Curriculum Ideologies and Their Appropriateness in a First Grade Classroom, Thesis of Financial Accounting

Download Curriculum Ideologies and Their Appropriateness in a First Grade Classroom and more Thesis Financial Accounting in PDF only on Docsity! Running head: IYT2 TASK ONE1 IYT2 Intro to Curriculum Theory Task One Western Governors University IYT2 Intro to Curriculum Theory Task One I have just begun my first year teaching and work for Heber Elementary School District as a first grade teacher. My past experience includes seven years of work as an Instructional Assistant, Tutor, and Behavior Assistant with four different school districts. My current school is a Title 1 school located in a rural Southern California town in Imperial County. This county has been known to have the lowest unemployment rates in California at multiple times over the last several years. My school district consists of two school sites, a Tk - 3rd grade campus, and a 4th - 8th grade campus. The average class size at our TK - 3rd grade campus is 21 students and there are seven total first grade teachers on our campus. I have 21 students, half of which are classified as ELL. The county in general has many English Language Learners because of our close proximity to the Mexican border, the number of students whose parents are migrant farmworkers, and my district being located in one of the least expensive cities to live in. The city of Heber is home to many economically disadvantaged students. We do have the luxury of having an Instructional Assistant to work directly with our students for forty minutes a day which allows me to better support my struggling students. I have students with IEP’s, 504 Plans, and SST’s for academic and behavior modifications. I have students who live with both parents, students who live with each parent half time, students who live with one parent, and students who live with grandparents. My students come from diverse backgrounds, but all have the need for consistency and support in school in common. IYT2 TASK ONE2 In this paper I will examine the effectiveness and appropriateness of the four curriculum ideologies and how they are applied to the learning environment. I will develop a personal teaching philosophy in which I examine how these ideologies are incorporated into my own view on curriculum instruction. Appropriateness of Social Reconstruction Explanation of the Social Reconstruction Ideology The Social Reconstruction Ideology states that education is a means for society to cease to destroy itself and instead re-build. Social Reconstructionists are convinced that society is in need of saving, and curriculum can be used as a means for educating future generations to develop social justices that will help society re-build. In this Ideology, children are seen as the products of our society, that will soon be contributing members of society, that have the capacity to improve our society. Children are seen as full of potential, and educators in the Social Reconstruction Ideology are expected to guide and direct children in the right direction as they mature (Schiro, M. 2007 p.158). Furthermore, in this Ideology it is believed that knowledge is a social construction that should have truth and value that leads to an improved future society. Because of this, student evaluation is used to aid students in the reconstruction of themselves, which in turn will aid in their ability to reconstruct society (Schiro, M. 2007 p.157). Evaluation of Social Reconstruction in My Setting The social reconstruction model is one that could be appropriate for my school setting. The majority of the students in my classroom and at our campus come from families of a low socioeconomic setting who were never able to attend college because of lack of education or inability to afford it. Many of my students come from homes where the parents are migrant field workers who barely speak any English, in the Social Reconstruction Ideology, it is believed that IYT2 TASK ONE5 Scholarly Academic Ideology strives to create shared knowledge without compromising the integrity of each content area. The goal of the Scholar Academic’s curricula is the induction of children into an academic discipline (Schiro, M. 2007 pp. 17). The initiation consist of enabling children to perform in subjects such as mathematics or history at their appropriate level based on age or grade, or preparing them to be future mathematicians or historians by providing them with experiences to practice being that. The purpose is not to solely inform children about certain subjects, but to provide them with the ability to acculturate into the disciplines (Schiro, M. 2007 pp. 18). Evaluation of Scholar Academic Ideology in My Setting In my setting I see bits of this Ideology, but I also see parts of my day that go against this Ideology. While we teach the core disciplines of math, history, and language arts I do find myself letting the political and social climates influence the instruction. For instance, we have holidays coming up, to engage students and make the core subjects more interesting I incorporate games and images that will get my students excited about the subjects. When something big happens in life or in the community around us the dynamics of instruction change based on what my class is interested in. I mostly see evidence of the Scholarly Academic Ideology in my school setting when we are conducting investigations in science. My first grade students are constantly discovering new phenomenon at home, on the playground, and in their communities. When they bring things to me, we become scientists and really dive into investigating at the highest levels we possibly can. A few weeks ago a student brought in some closed almost clam like shells from the playground and instead of putting them away, we decided to try and figure out why they were on our playground in the middle of a dry Southern California desert located two hours away from the nearest beach. While I do teach the core subjects, I incorporate a lot of language into math, IYT2 TASK ONE6 math into science, and science into language because when information is presented across curriculum, students are better able to retain it. Unlike this Ideology, I do not think my students are complete blank slates ready to receive knowledge. They are humans with interests and strengths, and if I do not discover those interests and strengths then I will not be the most effective teacher for them. Appropriateness of Learner Centered Ideology Explanation of the Learner Centered Ideology The Learner Centered Ideology centers its curriculum around student interests as opposed to specific subjects like math, English, history, etc. In this ideology the students are the driving force of the instruction and it is the teacher’s job to guide students through the learning process to reach their full capacity. Curriculum in this ideology will not only focus on students interests, but student abilities as well. This is a popular model in early childhood classrooms, but is one that can, and should be used in teaching curriculum as students age. This Ideology provides students with a comfortable environment, rich with information waiting to be explored. The activity school program is based on four practices: direct firsthand experience with reality, experience with physical materials and people, experience involving physical activity, and experience both inside and outside the classroom ( Schiro, M. 2007, pp.94). Evaluation of the Learner Centered Ideology in My Setting My educational setting is not as Learner Centered as the ideal Learner Centered classroom, but I do provide opportunities for my students to explore, as well as plan curriculum off of their interests and what is going on in their lives. This is evident in the scenario with the shells found on the playground that was aforementioned. I took something my students were IYT2 TASK ONE7 interested in, and let that be the driving force to our scientific learning. A first grade science standard is to observe phenomenon, it is possible to still learn standards under this learner centered approach. I have a good number of students who are not naturally motivated about learning, and need curriculum to be presented to them in such a way that is engaging of more than one of the five senses, so I strive to make each learning opportunity that requires looking and writing, to be more than just looking and writing. Personal Philosophy of Curriculum Curriculum should be a means for teachers educate and prepare students for the future in the most engaging way possible. The academic content taught will be some that provides useful knowledge to students as they grow and ultimately become adults in the workforce. To me it is important that students graduate high school with the ability to become productive members of society and be independent. Curriculum should be designed for different types of learners as well. While taking learner needs (cognitive or physical) into consideration is something I already do, many aspects of curriculum do not have these ready to differentiate suggestions to make curriculum accessible to all students. I also believe that curriculum should be standards based to ensure as it helps with the building upon of instruction amongst grade levels. Curriculum should allow students to use higher order thinking skills that are needed in order to be successful throughout life. It should allow for students to problem solve and think critically from various angles. Finally, curriculum should be engaging for all students. Their interests should be tapped into, and their creative nature appealed to, rather than the same lecture/discussion/read/compute days. Ideological elements incorporated into personal philosophy IYT2 TASK ONE10 cards with letters and whatever the phonics skill is and allow them to build a word on the large pocket chart posted on the language arts wall. For example this week we are working on the “short e” sound. So I have four “short e” endings on the wall and several consonants that can be moved in front of those endings to make a word. That was not enough to maintain their attention so I added another task so there are two teachers up at once. The second person is off to the side at the easel where there is a sound box and a few magnetic circles to move into the soundbox. One student builds a word, then tells the class to blend the word, after the class blends the word the next student moves the circles into each square of the sound box as the rest of the students say each sound in the word. The word is repeated and then the two teachers get to pick the next teachers. Students are engaged throughout the process because everyone wants to be the teacher and they cannot be piced if they are not participating. The same skill is being taught and the same content is being learned but I have added taking student interests like moving, picking friends, and being the boss into the mix. Justification of curricular or instructional strategies My first curriculum strategy meets content learning standards and incorporates kinesthetics into the day. After the first two weeks of the school year we began assessing our students on what they had learned and I realized my students were not retaining the information that was being presented to them during math time. This strategy incorporated collaborative learning as teams had to communicate, agree, and work together to perform a specific task, all areas that are needed according to the Social Efficiency Ideology. I chose to incorporate movement into mathematics because research and real life application has shown to increase student understanding of content and improve classroom behavior (Skoning, S. N. 2008). IYT2 TASK ONE11 My second curriculum strategy, like my first, also incorporated movement into teaching the content. Being teacher empowers students to take control of their own learning, they take pride in that thirty seconds they get to be up in front of everyone. Through this curriculum strategy my students are developing awareness of themselves and others, they are developing speaking, and leading skills that can be used as they grow and become contributing members of society. Finally, both curriculum strategies focused on the need that was present in my classroom. I teach general education, but there are students who need movement, who need praise, who need to be the boss, who need attention on them, and both activities took those learner needs into account. References Schiro, M. S. (09/2007). Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns. [Western Governors University]. Retrieved from https://wgu.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781452272092/ Skoning, S. N. (2008). Movement and Dance in the Inclusive Classroom. TEACHING exceptional children plus, 4(6), n6.