A year ago, I struggled with coming to terms with analyzing the worth and function of curriculum. After a long while, many articles read, and discussions debated, I came to a few conclusions that so far are holding, even and especially in light of our current state of affairs.
Curriculum in any time and place becomes the site of a battleground where the fight is over whose values and beliefs will achieve legitimization and the respect that acceptance into a national discourse provides. --Kliebard, 1995 The concept of curriculum, especially in regards to school curriculum has many different meanings and approaches depending on the perspective of the person holding the definition. I find it easy to picture a concept as complex with contradictory understandings or perspectives could be compared to a battlefield. The field of education itself has many stakeholders: the children, their parents and families, the educators, the school administration, the district administration, state policy makers, state governments, federal government, companies, workplaces, businesses…the list is almost endless because what happens in the education of our children affects everything and everyone those children touch or will touch. At the heart of this connection is the concept of curriculum, the pathway to a student’s learning. As the quote states, “the fight is over whose values and beliefs will achieve legitimization.” Teaching is often referred to as “being in the trenches,” and as a teacher, I agree with this statement. The struggle happening in our schools is exactly what the quote is expressing, the battle to have someone else’s beliefs and values legitimized – the someone else being the combatants, those that create curriculum. On one hand, the combatants are all fighting for a better future; however, it is their version of better. On the other hand, they are fighting to convince the public their vision is the correct one, their concept of what a better future is, a better workforce, and better support for economic growth to compete with outside influences. However, I don’t think anyone is truly winning the battle. We are still stuck with the outdated concepts meant to push manufacture instead of pushing invention and innovation. Currently, this pattern of curriculum development is still held as legitimate and is therefore winning. Much of this is due to industry driving policy decisions through politics. Those in power, both voters and politicians, do not trust those in education due to the failures being experienced and the inaccurate data being disseminated through the media, such as the skewed comparison reporting on the study concerning education money spent per pupil. But, the need for innovation, inquiry, critical thinking, and imagination is slowly gaining ground. Those that push these curricular concepts are still losing, but hopefully not for long. This is a battle of stamina, and in light of the potential defunding of the NEA, I think being an Art Teacher is going to be even more important.
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Kait E CottengimA wandering leaf, teacher, lifelong book addict, ofttimes artist/writer, & eclectic spiritual explorer. ArchivesCategories |