A. As I was reading the article, I immediately thought how familiar this sounds. The purpose of curriculum mapping is to move all teachers into a collaborative/team attitude where the tools that they use will guarantee a safe landing for all students. Curriculum planning was devised because all too often teachers are following and interpreting the curriculum in ways that may and may not benefit the students' level of success. With curriculum mapping, according to the article, "world class" standards will always be achieved by the students because of the way that it is implemented through small learning communities.
B. My school has not mapped its curriculum, but now with the new curriculum trends, we are moving more towards "pacing" the curriculum. Like curriculum mapping this is our first year doing so through departments and as a way to put all teachers on the same page. Like curriculum mapping the special education teachers are forged in with the regular education teachers to partner up and allow the students the ability to be in with the regular curriculum. In my school it is very difficult to form the mapping process due to the large student body and staff that we have. If we are ever going to implement this we must have a 3-5 year vision of incorporating all of the necessary tasks to do this.
C. This curriculum mapping relates to the broader concept of curriculum change by forcing everyone to keep up with new trends in curriculum. If we want our students to do better than we must all be on the same page. Schools first have to get more collaborative measures in place so that the overall success is measured throughout in a uniform measure. We have seen how the 21st century is bringing on many new changes and challenges. To meet these challenges we have to be willing to participate in changes that cause changes under a different lens.
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3 comments:
You are absolutely correct. It takes time...and buy in. Once it is mapped, if it is not followed, it was a waste of time!
Forget being on the same page, I'm not even sure educators are reading the same book! While everything educators do takes time, kids are paying the price.
As a psychologist I understand resistance to change has to be identified and overcome. Still, at what point, if any, do administrators say that change must happen now?
Once the map is created, it is easy to follow and easy to change. It is like building a house....a long time in the making but you can change the various paint colors and fabrics to meet the changing styles. You would probably be great at creating the curriculum map!
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