Transcript douglasfleming.weebly.com

lecture 5:
Curriculum Development
in ESL: Roles and Responsibilities
Dr. Douglas Fleming
Faculty of Education
There are four basic orientations in regards to
general education curricula:




Scholar/ Academic
Social Efficiency
Learner Centered
Social Reconstruction
Schiro (2008)
Scholar/ Academic
 often called ‘rationalist’, ‘traditional’,
‘knowledge-centered’, ‘intellectual’ or ‘canoncentered’.
 the purpose of education is to impart
accumulated knowledge from culture and
tradition
 knowledge is constructed by academic
disciplines: hierarchically-based communities
searching for objective truths
 curricula are constructed in ways that impart
these truths to a new generation of students





all students should be exposed to
disciplinary knowledge regardless of their
vocational goals
an important prerequisite for participatory
citizenship, critical thinking and social
cohesion
often popular in times of political crisis
associated with Lester Ward, Charles Eliot,
W.E. DuBois, E.D. Hirsch, and Allan Bloom
basis of current disciplinary models of
secondary school curricula





students are being initiated into disciplinary
knowledge
imparting the basic tenants of the pertinent field
but, this is not a matter of inculcating
encyclopedic knowledge
students should think and behave like novice
members of a discipline
“participate in the process that makes possible
the establishment of knowledge” (Bruner, 1966,
p.72).
Social Efficiency
 often called ‘technological’’, ‘social
behaviorist’, or ‘systems-based’.
 the purpose of education is to develop
people who are educated and trained for
the needs of society or a specific milieu
 curricula designed to achieve clearly
defined concrete and measurable terminal
objectives that are determined
systematically and through scientificallybased procedures





students learn by doing
the focus of instruction is on the mastery
of skills and behaviors through practice
learning occurs in terms of cause/ effect
and stimulus/ response
instruction is geared towards specific
work or home related purposes
there is no need for all students to learn a
uniform basic body of knowledge as a
prerequisite for more advanced training
the selection and sequencing of instructional
content is key
 steps:
◦ define appropriate learning objectives;
◦ establish useful learning experiences;
◦ organize learning experiences to have a
maximum cumulative effect;
◦ evaluate and revise the curriculum.
 stress on accountability to stakeholders
 associated with Franklin Bobbitt, Ralph Tyler
and B.F. Skinner

Learner-Centered
 often called ‘progressive’, ‘experiential’,
‘child study’, ‘self-actualization’ or
‘humanist’.
 the purpose of education is to meet the
needs of individuals so that they can grow
in harmony with their own unique talents,
skills and desires.
 curricula are designed to expose students
to contexts and influences that will
stimulate growth and the construction of
unique forms of meaning.





all students are unique
pedagogy is centered on the vision of an
ideal school which emphasizes first-hand
experience, play, experimentation, and
hands-on activities.
activities often have a focus that extends
beyond the wall of the school
active democratic citizenship is emphasized
associated with John Dewey, Jean-Jacques
Rousseau, Howard Gardner, Fredrich
Froebel, G. Stanley Hall and Francis Parker
students are encouraged to become autonomous learners
 learners are whole people engaged in the construction of
meaning (constructivism)
 learning occurs in stages and is done through many different
types of styles
 teachers are generalists, facilitators, diagnosticians and
providers of learning environments
 “a child’s own instincts… furnish the starting point for all
education” (Dewey, 1897, p.77).

Social Reconstruction Ideology




often called ‘critical’, or ‘society-centered’.
the purpose of education is to help create a more just
society.
based on an analysis of society as being rife with crisis
and inequalities based on problematic constructions of
gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, and class.
curricula are designed to foster a commitment to
societal change that addresses the above inequalities.




knowledge is socially constructed through experience
people shape their viewpoints through experiences in
cultural practices and in the context of societal crisis
pedagogy is centered on the vision of an ideal society
associated with Lester Frank Ward, A. S. Neill, Ivan Illich,
John Dewey, Miles Horton, Paulo Freire, Neil Postman
and Charles Weingarten.
students should reevaluate their assumptions and
viewpoints so that they become committed to societal
change
 activities within school should lead to actions outside of
school
 teachers have a collegial relationship with their students
 “There is no such thing as teachers and students, but
teacher/students and student/teachers ” (Freire, 1970, p.67).



Johnson (1989) conceived of three approaches
to how participants are assigned roles in
curriculum implementation:
◦ specialist (top-down hierarchical chain of
command);
◦ learner-centered (all participants are involved
at every stage of decision making);
◦ integrated (all participants have an
awareness of all the decisions to be made,
but have responsibility only in the areas in
which they are best qualified).

To what degree should teachers be curriculum
designers in ESL?

Markee (1997) pointed out that there have
traditionally been three different levels of
curriculum and lesson planning in ESL:
 Long-term strategic planning is the purview of
project directors or administrators;
 Medium-term tactical planning is produced
through negotiation between teachers and
administrators;
 Short-term operational planning is developed
through negotiations between teachers and
students.

Breen (1984), however, contended that these
distinctions about curriculum decision-making
roles are no longer valid in the context of
communicative language teaching;

teachers organize activities that actively
engage students in using the target language;

thus, the activity of learning the language has
become as important as the language itself;

these activities form the curriculum, rather
than a rigid syllabus of language items.
group discussion:
what is your role in regards to curriculum
planning?
what is your orientation towards curricula
(Scholar/Academic; Social Efficiency; Learner
Centered; Social Reconstruction)?
In your teaching situation, when would it be
better to use:
 testing or assessment
 summative or formative assessment
 paper/pencil or performance assessment?