Chapter[ The Teacher and The School Cuniculum Curriculum Essentials CEIEED The Teacher and the School Curriculum CTC Module 1 is all about school curricula and the teacher. This introductory module identifies the different types of curricula that exist in the teacher’s classroom and school. Further, Module 1 describes the important roles of the teacher as a curricularist who engages in the different facets of curriculum development in any educational level. SSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSsSsSSSSSSFSeFeFeFeFeFeFFFFFFFFe Cem The Curricula In School desired Learning Outcomes » Discuss the different curricula that exist in the schools » Analyze the significance of curriculum and curriculum development in the teacher’s classroom Car Have you read “The Sabre-Tooth Curriculum by Harold Benjamin (1939)?” Take some time to read it and find out what curriculum is all about during those times. Start here and enjoy reading. ‘A man by the name of New-Fist-Hammer-Maker knew how to do things his community needed to have done, and he had the energy and the will to go ahead and do them. By virtue of these characteristics, he was an educated man. New-Fist was also a thinker. Then as now, there were few lengths to which men would not go to avoid the labour and pain of thought _. New-Fist got to the point where he became strongly dissatisfied with the accustomed ways of his tribe. He began to catch glimpses of ways in which life might be made better for himself, his family and his group. By virtue of this development, he became a dangerous man.....2 THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM Now-Fist thought about how he could harness the children's play to hetter the life of the community, He considered what adults do for survival and introduced these activities to children in a deliberate and formal way. These included catching fish with bare hands, clubbing, little woolly horses, and chasing away-sabre-toothed-tigers-with-fire, These then became the curriculum and the community began to prosper-with plenty of food, hides "i is supposed that all would have for attire and protection from threat. a ‘gone well forever with this good educational system, if conditions of life in that community remained forever the same." But conditions changed. The glacier began to melt and the community could no longer see the fish to catch with their bare hands, and only the most agile and clever fish remained which hid from the people. The woolly horses were ambitious and decided to leave the region. The tigers got pneumonia and most died. The few remaining tigers left. In their place, fierce bears arrived who would not be chased by fire. The community was in trouble. One day, in desperation, someone made a net from willow twigs and found a new way to catch fish-and the supply was even more plentiful than before. The community also devised a system of traps on the path to snare the bears. Attempts to change education system to include these new techniques however encountered “stern opposition. 7 These are also activities we need to know. Why can't the schools teach them? But most of the tribe particularly the wise old men who controlled the school, smiled indulgently at this suggestion. “That wouldn't be education... it would be mere training”. We don't teach fish grabbing to catch fish, we teach it to develop a generalized agility which can never be duplicated by mere training . . . and so on. “Wf you had any education yourself, you would know that the essence of true education is timelessness. It is something that endures through changing conditions like a solid rock standing squarely and firmly in the middle of a raging torent” The story was written in 1939. Curriculum then, was seen as a tradition of organized knowledge taught in schools of the 19" century. Two centuries later, the concept of a curriculum has broadened to include several modes of thoughts or experiences. Formal, non-formal or informal education do not exist without a curriculum. Classrooms will be empty with no curriculum, Teachers will have nothing to do, if there is no curriculum. Curriculum is at the heart of the teaching profession. Every teacher is guided by some sort of curriculum in the classroom and in schools. In our current Philippine educational system, different schools are established in different educational levels which have corresponding recommended curricula, The educational levels are:Chapter 1 — Curriculum Essentials + Module 1 ~The Teacher and the School Curriculum 3. Lesson 1.1 ~ The Curricula in Schools 1. B cation, This level includes Kindergarten, Grade | to Grade 6 for elementary; and for secondary, Grade 7 to Grade 10, for the Junior High School and Grade 11 and 12 and for the Senior High School. Each of the levels has its specific recommended curriculum. The new basic education levels are provided in the K to 12 Enhanced Curriculum of 2013 of the Department of Education. 2, Technical Vocational Education. This is post-secondary technical vocational educational and training taken care of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA). For the TechVoc track in SHS of DepEd, DepEd and TESDA work in close coordination. 3. Higher Education. This includes the Baccalaureate or Bachelor Degrees and the Graduate Degrees (Master’s and Doctorate) which are under the regulation of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) Gums In whatever levels of schooling and in various types of learning environment, several curricula exist. Let us find out how Allan Glatthorn (2000) as mentioned in Bilbao, et al (2008) classified these: Types of Curricula Simultaneously Operating in the Schools Are you aware that in every classroom, there are several types of curricula operating at the same time? Let us study each one. J. Recommended Curriculum. Almost all currricula found in our schools are recommended. For Basic Education, these are recommended by the Department of Education (DepEd), for Higher Education, by the Commission on Higher Education * (CHED) and for vocational education by TESDA. These three government agencies oversee and regulate Philippine education. The recommendations come in the form of memoranda or policies, standards and guidelines. Other professional organizations or international bodies like UNESCO also recommend curricula in schools. 2. Written Curriculum. This includes documents based on the recommended curriculum. They come in the form of course of study, syllabi, modules, books or instructional guides among others. A packet of this written curriculum is the teacher's lesson plan, The most recent written curriculum is the K to 12 for Philippine Basic Education.4 THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM 5. Taught Curriculum, From what has been written or planned, the curriculum has to be implemented or taught. The teacher and the learners will put life to the written curriculum The skill of the teacher to facilitate learning based on the written curriculum with the aid of instructional materials and facilities will be necessary, The taught curriculum will depend largely on the teaching style of the teacher and the learning style of the learners. Supported Curriculum, This is described as support materials that the teacher needs to make learning and teaching meaningful, These include print materials like books, charts, posters, worksheets, or non-print materials like Power Point presentation, movies, slides, models, realias, mock-ups and other electronic illustrations. Supported curriculum also includes facilities where learning occurs outside or inside the four-walled building. These include the playground, science laboratory, audio-visual rooms, Zoo, museum, market or the plaza. These are the places where authentic learning through direct experiences occur. Assessed Curriculum. Taught and supported curricula have to be evaluated to find out if the teacher has succeeded or not in facilitating learning. In the process of teaching and at the end of every lesson or teaching episode, an assessment is made. It can either be assessment for learning, assessment as learning or assessment of learning. If the process is to find the progress of learning, then the assessed curriculum is for learning, but if it is to find out how much has been learned or mastered, then it is assessment of learning. Either way, such curriculum is the assessed curriculum. Learned Curriculum. How do we know if the student has learned? We always believe that if a student changed behavior, he/she has learned. For example, from a non-reader to a reader or from not knowing to knowing or from being disobedient to being obedient. The positive outcome of teaching is an indicator of learning. These are measured by tools in assessment, which can indicate the cognitive, affective and psychomotor outcomes. Learned curriculum will also demonstrate higher order and critical thinking and lifelong skills. Hidden/Implicit Curriculum. This curriculum is not deliberately planned, but has a great impact on the behavior of the learner. Peer influence, school environment, media, parental pressures, societal changes, cultural practices, natural calamities, are some factors that create the hidden curriculum, Teachers should be sensitive and aware of this hidden curriculum. Teachers must have good foresight to include these in the written curriculum, in order to bring to the surface what are hidden,Shanter 1 = Cuariouon Essentials» Module 1~ The Teacher and the Schoo! Curriculum — Lesson 1.1 ~ The Curricula in Schools However, in ev wry teacher's classroom, not all these curricula may be present alone time, Many of them are deliberately planned, like the eecorumrenddedh written, taught, supported, assessed, and leamed curricula. Roweves, a hidden curriculum is implied, and a teacher may or may not be able ( predict its influence on leaming, All of these have significant role on the lite of the teacher as a facilitator of learning and have direct implication to the lite of the learners. Now, let us observe further if these curricula are existing in a teacher's classroom, Do the activities that follow. QUID deny 1 Think-PairShare \. Geta partner (A and B), 2. Discuss the Sabre-tooth Curriculum and answer the following: o a, Does the sabre-tooth curriculum still exist at present? Give examples of your evidence. b. Describe the kind of curriculum that exists as described in the article, ce, What does the author mean, when he said “A curriculum should be timeless?” Explain, d. What is the difference between education and training? Activigy 2- Observing a Curriculum in a Classroom Visit a classroom other than your own with permission from the teacher. (Elem, High School, College). Do the two activities: 1, Observe the classroom situation. 2. Interview the teacher, Focus your observation and interview on the presence or absence of the seven types of curricula and their descriptions. 3. Record your observation and interview on the matrix provided. Guide questions for Observation and Interview 1, What curricula are present in the classroom from my vation? observation 2. What curricula are present in the classroom from my ; soy? How do I describe what I observed? interviewed? Is there a type of curricula not present in the classroom? Identity. ——— eeFN FEAQNER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM Toe of Curcieutum What observation/information did I get? or What answers did L get from my interview? f | ii Recommended [2 Wraten X Taught A Supported SX Assessed 1. Spin a Win: Agree or Disagree Read each statement and decide whether you Agree or Disagree. Write your answer before each number. 1, In the Saber Tooth Curriculum, learning is experiential and authentic. ———-2. It is a reality that there exist more than one curricula in the teacher’s classroom. 3. A teacher can say with confidence that learning has occurred, if the curriculum has been assessed, 4. Some curricula in the schools/classrooms are unwritten. 5. To establish national standards, teachers should be guided by recommended curriculum in basic and higher education, —~~-----6. Teachers should expect that school curricula are dynamic and changing. 7, Evaluated curriculum makes judgment about learning. owen 8. Textbooks and modules are written curricula that represent the recommended curricula, 9. Only the Department of Education can recommend a curriculum, 10. In the heart of all the types of curricula, the teacher has @ major role. ,Chapter 1 — Curriculum Essentials + Module 1 ~The Teacher and the School Curriculum 7 Lesson 1.1 ~ The Curricula in Schools 1. Is it necessary for teachers to learn about school curriculum? Why? Write your answer on the space provided below.8 THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM > Enhance understanding of the role of the teacher asa | curricularist in the classroom and school . | Gare | What specific roles do teachers play as a curricularist? Should they do these roles? This lesson will bring all of you to an enhanced understanding and realization of the multifaceted roles of the teacher which relate to the curriculum. Let us find out! Look at the words inside the box. Read each one of them. Which one describes the teacher as a curricularist? Circle the word. Exciting [feeng® | Perring Fst | | Growing Evaluating Initiating Innovating | Building [renoraie | | Believing | Copying Are you aware that the teacher's role in school is very complex? Teachers do a series of interrelated actions about curriculum, instructio® assessment, evaluation, teaching and learning. A classroom teacher iS involved with curriculum continuously all day. But very seldom has # BroadeningModule 1 - The Teacher and the School Curriculum Lesson 2 - The Teacher as a Curricularist teacher been di ribed as curricularist, Curricularists in the past, are referred only to those who developed curriculum theories, According to the study conducted by Sandra Hayes (1991) the most influential curricularist in America include John Dewey, Ralph Tyler, Hilda Taba and Franklin Bobbit. You will learn more of them in the later part of the module. Qummm: In this lesson, we will start using the word curricularist to describe a professional who is a curriculum specialist (Hayes, 19911; Ornstein & Hunkins, 2004; Hewitt, 2006). A person who is involved in curriculum knowing, writing, planning, implementing, evaluating, innovating, and initiating may be designated as curricularist. A TEACHER'S role is broader and inclusive of other functions and so a teacher is a curricularist. So what does a TEACHER do to deserve the label curricularist? Let us look at the different roles of the teacher in the classroom and in the school. The classroom is the first place of curricular engagement. The first school experience sets the tone to understand the meaning of schooling through the interactions of learners and teachers that will lead to learning. Hence, curriculum is at the heart of schooling. Let us describe the teacher as a curricularist. The teacher as a curricularist .... 1. knows the curriculum. Learning begins with knowing. The teacher as a learner starts with knowing about the curriculum, the subject matter or the content, As a teacher, one has to master what are included in the curriculum. It is acquiring academic knowledge both formal (disciplines, logic) or informal (derived from experiences, vicarious, and unintended). It is the mastery of the subject matter, (KNOWER) 2. writes the curriculum, A classroom teacher takes record of knowledge concepts, subject matter or content. Thes need to be written or preserved. The teacher writes books, modules, laboratory manuals, instructional guides, and reference materials in paper or electronic media as a curriculum writer or reviewer. (WRITER) 3, plans the curriculum. A good curriculum has to be planned. It is the role of the teacher to make a yearly, monthly or daily plan of the curriculum. This will serve as a guide in the implementation of the curriculum. The teacher takes. into consideration several factors in planning a curriculum, ‘These factors include. the learners, the support material, time, subject matter or content, the desired outcomes, the context of the learners among others. By doing this, the teacher becomes a curriculum planner. (PLANNER) 4. initiates the curriculum. In cases where the curriculum is10 THE TEACHER AND THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM not equal recommended to the schools trom DepEd, CHED, TES: UNESCO, UNICEE or other educational agence improvement of quality education, the teacher is obliged to implement it, Implementation of a new curriculum requires the open mindedness of the teacher, and the full belief that the curriculum will enhance learning. There will be many constraints and ditliculties in doing things first or leading, however, a transformative teacher will never hesitate to try something novel and relevant, (INITIATOR) innovates the curriculum. Creativity and innovation are hallmarks of an excellent teacher. A curriculum is always dynamic, hence it keeps on changing. From the content, strategies of doing, blocks of time, ways of evaluating, Kinds of students and skills of teachers, one cannot find a single eternal curriculum that would perpetually fit. A good teacher, theretore, innovates the curriculum and thus becomes a curriculum innovator, (INNOVATOR) implements the curriculum, The curriculum that remains recommended or written will never serve its purpose. Somebody has to implement it. As mentioned previously, at the heart of schooling is the curriculum. It is this role where the teacher becomes the curriculum implementor. An implementor gives life to the curriculum plan. The teacher is at the height of an engagement with the learners, with support materials in order to achieve the desired outcome. It is where teaching, guiding, facilitating skills of the teacher are expected to the highest level. It is here where teaching as a science and as an art will be observed. It is here, where all the elements of the curriculum will come into play. The success of a recommended, well: written and planned curriculum depends on the implementation. (IMPLEMENTOR) evaluates the curriculum, How can one determine if the desired learning outcomes have been achieved? Is the curriculum working? Does it bring the desired results? What do outcomes reveal? Are the learners achieving? Are there some practices that should be modified? Should the curriculum be modified, terminated or continued? These are some few questions that need the help of a curriculum evaluator, That person is the teacher, (EVALUATCR) The seven different roles are those which a responsible teacher does in the classroom everyday! Doing these multi-faceted work qualifies a teacher to be a curricularist. To be a teacher is to be a curricularist even if a teacher may the likes of John Dewey, Ralph Tyler, Hilda Taba, or Franklin Bobbit. As a curricularist, a teacher will be knowing, writing, implementing, innovating, initiating and evaluating the curriculum in + the school and classrooms just like the role models and advocates in curriculum and curriculum development who have shown the way.