PHILOSOPHY OF CURRICULUM:

Rebecca Ramzel

PURPOSE:

Literature : Because children are required to come to school, school personnel have a duty to provide them with a safe, secure and peaceful environment in which learning can occur. (Hurwitz, Menacker & Weldon, 1996).

PURPOSE, DESIGN AND ASSESSMENT:As to what roles we need to take and who should be the decision/policy makers, I believe that educators, families, as well as government leaders must be in on the decision making process. I believe that we are all in agreement with what the end result in our educational system needs to be, so shouldn’t we all be involved in the decision making process as well? It is my opinion that we are all stakeholders of curriculum, from government leaders - to teachers and administration - to the students themselves. The government leaders are in position to “make things happen” and we as teachers/administrators find our jobs on the line if certain curriculum criteria is not met, and who will be our leaders of the future if not the students learning from said curriculum themselves? For one party to exclusively decide what the expectations are, how they will be achieved and what the penalties are for non compliance will be, would be to totally ignore what could be very valuable opinions and resources. As stated by Tomlison and McTighe , we must remember that the student is the focal point of our work as teachers and educators (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006), therefore to exclude these resources would be a crime.

MY PHILOSOPHICAL BELIEFS:

It is my belief that the role school should play for each individual is to mold and create a confident, knowledgeable, well-adjusted and functioning human being who is capable of putting their knowledge to use in today’s world.

MOST IMPORTANT FOR STUDENTS TO LEARN:

The role school should play for each individual is to mold and create a confident, knowledgeable, well-adjusted and functioning human being who is capable of putting their knowledge to use in today’s world.

DIFFERENT CURRICULUM FOR DIFFERENT STUDENTS?

Curriculums should meet the needs of all students (verbal & not, literate & not) or at the very least allow room for educators to adjust and modify their teaching of said curriculum to meet those students needs. A curriculum that ties the hands of educators simply will not work in most of today’s school.

WHOSE VALUES SHOULD BE REFLECTED, WHO ARE THE STAKE HOLDERS, WHAT IS MY ROLE?

As to what roles we need to take and who should be the decision/policy makers, I believe that educators, families, as well as government leaders must be in on the decision making process. I believe that we are all in agreement with what the end result in our educational system needs to be, so shouldn’t we all be involved in the decision making process as well? It is my opinion that we are all stakeholders of curriculum, from government leaders - to teachers and administration - to the students themselves. The government leaders are in position to “make things happen” and we as teachers/administrators find our jobs on the line if certain curriculum criteria is not met, and who will be our leaders of the future if not the students learning from said curriculum themselves? For one party to exclusively decide what the expectations are, how they will be achieved and what the penalties are for non compliance will be, would be to totally ignore what could be very valuable opinions and resources. As stated by Tomlison and McTighe , we must remember that the student is the focal point of our work as teachers and educators (Tomlinson & McTighe, 2006), therefore to exclude these resources would be a crime.