Chapter 4: Deconstruction as a Critical Teaching Skill Learning Topics Understanding Learning Goals...

Chapter 4: Deconstruction as a Critical Teaching Skill

Learning TopicsUnderstanding Learning Goals and Expectations

Effective Lesson PlanningData Based Decision Making for the Improvement of Instruction

copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education Canada 4 - 1

Curriculum goals may be called many other things.

• Aims• Expectations• Competencies• Objectives• Ends• Outcomes• Ends sought• Purposes


Social Studies: Innovative Approaches for Teachers

Knowing how to examine, analyze, and use curriculum goals for Social Studies, requires that the teacher have and use

the following curriculum skills:

• Professional knowledge – to see the pattern and intent in each goal

• Pedagogical content knowledge – to know how to teach an idea, what students are likely to misunderstand, and how to use effective examples to support understanding

• Knowledge of the standards of the discipline – to ensure that learning time is connected and directed toward the attainment of high levels of learning related to significant knowledge

copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education Canada 4- 3


• A solid personal philosophy of learning – so that learning is going somewhere, rather than consisting of unconnected, low level activities

• Experience – to know how to approach learning in the most beneficial and efficient manner in respect to the learning time available

• Imagination – to manage learning experiences that help students transcend time and location to develop deep understanding

• Rich resources – so that teachers can select and provide for diversity and variety to promote breadth and detail in learning



Curriculum Goals can be provided at many levels for the same course.

SYSTEM GOALS-reflect the goals of the entire program, including all subject areas at all grade levels Example: The student is able to apply inquiry to the investigation of events in the past and present. PROGRAM GOALS– reflect the combined goals of all subjects within the program for a grade level. Example: The student is able to use language conventions appropriately to describe events from the past. COURSE GOALS- reflect the combined goals of all units within the subject of Social Studies for the grade level.Example: The student is able to analyze the causes of an event and provide evidence to support their

opinions.

INSTRUCTIONAL GOALS– reflect the changes in knowledge, skills, and attitudes anticipated as the result of specific learning

experiences.Example: The student is able to identify four push and four pull factors that affected development of the

Canadian prairies.copyright © 2011 by Pearson Education Canada 4 - 5


Goals are influenced by many considerations.

Add Figure 5 here



Situated Learning Goals

Learning goals should be:1. Socially situated- Learners should have

opportunities to learn within a community of learners.

2. Situated in key content- Learners must have opportunities to be immersed in the key concepts and ideas that reflect the goals for learning.



Learning goals should anticipate the common types of conceptions that students may hold about the topic.

• Preconceptions - Students do not yet understand the concept fully.

• Misconceptions - Concepts are internalized incorrectly when some aspect is misunderstood in the learning process.

• Alternative frameworks – Concepts are internalized in unique, imaginative, and possibly misconceived forms because students relate embedded ideas in unanticipated ways.

(Adapted from Driver and Easley (1978), Pupils and paradigms: A review of literature related to concept development in adolescent science students, Studies in Science Education 5: 61-84)



Using Springboard Stories to Address Learning Goals in Social Studies

• Springboard or touchstone experiences create emotive responses in young learners.

• Emotive responses help learners to remember key ideas.

• Springboard or touchstone experiences provide opportunities for integration across subject areas.



Creating springboard or touchstone experiences

What types of springboard experiences could you use with students in a unit of study about early settlers?Find some examples of touchstone books that you might use with young learners to help them understand a new Social Studies topic.



Goals should be stated to:

• Avoid “serial pop-up activities” that fail to address deep understanding.

• Involve students in the “mindful exploration of the world around them”. (Smith, 1999, p.7).



Guideline goals are written to encompass large related ideas.

Example:

Grade 3 students will identify geographic and environmental factors that explain the location of various urban and rural communities.

In order to achieve this goal, students will also need to be able to: Identify what a geographical feature is Identify what an environmental factor is Identify an urban community Identify a rural community Generate criteria for a comparison Use actual, photographic, and electronic sources to identify and sort features Sort by criteria Recognize patterns and anomalies Generalize



Deconstructing Learning Goals

Deconstruction involves the thoughtful examination of guideline goals so the teacher can determine what students need to learn to be successful in achieving the overall goals.



Lesson Planning

Effective lesson planning includes many components that must be carefully considered to ensure the learner’s success.

Effective lesson plans include:• identifying learning goals• identifying social skills goals that will support

learners’ success as part of a community of learners



• Pre-assessing the learners to determine the types of conceptions they have about the topic

• Motivating learners• Determining the most effective orientation for the new

learning• Providing guided practice• Supporting generalizations• Embedding assessment and evaluation into the learning• Providing exemplars• Promoting metacognition



Data Based Decision Making About Learning

Teachers use data about the learning to determine the next steps they should take to ensure success for each learner.

With young learners, data is frequently collected through observation.



Using Data to Make Instructional Decisions

• Add Figure 8 from Chapter 4 here



Many learning goals will direct students to narrate, describe,

or make maps.

The inquiry question “What are its interesting characteristics?” can be investigated by using three inquiry skills:

• narration• description• map making



Map Making Skills for Young Learners

Map making requires young learners to understand complex concepts such as one-to-one correspondence and scale.

Mapping skills need to be deconstructed into smaller skills and sub-skills must be taught and practised.



Chapter ReviewClear and carefully considered goals for the Social Studies program guide

orientation, and strategies, and focus subsequent events.Teachers need sophisticated curriculum knowledge to analyze guideline

goals and help them provide the intended program of Social Studies.Professional knowledge, knowledge of discipline standards, a personal

philosophy of learning, experience, imagination, and access to rich resources help the classroom teacher analyze and implement the stated goals of the Social Studies program.

Curriculum goals should be analyzed to uncover and clarify intended connections among the content, processes, and student products created in response to the curriculum.

Education goals should reflect the nature of knowledge organized in the discipline of Social Studies, the nature of society, and the nature of the learner.



• Curriculum goals are often referred to by other names (e.g., aims, competencies, outcomes, etc.).

• Curriculum goals can be stated at different levels to provide direction for the province/territory, school system, and classroom.

• Many factors in the school, community, society, and learner, influence the development of curriculum goals.

• Situated learning goals will provide transformative, constructivist learning direction for classrooms.

• Students may hold a variety of inaccurate conceptions about topics that will require the teacher’s attention during instruction; goals for implementation should take these conceptions into account.



• Many strategies can be useful to surface students’ prior knowledge about a topic before specific goals for new instruction are identified.

• Springboards are learning experiences that become memorable anchors for students’ learning because they create strong emotive responses and address key concepts of the program.

• Resources need to be selected carefully to support program goals.

• Clear goals help to ensure that learning time can be used productively and efficiently.

• Goals must reflect the standards of the discipline of Social Studies.



• Goals stated in provincial/territorial guidelines need to be deconstructed by teachers to identify the embedded knowledge, skills, and attitudes that will need to be taught for the success of the student in achieving the overall goal.

• Background knowledge, concepts, and skills need to be acquired before students will benefit from engagement in complex learning tasks such as inquiry.

• A comprehensive conception of the interrelated elements of sound lesson planning will help teachers maximize instructional time.

• Data can support our decisions about how we approach effective instruction in Social Studies.

• The skills of narration, description, and map making will support students’ ability to address inquiry that seeks to examine the characteristics of a situation or event.



Chapter 4: Deconstruction as a Critical Teaching Skill Learning Topics Understanding Learning Goals...

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