Part 1: Read the following narrative
Setting the Stage: Rethinking Curriculum and Leadership Approaches
How long have American schools organized and delivered instruction in a traditional manner based on age and subject? Traditional learning is face-to-face teaching and learning most of us grew up with in K-12 education. It is synchronous, whereby everyone must be in the same room simultaneously to make the learning experience happen for everyone. Students move vertically from grade to grade until graduation at the end of grade 12.
Can this change?
As the world changes, it’s important to understand that change is a necessity of growth .. knowing that change is hard.. change is complex..change is risky. Nevertheless, we must change how schooling is designed because NOT changing in an ever-changing world is the most significant risk.
The COVID-19 crisis shined a spotlight on significant flaws in our current ways of teaching and learning, exposing how dependent students have become on adults to direct their learning and how damaging our assessment practices are for intrinsic motivation for learning.
Curriculum and instructional design must be rethought because of the scale and pace of change taking place in our world.
The speed and degree to which technology, economics, information, politics, climate, and population changes have affected human interaction and behavior with potentially devastating consequences (Bostrom, 2019). While the anatomy of the brain has remained relatively stable in the past few thousand years, the tools and technology used to make meaning of the world and our lives have significantly impacted how students think and interact.
We have entered an era when a spirit of inquiry and innovation is required to help us navigate the increasingly complex, interconnected world and solve transdisciplinary problems of the 21st century and beyond.
Students require new sense-making tools to understand complexity leading to an overwhelming need to teach our children to be adaptable, flexible, lifelong learners.
The most effective curriculum leaders:
Embrace the dynamic role and go beyond expectations
Establish new directions
Align people and resources
Motivate participants and aid school improvement processes
Have to read Hattie’s principles
Book Review: Hattie’s Visible Learning for Teachers
