Concepts of curriculum are used over time due to historical, societal, and political factors. The biggest factor I have noticed is the resistance to change. During my education program, we were constantly coming up with innovative ways to present our teachings in order to keep students engaged and asking the big questions. This ended up being a challenge for me when I graduated from the program and became a contract teacher. Due to school budget and resource availability, many of the innovative tools and methods that could promote learning were not available to me. Almost three years later, I have more resources than I started with, but still not nearly enough. There are some traditional models I have to resort to within my curriculum, despite personally disagreeing with them because they are most effective given the resources we have.
I have also noticed that there is a lack of professional development opportunities for teachers (at least within my school board). Teachers are not aware of the new curriculum models, or are perhaps unwilling to adopt new practices if they already have a set curriculum, even if it may not promote student learning as well as it could. For example, at my school, there is a strong emphasis on the Cumulative Tradition of Organized Knowledge model that Sowell (2005), describes. Its primary source of content is the Western curriculum, which has a focus on “understanding knowledge through the study of disciplines” (Sowell, 2005, p.39).
I would say that the Learning Centered Ideology that Schiro (2013), presents is prevalent in my current professional practice. In my classroom, I encourage the Learner Centered Ideology where there is a focus on “the concept of growth as the central theme of endeavors” (Schiro, 2013, p. 5). Music is a skill that is learned over a period of time. It requires regular practice and effort in order for improvement to become noticeable. Students that are new to the subject may become easily discouraged because they do not see this change happen overnight. At the beginning of the term, I present a variety of teaching strategies and scaffolded assistance to my learners as they begin their instruments. I recognize that each student learns at their own pace, and do my best to promote flexible approaches to them through the learning environment (Schiro, 2013, p. 6). This includes student choice, learning through peer and class discussions, and encouraging all steps of progress.
Now that we are nearing the end of the semester, my students are presenting a reflection in a format of their choosing where they describe their key learnings from the course. Many of them have reflected on how they have achieved their goals through perseverance, routine practice, and dedication. “Learner Centered curricula are thus thought of as contexts, environments, or units of work in which students can make meaning for themselves by interacting with other students, teachers, ideas, and things” (Schiro, 2013, p. 6). Almost all my students are now able to take responsibility for their own learning (self-directed learning) and look to their peers (our class community) for guidance. They will come to me with any outstanding questions or inquiries that go beyond our class learning.
Some students that arrive in my class are surprised by the difference in environment and structure. This is because they are used to the Scholar Academic Ideology that several of their core subjects place an emphasis on. They are often accustomed to these subjects focusing on the transmission of knowledge (Schiro, 2013, p. 4) and the development of cognitive skills. While these are important skills, this ideology would be most effective if paired with one or more of the other ideologies Schiro (2013), describes in order to provide students with extensions that go beyond core curriculum. The Arts may not fall into the traditional categories that the Scholar Academic Ideology upholds, (Math, Science, Literacy, History, etc.) but that does not mean it cannot be connected to other disciplines. I do believe that the Learner Centered Ideology allows my students to come to deeper understandings and conclusions about their learning, ultimately providing them with critical thinking skills and problem-solving skills that they can apply to other areas outside of education.
References
Schiro, M. S. (2013). Introduction to the curriculum ideologies. In M. S. Schiro, Curriculum theory: Conflicting visions and enduring concerns (2nd ed., pp. 1-13). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Sowell, E. J. (2005). Curriculum: An integrative introduction (3rd ed., pp. 37-51). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
Kingston, October 2016
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