2
Curriculum Development Project (Checkpoint I)
Searching for Meaning in Curriculum
Dr. Hawkins
EDCI 5020
Introduction
The curriculum of schools in America has drastically changed over the years with a lot of shifts
which have resulted in changes to existing curriculum. In America, the stages of
evolution in the curriculum follow the trends and patterns in economic development, population
changes and industrial development. The curriculum has improved so much over the years that
society and socioeconomic factors have played a major role in the shifts and because of this
education plays a significant role in the choices made by individuals and also influences how
individuals interact with others.
Historical Perspective
Organizational Shift
There have been various shifts in the curriculum and one of the most momentous shifts in the history of curriculum development in the United States was the organizational shift in the organizational characteristics of companies that required the need to use system thinking skills. System thinking skills refer to the holistic approach that looks at how the constituent parts of a system are related and how those components work together. The shift resulted in changes in the workplace organization where the old system was hierarchical and rigid while the new system was more flexible and with cross functional teams. The design of the jobs also changed and the new system had an individual carry out multiple responsibilities unlike the old system where the employees only had one job.
The organizational shift also resulted in the change in the communications and how decisions were made in companies. This was a significant shift because it changed the thinking in the classroom where learners now have to look at different components and see how they are related and can work together (Plate, 2012). The shift also necessitated the use of problem-solving skills and now learners can evaluate existing information to come up with viable solutions to real world problems and challenges. The societal shift is another very important change in the history of education in the United States. The shift changed the entire focus of education in to addressing the needs and issues that face the society. It also focused on the equitable distribution of resources to the members of the society so that all individuals have equal access to amenities and good education (Peddiwell, 2003). The shift has also helped the curriculum focus on the development of identities for the learners to help them clearly understand who they are, who they have been and also conceptualize where they want to be. There have been various social changes that continue to take place such as the feminist movement and the green movement. With the societal shift the curriculum is made to be adaptive which means that it moves with every societal change. This is significant since it helps the learners understand the social issues that affect the world and how to be involved in impacting positive change in the communities. The shift also helped recognize the differences between the communities and how to address that in the classroom so that the curriculum is comprehensive and inclusive of all the groups.
Exploration
State of Education in the United States of America and Louisiana
Academic achievement is still considered as very important in the American education system and this is because the performance of the students is a determinant of whether they qualify to join the institutions of higher learning. The US Education System ranks as one of the best education systems in the world currently. In Louisiana state the education sector is not doing really well and the state has ranked among the bottom states for many years now. This is seen in the performance of the public schools in the state where the students are seen to perform poorly when compared to other students in the state. The City of Baker school district is a very small district that is made up of 1319 students. The district takes in more minority students and also has a big proportion of economically disadvantaged students. The high school graduation rate in the school district is 70% and that is not very bad performance. There are various useful developments in the school curriculum in the United States. One development that is significant is the focus on the understanding of the differences in abilities, interests, preferences, knowledge, and motivations among learners (Rury & Tamura, 2019). It is important for teachers to acknowledge these differences as it helps in creation of lesson plans which accommodate the needs of all the learners in the classroom. The shift towards the focus of the capabilities of the different learners is about minimizing comparing learners and acknowledging that the performance between the students in the same classroom in most cases will be different. This curricular movement will help understand students better and focus on their strengths and also on improving their weaknesses. It is a foundation of motivation for the learners as it will minimize the frustration of learners because of school related work and also lower the rate of school drop outs.
Lastly, the school curriculum in the United States has grown so much over the years with countless shifts and changes in the system. As the years advanced new concepts were introduced and one of them was system thinking where it looks at the various components of a system and how related they are. The curriculum has better-quality and better addresses the needs of all the pupils in the classroom.
References
Peddiwell, J. (2003). The Saber-Tooth Curriculum. New York: McGraw Hill.
Plate, R. (2012). The Evolution of Curriculum Development in the Context of Increasing Social and Environmental Complexity. Creative Education, 1311.
Rury, J. L., & Tamura, E. H. (Eds.). (2019). The Oxford handbook of the history of education. Oxford University Press, USA
