K-12 Curriculum Essay

The curriculum is a complex framework that is used in education and is firmly embedded in society (Brady & Kennedy, 2007). Within the curriculum there are key concepts which include the intended curriculum, enacted curriculum, null curriculum, negotiated curriculum, emergent curriculum, hidden curriculum and lived curriculum (Gobby, 2015). The intended curriculum as explained by Gobby (2015) is the plan or framework on a national, state, school and classroom level. The enacted curriculum is what is practiced and is translated into a learning experience (Gobby, 2015). The null curriculum according to Gobby (2015) refers to what is not taught or avoided by educators. The negotiated curriculum is more of a community and hands on part of the curriculum which is learning experiences decided by more than just the educator (Gobby, 2015). The emergent curriculum as described by Gobby (2015) is the exploration of interesting and personally meaning information to children. The hidden curriculum is things that children

Ah Sam and Ackland (2005) defined curriculum as “… an interrelated set of plans of experiences that a student undertakes under the guidance of the school”. (p.42) While these two definitions are applied in school context, Horn and Banerjee (2009) described curriculum as the guidance of the project for a group of people. Similarly, Makura and Makura (2012) adopted the definition by Gatawa (1990) as “the instrument through which complex societies transmit and maintain cherished bodies of knowledge values and skills” (Makura & Makura, 2012, p. 509). They suggested that curricula did not exist in vacuum but shaped by a larger cultural values, traditions and beliefs of

The origins of the word curriculum date back to ancient times and in fact the work comes from the Latin word of currere: a course or race or to run (Smith, 1996,2000). Over many decades, people have argued over the various definitions. Tanner (1980) defined it as “the planned and guided learning experiences and intended outcomes”, whilst Pratt (1980) defined it as a written document describing goals planned, objectives, content and evaluation. So s it a course of study? Or can it be defined as content or a product( Marsh, 2008). Marsh (2008) goes on to include that at a variety of learning sites are a set of objectives for student learning. We can also relate this to Tyler’s objective curriculum model being that the first step to curriculum is always to set the objective. The Model of Taba from 1962, is the same model at Tyler’s but includes interaction and flow between all four stages, so we do not always need the objective before we start writing the content to the curriculum.

Curriculum, as stated by Glickman (2014) “is the what of instruction”. Additionally, Ornstein and Hunkins, (as cited by Glickman, Gordon and Ross-Gordon, 2014) have listed the elements of the curriculum and they “are sequence and continuity, scope and balance”. The mastery with which a teacher can incorporate the elements of the curriculum in instruction is categorized by levels. The levels of teacher involvement in curriculum implementation are described and exemplfied

The Curriculum for Excellence, introduced in 2014, aims to transform education in Scotland for ages 3-18. It intends to progress the standards of education and learning in the country by moving away from more traditional methods of teaching. This strategy, developed by the Scottish Government, recognises that learning is a lifelong process, beginning at birth, and therefore it is important to employ methods which prepare children from a young age for a life of work. In order to do so, the curriculum is based on seven key principles which are designed to provide young people with the knowledge and skills for life in the 21st century. This knowledge and skill is learnt through experiences and opportunities which are carefully planned for each age group, encouraging space for learning out with the standard school subject boundaries. The programme has four main outcomes prompting children to become successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and effective contributors. Once an individual has completed the education programme, reflections of the curriculum’s purpose can be assessed in the child or young person to see if they have met the proposed outcomes and therefore determining the overall success.

Brady and Kennedy (2010) define the term curriculum as ‘the means by which young people and adults gain the essential knowledge, skills and attributes they need to be productive and informed citizens in a democratic society.’ However the term has many varied definitions, it can be described as being the subject matter, the overall plan for teaching or the outcome of what is taught (Wiles, 2005). Marsh and Willis (cited in Marsh, 2009, p. 3) break curriculum down into three individual areas of ‘planned curriculum’, the objectives and aims, ‘enacted curriculum’, how the objectives are

Ohanian begins with the statement that encompasses her outlook on the curriculum and standards teachers are expected to teach which states "Teachers and curriculum being flexible enough to meet the needs of each students, not shoving every kid through some distant committee's phantasmic pipe dream of a necessary curriculum for tomorrow's workforce" (Ohanian, 1999, p.2). In this quote Ohanian says what school should be about and stresses the need for "oddball plans for oddball students". Throughout the book this point is supported with personal recounts and stories of interactions with students and the outcomes. The most key point of this book is that standards are unfair to children who do not learn the traditional way. Curriculums and standards are created by individuals who are not even in a classroom day to day whom Ohanian refers to as "standardistos". Therefore the importance of a nurturing, personal relationship suffers

Schools are always changing and evolving with new students every year; so why not change some other things to benefit the school system. Changing and adding different curriculum in the school environment, is something that should be considered to benefit Streator High School. For example, changing the school starting time to give students more time to prepare themselves for another day at school. Another change that would be advantageous to be brought into Streator High School is to add open campus lunch. Changing up the curriculum would also be obliging. Adding a sign language class would be beneficial to staff and faculty. This would be for students to be able to interact with others that use that for their only communication with others, resulting in a closer, more friendly school environment. There would be an overall positive impact in the school community by adding these changes. More involvement, improvement in the the economy of our town, and improving the overall academics at the high school would be the result of these changes.

The Common Core State Standards is a United States Educational initiative which informs what level of achievement children from Kindergarten to Grade 12 should be at in English and Mathematics by the end of each school year.

According to the Common Core website, Common Core State Standards Curriculum is a set of high quality academic standards for kindergarten through twelfth grade in math, English language, and literature (“About the Standards”). Through the Common Core State Standards, the public education system has over-stepped its bounds. One way the education system has done this is through entering the homeschool and private school systems. Another way the public education system has overstepped its bounds is by placing the Common Core Curriculum in the Advance Placement and college placement exams. Also, the Common Core State Standards reduce education for gifted students. One way the program does this is by not providing the intellectual challenges that these students need. An additional way is that the Common Core Curriculum is so expensive that schools cannot afford to have supplementary learning for gifted students. Finally, the Common Core State Standard leaves students unprepared for college. One way Common Core Standards leaves students unprepared is that the Common Core aligned college placement tests hurt students in the college admittance process. Additionally, Common Core curriculum does not prepare students for college-level classes. Common Core State Standard Curriculum should be rejected from the public school system because the public education system has over-reached its boundaries, it reduces the education for gifted students, and it leaves students unprepared for

"The objective of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives" as told by Robert Maynard Hutchins, an American educational philosopher. The American academic system is very different from those in other countries. That is among the many reasons why our public K-12 schools are under such an oppressive curriculum. In an effort to embark on this undertaking it is necessary to at first assess the curriculum as presented within the K-12 school system. The K-12 educators are held to certain expectations. In K-5 the instructor is tasked with the responsibility of ensuring children leave elementary schools with the basic knowledge and social skills necessary to the next level in their education. During this time, children are thinking a lot more critically than those of an older age, because as bell hooks has said "children are predisposed critical thinkers" which I think to be unquestionably true. Children are always finding new ways to

Curriculum is hardly new in fact it dates way back to ancient Greece and the famous Aristotle’s (384BC- 322BC) who was a Greek philosopher. A student of Plato came up with the categorisation of knowledge, which I will be discussing later on in the commentary. So curriculum has been around for years, but the way we understand

Introduction: When one thinks of a curriculum what is it that comes to one’s mind? Is it just an official document or is there something more than that. The term curriculum has various perspectives in general it constitutes the teaching and learning process or one can say that is the intended curriculum that is usually presented in an official document and is employed as a guiding document . Within a classroom setting the curriculum can be altered through a range of interactions and what is delivered is the “implemented curriculum “ and what the learners actually learn or achieve is the achieved or learned curriculum. In addition to this there is the hidden curriculum which helps develop moral values and beliefs that is unintended. Therefore while developing curriculum different dimensions must be taken into consideration especially those that represent the vision of the society, the written curriculum should not be exhaustive but comprehensive and user friendly document which has a framework, syllabus and a set of learning materials like textbooks, guides for teachers and assessment guide. Many people see curriculum in terms of subject to be taught or as a set of textbooks and usually forget its wider goals

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.