Curriculum as Praxis

Transcription

1 PART 1 Curriculum as Praxis 1.1 Introduction As borders continue to narrow and societies grapple with catering to diverse needs that arise as a result, the role of teachers has become more critical. Teachers are needed to aid in nurturing the habits and consciousness necessary to create a society where everyone feels valued and respected regardless of cultural context. For this to happen, however, teachers need to be properly prepared. This section therefore opens with a chapter focusing on the preparation of this critical stakeholder group. Roofe, Bezzina and Holness using a social justice lens spotlight teacher preparation as an important area of focus in the curriculum dialogue and the transformation of society. The authors note that teacher preparation should ensure that teachers are prepared in such a way that their practices demonstrate an understanding that each student in the classroom has an indefensible claim to all the benefits, opportunities and resources regardless of gender, socio-economic status, ethnicity or ability. In this sense the teacher preparation curriculum should provide teacher trainees with opportunities to construct their beliefs and identities regarding issues of fairness, equity and power dynamics. Through case studies of teacher educators in Jamaica, Malta and England, the authors explore the perspectives of teacher educators on a social justice orientation towards how curriculum is developed and enacted in teacher preparation programmes. The perspectives of the respondents are used to provide an analysis of the social justice function of the curriculum in each context.

2 10 CURRICULUM AS PRAXIS The respondents though operating in three different country contexts all had a shared understanding of social justice and expressed that for one reason or other students come to educational encounters with different needs and/or disadvantage and resources need to be redistributed. An effective teacher preparation curriculum that nurtures social justice principles and practices is seen as one that develops the learner s relational qualities and skills through both personal and social engagement as prospective teachers engage as learners in relation to other learners. However how this was enacted differed across country contexts. For Jamaica, the theme of social justice was not an explicit concept in teacher preparation curriculum;hence teacher educators in the study expressed the need for this to happen. In Malta and England, explicit notions of social justice underpinned teacher preparation curriculum. However, the teacher educators indicated that the evidence suggested that attempts have not been as successful as expected. Since teaching is not value neutral,we believe the teacher preparation curriculum should be designed to include social justice practices and orientations and be enacted by teacher educators who understand their own interpretations of social justice as well as their students past and current histories and learning experiences (Lee 2011). This involves teacher educators utilizing pedagogies that are social justice oriented and creating a learning environment that reduces prejudices, incorporates multiple ways of constructing knowledge and takes into considerations individual rights, values and culture to facilitate equity for all (Banks 2008). Following the chapter by Roofe et al., Cruz, Madden and Asante draw our attention to the complex nature of the curriculum discourse in light of globalization. The authors note that societies no longer have a shared onto-epistemology; instead, there is an increasing diversity of ontoepistemologies in a single context. Cruz, Madden and Asante believe there is a push to globalize what is local to the Global North, as if it were neutral, universal and the best standard that humanity can offer. Citing Marginson and Sawir (2011), Cruz, Madden and Asante stated this creates a case of othering that occurs in the assumption that there is a standard or universal way of knowing and being, implying that some knowledges and cultures are better than others. The study sought to provide a comparative analysis of science education between the Philippines, Ghana and the United States to illuminate a potential model for engaging in anti-hegemonic, cross-cultural curriculum development. To enable this process, Postner s (2004) framework and

3 CURRICULUM AS PRAXIS 11 Ricouer s (2007) lens of translation were utilized to examine the national science curriculum of each country. The results of the analyses indicated that (1) notions of science education as well as its purposes are subjective; (2) the content of science education between countries is very similar; and (3) the intended delivery and implementation of educational experiences as well as its evaluation are tied to language and culture. The authors concluded that if we truly want to participate in crosscultural and more specifically intercultural curriculum development that recognizes and appreciates differences, then stakeholders must first have a curriculum analysis, similar to the one herein, of their local context in order to understand their own philosophical assumptions regarding the subject matter in relation to other contexts. Continuing the science discourseis the chapter by Sheety, Kapanadze and Joubran where emphasis is placed on the role of the teacher in implementing curriculum initiatives. Using multiple case studies, the study sought to explore high school science teachers perceptions regarding current practices of inquiry-based science curriculum (IBSC) and teachers challenges and needs in implementing such a curriculum in three different countries: Georgia (situated on the dividing line between Europe and Asia), Israel (Asia) and the United States (North America). Additionally, the research sought to identify instructional barriers to implementation that might be hampering more widespread adoption of these educational methods. Inquiry-based learning (IBL is )seen as a necessary strategy for providing student-centred learning. The authors note that teachers are the facilitators and mediators between the written curriculum and their students; thus, their beliefs, interpretations and perceptions are of utmost importance in understanding how inquiry-based curricula are implemented in each of the countries. Findings from the study indicated that similarities and differences among the three countries were found in the four aspects that were studied: perception, implementation, challenges and support. However, there were also differences, even within the same country. For example, in Pennsylvania, USA, differences were noted among teachers who were required to prepare students for a state exam (in Biology) and those teachers who were not (Physics and Chemistry). Differences were also apparent among teachers who worked in private school and public and charter schools, especially with regard to budget and support issues. In Georgia, some of the interviewed teachers have not engaged in inquiry-based teaching because they do not know how to implement it. Not all participant

4 12 CURRICULUM AS PRAXIS teachers use curricula during their lesson planning. Some use a teacher s guide and consider it more helpful than the curriculum. In Israel, some teachers engage in inquiry-based teaching, despite the difficulties; others have never engaged in inquiry-based teaching because it is not required and they do not perceive that they are well-prepared enough to implement it. Sheety et al. concluded that there is a gap between teachers desire and capacity to effectively implement IBSC, and professional development of IBL assessment tools was needed to aid teachers in addressing many of the challenges and barriers to the effective implementation of IBSC. The chapter by Acker and Nyland on music as a platform for intercultural understanding helps us to reflect on the importance of the creative and performing arts in a neoliberal context that we are living in, one that conditions the way we, as educators, engage with education and schooling. In the performativity culture that seems to be engulfing societies, the authors highlight the intercultural potential of music within and across cultures. Acker and Nyland focus on the early childhood years and argue that with increased globalization, with people moving across boundaries, music can serve as a medium to promote social and cultural cohesion. Framed in this manner, the arts become a rights issue. The plea at the end for music teachers to go public reminds us of the work of David Halpin (2003) on hope and that in a context which is becoming more demanding and stressful, especially in contexts of social and economic disadvantage, teachers need to remain hopeful and challenge a reality which can easily lead to cynicism, fatalism, relativism and fundamentalism. This resonates with the writings of Henry Giroux (1988) who argued that teachers need to act as transformative intellectuals in the struggle to overcome economic, political and social injustices, and to further humanize themselves as part of the struggle (Giroux 1988, p. 17). This thread of optimism, of passion and service is also evidenced in the chapter by Blair that explores transformative leadership in the Caribbean islands of the Dominican Republic and Jamaica and the United States. The author acknowledges that in spite of the fact that demands and policies seem to expect that teachers are better qualified and educated to teach, their status and autonomy is low when compared to other professions and that participation in decision-making is limited. Blair argues that transformative teacher leadership is the mechanism for conceptualizing, implementing and sustaining meaningful change while simultaneously changing the very nature of teachers work. The author notes that the potential behind transformative teacher leadership lies within a larger framework

5 CURRICULUM AS PRAXIS 13 that encompasses also curriculum theory and practice. Thus, transformative leaders and leadership act within a context which sees teachers engage with the curriculum in a dynamic manner leading to school reform and improvement. Similar in vein to other chapters in this section, Blair calls for an interventionist activism approach by teachers, one imbued with hope and a commitment to advocacy. In a context where outcomes have been disappointing, the challenge is even greater. One of the arguments posited in this chapter is that curriculum and leadership need to come together, highlighting their interdependence, and this can be achieved through a recognition of the central role that teachers can play. The plea is to close the transformation gap through the way we view the role of the teacher using the curriculum as a foundation for generating change and doing so through the direct involvement of teachers in collaborative decisionmaking endeavours. References Banks, J. A. (2008). An introduction to multicultural education. Boston: Pearson. Giroux, H. (1988). Teachers as intellectuals:toward a critical pedagogy of learning. Westport: Begin & Garvey. Halpin, D. (2003). Hope and education The role of the utopian imagination. London: RoutledgeFalmer. Lee, Y. A. (2011). What does teaching for social justice mean to teacher candidates. Professional Educator, 35(2), Marginson, S., & Sawir, E. (2011). Ideas for intercultural education. New York: Palgrave Macmillan. Posner, G. J. (2004). Analyzing the curriculum (3rd ed.). New York: McGraw Hill. Ricoeur, P. (2007). On translation. London/New York: Routledge.