Your+views+Colleen+04

Your Views
What do **//you//** think should be in the curriculum?

Please use your name as a subheading and ensure you include a justification of your view.

NB: Hi Guys - please also click on the 'Discussions' link at the top of this page to view some of your other colleagues postings, which were inadvertantly posted on the wrong spot. (Sharon Fraser)

**__My Views (Nicole Flanagan) 24/7/2010__** == My views regarding what should be included in the curriculum have changed considerably since I began working within schools over the last five years. Previously my views were quite traditional and largely based on what I experienced as a student at school. The curriculum that I was familiar with involved disciplines that were largely taught separately such as: Mathematics, English, Social studies, Science, Physical education, Music, LOTE and Art. While these disciplines are still largely relevant there are others which I believe are essential to prepare students for their life after school, for example: ICT, Design and technology, communication and thinking processes. These interdisciplinary areas were not a focus when I was at school. == == Environmental studies are essential to the future of our children and further generations. Programs such as the Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden provide essential learning in the creation and growth of useable gardens, as well as promoting healthy food choices. Given the current level of childhood obesity in Australia, programs such as these should be an essential part of the curriculum. == == The curriculum should also provide students with the literacy and numeracy skills required for them to function, be active and productive members of our society. Finally, the curriculum needs to provide students with the opportunity to share in decision making with their teacher, so that students become more autonomous in their learning. == Part 3: Your views (Ken Hillsley 25 Jul 10)

At this early stage of my training to be a teacher, I believe the traditional subjects are still the most important and should be given the highest priority. I would include English (reading, writing speaking and listening), Humanities such as economics, geography and history, Mathematics, Science, Arts and Physical Education in some form. I would also add IT into this list as a new ‘core’ subject because there can be no doubt that a deeper understanding of electronic media is a requirement in all aspects of working and community life.

There should also be some room for special interest subjects that can evolve as society demands, such as those determined by relevant stakeholders such as academics, politicians, schools, parents and students. I believe these should be capped to avoid overcrowding the curriculum and whenever a new special interest subject is introduced, a corresponding subject should be dropped. These subjects could be controlled at state level and tailored to suit regional requirements using the experience and knowledge of experienced teachers and the school community as the prime voice.

I believe the shape of a future curriculum should be based on the philosophy of deeper learning of fewer subjects. However I am open to modify or change this opinion as I gain greater understanding of curriculum matters. I am a big believer in the traditional subjects and I think these can still be exciting and meaningful for young students through excellent delivery methods, innovation and teacher enthusiasm. This is not to say that new or topical subjects are not important. I just think we have to be very careful not to overwhelm an education system that has finite classroom time available in which to make a positive impact on the future of our children.

My views: David Pachl 28/07/2010
===After being back in the school system the past 2 years, I think the curriculum is pretty good the way it is however I think that schools should be able to tweak it so as it fits in better within the school context. The school I work in has done that and it seems to work pretty well in the outcomes that they wish to achieve. The follow the VELS loosely and prepare there own learning outcomes to cater for their school community. In relation to areas that should be taught I think that a driver education program would definitely help, as when I went to school there was a program called motorvation and the majority of student's really enjoyed it as well as gaining road and driving knowledge. I think that an important area that needs to be covered further is life skills/manners/respect as a lot of young children these days struggle with these aspects as they go through life. More often than not innapropriate behaviour is seen. While educating on violence through various factrs such as alcohol, bad home life, financial stress and drugs is also an area which would greatly improve our community. I noticed Ken that you believe that special interest subjects could form a part of the curriculum. What type of topic areas did you have in mind? While on your deeper learning theory; would learning fewer subjects stunt the cognitive intentions of life, school and work? By focusing on fewer subjects, is it benefitial that the student's are not able to grasp as much knowledge on numerous subjects as they might otherwise have had. I believe that if a student just picks up one thing in a subject that could better his life, then it was worth teaching. If you limit your teaching to a few subjects thaey may miss the opportunity.===

**Week 2/3 – Part 3 – **** Your View **- Completed by Sue Cummings 30/07/2010 I feel at this stage, that my views are still being formed about what should or should not be in the new curriculum. I feel that my understanding of how the curriculum works is still being formulated whilst I am studying this degree. Although I have 4 children all going through the school system with varying experiences, I have felt the joys and the pains of the current Victorian state curriculum choices. As a pre-service teacher, I am learning more and more each day on how hard it is to keep the more senior students happy with their subject choices. After the last exercise was completed, I am led to ponder about what happens to a student as they transition from primary school into secondary school. Are we as teachers serving the students adequately to meet their individual needs during this time? From my observations in this exercise, it appears that secondary students seem to lose their passion for learning by about year 8 – 9. So to keep a students’ passion for learning alive, I think that we need to change our methods of delivery, examine how we value our students in the classroom and also the role that the students play in forming the right curriculum choices. I feel that the students may have engagement issues due to not feeling valued in the classroom. Therefore, rather than changing the curriculum, as such, maybe we need to look at how a lesson is delivered and change the pedagogy methods instead of the curriculum content.

My views: Natalie Brown 31/7/10. My views on what should be in the curriculum are that the need for the traditional subjects such as math, literacy, history, art, music, PE and science must remain as these subject are the base for the learning of all other subjects. Another subject that I would now add to the traditional subjects would have to be IT, as this subject has become more important in the last 20 years and is an important part of life weather you use technology for work, studies or pleasure. I am not sure on where I stand on LOTE, as I work with a number of children that find English hard to master, another language leaves them lost and confused. The curriculum needs to be flexible enough to cater for changers to the different needs of an area such as environmental education and for special subjects such as creating and maintaining a veggie patch or visiting older people in a nursing home. A curriculum needs to be able to deliver an educational system where students learn enough so that they can make educated decisions on their future and feel positive that they can achieve it.


 * __Week 3 Activity – My view. __**<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;"> Merron Calway (1/08/10)

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">As a pre-service teacher I am still developing my ideas but I’m fairly certain I would consider numeracy, literacy, history, science, geography and art, all supported by a good grounding in IT as essential subjects for a curriculum. I think all these subjects give students a good understanding of their world and how it works. This knowledge underpins all their other learning and future development. I also think subjects that enrich a student’s personal abilities or teach life skills such as food tech, wood tech, Ag hort etc, are important as they may begin to develop a keen interest or flair.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 11pt;">There seem to be endless options for inclusion in the curriculum but in my view the basics are essential. The challenge is not just //what// to include, but //how// we teach; the pedagogy of the curriculum. From my small survey it became evident that whether a subject was exciting or not depended entirely on the teacher. From this I concluded that, for students, even maths or science could be absolutely enthralling if the curriculum was delivered in a creative and interesting way.

Week 3 My View - Belynda Gribbin (3/08/10) As a students i too am just learning about different ideas and issues that should be taught to our generation and the next generation's children. What i do believe is that more areas should be given priority in the curriculum then just four main disciplines such as IT, technology design, art, PE, geography and LOTE. Children need to tackle the issues that prepare them for the future the 21st century, they need to be able to handle all the challenges that may come their way. They can achieve this by being taught by knowlegable, confident, innovative and motivated teachers.