Last
week in an Integrating Curriculum and Assessment class at Brock we spent a lot
of time working with various curriculums from both inside and outside of Canada.
It was our job to look for examples of important things Know, Do, Be in the
curriculum of our choice. Our class collaboratively found that many of the
learning expectations overlapped and were found in almost all curricula
regardless of grade or subject using a Google document on the projector.
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| Retrieved from: http://mathhombre.blogspot.ca/2013/02/creative-learning-week-1.html |
I
would like to focus your attention to the
‘BE’; the most important values, attitudes,
or behaviours students are expected to demonstrate
(Drake, Reud & Holohon, 2014, p. 43) because I find it the most
interesting and difficult to grasp in the context of curriculum.
Next
we dug a little deeper – each group in the class did a vertical scan and
cluster of the expectations that were given to us. Our group focused on writing
in the English curriculum from grades one through 12 and was asked to type both
overall and specific expectations on a Google document once again. At first the
activity seemed daunting, as there were 12 grades to cover. However, by
selecting a leader and working as a team we got through the activity fairly
quickly and were able to understand various goals and purpose of the task as we
did so. We realized how playing a role in a group was inherent in getting
things done – we were being the BE, and demonstrating the learning skill of
collaboration.
We
also came to the realization that all general objectives or outcomes of language
were the exact same across all grades, and many specific outcomes were similar and
became increasingly complex. At the beginning of the activity, we did not know
why we were simply retyping the curriculum, demonstrating the implicitly of
finding the BE in learning. Our TA asked us the question of how many teachers
know this? Our group came to the conclusion of not many. Although the
curriculum serves as a guideline for teachers, it is still a very important
foundation of creating lessons and assessments. It is equally important to
understand how and for what reason: I say to give teachers the freedom to be
creative by allowing their students to be creative. We know that by asking
questions we can spark curiosity in others, but how do we objectively measure
the creativity that stems from this curiosity? Society wants to see numbers and
proof, however this idea is just as meaningless as reciting information from the curriculum to students. Practitioners must create and utilize activities to create an environment for students where they can explore their learning skills and subjectively evaluate them through observation. They can begin to be articulated through language through the Growing Success Document that is used as a resource in our Education 4P19 class. I urge you to look to "The Creative Process" on page 16 and "Learning Skills Observation Checklist" on page 11.
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| Retrieved from: https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/policyfunding/growSuccess.pdf |
BE curious, BE creative, and BE education.
Until next time,
Ms. Kee
References
Drake, S. M., Reid, J. L., & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving Curriculum and Classroom Assessment: Engaging the 21st Century Learner. Don Mills, ON:Oxford University Press.
