Your+views+Eve+02

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.

Amy Elliott. Posted 2/08/10 MY VIEWS

The past three weeks has been a whirl wind of reading chapters, listening to lectures, reading the same chapters and listening to the same lectures many times over. While reading Sinclair Education in the arts-2009, Brady and Kennedy- 4th Edition 2010 and Pearson 5th edition 2110, extra resources and listening to the week 1-3 lectures in connecting unit; there has been copious amounts of information on educational developments, theorists, stakeholders and the construction of the curriculum. When I took a weekend off to let it all sink in, I had made my mind up. Mathematics, English/ literacy should definitely be the key subjects in the curriculum, although I strongly believe that ‘the arts’ need to have more dominance and respect than what it does right now. I am going to post a paragraph from the text (Education in the arts- teaching and learning in the contemporary curriculum/ Sinclair 2009 chapter 1/ p.5) that inspired me to research more about what I think should have more stance in our curriculum.

//**‘In play, the child instinctively engages artistically to discover the science and the mystery of living. This flows naturally into life skills and capabilities essential in contemporary society. ....a weight of research,....affirms that music- and visual-arts-rich schooling actually increase mathematical capability, by around 6 per cent, it seems; drama-rich schooling, perhaps predictably, increases the forgotten basic, oracy, and also enhances literacy by as much as, some studies suggest, as 24 per cent.’ *(Sinclair/ chapter 1, p.5) **// It is clear here, with supporting evidence, 'The arts’ help students with mathematical skills, literacy and language skill, social skills and also encourages enthusiasm, freedom of speech and creativity. Not only does it enhance students that are at the right level, art also helps students with learning difficulties. I believe ‘the arts’ should be more integrated into the curriculum as a main subject and support for all subjects surrounding .

Ryan Bruce Your Views I think that at the core of the curriculum should be key subjects in Maths and Literacy. The reason being is that other subjects draw on these two. I mean in history, for example, you need literacy skills to complete written tasks. Maths is a necessity because it is needed for use in everyday life. With other subjects, like geography, history, science, drama, commerce, music, art etc, students should be given a ‘trial period’ of these subjects to ‘taste test’ and get an understanding what the subject is about and whether they want to undertake the subject throughout the year. 31/7/2010

Posted by Fiona Nolan 30/07/2010 I feel that the foundations of classic curriculum (literacy, maths, science, etc) are crucial, but at some stage, there should be strong practical rather than theoretical components. I currently work in adult education training and see the gaps in both literacy and numeracy in particular. Many of my students with Year 12 and post-secondary educations lack practical skills to enable them to transfer their knowledge to the workplace.

I believe that there should be flexibility within the curriculum to allow students to build on their strengths whilst gaining a strong grounding in 'general' knowledge (history, geography, literature, the arts). If a student is not inclined towards English or Maths, there should be opportunity for them to build their artistic, sporting or practical skills. ICT is a critical subject as it will increasingly form the foundation for even the most basic functioning in the world.

I feel that a well rounded curriculum is important and hope that it is one which gives students an ability to actively engage with their environment, celebrate their strengths and provide them with a strong foundation with which to face the world.

Thoughts on the curriculum. 30/7/10 Literacy is the gateway to learning and is the first subject that humans participate in from birth. Listening, speaking, reading and writing: all attributes of literacy give access to the other domains of the curriculum and society. Numeracy should also be taught at school; not just the operations, formulas and metalanguage, but critical numeracy if we want our students of today and the future to be able to effectively participate in democracy. If we are to educate children for not just the present but the future as well, then ICT must be part of the curriculum. It is essential that students (and their teachers) are given the opportunity to utilise the technological resources that have become an indispensable, global tool in today’s multi-modal world. The Arts and Music are domains of learning that shouldn’t be relegated as subjects for the ‘gap kids’, students that are not academically motivated, rather they should be valued for the opportunity for discovery. Learning in the Arts and Music develops qualities such as creativity, aesthetic awareness and depth of thought, and is just as vital to a child’s education and understanding of society as the afore mentioned domains. Science also provides an opportunity for discovery, as well as meaning–making and appreciation of the environment. Wellbeing would be domain I would like to see: encompassing sport, kitchen garden program, health (physical, mental, emotional). This would provide all students with access to experiences and information to develop life skills. I would also like to see Philosophy taught, to enable students to explore and reflect on thinking and ethics. <span style="color: #7030a0; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 9pt; line-height: 115%;">Al these domains can be integrated and in some cases such as literacy often are. Smiles... Kazz Stafford Dan Mitchelson July 27

The curriculum needs to be focused in a way that involves an equal amount of instruction and side be side or guiding methods. Naturally, foundations must be laid in certain areas, including math and literacy - but not restricted to these as other methods complement the teaching in these subjects that aren't necessarily considered core subjects. As other have mentioned, I also work with children who will most likely not attend university straight from high school - if ever, but I believe that while a foundation needs to be provided for them to access and contribute to society in a valuable way, we can't lose sight of the ideals we hold for them and not have great expectations.

Posted by Vicki Goyen July 27 //What I think should be in the curriculum.// English and maths should be given at least an hour each per day. Most secondary schools work on a 30 periods-per-week timetable, often meaning that some English and math lessons are two or three days apart. Many students find it difficult to retain newly aquired knowledge/terms/formula if not revised the following day. Because so many other subjects (e.g. drama, sport, PE, music, food, wood, computers, art, LOTE, science, textiles, SOSE, personal development) are added into the secondary curriculum English and maths are generally given only 5 periods (4 hours) each per week. I would like to see ICT used more in as many classes as possible. There should be more training and upskilling provided for teachers in ICT programs and services available. Our students are being educated in a cyber-space world of increased globalisation; without appropriate ICT education we would be doing our students a disservice. END

<span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">Posted by Kathryn Lock - 27/07/10 <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">My view. <span style="color: #0000ff; font-family: Georgia,serif;">I am fortunate enough to work in a school where Literacy, Maths, Physical Education, Music and Art are valued and have a high priority within the curriculum. One subject that I have yet to be seen taught at my school is Science. During my recent prac, I noticed the ongoing frustration of one the teachers who has a science background and would love to implement a science program, but couldn't due to the lack of time/space in the curriculum (they are hoping for this to change with the upcoming school year). However, as many of the other teachers are not 'strong' in this area, they don't seem to be concerned with this at all. I am hoping this will change with a significant amount of money spent on science equipment in preparation for the new school year. I am sure the students would love to participate in experiments and really get a taste of how things work. I believe these are skills and knowledge that are necessary for students to learn and it will benefit the students in the later years at school where science is part of the curriculum.

<span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**Posted by Bec Prince - 25/07/2010** <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">**My views:** <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">On the top of the list for what I think should be taught in the curriculum is literacy. All components are just as important reading, writing, speaking and listening. I don't believe there is enough focus on these basic skills in the classrooms today and I see many students who are falling behind fellow classmates because they struggle to keep up. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">Maths is another subject which most definitely should be in the curriculum and which needs more focus. I believe some teachers think that simply giving a worksheet to their students will help them learn mathematics. But how are the students to complete the worksheet if they haven't been shown how to work it out? <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">After completing the unit 'Science' through UTAS I now believe this to be a very important subject for students to learn. Not only can it be fun and interesting, but their are many skills and knowledge students can learn in this subject which will benefit them in the future. <span style="color: #000080; font-family: 'Comic Sans MS',cursive;">The last area which I believe is very important to include in the curriculum is ICT. Computers and other terchnologies are becoming more and more popular in our schools every day. Nearly every adult would need the skills to use a computer in their daily life, whether it be for pleasure or work. I believe it is essential for students to learn these skills at a young age to prepare them for the future.

My background is in integration and the majority of the children I work with, will never go to university, or even complete year 12. Subjects such as maths, english, science etc., are important at the basic level, to enable them to participate in the wider community. However subjects that teach them to cope independantly day -to-day, would be of huge benefit also.Being able to understand such things as finances, how to get a loan, or prepare for a job interview, or organise the weekly shopping. These sort of things would be beneficial to these students and many other 'main stream' students as well.

The following is posted by Kirstene Ayers:

I am wondering why we are not putting this in the discussion part, but will add to here so as to follow all of you.
I believe I have a lot to learn about the curriculum and what is needed. There will always be a tug of war over how much time is allocated to each topic as all are important. English and Maths are obvious needs for students and can be integrated into the other subject areas. Computers and ICT should now be considered just as important and a balanced approach should be applied to help students become balanced members of society. I like the idea of discovery learning that my children are experiencing as it allows them to follow their own interest and with effective guided teaching will give them the essential skills need in all of the topic areas. I would like to see mental illness and disabilities covered in the curriculum but I suppose this topic is not as important as the others and can be included in the hidden curriculum. They have attempted to overcome racial biases by including multicultural studies and I think it is time they realised that similar needs exist in the disabilities area. Cheers Kirstene

Jessica Backhaus

I feel that although Literacy and Numeracy is important, that the focus in the curriculum should also include other focuses. The information I gathered from the previous task and my 7 years experience working as an aide shows me that students lack basic social skills. Students need more of the arts such as drama where they can roll play and express themselves whilst learning from other students( modelling) Students are very creative individuals yet its only shown once a week in art when they get to express themselves through an activity, it's hands on activities like these that help to shape them. I feel that the students would be more engaged in schooling if it was based around more than literacy and numeracy. The visual aspect has been proven to be critical in literacy and numeracy such as flash cards or counters so they visualize what is being learnt. If they can be visually stimulated, if there is something to see or touch they are more focused and passionate about their own learning.