Transcript Saskatchewan

Curriculum Renewal
Dr. Jane Thurgood Sagal
Executive Director
Curriculum and E-Learning
Ministry of Education
January 2010
Context of Curriculum Renewal
Core Curriculum Components
– Required Areas of Study
– Common Essential Learnings
– Adaptive Dimension
– Locally-determined Options
(Some of the) Core Curriculum
Policies
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First Nations and Métis Education
Resource-based Learning
Gender Equity
Multicultural Education
Evaluation
Instructional Approaches
ELA, arts ed, health ed, science, etc.
Connections: Policy and Guidelines for
School Libraries in Saskatchewan (2008
Purpose for Renewal
• Sustain and strengthen
• Concise and coherent curriculum
– Clarify expectations for students
– Ensure relevance and consistency for
students
– Provide ease of access and use for teachers
Impetus for Renewal
• Provincial curriculum evaluations
• Provincial and national student
assessments
• Timely review
Foundation for Renewal
• Curriculum Framework
• First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Content,
Perspectives, and Ways of Knowing
• Learning Resources
• Professional Learning
• Partners and Stakeholders
Curriculum Framework
• Intent: Develop a curriculum framework
that is concise, persuasive, and educative
• Practical Application: Outcomes-based
curriculum
– Higher level outcomes for each grade
– What students will know and do at the end of
a grade
– Coherence and rigour within and across areas
of study
Outcomes
• Represent thinking or behaving like a
subject discipline expert within the subject
discipline
• Are considered a high priority learning
outcome by most experts in the discipline
• Require creation using a combination of
factual, conceptual, procedural and
metacognitive knowledge (i.e., addresses
competency and not just content
coverage)
Outcomes
(expert, priority, creation)
Grade 6 Arts Education
Compare traditional and contemporary arts
expressions from a diverse range of
cultures, and analyze how cultural identity
is reflected in the work
Outcomes-based Curriculum
• Outcomes attempt to show “the world of
mathematics [or arts education or science,
etc.] as a living, breathing, contested,
human discipline that has been handed to
us [by vanished others] … and needs our
intelligence and our work”
(Adapted from W. Berry, 1986, in Jardine,
Friesen, & Clifford, 2006, Curriculum in
Abundance, p. 22)
Outcomes
(Living, Breathing, Human Discipline)
Grade 8 Mathematics
Demonstrate understanding of the
Pythagorean Theorem concretely or
pictorially and symbolically and by solving
problems
– How does this outcome invite teachers and
students into the “living, breathing, human”
world of mathematics?
Inquiry Space
“In a genuine inquiry, the topic itself matters far
less than the attitude kids and teachers take
toward it. If they are moved to ask why, to
wonder who thinks otherwise, to explore what
other strange things just might be connected to
this one little problem, then they are in an inquiry
space.”
(Refer to Clifford & Marinucci, 2008, Testing the Waters:
Three Elements of Classroom Inquiry, in Harvard
Educational Review, 78(4), p. 679.)
Inquiry Questions
• What is it that matters about this topic as it is lived in
the world?
• How did we come to have such a topic in our world?
• Why would we want to pass along such a topic to our
students? Where does it belong in human
experience?
• How is it and can it be understood, shown,
represented?
• Where does it appear and how, in what guises, to
what ends?
Understanding by Design
• Desired Results: A clear, concise
curriculum that defines what is to be
learned
• Evidence of Results: Assessment and
evaluation techniques aligned with the
outcomes
• Planning for Results: Detailed knowledge
of how best to enable students to achieve
the outcomes
Outcomes
(Supporting Inquiry)
Grade 7 Science
Investigate methods of separating the components
of mechanical mixtures and solutions, and
analyze the impact of industrial and agricultural
applications of those methods
– Desired Results: What is it I want students to learn? (i.e.,
Factual? Conceptual? Procedural? Metacognitive? A
combination?)
– Evidence of Results: How will I know when they have learned it?
(i.e., Evidence of student achievement?)
– Planning for Results: How will I support student questioning,
learning, and deep understanding?
(Refer to Never Work Harder than your Students and Other Principles of Great Teaching, 2009,Jackson)
First Nations, Métis, and Inuit
Content, Perspectives, and Ways
of Knowing
• Intent: Ensure First Nations, Métis, and Inuit
(FNMI) Content, Perspectives, and Ways of
Knowing
• Practical Application: Explicit reflection in
foundational aspects of learning program
– Broad educational aims and curriculum framework
(e.g., cross-curricular competencies)
– Subject area outcomes and foundational processes
(e.g., inquiry)
– Instructional methods (place-based learning) and
resources (e.g., Elders)
Outcomes
• Are expansive enough to embrace First
Nations and Métis content.
• Embrace diverse global perspectives and
value the perspectives of local
communities including First Nations and
Métis communities
• Are expansive enough to encourage and
require First Nations and Métis ways of
knowing as well as other ways of knowing
Outcomes
(explicit)
• Grade 2 Arts Education: Describe key
features of traditional arts expressions of
Saskatchewan First Nations and Métis
artists
• Grade 7 Science: Relate key aspects of
Indigenous knowledge to their
understanding of ecosystems
• Grade 8 Social Studies: Describe the
influence of the treaty relationships on
Canadian identity
Outcomes
(directive)
• Grade 7 Arts Education: Create dance
expressions that express ideas about the
importance of place (e.g., relationships to the
land)
• Grade 8 Social Studies: Investigate the meaning
of culture and the origins of Canadian cultural
diversity
– Analyze shared characteristics among First Nations,
Inuit, and Métis cultures in Canada (indicator)
– Investigate why First Nations, Inuit, and Métis
communities strive to preserve and revitalize their
languages and determine the consequences of the
disappearance of cultures and languages (indicator)
Outcomes
(implicit)
• Grade 6 Health Education: Analyze the
influences (e.g., cultural, social) on perceptions
of and personal standards related to body
image, and the resulting impact on the identities
and the well-being of self, family, and
community.
• Grade 7 Career Education: Investigate nontraditional work scenarios involving issues such
as stereotyping and discrimination to assess the
impact on life and work.
K-12 Discipline Goals
(explicit)
English Language Arts
(1 of 3 goals)
• Comprehend and Respond: Students will extend
their abilities to view, listen to, read,
comprehend, and respond to a range of
contemporary and traditional grade-level texts
from First Nations, Métis, and other cultures in a
variety of forms (oral, print, and other texts) for a
variety of purposes including for learning,
interest, and enjoyment.
K-12 Discipline Goals
(directive)
Physical Education
(2 of 3 goals)
• Active living: Enjoy and engage in healthy levels
of participation in movement activities to support
lifelong active living in the context of self, family,
and community
• Relationships: Balance self through safe and
respectful personal, social, cultural, and
environmental interactions in a wide variety of
movement activities
K-12 Discipline Goals
(implicit)
Mathematics
• Number Sense: Develop an understanding
of the meaning of, relationships between,
properties of, roles of, and representations
(including symbolic) of numbers and apply
this understanding to new situations and
problems.
K-12 Disciplinary Foundational
Process
(directive)
Health Education
Shifting
• “Linear” decision-making model
to
• “Circular”, iterative inquiry approach to
making decisions
Learning Resources
• Intent: Introduce a renewed vision and
policy for the role of learning resources in
education
• Practical Application:
– New School Library Policy
– Listings of Core and Additional Resources
– Resource Customization
Resource Customization
• K-12 Mathematics
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K, 1, 4, 7 (2007-08)
Grades 2, 5, 8 (2008-09)
Grades 3, 6, 9 (2009-2010)
Grade 10 (2010-2011)
• Grades 6-9 Science
– Saskatchewan context including “Ask an Elder” or
“Ask a Traditional Knowledge Keeper”
• Grades 6-9 Career Education
– Saskatchewan examples including Aboriginal role
models
Professional Learning
• Intent: Develop a comprehensive plan to
strengthen teaching and improve student
learning
• Practical Application:
– Developing framework for Ministry
– Exploring various professional learning
models (i.e., moving from strategies to
principles)
– Supporting reflective practice
Reflective Practice
• Transition/Introduction Year: Analyze
instructional lessons/units/practice in relation to
renewed curriculum outcomes
• Personal-Professional Growth Plan: Focus on
personal, classroom, or collegial (ad)ventures in
relation to curriculum outcomes
• Curriculum Reflection, Curriculum Inquiry, or
Curriculum Networking: Engage in practices that
deepen understanding related to supporting
student achievement of curriculum outcomes
Conditions
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Teachers’ personal/social contexts
Teachers’ theories
Availability of resources
Reflective practice
Thurgood Sagal, 2007, Shifting Horizons: How Teachers
Interpret Curriculum in Their Practice (2009 monograph
available from VDM Verlag)
Personal/Social Contexts
“ … the confluence of personal
backgrounds and surrounding social
environments creates strong contextual
currents that move teachers toward
particular interpretations of curriculum.”
(p. 167)
Thurgood Sagal, 2007, Shifting Horizons: How Teachers
Interpret Curriculum in Their Practice (2009 monograph
available from VDM Verlag)
Informal Theories
“ … the informal theory of each participating
teacher was a powerful influence on …
interpretation of the curriculum. It is critical
that these informal theories are unearthed
so they can be interrogated in dialogue with
other people or texts (such as the
curriculum-as-plan).” (p. 175)
Thurgood Sagal, 2007, Shifting Horizons: How Teachers
Interpret Curriculum in Their Practice (2009 monograph
available from VDM Verlag)
Availability of Resources
“Addressing barriers related to the availability of
resources whether … instructional materials for
teachers and students; … time for studying the
curriculum, reviewing instructional materials, … or
sharing ideas with others; and space for …
activities is critical if the curriculum-as-plan is to
find expression in our schools”. (p. 179)
Thurgood Sagal, 2007, Shifting Horizons: How Teachers Interpret
Curriculum in Their Practice (2009 monograph available from VDM
Verlag)
Reflective Practice
“ … reflective practice is supported through the
complementary and interrelated activities of
reading the curriculum, bringing one’s own
situation to bear in making sense of the curriculum,
discussing tentative ideas with others, and writing
about new ideas that arise. Such practice raises
prejudices for examination, thereby risking one’s
understanding. If understanding is finite and
unstable, reflective practice is a way to shift one’s
horizon of understanding”. (p. 183)
Thurgood Sagal, 2007, Shifting Horizons: How Teachers Interpret
Curriculum in Their Practice (2009 monograph available from VDM Verlag)
Partners and Stakeholders
• Intent: Work with partners and
stakeholders to achieve our vision
• Practical application:
– Regular provincial meetings
– Provincial reference committees and other
processes/events
– Research and “critical friends”
Vision in Action
All curricula will:
• identify opportunities to integrate with other
areas of study
• have materials developed and available online
• focus on teaching for deeper understanding
• have a greater emphasis on centralizing FNMI
content, perspectives, and ways of knowing
Vision in Action (continued)
A stronger connection will be made between the
broader philosophy of Core Curriculum and the
provincial Goals of Education to the specificity of
the areas of study and students’ daily
experiences through:
• defining some Broad Areas of Learning that
reflect the provincial Goals of Education
• identifying Cross-curricular Competencies
required for 21st century citizens
Saskatchewan’s Goals of
Education (1985)
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Basic Skills
Lifelong Learning
Self Concept Development
Positive Lifestyle
Understanding and Relating to Others
Spiritual Development
Career and Consumer Decisions
Membership in Society
Growing with Change
Broad Areas of Learning
• Lifelong Learners
• Sense of Self, Community, and Place
• Engaged Citizens
How Broad Areas of Learning
relate to Goals of Education
• Lifelong Learners relates to: Basic Skills,
Lifelong Learning, Positive Lifestyle
• Sense of Self, Community, and Place
relates to: Understanding & Relating to
Others, Self Concept Development,
Spiritual Development
• Engaged Citizens relates to: Membership
in Society, Career and Consumer
Decisions, Growing with Change
Common Essential Learnings
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Communication
Numeracy
Critical and Creative Thinking
Technological Literacy
Personal and Social Values and Skills
Independent Learning
Cross-curricular Competencies
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Thinking
Identity and Interdependence
Literacies
Social Responsibility
How the Cross-curricular
Competencies relate to the CELs
• Thinking
– relates to CCT
• Identity and Interdependence
– relates to PSD & TL
• Literacies
– relates to C, N, TL, & IL
• Social Responsibility
– relates to C, CCT, & PSD
(Refer to Renewed Objectives for CCT and
PSD)
Social Studies
Arts
Education
Health
Education
Identity and
Interdependence
Thinking
Mathematics
Lifelong
Learners
Language
Arts
Literacies
Physical
Self,
Community,
and Place
Engaged Citizens
Social
Responsibility
Education
Goal 1 for Physical Education
Science
Goal 2 for Physical Education
Goal 3 for Physical Education
Learning
Outcomes
Practical
and
Applied
Arts
Vision in Action (continued)
Goals of Education (1985) (under review)
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Broad Areas of Learning
Core Curriculum
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K-12 goals
• Required Areas of Study  Grade level outcomes for each goal
Indicators for each outcome
• Common Essential Learnings  Cross-curricular Competencies
• Adaptive Dimension
• Locally-determined Options
* K-12 goals
* descriptors for each goal
2008-09
• Introduce curricula for Grades 2, 5, 8
mathematics (Transition Year)
• Introduce Grades 6-9 curricula for most of
the Required Areas of Study (Transition
Year)
• Support curriculum reflection, curriculum
inquiry, and curriculum networking (Refer
to Classroom Curriculum Connections: A
Teacher’s Handbook for PersonalProfessional Growth, 2001)
2009-10
• Implement curricula for Grades 3, 6, 9
mathematics
• Introduce Grades 6-9 curricula for
remaining Required Areas of Study
(Transition Year)
• Introduce kindergarten resource
• Five-year plan (2007-08 to 2011-12)
Summary
Where we started
Goals of Ed/CELs
Hundreds of
objectives
Expansive lists of
resources
Large curricula
Where we are moving
Synthesis through Broad Areas of
Learning/Cross-curricular
Competencies
Higher level outcomes with
indicators
Select number of core and
additional resources recommended
Manageable curriculum framework
Scope and sequence Coherent, complementary set of
within each discipline outcomes across grades and areas
of study
Incorporation of
FNMI content, perspectives, and
Current Focus
• Continuing to engage in conversations
about ambiguous ideas, difficult problems,
and things that matter
• Continuing to think deeply about what is
worth learning
• Continuing to ensure that outcomes point
strongly enough to provide a “landing strip”
that opens to a future we want to embrace
Prototype Approach
• Move into action without the entire plan
figured out
• Pay attention and respond to opportunities
as they arise
• Continually reflect and share everything
that is being learned
• Engage in an ongoing process of jointly
crystallizing and acting upon immediate
steps