INTELLECTUAL CHALLENGE OF CURRICULUM Corrine Wetherbee TE 822

Expectations  Like any other curriculum, multicultural curriculum should be taught with high academic expectations  Regardless of what students currently achieve, instructors should ask what students could achieve with teacher support  Expectations should remain high and consistent regardless of students’ race and social class  Research finds that teachers usually assume White and Asian students are more “teachable” than Black and Latino students. The same is true for middle vs. lower class.

Expectations (continued)  The expectations teachers have for their students influence what teachers are willing to implement in the classroom, the degree of encouragement that they offer, and the classroom culture that they create  Teachers who hold high expectations for students recognize challenges that students and families may face, but they do not believe that challenges inhibit learning  These teachers choose to focus on student assets rather than deficits.

How do we hold all students to high expectations?  Curriculum planning must look beyond students’ current abilities and encourage potential in all students  Do not become fixated on the closing the achievement gap  Focusing too much on the achievement gap assumes that the achievements of native English speakers are the goals for every student, which is actually a mediocre goal in comparison to world-wide student achievement.  Eliminate lower-level courses  When lower achieving students are in higher level classes, they are less bored and often rise to the occasion and demands of more interesting curricula.

Juanita’s Story  Second grade classroom  19 students, all of Mexican background  Taught in Spanish for at least half of the day  Adapted curriculum to encourage student creativity  Based on her own experiences as a student, she introduced students to technology through Microsoft Word.  Students produced published pieces of writing including biographies, autobiographies, research, fiction, and nonfiction.

Planning an intellectually challenging curriculum  Bloom’s Taxonomy  Identifies six levels of thinking  To use Bloom’s Taxonomy in creating curriculum, instructors should ask themselves: How does the unit as you have planned it so far address the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy? How do the standards you are using address the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy? How does the textbook address Bloom’s taxonomy? If your students were to be prepared for college, what should they be learning to do that is not yet part of this unit?  Every unit a teacher designs and uses should incorporate at least five of the six levels of Bloom’s taxonomy.

Mona’s Story  Combined 4 th /5 th grade class  Very diverse, low-income student population, with one-third of the school as ELL students  Discovered that ELL students would mimic words and facts but did not comprehend  Developed solar system unit based on cultural connections that her students could make while applying college level characteristics  Students worked from a syllabus, created reports with Word and Power Point, took notes on mini lectures, and gave formal presentations. These efforts help to “demystify” college for students and allow them to see college as a viable option and part of their future.

Using Enabling Strategies in the curriculum  Teachers who build temporary support systems encourage students to think more complexly  Enabling strategies include modeling and scaffolding  Modeling shows students how to do something while talking them through the thought process.  Scaffolding bridges current knowledge with potential by providing academic supports (in four stages) as students learn something new. Stage 1 – retrieve what students already know (discussions, KWL charts) Stage 2 – teacher models desired results (writing sample, etc.) Stage 3 – teacher constructs texts with students (first verbally then written) Stage 4 – students write independently

Hierarchical vs. Developmentalist Perspective  Viewing knowledge hierarchically assumes that ELL students must first:  Learn the English Language in order to master higher level content  Learn the mainstream culture  Teachers who believe in building knowledge hierarchically drill students on the “basics”  Basic drills are boring, and this turns some students off from learning before they get to more interesting parts.  A teacher with developmentalist approach focuses more on the process of learning  These teachers are more likely to individualize instruction.  Students working meaningfully with the content is more important than memorizing facts.

Teachers and Students as an Apprenticeship  Teachers who build relationships with their students provide modeling and meaningful learning experiences  Think of classrooms as “intellectual spaces”  Teachers are the “practicing intellectuals apprenticing young people in a complex world of academic work.”  Young people receive guidance, assistance, and feedback.  Apprenticeship allows young people to see themselves as successful beings in the future.