Chapter 1: Answering Questions About Core Curriculum

Overview

The information, reference charts, and assessment tools in this section provide summary information about many aspects of implementing and renewing Core Curriculum.

Reference charts contain information about:

• the main elements of the Core Curriculum framework and central directions of Core curricula
  
• teachers' responsibilities in relation to implementation, renewal, and professional growth
  
• how Core curricula are developed
  
• the history of Core Curriculum and its present stage of implementation
  
• terminology related to Saskatchewan's curriculum implementation/ renewal process
  
• barriers to implementation teachers may face (a tool to assess your own context)
  
• supports for teachers (can be used to assess your own context).

The following information may be used as background for the remainder of the document or may be referred to later as needed.

1. What does the Core Curriculum Framework Include?

The Core Curriculum framework encompasses Components and Initiatives that describe what is taught, as well as how this body of knowledge is best taught to ensure that the learning of all students is supported. This means that Core Curriculum supports the achievement of educational goals and objectives through a focus on:

• students and contexts
  
• content
  
• instruction and assessment
  
• equitable education.

Reference Chart I

While Reference Chart I (on p. 8) lists Core Components and Initiatives separately, in reality, these Components and Initiatives work in an integrated fashion within school programs and environments. For example, the Common Essential Learnings (C.E.L.s), the Adaptive Dimension, and Core Initiatives are integrated into the lessons and units/modules that make up the subject area curricula. As well, school and school division policies, programs, rules, and routines are developed in ways that ensure they reflect and support such Core Initiatives such as Gender Equity, and Aboriginal* Content and Perspectives.

Another way this integration of Core Components and Initiatives is achieved is by ensuring that all courses reflect the same overall directions and intentions. Reference Chart II clarifies these directions, intentions, and central features (see p. 9).

Core Curriculum is more than a body of content to be taught. It also includes:

• particular instructional approaches
  
• assessment methods
  
• attitudes, values, and behaviours consistent with supporting equitable education.

For a more complete understanding of Core Curriculum Components and Initiatives, you may refer to the following resources** :

• Actualization of Core Curriculum (1999)
  
• The Adaptive Dimension in Core Curriculum (1992)
  
• Gender Equity: A Framework for Planning (1991)
  
• Gender Equity: Policy and Guidelines for Implementation (1991)
  
• Indian and Métis Education Policy from Kindergarten to Grade 12 (1995)
  
• Instructional Approaches: A Framework for Professional Practice (1991)
  
• Multicultural Education and Heritage Language Education: Policies (1994)
  
• Objectives for the Common Essential Learnings (1992)
  
• Our Children, Our Communities, Our Future: Equity in Education, A Policy Framework (1997)
  
• Resource-Based Learning: Policy, Guidelines and Responsibilities for Saskatchewan Learning Resource Centres (1987)
  
• Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook (1991)
  
• Understanding the Common Essential Learnings: A Handbook for Teachers (1988).
  

The following teacher responsibilities are presented as general guidelines. A central understanding of these guidelines is that teachers' actions to implement and renew Core curricula take place in a context of adequate and appropriate supports (see Reference Chart VIII).

Teachers' professional responsibilities are further described by answering three specific questions that include information related to:

• the scope of teachers' Core Curriculum responsibilities
  
• the pace of implementation of new curricula for individual teachers
  
• curriculum renewal guidelines and responsibilities.

(a) What is the scope of teachers' implementation responsibilities?

This understanding is the basis for all activities related to teachers' participation in the curriculum implementation and renewal processes.

(b) What is an appropriate pace for classroom implementation of new curricula?

When teachers undertake curriculum implementation, they engage in a developmental process rather than an all-or-nothing event. The effective implementation and renewal of Core Curriculum is a dynamic process with teachers at different stages along a continuum of implementation activities. (See chart on p. 5 for an overview of these stages and pp. 80-81 for a description of the activities within each.)

It is essential to understand that it is appropriate and reasonable for teachers to be at different stages of implementation/renewal for any given curriculum. It is not appropriate that teachers and school systems remain at the initial stages. Responsibility and professionalism require a commitment to continuous growth that is exercised at all levels, and reflected in adequate and appropriate supports.

An implication underlying all teacher and system curriculum responsibilities is that non-implementation is not an option.

(c) What are the professional responsibilities of teachers in relation to curriculum renewal?

Like all curriculum frameworks, Core Curriculum requires thoughtful improvements or renewal. This relates to the professional responsibility of reasoned criticism.

Teachers' participation in Core Curriculum renewal might include:

• changing, adapting, improving, or expanding aspects of curricula that have been implemented to reflect individual classroom contexts
  
• participating in local, regional, and/or provincial curriculum change
  
• examining the directions, philosophy, or implications of Core Curriculum or aspects of individual curricula from a base informed by the refinement stage.
  

3. How Were Core Curricula Approaches Selected and Developed?

In feedback from schools and school divisions, some teachers indicate that they are uncertain as to how the directions of particular curricula were established. Teachers who do not agree with particular approaches have suggested they do not reflect the practices of real teachers coping with diverse student populations. This suggests a lack of understanding of the process of Core curricula development.

"Classroom Curriculum Connections" is designed to reflect the needs of Saskatchewan teachers during the actualization stage and to support their full participation in making Core Curriculum a classroom reality for all students.

Classroom Curriculum Connections has been developed to reflect the needs of teachers in the present stage of Core Curriculum implementation, one that is described by Saskatchewan Education's educational partners as moving towards curriculum actualization (effective implementation and ongoing renewal)*** . Teachers are recognized as being the key persons in this phase of curriculum change and the Connections Model is designed to support their full participation.

5. What do the Terms Related to Implementation Mean?

The processes that ensure Saskatchewan's curricula remain current and strong have evolved. So, too, have the terms that describe these processes. While many teachers in Saskatchewan's education system prefer to keep "educational jargon" to a minimum, there are times when they need to know how such terms are used in order to participate in discussions and decision making. For this reason, a quick reference to some key terminology is provided.

6. What Barriers Do Teachers Report Experiencing Concerning Implementation of Core Curriculum?

The Core Curriculum framework is based on forms of teaching that are both demanding and rewarding. Core Curriculum's instructional directions are student-centred, resource-based, and sensitive to culture, gender, and socioeconomic status. Recent provincial learning assessments and curriculum evaluations demonstrate there are many benefits to student learning as the result of teachers using these approaches. However, for many reasons, not all teachers are incorporating the instructional and evaluation practices as intended. Saskatchewan teachers have identified particular interactions between characteristics of individuals, contexts, and curricula as barriers (see Assessment Tool 1, p. 16).

Using Assessment Tool 1

Recognizing barriers

To assess your own experiences using this tool, rate each of the factors as a Barrier or Not a Barrier. When you perceive a factor to be a barrier, or sometimes a barrier, think about how you would answer the following questions:

• "In what context/s do I experience this factor as a barrier?" (e.g., my Grade 9 class but not my Grade 10 class)
  
• "What aspects or circumstances in my teaching context contribute to my experiencing this factor as a barrier to implementation?" (e.g., limited teaching experience).

Describe the nature of the context/s or related circumstances as applicable in the space provided.

Identifying supports

Factors that are experienced as barriers may be overcome, in part, by understanding how they relate to particular contexts/aspects of your present context. As well, further personal-professional growth and acquisition of appropriate supports may help you overcome most barriers (see information about supports in the following section).

Networking Connection. An initial activity in Curriculum Networking is for individual members to think about their needs and concerns and what they would like to focus on in networking dialogues and group problem-solving activities (see Chapter 4, "Using a Pre-Meeting Questionnaire," p. 62 and Section 2: "Dialogue, Sharing, and Problem Solving," p. 68). Teacher Curriculum Networks are good sources of support to eliminate barriers and implement Core curricula. First, you may want to focus on this assessment tool as an individual and then use it as a focal point for dialogue and group problem solving.

All the professional development processes in the Connections Model have been developed with a recognition of the barriers that some teachers experience. Each process offers opportunities to address the challenges of Core Curriculum implementation in teacher-sensitive ways.

7. What Kinds of Supports are Necessary for Teachers Involved in Implementation/Renewal?

Teachers making the commitment to personal and professional growth through Core actualization processes should be supported by administrators in ways like those described in Reference Chart VIII (see next page). It should be noted that key supports on this chart are not optional, but rather ones that every teacher requires.

Teachers and/or administrators can also use Reference Chart VIII to:

• assess their own contexts for the level and types of supports provided
  
• plan for the acquisition or implementation of additional supports.

Links to these charts and tools can be made as they are felt to be useful, within or when relevant, to the activities in Curriculum Reflection, Curriculum Inquiry, and Curriculum Networking.

Summing Up

The effective implementation/renewal of Core curricula is not a choice but rather a responsibility of all educators. However, teachers do have choices about how they will fulfill this responsibility. The extent to which teachers enter into the actualization process wholeheartedly -- with genuine commitment and adequate support -- will also be the measure of their growth, enjoyment, and feelings of personal and professional satisfaction.