Relationship Between Curriculum and Self-efficacy Essay

I teach in an eighth grade classroom that is set in a Jr-Sr. High school. It is located in the Jr. High hallway, near the rear of our high school. I have thirty-two student desks situated in rows and two small tables at the front of my room used for paper pick up. I painted my room a turquoise beach blue and it is decorated with various beach themed paraphernalia. I also have many inspirational quote posters up around my room, hoping to engage my students into deeper thinking. The students all have their own Chromebooks and I have a desktop computer as well as a Samsung Tablet. Many computer applications suited for 1:1 schools are used in our building. We begin our day at 7:40am with a zero period for professional development and meetings. The students have seven, forty-five minute periods beginning at 8:20am and continuing until 3:15pm. My classes include four “regular” English classes, one “Honors” class, an Essential Skills class that rotates every week with two other teachers, and a prep period. My duties throughout the year consist of sponsoring the Jr. High Student Council as well as parking lot duty for two weeks during second semester. We adhere closely to the Indiana State Standards and use the ISTEP and NWEA mandated assessments. We, as teachers, are given free rein to teach how we see fit; however, we were asked to submit curriculum mapping outlining the content/topics, key terms, sources/resources, assessments

The Curriculum for Excellence describes eight curricular areas, three of which assign a responsibility to all teachers regardless of sector; namely Literacy, Numeracy, and Health and Wellbeing (HWB). Whereas some form of instruction in reading, writing and arithmetic has always been a feature of formal education, Health and Wellbeing is a relatively new addition to the school curriculum, both in Scotland and globally .

San Pasqual Union School is located in the San Pasqual Valley region southeast of Escondido, California. This small school is a one-school school district with approximately 550 students, grades pre-school to eighth grade. Students that attend San Pasqual Union are identified within three distinct groups. The majority of students are primarily Caucasian and live in a newer development, across from the school, with families who are from a mid to high socioeconomic status. Another group is Hispanic students who live in a more rural part of the valley. Lastly, within the school boundaries, is a residential high school campus for foster teens. The foster youth who are not in high school attend San Pasqual Union for eighth grade. Both the Hispanic students from the rural valley and the foster youth ride the school bus to and from school.

Efficacy is the behavior or being effective, efficacious and in control. The self can be defined as ones identity. This means that self-efficacy can be defined as the ability to effectively control their own outcomes by changing their actions. It is the self-regulation of behavior by intelligent, affective and motivational processes. Self-efficacy is made up by self-concept, control, and cognitive processes. Ones self-concept is their thoughts and feelings about who and what they are; it is influenced by social interactions and experiences. It has to do with an innate set of morals, values and attitudes that is developed through ones interaction with their environment. Self-regulation allows one to behave in a way to maintain a positive self-concept in a dynamic and interactive world. Self-image, self-esteem and self-concept all interact to influence a persons

Since Bandura (1977) proposed the self-efficacy theory, it has received widespread acceptance from various subfields of psychology, including clinical, health, organizational and so on, to deal with diverse behaviours under certain contexts (Lee, 1989; Maddux, 1995). Although there was a growing body of articles and researches supporting self-efficacy, it still received criticisms both at the theoretical and practical levels (Marzillier and Eastman, 1984, p. 257; Lee, 1989, p. 116). This section will present the weakness and limitations of self-efficacy theory from the above two aspects.

What is the purpose of a college education? What is the purpose of the curriculum designed by academic affairs specialists? Do the two directly relate to one another or do they serve contradicting purposes? These are the questions that every institution of higher education must answer when reviewing the requirements they will place on a student in order to complete a degree from that institution. Many would say that a college education is one that expands the minds of students and prepares them for living life in the real world. The skills that a student learns in their college classes can prepare them for a career through content preparation, and it can help a student think differently about the world around them. The classes offered

The instructional setting for this unit is an elementary school. All lessons will be taught to a fourth grade glass, consisting of 24 students. The lessons will take place during the assigned math block (an 80-minute portion of the day). These lessons will be a scaffolded focus on problem solving, specifically multiplication and division word problems.

Technology can help students in all areas of study. Students need to be able to use this technology since, “Currently and in the near future, it is understood that students need to acquire more autonomous skills of ‘information gathering, analysis, and display’” (Todnem, 2004, p. 1). Furthermore, the use of technology, mainly the internet, provides for variation since “Students find themselves bored and burnt-out of the lecture format to classes, so changing the curriculum and instruction to include things like online assignments and educational videogames can be one clear remedy” (Todnem, 2004, p. 1). Teachers who have implemented technology into their classrooms have noticed changes in their students. The most common of these effects being an increase in motivation. In “Effects of Technology on Classrooms and Students” another positive effect is given “technology effect stressed by many teachers was enhancement of student self esteem” (“Effects,” 2004, p. 2).

Curriculum and Pedagogy: The curriculum is experienced by all students, albeit in different forms. So, curriculum which is based on more interaction between the students and teachers is more likely to acceptable. There is a body of evidence from the US (and increasingly in other countries) that the more students interact with other students and staff, the more likely they are to persist (e.g. Astin, 1984; Tinto, 1997). Due to interaction among students, they learn a great deal from each other. Furthermore, both social and academic integration into a higher education institution have a positive impact on their sense of belonging to (Reay et al., 2001), and ultimately learning within, that environment (Thomas, 2002).

An ability to explain the importance of ethics and civic engagement and to function effectively as a member or leader in a multidisciplinary team

Gaming is on the rise and it is easy to fathom that the use of gaming in education is also increasing. Thus, educational gaming is listed as one of the “10 Major Technology Trends in Education” (Riedel, 2014). One reason gaming is increasing so rapidly is because “the very notion of what a game is has broadened to include a variety of experiences” (Jayanth, 2014). Michael D. Gallagher, president and CEO of Entertainment Software Association which conducts consumer research and analysis said, “Video games are the future. From education and business, to art and entertainment, our industry brings together the most innovative and creative minds to create the most engaging, immersive and breathtaking experiences we’ve ever seen” (Entertainment Software Association, 2016). We as teachers seek to engage our students. If video games and gaming can better involve our students in the lesson, it is my belief that we should absolutely use it in our classroom.

Curriculum is a term often highlighted during discourse about education and most commonly understood as a policy with overt leaning outcomes for teachers to apply and achieve. Ornstein and Hunkins (1998), as cited by Selvaraj (2010), defined curriculum based on two lenses; micro and macro, which identify the term as both policy towards certain goals and what students experience with consideration for relevant theories and principles central to its development and implementation. However, Wilson (n.d.) argued that curriculum is not restricted to certain individuals, subjects and environments, since teaching and learning can also occur beyond the scope of official curriculum (Ebert & Culyer, as cited in Marsh, Clarke & Pittaway, 2014). I believe this interpretation is the closest to the true nature of curriculum, or education, as there are more complex layers to curriculum than just a written guideline. For example, not one curriculum is similar to another because it is subjected to influences from continuum number of factors, such as politics and economy. Hence, it is wise to conclude that curriculum could not be defined based on a singular perspective due to its dependability on context.

The meaning of the term’ curriculum’ is difficult to define. For school, Pratt (in Brady and Kennedy, 2014, p. 3) argues that curriculum can be ‘an organized set of formal educational and training intentions’. For students, Marsh and Wills (in Brady and Kennedy, 2014, p. 3) maintain that curriculum is ‘an interrelated set of plans and experiences that a student undertakes under the guidance of the school’, while for teachers, the challenge is to develop curricula that will cater for the needs of all students (Ah Sam & Ackland, 2005). There are various meanings attached to the term’ curriculum’. My personal definition for school curriculum is that schools develop programs of different study areas basing on the content of the national curriculum document; teachers plan their teaching basing on the programs; eventually, students experience the curriculum by engaging in diverse teaching activities. In this essay, I will be discussing The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) in relation to the strategic plan and teaching philosophy of Hampton Park East Kindergarten.

America has a diverse educational system and is responsible for ensuring that curriculum is reflective of this diversity. As America becomes more diverse, it is commonplace for several languages to be spoken in a single school (five languages were represented in my classroom alone last year), and the demand for teachers trained at tackling the academic, emotional, and social needs of students is pressing. Transcending race, the issue is not easily rectified by offering to place teachers who “look like” their students in the classroom; rather, the more viable solution is in training teachers to become more sensitive to students’ academic and cultural needs. Furthermore, socioeconomic differences contribute to this “great divide” that

On top of teachers’ attitude, teachers’ pedagogical belief to technology is another predictor that people cannot ignore. Acknowledging the educational value of new technology using in education can be considered as the prerequisite of successful technology