...Definitions of Curriculum Definition 1: Curriculum is such “permanent” subjects as grammar, reading, logic, rhetoric, mathematics, and the greatest books of the Western world that best embody essential knowledge. Definition 2: Curriculum is those subjects that are most useful for living in contemporary society. Definition 3: Curriculum is all planned learnings for which the school is responsible. Definition 4: Curriculum is all the experiences learners have under the guidance of the school. Definition 5: Curriculum is the totality of learning experiences provided to students so that they can attain general skills and knowledge at a variety of learning sites. Definition 6: Curriculum is what the student constructs from working with the computer and its various networks, such as the Internet. Definition 7: Curriculum is the questioning of authority and the searching for complex views of human situations. Definition 8: Curriculum is all the experiences that learners have in the course of living. (From Marsh, C. J. & Willis, G. (2003). Curriculum: Alternative approaches, ongoing issues. (3rd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Merrill Prentice Hall.) Types of Curriculum —from Leslie Wilson’s website and Larry Cuban (Courtesy of Dr. Judith Irvin, Florida State University) Overt, explicit or written curriculum is simply that which is written as part of formal instruction of the schooling experience. It may refer to a curriculum document, texts...
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...are also to eager to provide children with moral values regarding how to be good citizens. Schooling methods and curriculum serve as foundations to convey nations’ beliefs, values and cultural standards. Educational curriculum varies by nation, by community, and by school subject. For instance, in the United States, curricula depends on when, how, and whether second-language or religious instructions occur. There is no educational unity in North America, which makes difficult to reach the reading, writing and mathematics standards. Moreover, there is another form of curriculum that has been popular among school districts: the hidden curriculum. According to the Blackwell Dictionary of Sociology, "Hidden curriculum is a concept used to describe the often unarticulated and unacknowledged things that students are taught in school." In other words, hidden curriculum refers to the unintended or implicit values cultivated in the practices exercised in the classroom and educational institutions through the application of the curriculum. For example, children are often rewarded not only for their academic achievements in one specific subject, but also based on their involvement in the teaching subject or their enthusiasm to learn. In this way education imparts not only formal knowledge, but also an understanding of how to act appropriately in society. Hidden curriculum can be associated with set of values or attitudes that are demanded by higher institutions. After Paris terrorist...
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...THE CURRICULUM Cecilia Braslavsky 1 A. DEFINITION OF THE CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM According to the history of education, the term ‘curriculum’ was originally related to the concept of a course of studies followed by a pupil in a teaching institution. The concept of “curriculum” was used in the English-speaking tradition as equivalent to the French concept programme d’études. Nevertheless, in recent decades, the concept of curriculum has evolved and gained in importance. Increasingly, it is used universally within the framework of globalization, the theory of pedagogy and the sociology of education. At the same time, the concept acquired such an importance that since the 1990s certain authors underscored the risk of an invading epistemology (i.e. the concept being used to indicate all dimensions of the educational process, without allowing any differentiated analytical approach to its complexity). In fact, the term curriculum is mostly used to refer to the existing contract between society, the State and educational professionals with regard to the educational experiences that learners should undergo during a certain phase of their lives. For the majority of authors and experts, the curriculum defines: (i) why; (ii) what; (iii) when; (iv) where; (v) how; and (vi) with whom to learn. Using educational concepts, we can say that the curriculum defines the educational foundations and contents, their sequencing in relation to the amount of time available...
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...The sociological view of functionalists is that value consensus, or 'agreed social values' are an essential part of the wellbeing of society. By this logic, they argue that as school is a method of secondary socialisation, its main function is to maintain this value consensus. Functionalists believe that education within schools, and the existence of the hidden curriculum, is positive. Primary socialisation, amongst the family, teaches us to share views and social values, but the specific views and values gained from socialisation within the family are particularistic. In contrast to this, those norms and values taught within the education system are universalistic, and cover a much wider range of situations and areas. This also helps to combat areas where the views within a certain family may oppose the acceptable values held by the majority of a society; for example, a child's parents may lack respect for authority, and their particularistic views may lead that child to believe that this is acceptable behaviour, but the more universalistic teachings within education demonstrate that, in fact, society as a whole feels that respecting authority is an important social value. Functionalists also believe that, as schools operate on meritocratic principles, they teach children that those who work hard and achieve are rewarded, while those who do not receive no reward, and will leave school with fewer prospects, and overall live a less fulfilled life than those who have internalised...
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...DEFINING CURRICULUM AND THE APPROACHES QUESTION 1 The word "curriculum" has been and still is used to convey many different ideas and to signify many different things. The word's intended meaning actually differs depending on the speakers and writers and across place and time. The society, political situations, technological advancements, and philosophy not only influence today's curriculum, but they influence each other as well. Each affects and is also effected by one or more of the other therefore because of this, the concept of curriculum is sometimes characterized as fragmentary, elusive and confusing. However, the numerous definitions indicate change that brings about diverse interpretations of what curriculum is all about. The definitions are influenced by modes of thoughts, pedagogies and political as well as cultural experiences. According to Elliot Eisner (1985) defined curriculum as a series of planned events that are intended to have educational consequences for one or more learners of which I do agree with his statement because as an educator because we cannot cover the whole syllabus so we plan ahead on what we are going to cover and what not to cover which leads to us being in control of all the events in the learning process for one or more of our learners. Fraser (1993) views curriculum with a much wider interpretation as the interrelated totality of aims, learning content, evaluation procedures and teacher-learning activities, opportunities and experiences...
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...Sociology of Education Unit 10 What do Marxists say about the education system? Learning targets: • Marxists see that the ruling class or 'bourgeoisie' rule the workers or 'proletariat'. • The bourgeoisie have the wealth and the power to rule. The proletariat are exploited because they are not treated fairly. • Marxists argue that the education system plays a key role in disseminating the ideology of the ruling class. • Education acts as a force of oppression for the children of the working classes Key questions (AO1) What do Marxists believe? (AO1) How do Marxist theories apply to the education system? (AO2) What strengths are there to the Marxist view of education system? (AO2) How have Marxist views been criticised by other writers? Summary of key points Marxists see capitalist society as being ruled by the economy. The minority, the ruling class or 'bourgeoisie' rule the majority, namely the workers or 'proletariat'. The bourgeoisie have the wealth and the power to rule. The proletariat are exploited because they are not treated fairly. This is the basis of class inequality. Institutions such as organised religion, the mass media, the political and the education systems all reinforce the ideology that the rich and powerful should control society. They promote an ideology or belief that our society is fair and just and...
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...Teach Me like I’m Rich Are children really getting the same education as other students of different social classes? The curriculum is the same, but it’s not the same education, it is taught differently depending on the schools overall social class. The “hidden curriculum” depicted by Anyon’s title is students learning things they would need to know for the jobs along their economic class. The Curriculum of the social classes in the schools is less defined as it rises in the social food chain. The curriculum of liberal education that Delbanco wants back in colleges is similar to that of schools with that of the higher social classes Anyon describes. The only way liberal and economical agendas can co-exist is if all these social classes were viewed the same and treated equal; using a little bit of each social class to make an all-across fair education. Education shouldn’t be used to train children into jobs of their social class, but be taught to make something of themselves; they should be given the same education as any other schools economic. Education is and should be used as a tool to open the minds of the children so as they go through the different grades they can be open to the different opportunities they can have in their adult lives. The different social classes broken down by Anyon are: the working class schools, middle class school, affluent professional school, and the executive elite school. In the working class schools “the procedure is usually mechanical, involving...
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...Table of Contents I. A Classroom in the Basement 2 A. The Mixture of Students 2 B. Unfair to Who 2 C. Segregation 3 II. Where We Came From 3 III. Facing a Change In What Is School 4 A. Who are these students? 4 B. Where is the Curriculum Hiding? 5 C. Myth Busters 6 IV. What’s right isn’t always popular, and what’s popular isn’t always right- Gandhi 7 A. Teachers Facing Challenges 7 B. Changes in Solutions to Challenges 8 References 9 A Classroom in the Basement The Mixture of Students Who are these students that are placed in make shift classrooms, a hall storage closets, a portable outside or even the basement? They are the changing face of students according to the National Center for Educational Statistics of the 49,676,964 students nationwide, 55.9 % are White 20.5% are Hispanic , 16.9 % are African American, 4.5 % Asian, 1.2% Native American. (NCES 2004-2005) Ten million students speak a language other than English in the home. (Oakes & Lipton 2007) The previously mentioned statistics, show how student populations have changed to become more ethnically, linguistically, and economically diverse. It is important to recognize each and every student as an individual with needs and talents all their own. Creating a need for Multicultural Education, cultural background can have a significant influence on the way in which students receive, respond, and produce information. If we treat everyone the same we end up being exactly the...
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...CURRICULUM Introduction As part of transforming South Africa, the educational landscape has undergone dramatic changes where ultimately teachers have to decide to either implement a curriculum as mandated or to adapt the curriculum to take into account their particular context. Teacher’s in South Africa battle on a daily basis with the effects of teaching large number of learners in an under-resourced context. Teachers are expected to adapt to those changes and such changes impact heavily on the roles of teachers in the classroom. They must find a way to facilitate teaching, learning and assessment despite difficult conditions. The gap between curriculum as intention and curriculum as reality confronts teachers regularly. The aim of this essay will address the narrow and broad definitions of the concept curriculum, as well as the official, explicit, implicit, covert and hidden curriculum as they are viewed by different authors. Defining Curriculum Two views on curriculum: Narrow and Broad Many educationists argue that awareness of different interpretations is important in developing a Good understanding of what curriculum is (Booyse & Du plesis, 2014: 4). However they make a point that different approaches, either as a blue print or adaption approach, may be appropriate for different situations. Take a closer look at the various interpretations: Eisner (1985) defines curriculum as a series of planned events that are intended to have educational consequences...
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...criticized Althusser, believes that the Marxist view is over deterministic and it fails to consider the power that students have to resist against the system. Firstly, Bowles and Gintis believe in the importance of the hidden curriculum, rather than the content of the curriculum, because students learn to accept the norms and the values of the capitalist society. For example, they learn how to be competitive and work hard for rewards. Bowles and Gintis saw a strong correspondence between what students learn in schools and what is required from workers. They found that pupils who get higher grades are those who follow the system, without questioning and the success is not necessarily related to intellectual ability. These qualities are valued in workers as they will accept the authority of their employers, and not question their orders. They also argued that these are the norms and values of the ruling class and workers are socialised into them to promote the myth of meritocracy. However, Bowles and Gintis have been criticised. The critics tend to agree that Bowles and Gintis exaggerated the correspondence between work and education, and failed to provide evidence to support their case. David Reynolds points out that they ignored the role of the national curriculum in British schools. The...
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...COMPARE AND CONTRAST THE FUNCTIONALIST AND MARXIST VIEWS ON EDUCATION (20 marks) The role of education is to educate individuals within society and to prepare them for working life, also to integrate individuals and teach them the norms, values and roles within society. Functionalism and Marxism are the two main perspectives which will be studied; Marxism is a structural conflict sociological theory whereas functionalism is a structural consensus sociological theory. Functionalism sees society as a whole. It is often referred to as the consensus theory as it does not address the issue of conflict in society. It looks at all the major aspects in society for example the family, the economy, the educational and political system and how they all function together as a whole to form a complete system. Functionalism can be compared to the human body, also known as the organic analogy. For the human body to function properly each part needs to operate together for example the heart and lungs, this is very similar to the institutions in society. All the key institutions in society need to be well integrated for society to survive and operate efficiently. Emile Durkheim, French sociologist, was the original founding father of this theory. He saw education as being a positive thing in society as it helps the maintenance of the social system and helps to transmit norms and values which help promote social solidarity, to keep society running smoothly. Durkheim believed that education...
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...Evan Pytlewski Kristin LaTour English 101 13 October 2014 It should come as no shock that schools in richer communities are better suited for their students than those in poor communities, or that these schools get their students ready for more appealing jobs in the future. Jean Anyon bring up the idea that particular aspects of teaching have a hidden curriculum in schools based on perceived adequacy of students as well as their place on the social and economic ladder. Jean Anyon traveled to and analyzed five elementary schools during a full year and came to the conclusion that the fifth-graders from the different schools and different economic backgrounds are being prepped to take over particular spots of social standings in society. One may even say some schools are pre-trade schools, while the more affluent schools are geared to churn out doctors, lawyers, and the next big wig executives. She drives the point home that students who are at an economic advantage have more opportunities to gain valuable knowledge and skills to succeed in life, while the other less advantageous group is given a basic curriculum. In working class schools the teachers don’t setup anything for discussions. One teacher explained to Anyon, “Simple punctuation is all they’ll ever use.”(Anyon 174) there was no discussion heard from the class about how to properly use or why these certain symbols were used as punctuation. The teaching is very mechanical and rigid, students were told on one occasion...
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...that it serves to legitimate these inequalities through the myth of meritocracy. A criticism of this comes from Althusser (1971) who is a Neo-Marxist, they disagree that the main function of education is to reproduce inequalities and to justify them, they believe that education’s main function is transmit common values and argue that it is the Ideological State Apparatus that legitimates and serves these inequalities. Marxists also believe that education reproduces the conditions needed for capitalism to flourish without having to use some force, which would then expose it as oppressive. They assert that instead, ideology gets the same results which exerts its influence subconsciously, this is apparently done through the hidden curriculum. The hidden curriculum is basically what students pick up and learn throughout their time in school, it is not formally taught to them. They learn things like; hierarchy, conformity and status. This makes them much more aware of what society is like outside of school. A criticism of this is that Marxists very much just focus on the inequalities relating to class inequalities, they tend to have much less of a focus on inequalities relating to gender and ethnicity. Marxists like Bourdieu have called the ways in which the working class are tricked into accepting their failures and their limited social mobility in comparison to middle class or upper class...
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...Julio Flores Professor Frazier Englsh 102 2/19/15 From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum From Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum focuses on the vast gap of education that divide four different social classes. Jean Anyon, the chairperson of the Department of Education at Rutgers University, and the author of the essay Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work, which first appeared in the journal of education in the fall of 1980, says that a child’s social class reflects the kind of schooling that he or she receives. After reading article on public education and carefully examining the different levels she calls the working class, the middle-class, the affluent professional, and the executive elite. Anyon has stated that “It will be suggested that there is a "hidden curriculum" in schoolwork that has profound implications for the theory - and consequence - of everyday activity in education....” (Anyon 258). Anyon believes that a student’s educational perseverance will not be enough to place them on top of the ladder. She believes that one’s economic background determines their educational success and future. The first and lowest class is the working class. The working-class school is made up of nearly 40 percent of the population in the United States. Anyon observed that “In this class parents have an average income of about twelve thousand dollars or less. They hold jobs like stockroom workers, foundry men, and semiskilled and unskilled assembly-line...
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...duction Socialization is the process by which society integrates the individual and the individual learns to behave in socially acceptable ways this involves learning interpersonal and interactional skills that are in conformity with the values of one's society. the society expects an individual learns to live in accordance with the its expectations and standards, acquiring its beliefs, habits, values, and accepted modes of behavior primarily through imitation, family interaction, and educational systems; it is primarily the procedure by which society integrates the individual. An agent of socialization is an individual or institution tasked with the replication of the Social Order. An agent of socialization is responsible for transferring the rules, expectations, norms, values, and folkways of a given social order. In advanced capitalist society, the principle agents of socialization include the family, the media, the school system, religious and spiritual institutions, and peer groups. It is important to note that our current social order is a tiered social order. It is based on authority, hierarchy, and the differential assignment of value to human individuals (i.e., some individuals like CEOs and presidents are worth more than others). Within this context, individuals receive differential socialization. Those born into the lower tiers receive a socialization process geared to fitting them into the low level, wage based sectors of The System. Those born into the higher...
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