Developing Researched Curricula
As a Top Voice in K-12 Education, I contribute regularly to LinkedIn's collaborative articles. In this process, I have found that there are unfortunately few or no contributors to many of the most intriguing and systemically important articles. For instance both What's the best way to design a K-12 curriculum based on research? and How can you create a research-based curriculum that reflects your professional growth? both had no contributions before I added mine.
Here is my contribution to these important topics. I hope you will contribute also. (Note, due to the limitations on contributions, I was not able to put all of this in those collaborative articles ?? )
Finding Your Purpose and Vision
Determining the purpose of the curriculum is critical, because to adapt a quote from Yogi Berra : If you don't know where you are going, they probably will wind up someplace else. In other words, if you don't truly focus on why the curriculum is important to the students and the students' future, and have a vision of what you want that future to look like, then at best your work will haphazardly get them closer to a better future, and at worse, take them away from a better future.
One model that is helpful in considering the full purpose of the curricula, and having a full vision for the broad outcome desired is to consider each of the Circles of Context the student exists within in the present, and will exist within in the future, and how the education will benefit different contexts.
While the curriculum does not necessary need to focus on all these contexts, at least by considering each context, there is less chance for gaps in your vision.
Reviewing the Research and Literature
With your purpose and vision now defined, you can start to research the literature. But, often at this point, curriculum developers only focus on research about how to teach, yet there are actually five distinct areas of research that are important:
Designing Your Curriculum Framework and Map
This process is usually iterative with conducting research. In that while doing your research of literature, especially the research about what competencies/content should a student learn, you will likely be starting to build the outline of the full curriculum. Further, while doing the research on promising practices for how to develop students' competencies/deliver content, and how to validly evaluate this learning, and how to provide feedback, and what level of learning should be considered sufficient; all of this research should be helping to fill out the curriculum framework/map.
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Developing Curriculum Educational Resources
Don't only think of educational resources as "handouts" or "materials". The most effective education has interaction. Even reading has the most educational value when it is contemplated, reflected on, and thought about how to use by the learner. Also, consider how the educational resources might be used in an online context, because as COVID showed, it is critical to also consider this modality.
Collaborating and Sharing Your Curriculum
During the development, it is extremely valuable if you are able to bring in various collaborators who are subject matter experts (SMEs), but don't only look for traditional SMEs. Practitioners in the field often will provide a viewpoint that can be missed by only talking with other academics.
And when the curriculum is ready to be shared, continue to get feedback from those who you are sharing the curriculum with. Further, if there was any public funding of your curriculum then consider the ethical duty to release the curriculum as an open educational resource so that it can benefit the public who paid for it.
Continually Improving Your Curriculum
Curriculum should never be "final". The world and our understanding of it is changing all the time. Even in subjects like "history", our understanding of what happened is changing, and an idea that was once mainstream may often no longer be valid. Further, the needs of the students are changing, as their world is changing around them. And, to think that the methods used in the curriculum to facilitate learning are perfect is foolish and conceited. Thus, as the curriculum is applied, there should be a way to learn from its implementation. The method of Lesson Study as developed in Japan is one excellent way to do this, as is simply reflecting after each student lesson, and thinking of improvements.
Remember...
Curriculum can only be considered successful, if what the students learn bring them value in their lives. Researching only "direct instruction" and not considering all 5 major parts of the formal learning process (content/competencies, delivery/development, evaluation, feedback, and graduation) is having curriculum that will not be as successful as it could be.
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11 个月Thank you Jacob Walker