focus on the individual learner while disempowering the students’ from social interactions. The students’ ability of real sharing is disempowered which could lead to social class discrimination, gender and race discrimination. Society has many times raised blame on the individual of their weird characters of discriminating against people in terms of their race, gender or social class; however, it is now clear that the educational institutions are to blame. Educational institutions should adopt the universally accepted mode of learning and the universally accepted cultures.

They should adhere to particular national cultures and social justice practices without minding the borders. The learning institutions ought to produce modernized individuals who will in turn upgrade and shape the society (Wright, 2000). Individuals ought to use the skills and scientific knowledge gained in school to make the society a better place. This ought to trickle down to the families of the learned fellows who will also have the desire to educate their children. Generally, learning institutions should privilege all global students who would wish to study in the institution. The politics of curriculum theorizing and institutionalization have not raised much criticism, where a greater percentage of the educationists agree that learning institutions play a great role in shaping the individual students and the society. They are the central areas that expose individuals to modernity and civilization.

Curriculum theorizing and how it has been queered

Children begin schooling at the tender age of three years or even two years in some places, and they spent the better part of their entire life in schools. It is not until they are fully trained to being resourceful people that the learning institutions release them to the society. The question is whether the learning institutions teach the students everything they need to know. The curriculum has underrepresented the subjects on sex, gender, and disability as they are regarded as queer subjects. Lesbianism and gay subjects are almost never discussed anywhere in the curriculum. In addition to the queer subjects, we have hermaphroditic subjects that raise gender ambiguity concerns. The above-mentioned subjects not fully integrated into the curriculum, and instructors only give their superficial teachings while leaving the students with many unanswered questions.

Queer theory debunks on the subjects of sex and gender. It exposes full knowledge of sex education. While the instructors may find it absurd to throw full light on the subjects, students have the right to understand fully the queer subjects by the time they complete the K-12 curriculum. The social constructionists insist on sexual orientation classes to students before they attain the adolescent stage. In fact, in the technological world, children are exposed to sexual materials as early as when they are five years of age. If they do not obtain the full sexual education in time, there is a high probability of practicing immoral sexual behavior at tender ages. The sexual subjects directly related to culture, whereby most cultures will advocate for heterosexuality rather than homosexuality or lesbianism. The K-12 curriculum needs liberal multiculturalism that advocates for stable and culturally accepted practices that discourage social discrimination. In the United States, liberal multiculturalism is upgraded to a more radical version of a radical and revolutionary multiculturalism.

The issue of integrating sexuality as a learning unit in the curriculum has received critics for many years. On one hand, some educators argue that teaching the subject has dangers of arousing the sexual desires for the students. On the other hand, arguments are that failure to teach the subject is what leads students to practice the immoral acts of lesbianism, homosexuality and the desire to watch and read phonographic materials. However, according to research, there is a need for instructors to integrate race, gender and disability lessons with sex education. The most appropriate way to teaching these subjects is by integrating the subjects into literature set books. In so doing, the social differences would end, and the queer theories of sexual education will become interrelated to literature.

Curriculum theorizing and how it has been raced and gendered

Various nations have different perceptions of the education curriculum. The nations have varying cultures and identities that directly affect the formal education of their students. The child-rearing practices, as well as the adult initiation practices, directly affect the desire and ability to learn. In actual sense, urbanization and industrialization directly influence education. It is evident that that formal education becomes universal and gender unbiased in urbanized and industrialized nations. The perceptions of gender roles and gender relationships differ from one nation to another (Zembylas, 2010). These perceptions have a direct effect on the adoption of educational practices. In some nations, more especially the third world nations, the female genders are disadvantaged.

They do not get access to educational opportunities as the male gender does. Some nations still cling to old-fashioned cultures that look down upon the female gender. According to the old-fashioned cultures, the females ought to be homemakers, children bearers, and caretakers of their husbands. There is no chance for the female gender to access any formal education. Curriculum theorists of the1960s and 1970s described education as the road to socialization. Education plays an essential role in maintaining social order and controlling the roles of every individual in the society (Woodrow, 2000). The westernized political overtone holds that education is the driving force to the enculturation of the minority and majority cultures. When education, religion, and politics are integrated, they formulate a holistic, ideal and thorough view of the world. It is so unfortunate that the female gender is denied the chance of knowing all these in some nations.

Curriculum theorizing has gone to the extent of analyzing mathematics as a subject. In many societies, perceptions that the female gender is weaker in mathematics as compared to the male gender prevail. To some extent, the assumption is true and some educators regard mathematics as a disabled subject. Special educators are tirelessly trying to conceptualize the problem and come with a remediated solution. In many cases, students are deficient in mathematical skills yet it promotes justice and social fairness in societies. Apart from relating cultural traditions, cultural believes and social behaviors, curriculum theorizing seeks to explain the different learning methodologies within different social-cultural customs. In fact, the meaning of “learning” would differ from one social construct to another. A macro-analysis depicts that the difference in meanings would leads to a mismatch in understanding between the two societies. On the other hand, a microanalysis indicates that the learners from the two cultures are more likely to experience a sense of disagreement and awkwardness. In general, the politics of curriculum theorizing in relation to race and gender is ongoing and is not likely to end any soon. The politics would only end if all ethnic groups, all nations, and all people globally become urbanized and industrialized.

Curriculum theorizing and aesthetician

The politically oriented curriculum scholars would always inquire about the main intention of a learning institution. In so doing, the scholars will seek to understand if the institution has some aesthetic value. According to Marxism theory, culture has an aesthetic value. While businesspersons would equate an institution with its economic value or economic benefit, educators and curriculum scholars would equate an institution with its aesthetic value. As discussed in the subtopic of curriculum theorizing and institutionalization, a learning institution plays a critical role in modeling the character traits of its students. Individuals from a particular learning institution will tend to have similar traits.

The factor that determines the character traits is the culture in an institution. If for example, an institution has a culture of immorality, there is a high possibility of having a great percentage of students from the institution becoming immoral. In fact, some learning institutions are blacklisted. If a student from such an institution goes out seeking for employment, employees would feel threatened to absorb them. They may fear that they would be hiring a thug into their company. Such students will have no aesthetic value in the society. A student with clean papers and with all necessary skills would tarmac for years without getting any formal employment because of the lack of an aesthetic value. On the other hand, an institution that adheres to a culture of religion, hard work and good ethics will bear the best students, which companies will compete to employ. In essence, such students will have a high aesthetic value.

As usual, the subject is politicized where the opposing side argues that the aesthetic value of an individual in inbuilt and that the institution cannot change a stringently moral student. However, in reality, the level of peer influence is so high such that peer influence can lure stern Christians into unethical actions.

Curriculum theorizing and how it has been psychoanalyzed

Education is a process that entails a teacher giving systematic instructions, and the students on the receiving end. The level of grasping things differs from one student to another. From the analysis of the educationalists, the mental ability of a student determines the level of understanding and comprehending instructions (Wright, 2000). Scientists have identified some external factors such as economic factors, social factors, cultural factors and disruptions that influence peoples’ psychology. In the school curriculum, students’ attitudes towards a subject influence their brains’ resistance or acceptance to grasp and understand the instructions of the subject.

Generally, students have a negative towards mathematics. A study in the 1970s showed distinct differences in national outputs. America, Europe, and Britain readily accepted a subject named new mathematics, but Africa resisted the subject. Research indicated that the Americans vested on an interest of knowing things; the British vested on the interest of doing things, while the French vested their interest in understanding things. On the other hand, Africans had not developed firm educational principles and thus found it problematic to adopt the system. The stereotypical variations brought in the differences in accepting the new mathematics as a subject in Africa. Overall, an attempt to introduce, compare or contrast schooling within countries and students should consider, recognize and understand the existence of underlying differences. So far, the British adopted the Piaget’s developmental psychology, while the Americans adopted the behavioral psychology. On the other hand, the Europeans have embraced grand ideas rather than particular skills. Currently, the systems could have changed, but the three continents still have distinct curriculum theorizing characteristics.

Once again, the English system to differentiate and sort students at an early age influenced England to adhere to a quasi-practical approach, which was somewhat hospitable. The baseline of Curriculum theorizing and how it has been psychoanalyzed emphasized on ensuring the orderliness of the mind of the student, subjecting the students into a comfortable environment where they can comfortably learn, and having the teacher pass the knowledge in a logical manner. England has adopted the rule that students should not be forced to score highly at the expense of hurting the self-image of the student. England emphasizes on creativity rather than knowledge because psychoanalysis shows that some students who would have difficulties in gaining knowledge could be good in creativity.

On the contrary, some educationalists argue that having the students have the freedom of choice in education will ruin the world. Students would have a tendency to escape learning technical subjects such as mathematics, which is an essential subject in life. Arithmetic, science, and English are some of the subjects that nations should teach at all costs. Mathematics bestows an authoritative and discordant character in the students making them powerful. Therefore, no matter the conclusions of the psychoanalysis debate on curriculum theorizing, mathematics, English, and science should be taught globally. The theory of prioritizing the individual student’s need should focus on other subjects other than the above-mentioned subjects. It would be difficult for nations that think they would import an education system and disregard the associated values of the educational system. This would lead to conflicts regarding the educational practice as well as the cultural assumptions related to the imported educational system.

Curriculum theorizing and moralization

Learning institutions play a significant role in installing knowledge as well as installing morals to the learners. Education and knowledge are factual, whereas morals are the perceptions of right and wrong. The curriculum integrates education and morals, where, students ought to adhere to the authoritative rules. They ought to adhere to the corrective measures in an institution as well as the natural proof of what is ethical or morally upright. An institution that holds morally upright cultures will insist on viewing education as a “body of knowledge” instead of viewing education as a journey of discovery. From the education perspective, science and mathematics are bound to facts that are correct and accurate. In science, for example, either students will know the truth about a phenomenon or they remain ignorant.

Mathematics also works on the same principle of either knowing or not and adhering to accuracy. It is noteworthy that mathematics is a subject that 50% of the students are forced to do by the educational curriculum. There is no freedom of choice of study subject, unless at higher levels of learning. This raises an ethical and methodological problem in education because the central ethical standard for obtaining the right morals is freedom. Freedom for the choice of subjects would bring in justice and equality, thus embrace naturalist moral ethics. Educators should apply a friendly manner in the scientific goal of attaining the truth of phenomena and use ideological flow charts to bring a sense of understanding. The most difficult aspects of complicated mathematical formulas can be reduced into simple and empirically-based formulas that are easy to understand.

The politics that arise between curriculum theorizing and morality is whether education has anything to do with morality. Talking of mathematics and science, there is nothing good or quality about mathematics or science. Having more mathematical or scientific knowledge does not have any relationship with ethical morals. However, if folk knowledge would be integrated into the education curricula, then some sense of morality would be drawn from the same (Wright, 2000). Moreover, teaching social ethics as a subject in schools would help in upgrading the moral values of an individual. Incorporating technology and social practices into the curriculum would help to bring out the morality sense. To enable this, educators would incorporate dance music classes, dance classes and painting classes among other classes that enhance sociality and moralization. The social classes would enable students to adopt the moral templates of developing healthy relationships that are ecologically sustainable. The social classes would transform the students’ experiences from ordinary mortals to extraordinary individuals with a high sense of morality.

Curriculum theorizing in relation to modernization and postmodernization

The world is evolving, and in recent years, various schools have transformed their curriculum to adopt the demands of the modernized world. In the early days, education would heavily rely on general education theories and gain of satisfaction. Curriculum theorizing was based on selfishness and discrimination against race and gender. However, that is not the case in the modernized world because there is no readily acceptable general theory in the curriculum. The post-modernized curriculum is reformed to advocate for class and gender equality, social and economic rationalization, and enhanced global humanism. Gone are the days when the administration or government would dictate the curriculum to adopt in all levels of education. The teachers, professional researchers, professors, and the modernized students critically analyze every new curriculum development. They propose reformations of the available curriculum theories to fit their needs and the needs of the modernized world. The modernized world presents cases of conflicts and disjunctions between what is in theory and what exactly happens practically.

Democracy in the postmodern world has caused streaming arguments on curriculum theorizing that happened thirty years ago. The modern curriculum theorists argue that there is a need to draw attention to the talents of the students. According to the postmodern curriculum, students have a right to explore their talents. The curriculum allows class-divided systems that accommodate every brain. The postmodern curriculum advocates for individual freedom of the students, unlike the earlier days when the authoritarian uniformity rule existed. The post-modernized reformers advocate for the extension of the curriculum to accommodate practical activities that enhance the empowerment and enlightenment of the students. This exercise aims at enabling the workplaces to obtain young individuals who have enhanced entrepreneurial skills and vast experiences to input into the organization.

The present demand flexibility and tolerance in curriculum theorizing

Curriculum theorizing has been politicized to the extent that those who cling to the old traditions need to embrace the modern and postmodern curriculum. The world is evolving and it needs the flexibility of the educational curriculum. The developers of the curriculum ought to be open-minded and to accept any effective proposals to reform the curriculum. If any rule in the current curriculum proves to be ineffective, there should be room for amendments. In essence, there should not be an indisputable rule in the curriculum. The current curriculum theorizing should be debating towards bringing clarity to each aspect of the curriculum. Post modernization, psychoanalysis, post-structuralism, and post-colonization are politicized aspects that need flexibility. In essence, the present demand for flexibility and tolerance in curriculum theorizing calls for the following actions.

1. The current curriculum theorizing should identify the right approach to employ in teacher education and a clear understanding of the teaching methods for every subject. Analysis of the limitation of each method is essential, where, if the limitations outweigh the benefits, the teaching method is considered unworthy. If, for example, a teacher employs the cultural study approach to curriculum theorizing, there should be a clear report of what the students are gaining, and a corresponding report of the associated costs and limitations.
2. New interventions should accommodate the modern dissertations, interrogations, and suggestions on the improvement of the curriculum and individual subjects in all levels of formal education.
3. There should be approaches to embrace technology in all levels of learning. Learning institutions should install and enhance the mediums of communication networks within the learning institutions. The internet and the World Wide Web are very essential in learning institutions because they enhance seriousness and consistency in theorizing concepts. However, in the process of improvising technology, the possible challenges of the improvisation are identified. If the internet opens ways for immorality then control measures need employment.
4. The curriculum developers should critically analyze and utilize ideologies generated during the process of politicizing curriculum theories.
5. Curriculum theorizing should be made complex and comprehensive to synchronize culture, history, and pedagogical space into the formal education curriculum.
6. There should be distinct strategies to reform the current education curriculum and establish substantial projections for future education.

The future of curriculum theorizing and education practice

The future of the curriculum is dependent on the measurements adopted currently in response to the demand of flexibility and tolerance in curriculum theorizing. If there is full adoption of the proposed approaches to respond to flexibility and tolerance, then the future of curriculum theorizing will have the following characteristics.

1. Teacher education and the teaching methods used in class will be the most efficient. The teaching methods will focus on developing all-round students. The teachings approaches in schools will have both economic and aesthetic values.
2. The future curriculum theorizing will apply modern dissertations, interrogations, and suggestions that will upgrade and enhance the curriculum at all levels of education.
3. The future curriculum will fully embrace technology, where, the World Wide Web will enhance communication, socialization and efficient learning.
4. The future educational curriculum will contain a complex and comprehensive synchronization of culture, history and folk knowledge into the formal education curriculums. This factor will enhance moralization and socialization.
5. The current education curriculum will undergo substantial projections to accommodate students of any race, any gender, and students with disabilities. This will promote international studies, online studies, and exchange programs.

Conclusion

From the discussions, it is evident that most educational conflicts arise from the different notions of what is correct in relation to the authority. An education action, classified as moral or immoral, right or wrong, is in accordance with the grammatical rules or the nature of the proof. However, the moral or immoral, right or wrong actions differ from one nation to another and from one culture to another. In investigating an action, there is a need to carry out a content-based assessment rather than a personal assessment. The problem-solving approach differs and presents different meanings across cultures. Mathematics, as a subject has raised politics in many aspects, however, in trying to solve the problem in a particular nation, it is necessary to understand the authoritarian culture and opinions of the society (Wallin, 2011). A society that clings to old traditions with no tangible reason to reject the mathematical teachings needs employment of investigatory and exploratory methods. Thereafter, psychological counseling may work efficiently.

The discussions present aspects that depict overtly politicized curriculum theorizing. However, this is not the end of the politics because curriculum theorizing is still encountering an expansive growth in literature. Curriculum theorizing still has a wide field of discussions. Theorists are yet to politicize curriculum theorizing in relation to globalization, religion, phenomena and autobiographical aspects. This is not to suggest that the field is becoming or ought to be contention-free. Indeed, the characteristics of current curriculum theorizing ought to generate considerable debate on practical issues. Curriculum politicizing should focus on not only politicizing but also putting their politics into practice. They should stretch towards reaching the developing nations and particularly reaching those societies that cling to traditions to disable the female gender. The female gender needs protection, and this is possible through practical actions and not politics. The leaning institutions need reforms, which also need action. In essence, there is no more time for politics, and the curriculum theorists should rise and take action. If a learning institution is not adhering to producing aesthetically valued students, it should face a warning followed by astringent action. It is a high time action rather than politics ruled in curriculum theorizing.

References

Huenecke, D. (1982). What is curriculum theorizing? What are the implications for practice? Journal of Educational Leadership, 10 (1), 290-249.

Pinar, W.F., & Bowers C. A. (1992). Politics of curriculum: Origins, controversies, and significance of critical perspective. Review of Research in Education, 18 (1), 163-190.

Wallin, J. (2011). What is? Curriculum Theorizing: For a people yet to come. Journal of Studies of Philosophical Education, 30 (1), 285–30.

Woodrow, D. (2000). Cultural determination of curricula, theories and practices. United Kingdom: Manchester Metropolitan University.

Wright , H. K. (2000). Nailing Jell-O to the Wall: Pinpointing Aspects of State- of-the-Art Curriculum Theorizing. Educational Researcher, 29 (5), 4-13.

Zembylas, M. (2010). Agamben’s theory of bio-power and immigrants/refugees/asylum seekers: Discourses of citizenship and the implications for curriculum theorizing. Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, 26 (2), 31-45.

Definitions and the Essential Background Information

When choosing an educational environment for their children, most people prefer public schools, typically because the subjects on the curriculum are diverse and of charge (Wu, Tu, Le, & Reynolds, 2012). However, in case a learner has a natural propensity toward a specific subject suggests that a magnet school should be considered as an option. A magnet school is typically defined as a public school with a heavy emphasis on a specific area or discipline (Spiers, 2016).

As a result, a learner acquires the skills that will, later on, serve as the foundation for developing professionalism in the chosen area. Despite the fact that studying in the magnet school under analysis implies a rather heavy emphasis on research, it is desirable to make sure that the learners could have an opportunity to enjoy a more balanced program. Furthermore, given the fact that a lot of learners come from an EFL background, it is desirable to shape the curriculum so that the process of acquiring the necessary English language skills could occur at a faster rate.

School Population and Neighborhood Environment: Description

The school is located in a fairly diverse neighborhood. As stressed above, a range of students (approximately 48%) are ESL (79% Asian, 24% Hispanic, 7% other), and 26% are Black, which means that the program must be adjusted to their language- and culture-specific needs. The male and female learners make 67% and 43% correspondingly. In other words, the emphasis must be placed on not only teaching the target subject to them in a universal manner but also encourage active language studies among them.

Furthermore, the fact that the neighborhood is represented by a very close community must be addressed. Because of the consistent communication process between the members of the neighborhood, one may consider encouraging parents to participate in their children’s academic progress. By inviting parents to assist their children in learning, one will be able to create the environment in which students will be eager to acquire new knowledge and skills since they will have a strong support system.

The academic levels of the students are rather high. The learners are able to read and write in English and are aware of the basic mathematical operations (i.e., addition, subtraction, division, and multiplication). Furthermore, despite minor cultural issues and the fear of failing to fit in, the learners are generally positive about the future academic experience. Nevertheless, it should be borne in mind that some of the students may face language issues when carrying out the tasks associated with the active use of vocabulary and an in-depth understanding of the language. Therefore, it is crucial that the teacher should provide learners with consistent support and scaffold them through the process of acquiring relevant skills and knowledge.

The demographics of the school represent the one of the community in a rather accurate manner. The school is located in Flushing, NY, which can be defined by outstandingly high diversity rates. According to the official statistics, the White population of the area makes approximately 11%, the Hispanic one amounts to 14%, the Black community is 3.7% of the total population, the Asian community embraces 67.3% of the community, and the Mixed and Other types of race and ethnicity amount to 1.9% and 1.8% accordingly (Race and ethnicity in Flushing, New York, NY, 2015).

Goals of the Curriculum and Their Rationale

The promotion of active acquisition of the relevant skills by the students and the creation of the platform for their further self-assisted learning can be viewed as the primary goal of the curriculum. Therefore, the development of academic skills, particularly, the ability to conduct research, as well as the promotion of self-directed lifelong learning among students, can be viewed as the essential goal of the curriculum. The rationale for the identified goals is that the learners must become independent in the process of knowledge and skills acquisition so that they could engage in the process of self-directed learning successfully. It is important that the students should become experts in their chosen area. The identified goal implies that the students should navigate their professional growth independently, for which the suggested curriculum allows. Among other objectives of the curriculum, the following ones need to be mentioned:

Table 1. Goals and Rationales.

Meeting New School Goals: An Improved Curriculum and Its Theoretical Foundation

In order to meet the goals set above, one will have to shape the curriculum of the school in question to a considerable degree. When considering the specifics of the curriculum for learners, one must focus on expanding the activities associated with independent projects. Although it is crucial that the connection between the teacher and the learners should remain consisted and that the feedback process should remain reciprocal, the teacher will have to focus on providing learners with a greater amount of independence.

Table 1. Curriculum: Grade 1, Magnet School, Semesters 1-2.

As the curriculum provided above shows, the students will engage in the traditional activities, yet they will also be provided with an opportunity to develop analytical skills. As a result, they will be able to gain independence in their learning process fast. Furthermore, they will be geared toward independence in learning,

When considering the tools that can be used to encourage the process of independent knowledge acquisition, one should consider scaffolding. A fairly common practice in the contemporary educational environment, it serves its purpose of encouraging learners to acquire information and skills, at the same time increasing their motivation levels, quite well (Jokikokko & Karikoski, 2016). Therefore, scaffolding should become the foundation of the teaching strategy for the curriculum.

Putting more stress on the process of language learning will also help ESL students adapt toward the classroom environment and acquire the relevant skills faster. Because of the language barrier, the students may face significant obstacles in developing the essential skills and understanding the course material. Thus, it will be crucial to focus on assisting learners to acquire the relevant skills that will help them engage in research at a comparatively early stage of their academic development.

Assessment Types That Match the Goals and the Theoretical Foundation

To make sure that ESL learners and students from all backgrounds receive the necessary support and acquire skills and knowledge at the required rate, one will have to focus on formative assessments as a crucial part of the academic process. The students will have to take a short quiz at the beginning and at the end of every lesson so that their knowledge of the previous and the current topic could be assessed and that the gaps in their knowledge could be identified. Each end-of-the-lesson quiz will include a matching game that the learners will have to complete. The quiz that will test the students’ understanding of the previous topic and will be conducted at the beginning of the lesson will require doing basic exercises (e.g., solving a math problem).

It is important that the teacher should provide detailed explanations of the tasks. Seeing that most of the students are still at the earliest stage of reading and writing skills development, it would be unreasonable to include expanded instructions into the task descriptions. Therefore, the teacher will have to use the available scaffolding tools as the means of guiding learners through the tasks and assisting them in carrying out the tasks.

The test results will be assessed by the teacher. However, per assessment should also be practiced as the means of introducing learners to the concept of self-evaluation and the identification of their strengths and weaknesses as learners. Thus, the teacher will promote the principles of self-directed learning among the target audience. It is expected that, by offering learners more independence in their academic process, the teachers will encourage them to develop the skills that will, later on, help them acquire analytical skills and carry out research-related activities on their own. Although one might argue that first-graders are too young to be introduced to the concept of academic research, promoting the acquisition of the analytical skills that will serve as the foil for their further academic progress is crucial at the identified stage.

References

Jokikokko, K., & Karikoski, H. (2016). Exploring the narrative of a Finnish early childhood education teacher on her professional intercultural learning. Journal of Early Childhood Education Research, 5(1), 92-114.

Race and ethnicity in Flushing, New York, NY. (2015). Web.

Spiers, H. A. (2016). Going digital, going global: Inquiry for deeper learning. Web.

Wu, R., Tu, Y., Le, Q., & Reynolds, B. (2012). An Action Research Case Study on Students’ Diversity in the Classroom: Focus on Students’ Diverse Learning Progress. International Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research, 1(2), 142-150.

The current approaches to teacher performance supervision and assessment lack such a vital aspect as improving students’ learning outcomes. Instead of focusing on their needs and expectations, the existing methods merely target educators. In this regard, it is essential to design a new curriculum and instruction appraisal model that would fit the modern learning environment.

Formative Phase

The model that will be presented in this paper may be called “Integrative Supervision,” and it builds on the lesson observation and reflection that were made in the course of the previous assignments, as well as the synthesis of the available scholarly literature.

Methods and Approaches for Observations

The philosophical substantiation for the proposed model is based on the creative supervision that was elaborated by Gebhard (1984). According to the identified theory, creativity should be understood as a form of looking at the appraisal that may be dynamic and expressed in a variety of ways. In other words, it seems important to ensure that supervisors would have the opportunity to consider several evaluation methods simultaneously. As stated by Gebhard (1984), “the creative model allows freedom to become creative not only in the use of the models presented but also in other behaviors we may care to generate and test in our supervisory efforts” (p. 507). The above theoretical underpinning allows integrating the elements of different models and combining them in any productive way to contribute to the appropriate instruction appraisal.

With the mentioned creative model in mind, one may suggest that adequate appraisal procedures should involve a supervisor’s personal experience, knowledge of the relevant guidelines and literature, as well as observation techniques per se. Consistent with Marshall (2013), it seems essential to integrate four pivotal elements that are as follows: curriculum planning, mini-observations, end-of-year rubric evaluations, and interim assessments.

The method of curriculum planning implies the involvement of a supervisor in planning and closer communication with a teacher. This method can also be traced in the context of the collaborative model that was used to assess the lesson observation (see Appendix 3). The cooperation allowed increasing understanding between the mentioned parties and achieving greater success in proper evaluation.

The consideration of in-class mini-observations, which are also known as short drop-in examinations, seems to be useful compared to long full-lesson examinations. While the latter requires producing narratives for the whole lessons, mini-observations may last approximately 20 minutes and be more frequent. Another benefit of utilizing short observations is the inability of full write-ups to focus on specific problems of a particular teacher due to the fact that they provide the review of the overall quality (Marshall, 2013).

However, detailed observations are also essential. In particular, end-of-year rubric evaluations should be conducted to reveal strengths and weaknesses as well as the progress made during the year, as noted by Goldring et al. (2015). One more approach that should definitely be used is composed of end-of-course tests along with value-added components. Indeed, the reliance on value-added by teachers seems to be more effective rather than a mere consideration of teacher grades.

At the same, interim assessments play a vital role in the proposed appraisal model as they are expected to ensure the engagement of both educators and supervisors in the process of evaluating transitional learning outcomes of students. This means that interim assessments should target the measurement of student learning results in order to eliminate any drawbacks or missing knowledge by repeating the required topics. For example, if it was revealed that the majority of students lack a proper understanding of the World War II reasons, then it is required to come back and discuss this theme again, thus leaving no room for further misunderstanding.

The role of interim assessments should be emphasized not only as a way to evaluate teacher performance but also to focus on student learning achievements. The recent randomized control trial conducted by Konstantopoulos, Miller, van der Ploeg, and Li (2016) examined the impact of such interim programs as mCLASS in Grades K–2 and Acuity in Grades 3-8 in Indiana (Konstantopoulos et al., 2016).

The authors specified that these programs allowed understanding that students from control schools and those from treatment schools showed insignificantly different results in mathematics and reading. At this point, the fact that interim programs made many teachers re-consider their approaches to instruction and curriculum should be stressed (Konstantopoulos et al., 2016). This means that interim assessments have great potential to positively affect teacher attitudes to the learning process that is rather important to fit the ever-changing educational requirements.

Last but not least, one should propose the implementation of both pre-and post-observation conferences as a means of appropriate planning and scheduling evaluation procedures. Through the use of these procedures, supervisors and teachers will have the opportunity to express their ideas and concerns before and after assessments. As a result, the mentioned activity will contribute to the implementation of the collaborative model of evaluation when both sides work as a team.

Communication Methods for Feedback to Instructors

Flexibility and readiness for change compose the key features of communication methods applied for the proposed model. These competencies are based on actions that ensure the motivation of students, determination of their potential, and planning of academic development. Interaction with others is one of the key processes of a teacher’s work, while the concept of interpersonal interaction should be aimed at revealing the depth of understanding student achievements. The sensitivity and understanding of their feelings and emotions, and at the same time the ability to manage their perceptions, should be used for pedagogical purposes.

Another important quality of a teacher is his or her willingness to build effective relationships with students as well as with their parents and colleagues, providing necessary support to cope with the difficult situation. In this regard, feedback should be employed as a method of communication between an observer and educator. Consistent with the exploratory assumptions of Khachatryan (2015), this paper suggests that the use of feedback informs instruction change via learning enhancement and redesign of the curriculum. According to the recent qualitative research, teacher assessment feedback is perceived by educators as an essential source of looking at their performance from a different angle (Khachatryan, 2015). Therefore, the proposed model requires the generation of timely feedback after the observations.

As for communicative devices that should be used, one may note formal written reports, oral messages, and informal communication via email. The observers will be allowed to select one or several devices with the condition of compulsory written reports. In order to ensure that educators involved in feedback understand the messages provided by observers, their response will be required (Marshall, 2013). Likewise, teachers will be offered to provide feedback by choosing one of the mentioned ways.

Most importantly, they will be required to implement an observer’s feedback till the next examination. In case a teacher encounters difficulties with understanding what exactly is needed to change or applying feedback in practice, then it should be the responsibility of an observer to assist. In particular, a supervisor should ask about the areas that require clarification and additional discussion. Specific methods of feedback integration may be elaborated in collaboration, depending on a particular situation.

With this in mind, staff development is proposed as a paramount objective of the model, the accomplishment of which will be ensured through feedback and cooperative work on planning and change of teaching strategies (Tomal, Wilhite, Phillips, Sims, & Gibson, 2015). While observers may outline both positive and negative issues as well as potential opportunities, teachers will be expected to ponder over possible ways to improve their professional competencies. What is also important, their personal growth will be targeted as an incentive to obtain new knowledge and skills (Tomal et al., 2015). In other words, the linkages to teachers’ professional development are associated with self-awareness, feedback, and improvement of teaching competencies.

Frequency of Observations, Appraisals, and Communication

The in-class observations will be scheduled to ensure their systematic nature and allow teachers to prepare and integrate feedback. At the same, there will be a place for unscheduled observations to examine usual lessons and learning activities. Zepeda (2017) considers that such comprehensive observations are likely to provide an in-depth understanding of what should be done to enhance teacher performance and student academic success.

In addition, the above initiative will be helpful in preventing a less-than-honest representation of behaviors. The in-class observations will occur twice a month, while their number may be increased in terms of unscheduled visits of supervisors. The number of observations will depend not only on teacher experience but also on student performance, feedback integration, attitudes to collaboration, and the ability to rethink curriculum and instructions as appropriate.

The proposed integrative method of curriculum and instruction appraisal is aimed at the systematic review of teachers’ attitudes to their work and the associated progress. It can be used both to assess their level of pedagogical competence at the time of mini-observations and, simultaneously, to reveal the dynamics in the course of interim assessments (Zepeda, 2017). In the second case, the method should be used to survey a particular teacher at least two times, for example, at the beginning of the course and the end or at the beginning of the academic year and the end. The change in indicators analyzed by this procedure will give an observer an increased understanding of progress in values and level of competence.

Tools, Forms, Documents, and Artifacts

In order to ensure the appropriateness of the appraisal model, it is essential to provide visual tools and forms, thus creating a guideline of the assessment. First of all, Tool 1 is designed in the format of a questionnaire that requires teachers to share their ideas, views, and perspectives on teaching and learning in the classroom environment. Using this tool will allow to objectively assess a teacher’s activity in many areas and inform him or her about the results, which is a good incentive for improving qualification. Form 1 that can be found in Appendices presents a table with such sections as classroom operation, content, inspiration, individualized learning, interaction, and recommendations. The latter is expected to be utilized by observers to provide feedback in the following areas: personal growth, student assessment, and research.

Speaking of the required documents, one should emphasize that they are to be created by observers for personal, informal use to make notes and work on them in the course of assessments. According to Zepeda (2017), the reports should be documented, including all necessary notes regarding teacher evaluation, procedures, recommendations, and any other relevant data. No specific artifacts will be needed in terms of the proposed appraisal model.

Summative Phase

The summative feedback will be delivered to a teacher via oral communication, written reports, and/or email. Feedback is a two-way process involving an educator and observer. Depending on the answers of teachers and the subsequent recommendations of observers, the steps and content of the lessons should be adjusted (Darling-Hammond, 2013). The paramount importance of feedback is to allow a teacher to get an idea of ​​the dynamics and completeness of the process of mastering knowledge and development of students based on the evaluation of their activities, advice on how to correct it due to information about shortcomings and achievements. Namely, feedback received as a result of interviews with supervisors will promote change in the design of curriculum and instructions as well as some other teaching and learning forms.

One of the most important conditions of delivering summative feedback is the creation of a psychologically comfortable microclimate and friendly atmosphere before, during, and after the observation (Darling-Hammond, 2013). Total control is traditionally perceived by teachers as the most uncomfortable stage in the teaching process. Therefore, a maximum of attention, demonstration of readiness to listen to them, support, and lack of subjectivity will be applied.

Darling-Hammond (2013) argues that by checking and evaluating the knowledge, competencies, and skills of teachers, observes should be guided not by personal sympathies but is guided by the existing criteria and the aspiration to positive change.

There will be an active user of various types of feedback in the process of communication. In particular, it is possible to encourage teachers to work together on provided feedback or organize individual meetings. The unity of supervising and self-monitoring processes will be achieved for its effective implementation. Since the delayed information can be distorted by a factor of time, one of the main parameters of feedback is making sure that the condition of “here and now” is followed (Darling-Hammond, 2013). Proceeding from the above, the requirements for evaluating the activity of a teacher may be formulated as the prevalence of positive feedback over negative ones.

This does not mean that it is impossible to negatively evaluate a teacher. Instead, when giving a negative yet objective evaluation, an educator should always supplement it with a promising positive assessment of future successes.

The proposed model will not provide any specific feedback form. It would be better if the supervisors would have the opportunity to provide feedback in a free manner. Some of them may prepare their own check-lists for observations, while others will write structured notes. A good teacher evaluator tends to practice various methods, test approaches, the effectiveness of tasks, and change verbal and non-verbal communication behaviors (Zepeda, 2017). It is rather important to be able to evaluate not only lessons but also feelings and perceptions. If there is a possibility, it is better to write down some notes as the data will be more objective than introspection from memory. However, oral feedback should also be provided in a face-to-face dialogue to eliminate any misunderstanding.

Supervisory Reflection Activity

As I reflect upon this week’s assignment, I had the pleasure of observing a 6th grade (Honors) Social Studies teacher, Mr. Rivera. For the purpose of this assignment, I will discuss which supervisory models I chose to use while observing Mr. Rivera and the reason the model was selected.

For pre-service and in-service teacher education programs, supervision plays an essential role, and there are various supervisory behaviors that can be used in the process of training (Gebhard, 1984). I will also reflect upon the effectiveness of the models as it relates to the given content. Thirdly, I will share my personal knowledge gain about the instructional supervision process while reflecting on and changes I would make if I were to conduct the observation the second time.

Collaborative Supervisory Model

The model of collaborative supervision was chosen due to such factors as the opportunity to establish trustful relationships with the teacher, ask more questions, and evaluate the lesson from the perceptive of a potential contributor. The teacher’s plans regarding the work with students, namely accountable talk strategies and Socratic seminar, also affected the selection of the theoretical model.

In his turn, Mr. Rivera seemed to be willing to share his ideas and approaches he uses to teach students, which shows that the selected collaborative supervision model proved to be effective. More to the point, he asked about my suggestions regarding teaching as he considers that cooperation with supervisors may improve education as a whole. Such mutual interest in the collaboration demonstrates that both sides may significantly promote greater problem-solving potential in the context of a certain classroom environment.

The lesson that I have observed presented a lot of insights regarding the assessment of the teacher’s performance, his interaction with students, and their discussions. From my point of view, this lesson integrated several approaches to teaching and learning that allowed keeping students engaged during the whole lesson. I would like to emphasize that Mr. Rivera was sensitive to the students and tried to encourage them to discuss issues in terms of the accountable talk activities. I think that the lesson went well since the planned initiatives were implemented, and the students demonstrated a good understanding of the material presented.

The activities I have observed during this lesson were diverse and exciting. Since the collaborative supervision model implies direct work with teachers without guiding them, I tried to establish relationships and shared responsibility to problem-solving processes. At this point, the fact that some of the students in the classroom were gifted required additional attention from the teacher to their needs and expectations. As argued by Gebhard (1984), the teacher and educator should “pose a hypothesis, experiment, and implement strategies” to contribute to a certain problem and ultimately achieve its successful resolution (p. 506). In this connection, my observation was organized in an active yet not directing manner so that to ensure that the teacher would achieve the stated teaching and learning goals.

To understand the lesson goals and outcomes, I communicated with Mr. Rivera and asked him the following questions: what do you think about the lesson? Did your objectives were accomplished? What are the positive learning issues you have noted in students’ performance? (Gebhard,1984). The teacher responded as appropriate and clarified all the required points based on the mentioned questions.

It should be noted that I also tried to evaluate the extent to which the learning goals were implemented. From my point of view, Mr. Rivera succeeded with his objectives set during the planning phase. I suggest that further development of academic dialogue and cooperative learning may significantly benefit students’ achievement, thus leading to better learning and practical use of obtained knowledge. In this connection, it is possible to state that the applied model of the collaborative supervision model was effective and thought-provoking.

Personal Knowledge Gained About the Instructional Supervision Process

The observation of the identified lesson was rather important for me to practice my knowledge and skills in supervising and evaluating. I have learned how to consider the learning activities through the prism of the theoretical perspectives, namely, Gebhard’s supervision. Consistent with the assumptions provided in the article by Jónsdóttir, Gísladóttir, and Guðjónsdóttir (2015), I can state that supervision should be perceived as a shared responsibility of a teacher and the supervisor.

This observation was useful to understand the very process of teaching and how to evaluate it from the perspective of a supervisor in terms of the collaborative approach of Gebhard (1984). My personal knowledge obtained in the course of the observation includes the increased awareness of active listening techniques and student engagement strategies. The application of the mentioned model allowed me concentrating on cooperation with the teacher.

As for my expected goals, I wanted to gain knowledge on the observation process and issues I should note about instructional supervision. Also, I expected to establish relationships with the target teacher. Therefore, I can conclude that the initial goals were accomplished. According to Kaneko-Marques (2015), the cooperative model should stimulate discovery and problem-solving processes. Indeed, I have learned that I can contribute to the situation and suggest relevant ideas on how to decide regarding one or another issue. For example, together with the teacher, we discussed the way the Socratic seminar may be improved. If I were to perform the observation the second time, I would probably, select the model of the creative supervision to consider the process from a different perspective. I would pay more attention to a teacher’s perceptions, ideas, and ways to accomplish goals, as well as the impact of these issues on students’ performance.

In conclusion, the selected supervisory behavior of collaboration proved to be effective as it helped me to build productive relationships with Mr. Rivera, understand his teaching goals and expected learning outcomes. At the same time, I had the opportunity to express my suggestions and ideas regarding further work in the field of accountable talks and group discussions. I consider that this observation was rather beneficial for receiving new knowledge and applying the theory in practice.

Conclusion

To conclude, one should state that the proposed curriculum and instruction appraisal model focuses on creativity, collaboration with a teacher, and timely feedback. The presented model integrates the elements of several above-mentioned models and aims at ensuring a comprehensive teacher performance evaluation. At the same time, the appraisal model directs the enhancement in students’ academic performance through assisting educators to rethink their approaches and attitudes to the teaching process. Through feedback, it is expected that teaching and specific recommendations for moving forward as well as information that helps to understand the gaps in learning will be provided. Accordingly, the selection of new methods, training techniques, and other changes will be promoted, making teaching more effective and students more academically successful.

References

Darling-Hammond, L. (2013). Getting teacher evaluation right: What really matters for effectiveness and improvement. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.

Gebhard, J. G. (1984). Models of supervision: Choices. TESOL Quarterly, 18(3), 501-514. Web.

Goldring, E., Grissom, J. A., Rubin, M., Neumerski, C. M., Cannata, M., Drake, T., & Schuermann, P. (2015). Make room value-added: Principals’ human capital decisions and the emergence of teacher observation data. Educational Researcher, 44(2), 96-104. Web.

Khachatryan, E. (2015). Feedback on teaching from observations of teaching: What do administrators say, and what do teachers think about it?. NASSP Bulletin, 99(2), 164-188. Web.

Konstantopoulos, S., Miller, S. R., van der Ploeg, A., & Li, W. (2016). Effects of interim assessments on student achievement: Evidence from a large-scale experiment. Journal of Research on Educational Effectiveness, 9(1), 188-208. Web.

Marshall, K. (2013). Rethinking teacher supervision and evaluation: How to work smart, build collaboration, and close the achievement gap (2nd ed.). San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

Tomal, D. R., Wilhite, R. K., Phillips, B., Sims, P. A., & Gibson, N. (2015). Supervision and evaluation for learning and growth: Strategies for teacher and school leader improvement. Lanham, MA: Rowman & Littlefield.

Zepeda, S. J. (2017). Instructional supervision: Applying tools and concepts (4th ed.). New York, NY: Routledge.

Jónsdóttir, S. R., Gísladóttir, K. R., & Guðjónsdóttir, H. (2015). Using self-study to develop a third space for collaborative supervision of Master’s projects in teacher education. Studying Teacher Education, 11(1), 32-48. Web.

Kaneko-Marques, S. M. (2015). Reflective teacher supervision through videos of classroom teaching. Profile Issues in Teachers Professional Development, 17(2), 63-79. Web.

Brief Description of the Organization and New Curriculum

Public Schools of Brookline is a K-12 school district located in the state of Massachusetts. The school district’s curriculum is constantly revised to assure its relevance. Currently, the K-12 Mathematics program is undergoing the program review process (Public Schools of Brookline, 2016). The process necessitates the involvement of several key stakeholders, which sometimes leads to conflicts that are usually resolved or prevented by thorough planning.

Involved Stakeholders

Developing a new curriculum involves several stakeholders, some of which are directly involved in its development and implementation while others play a secondary role. Nevertheless, it is important to recognize two of the most prominent ones who largely determine the direction of the process and its particularities. The learners (in our case, the K12 students) are essentially the reason of the undertaken program review. Their interests and desired outcomes largely create the need for curriculum. The teachers are the ultimate implementers of the curriculum and have the closest contact with the learners (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2013).

For these reasons, they also occupy a large part in the development process. School principals are also required to participate since they have access to coordination and administrative means. Since Public Schools of Brookline have a committee dedicated to the program review, a superintendent is a stakeholder with visible influence in designing the curriculum. Finally, a community can be counted in as a stakeholder since its needs and opinion plays a certain role in curriculum design and sometimes provides a visible contribution to the process.

Stakeholders’ Roles and Responsibilities

As it was noted above, teachers and learners play a central role in curriculum design. However, the role does not necessarily correspond to the allocated responsibilities. For instance, the learners’ involvement in the design process is traditionally limited to providing the results of various benchmarks and test results. On certain occasions, students may be actively involved in the development. However, in the case of the K12 curriculum, such participation is understandably restricted by the age of the majority of students. Thus, the learners in our program review largely contribute by participating in dedicated assessments.

The teachers, on the other hand, have a broad range of responsibilities. First, they form a teaching and learning committee, which is responsible for most phases of the design process. Specifically, they reevaluate the goals, objectives, and content of the previous curriculum and determine whether they are responsible for the shortcomings of an educational process. Since they largely deliver the final product, they also determine the scope and sequence of the content. Finally, they devise the evaluation methods and assign milestones to monitor the process. Notably, their responsibilities do not include assessment of the curriculum success – instead, this responsibility is reserved for the evaluation committee, in our case – the Office of Strategy and Performance (Wiles & Bondi, 2015). While it includes teachers, it is mostly comprised of individuals who are proficient with analysis tools. They are tasked with processing the available data and coming up with meaningful results which identify the strengths and weaknesses of the existing curriculum.

The responsibilities of a superintendent include establishing the communication between the committee and the school board, providing an overview of trends and tendencies in curricular design, oversight and adjustment of the budgeting of the process, and maintenance of curriculum’s integrity with the school district’s philosophy, values, and vision. Finally, the community has similar, albeit less direct, role to that of the learners. However, it has a wider range of responsibilities than the former. Certain community members actively voice their concerns with the present state of affairs and provide their vision of desirable outcome of the design process. Admittedly, the exact impact of the community is difficult to measure since the diverse nature of Brookline community leads to multiple suggested directions and, by extension, increases the complexity of suggested changes. Nevertheless, a visible effort is made to incorporate the feedback received from community members into the curriculum product.

Expectations for Communication and Submission of Deliverables

Our school district has a reliable communication channel established between major stakeholders and facilitators. It can be roughly divided into two broad groups. On the assessment and development stage, the communication is mostly restricted to the delivery of test results and analysis data between two school district committees – the Office of Teaching and Learning and the Office of Strategy and Performance. They use the same means and operate on the same level, so very little asynchrony is expected. During the curriculum implementation, the involvement of external parties is required. Specifically, the production of curriculum product and the subsequent testing requires an oversight of the independent entity.

The task of finding and communicating with it falls largely within responsibilities of our curriculum superintendent and his associates. Another important issue is the coordination with the human resources department which incorporates the updated curriculum content into its hiring practices and staff training to maximize the desired effect. Finally, once the curriculum is fully implemented, it becomes possible to collect the results of formative assessment as well as systematic observations. These deliverables are then submitted to the Office of Strategy and Performance where they are processed to contribute to the evaluation of the current curriculum and form the database for planning the next program review.

Areas of Potential Conflict

There are three areas which often create conflicts. First, the new curriculum often strains the allocated budget. This often happens as a result of a costly or resource-demanding innovation, and usually leads to the demand from a school board to either retract the proposed changes or significantly alternate the proposed change, which is not always possible without a sacrifice of quality of the product. Second, the schools’ diverse population often creates the situation where accounting for one group’s interests visibly decreases the potential usefulness for the rest of the learners (Ruchala, 2014). Finally, there is an inherent conflict within the design process caused by the dynamic changes in the community, which make the curriculum outdated and, in extreme cases, obsolete.

While such situation can be solved with adjusting the curriculum, it is also necessary for it to retain the capability of the student improvement. Simply put, it is unclear to which extent should a curriculum be adapted to the students, and vice versa. To circumvent these conflicts, the curriculum design plan must recognize these possibilities and address them preemptively. For instance, the superintendent must outline the possibility of budget deficits prior to their occurrence and explain the benefits of additional investments. Similarly, the impact of diversification on the learning outcomes is assessed to eliminate unnecessary changes. A similar evaluation can be used to predict the potential shortcomings of curricular adjustment and timely account for the introduced changes.

References

Ornstein, A. C., & Hunkins, F. P. (2013). Curriculum: Foundations, principles, and issues. Harlow, England: Pearson Education, Limited.

Public Schools of Brookline. (2016). Teaching & learning. Web.

Ruchala, P. L. (2014). Curriculum development and approval processes in changing educational environments. Curriculum Development and Evaluation in Nursing, 33(5), 33-47.

Wiles, J., & Bondi, J. (2015). Curriculum development: a guide to practice. Columbus, Ohio: Merrill.

Comparative Analysis

The two Massachusetts curriculum maps in English Language Arts/Literacy and Life Science have similar content, especially in assessment of the learners’ ability by testing their memory, creativity, and factual description of the content. Besides, the informal and formal assessments and scoring guide to be used in the lesson delivery are the same. The above instructional objectives in these curriculum maps summarize the Bloom’s hierarchy of cognitive learning (Bean, 2009). In correspondence, the respective lesson plans of each map adopt a practical, interactive and inclusive learning. These lesson plans encompass on the proximal development and content goal actualization for English and life science. The objectives of the maps are important in training learners to not only understand concepts in the syllabus, but also to orientate them to the basics of self expression, confidence, creativity, and qualitative analysis (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010).

In lesson planning, Zone of Proximal Development concept holds that a student acquires concepts first through social interaction with others, and then interpersonally where those concepts are internalized. The standard goal of these maps helps the teacher to position and categorize students in different groups. Basically, this goal is aligned towards relevancy and simplified understanding of the approaches the educator intends to use when imparting knowledge (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010). Interestingly, since the two maps are drawn in Massachusetts, their content, sectional organization, and education standards are similar. However, the content goals defined in the English curriculum map are essentially intended for knowledge of the subject and not application as is the case in the life science map. Reflectively, the content of the topic in the life science lesson plan functions on the periphery of practicality and relevance in line with the primary objectives (Yasnitsky, 2011).

The corresponding Lesson Plan

The two lesson plans are systematically structured to maximize level of learner engagement. The lessons plans present clear, practical, and focused approach in delivering the lesson content through the STT format. In the two lesson plans corresponding to each curriculum map integrate flashcards, cue-response drill, and brainstorm strategies to teach the learners on proper mastery of the content. Through the whiteboard, the two lesson plans apply the Presentation-Practice-Production approach to ensure that the STT is maximized (Yasnitsky, 2011).

Bloom outlined the hierarchy of cognitive objectives of learning; from simple to complex as knowledge (remembering information), comprehension (ability to acquire meaning from the information), application (ability to use the information), analysis (ability to break information into parts to understand it better), synthesis (ability to consolidated materials together to create something new), and evaluation (ability to check, judge, and critique materials) (Ertmer & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, 2010). These aspects have been internalized in the two lesson plans, despite belonging to different topics. For instance, the two lesson plans adopt a practical, interactive, and inclusive learning to minimize impact of any delivery impediment.

Educational strategies are the instructional methods and learning activities that are used in imparting knowledge and skills to the learners. The rationale part of the two lessons explores the conceptual framework of each curriculum map. The elements of visual presentation and communication strategies are explored. However, the life science lesson plan is more comprehensive because of the wider topic coverage than the English lesson plan.

In summary, the two curriculum maps and their corresponding lesson plans promote inclusive learning process that reinforces positivity in self expression, interaction, presentation of set goals, and evaluation criteria.

References

Bean, J. (2009). Student attrition, intentions, and confidence: Interaction effects in a Path Model. Research in Higher Education, 17(4), 291-320.

Ertmer, P. A., & Ottenbreit-Leftwich, A. T. (2010). Teacher technology change: How knowledge, confidence, beliefs, and culture intersect. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 42(3), 255-284.

Yasnitsky, A. (2011). The Vygotsky that we (do not) know: Vygotsky’s main works and the chronology of their composition. PsyAnima, Dubna Psychological Journal, 4(4), 400-450.

Located in Seaford, Victoria, Patterson River Secondary College is a private school, which was established in the mid-20th century. It offers students a wide range of academic subjects and co-curricular activities to students in grades 7-12. The school is devoted to ensuring the academic, emotional, and physical wellbeing of its students through an extensive pastoral system, supported by qualified personnel. The central values of the school – Respect, Engagement, and Success – are applied to all aspects of the students’ academic and social life. Patterson River aims to grow and develop, and part of this process would be to achieve better literacy and numeracy of the students.

Ever since 2008, the Australian government has been investing its efforts and resources into the improvement of literacy and numeracy across the entire educational sector. As The Gillard Government notes, “targeted funding, coupled with proven strategies to help students improve their literacy and numeracy, lead to better results for our schools” (‘Australia: $41 million for literacy and numeracy’ 2013, para. 4).

However, investing in literacy and numeracy has more benefits than improved academic performance. Whereas the concept of literacy is often equated with reading-to-learn skills (Gomez, LM & Gomez K 2007, para. 6), there is more to it in the context of the contemporary world: “Literacy is now centre stage in education policy, curriculum development, and everyday thinking about educational practice” (Lankshear & Knobel 2006, p. 5). The focus on developing numeracy, on the other hand, is crucial to modern society due to the fast-growing technology sector (AAMT 1998, p. 1). Despite the misconception that numeracy and literacy have to be taught by mathematics and literature teachers respectively, the Commonwealth of Australia (1997, p. 12) insists that both concepts have recently developed into broad cross-curricular topics and thus, to raise students’ literacy and numeracy on a school level, it would be vital to ensure the involvement and cooperation among all the teachers.

Indeed, whereas years ago literacy was perceived merely as a person’s ability to read and write, today it also encompasses computer literacy, media literacy, and even emotional literacy (Lankshear & Knobel 2006, p. 20). Digital literacy is becoming more and more important each year: Lankshear and Knobel (2006) explain, “It is feared that a digital divide will create a deep social and economic inequality, in which those who are not digitally literate will be seriously disadvantaged” (p. 20). Numeracy, on the other hand, is not merely the study of numbers and mathematics. It also includes the field of Critical Numeracy, where numerical abilities are used to solve various everyday issues (Critical Numeracy 2009, para. 1). Critical Numeracy destroys the border between mathematics and humanities, as it works “in combination with other literacies and lenses (emotional, spiritual, ethical, aesthetic, scientific, historical, social, philosophic, environmental, and critical literacy) to help build capacities for wise citizenship” (Critical Numeracy 2009, para. 2).

Given the extensive contemporary scope of both and application of concepts, their development in education requires a well-rounded approach that answers to the latest needs of youths in the modern context. For example, some research shows how collaborative multimodal dialogue can be used to promote the development of literacy in children (Wolfe & Flewitt 2010, p. 388). Some studies propose to incorporate Critical Numeracy into all of the subjects on the middle school curriculum, letting students improve their numeracy by applying its decision-making and critical aspects to the problems in other areas (Goos, Dole & Geiger 2010, pp. 213-216).

Overall, it is clear that both literacy and numeracy can help societies all over the world to achieve a better future in the 21^st century (Steen 1999, para. 3). Developing and introducing effective strategies for literacy and numeracy learning in schools will help to reach a better, more integrated curriculum that answers to the needs of the fast-paced and technologically advancing contemporary world.

Reference List

‘Australia: $41 million for literacy and numeracy in Victorian schools’ 2013, Mena Report, via Academic OneFile.

Commonwealth of Australia 1997, ‘Numeracy = everyone’s business’, The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers Inc., Web.

Critical Numeracy. 2009. Web.

Gomez, LM & Gomez, K 2007, ‘Reading for learning: literacy supports for 21st-century work’, Phi Delta Kappan, vol. 89, no. 3, pp. 224-228.

Goos, M, Dole, S & Geiger, V 2010, ‘Auditing the numeracy demands of the middle years curriculum’, Mathematics Education Research Group of Australasia. Web.

Lankshear, C & Knobel, M 2006, New literacies: everyday practices and classroom learning, 2nd edn, Open University Press, Maidenhead, UK.

Steen, AL 1999, ‘Numeracy: the new literacy for a data-drenched society’, Educational Leadership, vol. 57, no. 2, pp. 8-13.

The Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers (AAMT) 1998, Policy on numeracy education in schools. Web.

Wolfe, S & Flewitt, R 2010, ‘New technologies, new multimodal literacy practices and young children’s metacognitive development’, Cambridge Journal of Education, vol. 40, no. 4, pp. 387–399.

Curriculum

In this paper, the ADEC curriculum is being analyzed in terms of its key aspects. A curriculum can be defined as a comprehensive set of knowledge, skills, and objectives that a student is to gain during the academic year. It should be noted that the process of learning is central to the curriculum’s activities, which, in turn, are directed by the educational objectives of the corresponding level. The curriculum results from social activity, and it is a dynamic field designed for both the present and emerging purposes.

Vision, Mission, and Values

The vision of UAE’s ADEC is reflected in the concept that education is the first primary. ADEC endorses all learners throughout the educational process to allow them to attain their full capacity to contend in the global market. The system is aimed at building unique multifunctional members that will be able to show high performance in a variety of settings. The mission reveals the system’s intention to produce excellent apprentices who will epitomize a steady significance of culture and heritage and who are ready to face versatile challenges. The main values are reflected in the six leading aspects, which are teamwork, transparency, integrity, accountability, respect, and compassion. The curriculum stresses out the importance of cooperation and collaboration, open and honest interactions, mutual respect, and personal liability for action. The understanding of the responsibility towards others supports these core postulates.

Overall, ADEC is aligned to strengthen the bridge between the community in the past and the community in the present, which is achievable through the creation of a generation that appreciates its background, culture, and heritage and looks forward to adding precious and meaningful contributions to the UAE legacy. These values represent a high level of the relationship among individuals and emphasize the importance of a person as a part of society.

Philosophical Basis

ADEC aims to prepare students for future work to meet the Abu Dhabi 2030 Vision. To achieve this goal, numerous initiatives have been implemented to facilitate the English language acquisition maintaining a focus on the culture of the country and the development of the 21st-century skills. Thus, progressivism is one of the leading philosophical bases, and it ensures that advancement in science, economic development, and social organization are essential to enhance the current situation in the country and around the globe. The initiatives include an outcome-based curriculum, the application of student-centered approaches, a continuous evaluation of the framework, and inquiry-based learning approaches.

Learning Theory

The learner is central to the curriculum. The educators facilitate the learning processes effectively and support students to gain the maximum academic achievement. The learning process implies:

• Engagement in active learning experiences;
• Participation in literacy activities;
• Access to a wide range of literacy resources.

The curriculum learning theory is based on the usage of 21st-century skills. The emerging global connectedness and widespread of informational sources and technologies require students to develop such abilities as critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. To guarantee that the curriculum facilitates high-quality education that meets students’ interests and needs, it is constantly reviewed and developed to match students’ progress and introduce the latest studies and technologies into it. Importantly, the curriculum contributes to lifelong learning and requires students to take on responsibility for the sufficiency of their knowledge. The humanistic psychology that is inherent to the educational plan enables considering the learner’s motivation and feelings. Thus, ADEC learning theory is a combination of several speculations to address the needs of students and reach the outcomes of lessons effectively.

Introduction and Understanding of the Problem

Teaching in an ever-evolving practice, and the implementation of new, effective educational strategies is impossible without the active involvement of school and district level administration. Various studies show that proper management of change process on several organizational levels is vital to the initiative’s success (Bovey and Hede 372; Waks, 2007, p. 277).

In the case of Big Mountain High School, the school management’s initiative to change school curriculum has not gone smoothly due to the school staff’s resistance to cooperating on the subject of change, the development of the new curriculum.

The larger issue associated with the problem faced by the school administration is the problem of collaboration between teachers, policymakers, and stakeholders in the process of change, and the importance of the application of relevant managerial methods during the change process. In this case study, the researcher will provide a summary of the case, analyze the issue present by applying Deal and Bolman’s frame theory, and provide recommendations for the district level and school administrators to assist the reorganization process at Big Mountain High School.

Summary of the Case

The only high school in its county, Big Mountain receives generous community support and is established as a well-recognized comprehensive school, with high teachers’ satisfaction, strong educational programs and style of management which has been recognized as efficient. The current management of the school gives a substantial amount of anatomy to the departments but limits teachers’ involvement in educational and administrative matters. The school is governed by department chairs and school administration, with the former providing feedback from teachers on current issues.

In the light of new state curriculum mandates, the administration of Big Mountain High School proposed changing the curriculum to provide a more challenging learning environment. The issue is with semester electives, which can be skipped by students. In the absence of these electives, students do not receive the highest quality education. The administration’s concerns are in line with the views on the new governor.

A group of teachers has been established to oversee the progress of change, led by the Department Chair. The first step towards reform is changing the curriculum of language arts class. There are mixed opinions on the subject of change. The Department Chair expresses his wish to eliminate elective and establish a year-long core program instead, while teachers argue that this would limit their choices in the classroom.

Frameworks for Analysis

Bolman and Deal define frame as “a coherent set of ideas that enable you to see and understand more clearly what goes on day to day” (Bolman & Deal, 2003, p. 41). The authors outlined four different frames, which affect people’s view of the world: structural, human resources, political and symbolic (Bolman & Deal, 2003). Each of these frames comprises a range of concepts that act as a framework for shaping the experience of the world. In the context of educational change in Big Mountain High School, the two most important frames for case analysis are structural and human resources frames.

The structural frame is concerned with the allocation of responsibilities within the organization (Bolman & Deal, 2003). In the case of the Big Mountain change initiative, structural mechanisms were not established to help facilitate change.

Indeed, the current school structure, which limited administrators’ participation in the classroom activity and encouraged teachers’ autonomy, promoted a culture of isolation and independence, rather than collaboration and commitment. As Fullan (2016) points out, “collaboration across schools and districts […] pays enormous dividends concerning new knowledge and wider commitments” (p. 56). At the operational and strategic level, the administration failed to create a structure that facilitated change, which led to confusion and anxiety among staff regarding the subject of change.

The human resources frame is another important frame to consider. From this perspective, implementing change in Big Mountain High School needs to be based on the idea that the current system exists to support the needs of community and educators. The challenge is to apply change management strategies to change the staff’s opinions on the subject of change and get their support.

It should be emphasized that reorganization will lead to better student performance and that to make the process of change effortless, centralized management should be responsible for decision-making and base their decisions on the feedback from the educators and the community. A process of social negotiation between various stakeholders is to be initiated, with proposals in line with the change to be rewarded (Waks, 2007, p. 290). The lack of support from the employees means that the change process is not happening in the most efficient way possible, and maybe met with skepticism and resistance on the employees’ part (Piderit, 2000, p. 783).

Goals, Challenges, Potential Outcomes, and Consequences

Change management is generally defined as the process of adjusting the structure, direction, and resources of the organization in response to the needs of stakeholders (By, 2005, p. 369). As such, to efficiently manage change, the administration has to establish the following goals:

• Gradually increase the role of school administration in the classroom by adjusting school-wide policies and regulations to improve operational efficiency (Moffett, 2000, p. 35).
• Eliminate electives and establish a year-long core program.
• Gradually develop a new organizational culture in line with the change.
• Engage teachers in the change process by communicating the necessity and value of change.

Thus, the administration has to gradually increase its role in the educational process and build collaborative relationships with stakeholders through education and higher participation of the school staff in the change process. The challenge the administration is likely to encounter include the staff resistance to the increased involvement of the administration in the educational process. The administration has to promote the process of change as incremental, but inevitable in the light of educational reforms, and emphasize the role of centralized leadership.

Leadership Lessons and Takeaways

Professional educators at administrative positions are on the frontline of educational improvement and change, their views, values, and commitment shape the future of education. The success of change in the field of education is largely dependent upon the management’s ability to overcome various barriers to change, such as the reluctance and disagreement on the subject of change among school staff.

Several attributes of the Superintendent will help facilitate change by improving collaboration between conflicting groups and creating a vision of the strategy to bring about community unity. To achieve these goals, the Superintendent has to be able to manage people, be confident and have an authoritative voice to resolve conflicts or find a solution to the problem. The leader also has to be charismatic and a visionary to inspire people and make them follow the leader.

References

Bolman, L., & Deal, T. (2003). Reframing Organizations: Artistry, Choice, and Leadership. New York: John Wiley & Sons.

Bovey, W., & Hede, A. (2001). Resistance to organizational change: the role of cognitive and affective processes. Leadership & Organization Development Journal, 22(8), 372-382.

By, R. (2005). Organisational Change Management: A Critical Review. Journal of Change Management, 5(4), 369-380.

Fullan, M. (2016). The New Meaning of Educational Change (5th ed.) New York: Teachers College Press.

Moffett, C. (2000). Sustaining Change: The Answers Are Blowing in the Wind. Educational Leadership, 57(7), 35-38.

Piderit, S. (2000). Rethinking Resistance and Recognizing Ambivalence: a Multidimensional View of Attitudes toward an Organizational Change. Academy of Management Review, 25(4), 783-794.

Waks, L. (2007). The Concept of Fundamental Educational Change. Educational Theory, 57(3), 277-295.