Your+views+Sue+09

MY VIEWS by Leanne Martello

I agree with Kym, developing a curriculum is not going to be easy, everybody has stakes in it at some level so above all I think curriculums need to be flexible, but I do believe the governing philosophy should be agreed by all. I do believe that the curriculum should provide for a learning environment that develops the learner's essential knowlegde to function and contribute to personal, family, community and world futures. For example they do need to be numerate and literate. We need to understand numbers to understand money and time, we need to read and fill out documents, we need the language to communicate with others in various ways effectively. However I believe the learner can aquire this underpinning knowledge and engage more in their learning through learning experiences that are concrete, real and relevent to the lives of the individual learner. I also believe that the curriculum should provide for individualised programs intiated by the student based on their learning style, needs and interests at the time. I think the individual student should be at the core and No.1 stakeholder. I also think learning areas are not in isolation to each other, I think teaching accross the curriculum is important as they are interconnected. I think a curriculum that teaches individual students based on their strengths, likes, development empowers students, allows them to achieve more success, encourages them to want to learn, develops more self esteem, develops their resilience to persist and focus and provides the opportunity for them to flourish as learners throughout their lives.

From Kym Finally worked out the wiki yippee. Constructing a curriculum is never going to be easy and simple activity and whatever is deemed to be necessary to be in it, it will never please everybody. After reading Mel's post I think we have similar views in some respects. I believe that the curriculum should include core learning areas of numeracy, literacy, computers (ITC),world studies and PE. These learning areas should provide students with relevant, modern day life skills that will help them, for example, in numeracy, the teaching of finance both personally and business related material. Hopefully students will know what happens when bills don't get paid or what happens they sign up to mobile phone company deals and the basic understanding between good and bad debt. Having said that material needs to be relevant to modern day, students also need to know the basics of time table and how to calculate fractions. My Mum can still cite her times tables and calculate fractions and dare I say it she is in her 60's (early 60's just in case she reads this). The same as literacy, it is a requisite to communicating in society whether it be through reading and writing or speaking and listening. I had a friend say to me the other day why do kids needs to be able to spell when they use computers all the time and it has spell check? I could see her point but again I think the basics and simplicity of life is going. Students needs have access to computer skills as this is the way of life now and there is no turning back, computers are in everything from shops to your cars to being the Prime Minister. I also belive that a learning area of world studies should be included and that would involve learning about geography, our culture as well as other countries and their cultures and languages. Maybe this will help tolerance. All students should have a taste of other areas such as Home Ec, Ag science, Music, LOTE, Arts, that could include drama, dance, art and all the different facets and if they find they are interested in the learning area then they can take it as an elective. As a student (back when), you don't fully comprehend what it useful or necessary for life but as an adult you know what is relevant. And with all is needed to enter the work force, it makes me wonder how long and how much can students take in and there is only so many schooling hours in a day.

The area that I am most passionate or concerns about is the gap that students fall into when the they have not reached the "average minimum standard". I know of students that have falling into that gap and I am not saying that they haven't improved their skills but my questions are why have they not reached that? If they are struggling do they need extra help or tutoring? When they put their mind to it they can produce absolutely fantastic story writing. Do we need to have a average minimum standards? Does this affect students self esteem and confidence? So many questions and not too many answers but I suppose it all comes down to the type of teacher you want to become.


 * From Sue,**
 * Thanks for all your posts. There seems to be a general consensus that literacy and numeracy need to be addressed in schools as core subject areas. A number of you have delved more deeply into the complex issue of 'what to teach' with considerations of 'how we learn' being included. Others have considered the core subjects in terms of their process function ie we use literacy and numeracy skills to engage in thinking and doing of a broad array of areas. Finally, some have considered what students will need in the future e.g technology or to help the world became a more peaceful place. Many of you are starting to appreciate the complex nature of curriculum design.**
 * Regards**
 * Sue**

 MY VIEWS – Priscilla Hutchison

I think that students should be taught skills in areas such as thinking, planning, communication, social interaction, understanding the world, numeracy, literacy, ICT, the arts (eg. music, visual arts, drama, woodwork, design, textiles), cooking, sports, history, science and taking care of living things (eg. school garden or farm, class pet). I think that schools should provide a wide range of activities, particularly in Primary school, so that students are encouraged to engage in new experiences and not to fear the unknown. I am not sure if I feel that to teach these skills it is necessary to break them up into subjects. Perhaps it would be more relevant and better prepare students for real life situations, if they were given tasks to complete and problems to solve that required skills from a range of areas. Whether the curriculum is broken into subjects or is more integrated, I feel the main priority should be to provide students with learning experiences that are relevant to them, making learning more interesting and exciting, and easier for students to engage with.

My views on the Curriculum

I believe the curriculum should include numeracy, literacy, science, social science (including history), arts based subjects, ICT, life skills, PE and other cultures and languages.

In numeracy, I feel strongly that all students should not be forced to participate in conventional maths subjects such as algebra and geometry post grade eight. I believe it is a waste of the students time and schools resources, as most of the maths covered in year nine and beyond are not used in any practical way by the majority of people once they have left school, in most occupations or peoples day to day lives in our society. If a goal of the curriculum is to prepare students for their working lives and to participate fully in society, then it just does not add up to make such maths disciplines compulsory, instead, a more practical use of time and resources would be to teach students a numeracy skills based class that prepares them for 'real life' applications, such as being able to interpret statistics and data as it is presented in the media, also budgeting and loans etc. Traditional maths subjects should be optional and made available instead to those students who have a demonstrated interest in pursuing further studies or work that requires such knowledge. It is wrong to assume that students are naive to the fact that many of them will not be using most of the maths they are currently having to learn post grade eight once leaving school, and understandably many will admit to resenting the fact that they are being forced to do. I am concerned that such disengagement could have a negative affect on their entire educational experience. Many students in my numeracy unit last semester reported their dislike for maths at school and the frustration they felt at being forced to learn something without being able to attach any purpose to it.

I believe in the crucial value of literacy learning, especially to be able to read and understand texts, write well using correct grammar and punctuation, use critical literacy skills and construct a number of different texts for different purposes conventionally and using ICT. I also think that students should learn science and social science including a range of histories. I feel that arts based subjects should be core subjects within the curriculum and not afterthoughts. I also believe students should learn life skills such as cooking, budgeting, resume and interview techniques such as listening skills etc and within that to also learn about society and themselves including character building, teamwork and respect for others. The curriculum should ultimately provide all students with opportunities to have access to all aspects of ICT. Students should also be given the opportunity to participate in daily PE and learn the importance of healthy eating and exercise. I also think that students should be exposed to learning about other cultures ways of life, beliefs and traditions to hopefully help them to be members of a more tolerant global culture.

Mel A. Suleau 01/08/2010

== [|JenniferSweeney]

I believe the curriculum should include room for creativity and engagement in learning. I support the need for literacy, numeracy and science, however why should they be any more important than art or music. I think the curriculum should cater for the individual student, allowing them to become who they want to become. The world is made up of all kind of people and occupations; I do not believe that all we need to be nurturing and developing in schools are university academics. We need musicians, artist, firemen, plumbers, florist etc and our curriculum should represent this. Sir Ken Robinson states that the curriculum should be organic. Children are the seed and schools should be able to create an environment which supports and nurtures this seed, to grow and flourish into the flower it wants and is meant to be. == ==My Views on what should be in the curriculum I believe English and Mathematics should be in the curriculum as they are required for basic functioning in daily life. English provides opportunities for students to learn to express their self both verbally and in written form. Mathematics encourages logical thought. Science and ICT should be included to allow for an interest in both areas to be developed, so that people can function effectively in a scientifically and technologically advanced society. History too, to help develop an understanding of our Australian story, including Aboriginal uniqueness and culture as well as our changing place in the world ie: our relationship with the Asia-Pacific region. I believe History assists students in developing a sense of identity and belonging. Health and Wellbeing should also be included as students need to learn to take care of their own well-being in an ever changing and competitive world. (Tanya Gavralas) ==

What I think should be in the curriculum - Sara Hollingsworth English/Literacy needs to be part of the curriculum. Students need to learn how to read, write and communicate to function in society. Language is everywhere and students need to learn how to understand as well as be able to clearly express themselves to others. Maths/Numeracy is also incredibly important. We all need to have an understanding of numbers to function in society also. Students need to have a good understanding of what numbers represent and how to manipulate them to solve problems. They need to learn how to critically analyse data presented in the media. Financial literacy should also be a strong focus for students to learn about. Science teaches how things work and why things happen. History and Society provide an understanding of how society has evolved, why we live like we do today and where we may be heading in the future. Computers and technological are used in all facets of society today so ICT. should also be included in the curriculum. PE, health and well being, social skills, tolerance and acceptance are areas which teach students about who they are, how to interact with others, how their body works and how ‘different’ is okay. Visual Art, Music and drama can teach students about emotions, self expression and creativity.

My Views, by Therese Duff I hold the view that literacy and numeracy are core subjects that must be taught in all primary schools. As well as explicit teaching on these two core subjects much more teaching in these areas is brought in through all other curriculum subjects. Balance is probably the best word I can find at the moment to describe my views. For example I love all arts... but I don’t believe for one minute we can teach art of any form without congruently teaching literacy, numeracy or both. Students must be taught in all areas of their being, physical, spiritual, emotional, intellectual, mental, sexual and social in order to develop into well balanced human beings. With this in mind I believe we should expose children to as many new experiences and points of view as humanly possible during their schooling experience; therefore creating broad horizons for them to explore latter in life. I also believe that the Government should have guidelines in place to create the resources that the population will be in need of in the foreseeable future. For example if the government can see that in 10 years time we will have an aging population of doctors, they should implement strategies in curriculum planning that may encourage students to follow a path in medicine. With so many stakeholders and so many points of view it is a very controversial subject and one that will remain controversial for all time.

What I believe should be in the Curriculum. Kylie Wicks I believe that Literacy and Numeracy are subjects that it are vitally important for students to engage in as in order to function in all areas of society they will need at least a basic level of ability in these areas.Also in order to engage in other subject areas there must be a level of being literate and numerate and likewise other areas can provide other perspectives on literacy and numeracy. I agree with what Sara has posted above about the need for children to gain financial literacy in order for them to understand finances and in turn be less likely to get themselves into difficulty and also with the aim to set themselves up for a comfortable retirement later in life. I think most areas that are in the curriculum have their relevance and in order for all students to have access to subjects they find more interesting there must be variety. It is my belief the focus should be more on how to make the subject areas more relevant and engaging for the students to ensure a deeper level of understanding and competence to each individuals full potential.

Six weeks ago if I was asked this questions I most likely would’ve said English, Maths and Science. However throughout the last three weeks of reading various articles as well as the texts and lectures my views have shifted into a grey area. I believe the Curriculum is much more complex than people think at first glances. Once you sudy its content a bit further this is when you start to change your views. I was reading an article by Aaron Eyler titled, //“The Ugly Truth Of What We Teach In Schools”.// In this article Eyler made reference to the U.S Curriculum as it is //what// we teach and //how// we teach it, and how much we actually retain. This is important to me as I don’t see the point of having a greatly drafted Curriculum if the content is not being retained or learnt. Eyler makes an interesting point that the Curriculum should be more subjective to each student. The article to me, ment that the students should be learning more hands on subjects that will help them in the future, particualry IT. I imagine if this were to happen attendance and participation would most likely increase. So after taking all that information in it becomes very difficult for me to answer the question with a simple answer. Curriculum is not just the subjects, but what is taught in each subject, as well as what food is sold at the canteen. Maths and English teach you the skills to basically function in life. Whereas Sciences teach you everyday iformation too, such as why plants die and why you have to eat and why seasons change. So that makes these subjects very important. However the more practical side of things, textiles, cooking, IT and woodwork are just as useful in the workplace. Two important subjects that I believe __must__ be in the Curriculum that are not focused on enough. Understanding other Races and Religion. Being a multi-cultural country a focus on understanding the why about other races and religion are the way they are is important for us to live in harmony without racism. I believe if there was more education on this, we would be less racist to each other. By racist I mean towards types of religion too. If this could be achieved rascim and even the term of it would slowly seep out throuh the generations. The war on Iraq is totally uneccessary, this is a perfect example of misunderstandings. The US Government have declared this war on all Iraqees and in doing so condemed all Muslims. It was one group of people who bombed the Trade Centres in New York. They just happened to be from Iraq and they just happened to be Muslims. I strongly believe if there had been more education on race and religion the US Government would’ve never gone to war. They could have pursued the people responsible that is fine. But how many children have to die or lose their parents before it will stop? The second is Health. They need to have a subject dedicated entirely to health. Physical Education can be sperate which focuses on sports and team playing. Whereas the Health side of it teaches us healthy eating, effects on the body, how fat is stored and lost. With the nations obesity crisis it is a wonder there is not more education on being healthy and staying healthy. Danielle Porter ___- Slide 1

Ruth Knowles The following is a picture of how I think the curriculum should look in the everyday primary school classroom: I believe that the creative arts should be core subjects because they provide pathways to and between all subjects (at least in primary school). Visual Art, Music, Drama and Dance help children to synthesize what they learn in the vital areas of Literacy, Numeracy, Science Social Studies and Languages other than English. Students should learn how to think for themselves and to be critical of information they encounter through the media; indeed, learn to understand how advertising can have an adverse effect on happiness and contentment. The balanced curriculum should include lessons on health, nutrition and physical education; ethics and morals; oracy, debating and discussion skills -providing opportunities for children to talk about their feelings and emotions. Information technology should encompass all learning areas with an emphasis on a critical approach including warning of the risks and dangers of the cyber world. This all seems to spell out an overloaded curriculum, but by allowing the creative arts to be used as a vehicle many of these subjects can be integrated and our learning environments enhanced.

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.