Understanding the School Curriculum

Understanding the School Curriculum

Author: Alex Moore

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2014-08-13

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 113622338X

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At a time of rapid social change and numerous policy initiatives, there is a need to question the nature and function of school curricula and the purposes of formal public education. Comparing curriculum developments around the globe, Understanding the School Curriculum draws on a range of educational, philosophical and sociological theories to examine the question ‘What is a curriculum for?’ In considering different answers to this fundamental question, it explores a range of topical issues and debates, including: tensions and dynamics within curriculum policy The implications of uncertainty and rapid social change for curriculum development the positive and negative influence of free market ideologies on public education the impact of globalization and digital technologies arguments for and against common core curricula and state control It examines the possibility of a school curriculum that is not shaped and monitored by dominant interests but that has as its founding principles the promotion of responsibility, responsiveness, a love of learning, and a sense of wonder and respect for the natural and social world. Understanding the School Curriculum is for all students following undergraduate and Masters courses in curriculum, public policy and education-related subjects. It is also for all training and practising teachers who wish to combine a deeper understanding of major curriculum issues with a critical understanding of the ways in which ideologies impact on formal state education, and to consider ways of producing school curricula that are appropriate to the times we live in.


Education, Professionalism, and the Quest for Accountability

Education, Professionalism, and the Quest for Accountability

Author: Jane Green

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2011-05-20

Total Pages: 387

ISBN-13: 1136837205

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This book focuses on education and its relation to professional accountability as viewed from two different, but not unrelated, perspectives. First, the book is about the work of professionals in schools and colleges (teachers, head teachers, leaders, principals, directors and educational managers, etc.) and the detrimental effects which our present system of accountability – and the managerialism which this system creates – have had on education, its practice, its organization, its conduct and its content. It is also about the professional education (the occupational/professional formation and development) of practitioners in communities other than educational ones and how they, too, contend with the effects of this system on their practices. These different perspectives represent two sides of the same problem: that whatever one’s métier – whether a teacher, nurse, social worker, community officer, librarian, civil servant, etc – all who now work in institutions designed to serve the public are expected to reorganize their thoughts and practice in accordance with a "performance" management model of accountability which encourages a rigid bureaucracy, one which translates regulation and monitoring procedures, guidelines and advice into inflexible and obligatory compliance. A careful scrutiny of the underlying rationale of this "managerial" model shows how and why it may be expected, paradoxically, to make practices less accountable – and, in the case of education, less educative.


The Future of English Teaching Worldwide

The Future of English Teaching Worldwide

Author: Andrew Goodwyn

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2018-10-31

Total Pages: 297

ISBN-13: 1351024450

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The seminal Dartmouth Conference (1966) remains a remarkably influential moment in the history of English teaching. Bringing together leading voices in contemporary English education, this book celebrates the Conference and its legacy, drawing attention to what it has achieved, and the questions it has raised. Encompassing a multitude of reflections on the Dartmouth Conference, The Future of English Teaching Worldwide provides fresh and revisionist readings of the meeting and its leading figures. Chapters showcase innovative and exciting new insights for English scholars, and address both theoretical and practical elements of teaching English in a variety of settings and countries. Covering topics including the place of new media in English curricula, the role of the canon, poetry and grammar, the text is divided into three accessible parts: Historical perspectives Dartmouth today: why it still matters Reflections: but for the future. This powerful collection will be of value to researchers, postgraduate students, literature scholars, practitioners, teacher educators, trainee and in-service teachers, as well as other parties involved in the teaching and study of English.


The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Education

The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Education

Author: Gary McCulloch

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-11-26

Total Pages: 1176

ISBN-13: 1317853571

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The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Education is a unique and major resource for the field of education. It is a comprehensive, single-volume work, arranged alphabetically and comprising around 600 entries. The entries range from definitions of key educational concepts and terms to biographies of key educators and specially written substantial essays on major educational topics. The volume includes authoritative and critical commentary on historical and contemporary themes; examinations of continuities, changes and emerging issues; and discussions of the educational traditions and features of major countries and continents. The following special features are also included: Unrivalled coverage of education in a single volume Entries by leading international educational researchers Contributors drawn from all over the globe, including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Finland, India, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, South Africa, the United Kingdom and the United States A distinguished international advisory board Fully cross-referenced and indexed Suggestions for further reading Offering insight into the world of education in an interesting, informed and sometimes provocative way, The Routledge International Encyclopedia of Education is an invaluable work of reference for educators, students, researchers and policy makers in education and related fields internationally.


Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education

Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education

Author: Mary J. Allen

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2003-12-15

Total Pages: 208

ISBN-13: 1882982673

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Higher education professionals have moved from teaching- to learning-centered models for designing and assessing courses and curricula. Faculty work collaboratively to identify learning objectives and assessment strategies, set standards, design effective curricula and courses, assess the impact of their efforts on student learning, reflect on results, and implement appropriate changes to increase student learning. Assessment is an integral component of this learner-centered approach, and it involves the use of empirical data to refine programs and improve student learning. Based on the author's extensive experience conducting assessment training workshops, this book is an expansion of a workshop/consultation guide that has been used to provide assessment training to thousands of busy professionals. Assessing Academic Programs in Higher Education provides a comprehensive introduction to planning and implementing the assessment of college and university academic programs. Written for college and university administrators, assessment officers, department chairs, and faculty who are involved in developing and implementing assessment programs, this book is a realistic, pragmatic guide for developing and implementing meaningful, manageable, and sustainable assessment programs that focus faculty attention on student learning. This book will: * Guide readers through all steps in the assessment process * Provide a balanced review of the full array of assessment strategies * Explain how assessment is a crucial component of the teaching and learning process * Provide examples of successful studies that can be easily adapted * Summarize key assessment terms in an end-of-book glossary


Knowing What Students Know

Knowing What Students Know

Author: National Research Council

Publisher: National Academies Press

Published: 2001-10-27

Total Pages: 383

ISBN-13: 0309293227

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Education is a hot topic. From the stage of presidential debates to tonight's dinner table, it is an issue that most Americans are deeply concerned about. While there are many strategies for improving the educational process, we need a way to find out what works and what doesn't work as well. Educational assessment seeks to determine just how well students are learning and is an integral part of our quest for improved education. The nation is pinning greater expectations on educational assessment than ever before. We look to these assessment tools when documenting whether students and institutions are truly meeting education goals. But we must stop and ask a crucial question: What kind of assessment is most effective? At a time when traditional testing is subject to increasing criticism, research suggests that new, exciting approaches to assessment may be on the horizon. Advances in the sciences of how people learn and how to measure such learning offer the hope of developing new kinds of assessments-assessments that help students succeed in school by making as clear as possible the nature of their accomplishments and the progress of their learning. Knowing What Students Know essentially explains how expanding knowledge in the scientific fields of human learning and educational measurement can form the foundations of an improved approach to assessment. These advances suggest ways that the targets of assessment-what students know and how well they know it-as well as the methods used to make inferences about student learning can be made more valid and instructionally useful. Principles for designing and using these new kinds of assessments are presented, and examples are used to illustrate the principles. Implications for policy, practice, and research are also explored. With the promise of a productive research-based approach to assessment of student learning, Knowing What Students Know will be important to education administrators, assessment designers, teachers and teacher educators, and education advocates.


Perspectives in Curriculum Studies

Perspectives in Curriculum Studies

Author: Margaret Nalova Endeley

Publisher: Spears Book

Published: 2021-08-27

Total Pages: 336

ISBN-13:

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Perspectives in Curriculum Studies by Margaret Nalova Endeley and Martha Ashuntantang Zama is a comprehensive textbook for graduate students of Curriculum Studies and Instruction, and a guide for education practitioners wherein they articulate contemporary curriculum concepts, principles and applications in the field. With illustrations from informed African perspectives, the authors situate curriculum theory and practice in local contexts so that African scholars, educators, and others may be equipped with knowledge and skills to develop and maintain appropriate and relevant curricula for quality education. Framed in sixteen chapters, grouped in five parts, the text begins with the exposition of basic terminology, curriculum theory and foundations of the curriculum before delving profoundly into the curriculum development process. The latter portion gives the reader the opportunity to explore, analyse and evaluate different curriculum planning approaches and models, curriculum design dimensions and patterns, and procedures for the development of syllabuses, textbooks, and other curriculum materials. Also, Curriculum implementation tasks as well as strategies for evaluation of programs and courses are presented and discussed. Since curriculum and instruction are highly intertwined notions, instructional design is elaborately treated in two chapters bringing out its theoretical underpinnings and procedures. The book closes with global perspectives of curriculum development in practice. The goal here is to provide insights into trends, issues, and challenges not only in curriculum development but also in the curriculum field, which should generate action towards the improvement of curriculum practice and spur the search for new knowledge.