Teachers, Scheds and Sadler 4 Seder (2005), Feom Boson ¢MeGepw Hive 228 Ss rT chap Part It Schools and Curriculum, vwowwamhhe.comisadker7e and history, in which teachers ask higher-order questions that prompt students to an, alyze and evaluate data, Research indicates that not only do students learn critica thinking skills in such programs, but thelr knowledge of the content also increases ‘when they apply these skils in the classroom. $2 Teaching for Thinking Is just one of several approaches. David Perkins of Harvarg University’s Project Zero emphasizes thinking frames, so that students develop 4 framework for acqulting information, internalizing practices, and transferring infor mation.* Another approach, developed by Robert Marzano and his colleagues, stresses metacognition which enables students to monitor and control theit com. mitment, attitudes, and attention during the learning process. Important tralts for creative thinking include the ability to push one's own limits, the willingness to look at situations in new ways, and an ability to focus intensely on tasks. If these behav. {ors can be taught to students, they will become independent learners for the rest of thelr lives, Some educators are confident that these critical thinking skills are useful beyond the schoolhouse walls. Critical pedagogy Is the term given to applying such analytic tools to society at large, and merges teaching and learning with social improvement. The purpose of critical pedagogy is for students and teachers to work on atithentic social challenges such as eliminating pollution in a local lake or pro- moting consumer education in @ poor community. Critical pedagogy connects schooling with actions to enhance the quality of life. As you have read about today’s curriculum and how it has changed during the past decades, you may have felt a sense of 46) vu, with many recurring themes. There seems to be a timeless struggle among educators who hold differing visions of what schools should do, While other professions demonstrate steady, long-term progress, researcher Robert Slavin says that “education resembles such flelds as fashion and de- sign, in which change mirrors shifts in taste and social climate and is not usually thought of as true progress.”** Many educators yearn for a more stable time when the radical curricular swing will be fine-tuned, so that innovation will depend more on research about what works than on the politics of who is in power. Only then can we best meet the needs of our students. ® The Saber-Tooth Curriculum How can the curriculum prepare for tomorrow while preserving the past? Fere is how curriculum scholar Michael Apple puts it: ‘The cursiculum must skmultaneously be both conservative and critical. ft must preserve the deals that have guided discourse in the U.S for centuries: faith inthe American peopl, a ‘commitment to expanding equallty, and a commnltment to diversity and Uberty. Ye it must also empower individuals to question the ethics of thelt institutions an ‘when they fall to meet these ideals © ct them Unless we carefully consider what a school is for and what kind of cusriculurn can meet those goals, we might end up with a "saber-tooth curriculum.” Since many of you may never have read this classic satire on Paleolithic cuerleulum weitten by Ab ner Peddiwell, known in real life as Harold Benjamin, we will summarize the story of The Saber-Tootts Curriculum for you here. This clever parody reveals the flaws of a saber-téoth curriculum, Are there any positive aspects of this kind of curriculum? New-Fist was a brilliant educator and thinker of prehistoric times, He watched the children of his tribe playing with bones, sticks, and brightly colored pebbles, and he speci: more F Ever his tlt horses; tigers v subject ©) *Sat New tivities New-Fi childre: Ally an une sliding was imy of the g Atier Jar ger that ions ww tigers to freater ¢ curity bents toa 1 etc Increases f Hlarvarg evelop a | ing intor. olleagues, hele com, tralts for '55t0 look, se behav. | the rest of are sell | applying. ath socal sto work _| seor pro. | connects g the past tes, There of what progres, nand de ot usually when the moreon an can we ore is how serve the + people, a feet must ve them alum ean many of an by Ab- e story of e flaws of lculum? tched the s, and he gnopter6 What Students Ate Taught in Schools speculated on what these youngsters might learn that would help the tribe derive ‘more food, shelter, clothing, security, and, in short, a better Ife. Eventually, he determined that in order to obtain food and shelter, the people of his tribe must learn to fish with thelr bare hands and to club and skin little woolly horses; and in order to live in safety, they must Iearn to drive away the saber-tooth tigers with fire, So New-Fist developed the first curriculum, It consisted of three basic subjects: (1) “Fish-Grabbing-with-the-Bare-Hands,” (2) "Woolly-Horse-Clubbing,” and {G) "Saber-Tooth-Tiger-Scaring-with-Fire, New-Hist taught the children these subjects, and they enjoyed these purposeful ac- tivitles more than playing with colored pebbles. The years went by, and by the time New-Fist was called by the Great Mystery to the Land of the Setting Sun, all the tribe’s children had been systematically schooled in these three skill; the tribe was prosper ous and secure, All would have been well and the story might have ended here had it not been for an unforeseen change—the beginning of the New Ice Age, which sent a great glacier sllding down upon the tribe, The glacter so muddled the waters of the creeks that it 1vas impossible for people to catch fish with thelr bare hands. Also, the melted water of the glacier mace the ground marshy, and the litle woolly horses left for higher and rier land. They were replaced by shy and speedy antelopes with such a scent for dan- ger that no one could get close enough to club them. And finally, as if these disrup- tions were not enough, the increasing dampness of the air caused the saber-tooth, tigers to contract pneumonia and die, The tigers, however, were replaced by an even greater danger: ferocious glacial bears, who showed no fear of fire. Prosperity and se- curity became distant memories for the suffering tribe. 29230 carrer, review 60 to the Online Learning Center to take a chapter salf-qui, practice with key terms, and review concepts ‘rom the chapter. er Part ‘Schools and Curriculum wivanmhhe.comisaiker7e Fortunately, a new breed of brilliant educators emerged. One tribesman, his stom, ach rumbling with hunger, grew frustrated with fruitless fish-grabbing in cloudy wa ters. He fashioned a crude net and in one hour caught more fish than the whole taiby could have caught had they fish-grabbed for an entire day, Another tribesman fash, {oned a snare with which he could trap the swift antelope, and a third dug a pit tha captured and secured the ferocious bears. ‘As a result of these new inventions, the tribe again became happy and prosperous Some radicals even began to criticize the school’s curriculum and urged that nef. making, snare-setting, and pit-digging were Indispensable to modern life and shoulg be taught in the schools. But the wise old men who controlled the schools objected ‘With al the inteicate details of fish-grabbing, horse-clubbing, andl tigerscaring—thne standard cultura subjects—the schoo! curiculum is too crowded nov. We can’t add these fads and fils of net making, antelope-snaring, and—of all things—bear-klling. Why, a ‘the very thought, the body ofthe great New-Fist, founder of our Pileolthlc educational system, would turn over init bural calm, What we need to do js to give our young peop ‘@ more thorough grounding inthe fundamentals, .., The essence of true education is timelessness. Is something that endures through changing conditions ikea soli rock standing squarely and firmly in the middle of azaging torrent, You must know that there ace some eteznal vriles, and the saber-tooth cursieulum fs one of them.” ‘The Saber-Tooth Curriculum was written in 1939, but it has meaning today. Cleary, educators need to avoid a curriculum out of touch with the reality of today’s students and thoughtlessly programmed for obsolescence. No educator worth his or her salt ‘wants to be caught waving unnecessary firebrands at tigers long extinct. Today's de. bate over curricula for various ethnic groups versus a common, Eurocentric core iste lated to issues raised in The Saber-Tooth Curriculum, Is Latin a “saber-tooth” subject? ‘What about the ancient history of the Romans and Greeks? Should these topics make \ay for subjects more relevant, useful, or culturally inclusive? If we omit these, do we lose an important part of the nation’s cultural heritage? Is there room for everyting? Ifnot, how do we establish priorities? These are the kinds of questions thoughtful teachers face on a daily basis. SUMMARY What curriculum is taught in schools? ‘The explicit or formal curiculum includes objectives, tests, material, standards and sylab, and transmits the culture or anticipates societal needs. The extracuriculum ineludes sports, clubs, student government, and school publications, while the implicit, or hidden, curriculum, emerges incidentally from the interaction between the students and school environment. The null curriculum includes many ich learning possibilities not part of the schoo! curriculum, 2. What isthe place of the extracurriculum in school life? Eighty percent of all students participate in this voluntary cursiclum, which advocates argue builds self-esteem, civc participation, positive race relations, and professional and acedemic aspirations. Skeptics doubt those claims, and argue that the huge resources devoted towards athletics could be better spent on academies, Some states have instituted on