Chapter 2

Reflection involves both thinking back and looking forward -- understanding past events and imagining future possibilities.

Chapter 2: Curriculum Reflection

Overview

What?

Curriculum Reflection is a process that involves individual teachers in thinking about their beliefs, values, and abilities and the ways these affect, and are affected by, students, curricula, and school/community contexts. It also involves teachers in recording their thoughts and questions in a personal notebook or journal. Teachers' reflection records may incorporate different types of writing, drawings, or diagrams as well as pictures, cartoons, or newspaper clippings that hold meaning for their teaching/learning.

How?

By using the questions and tools in this Handbook and other resources, teachers are supported in learning more about themselves, their students, and the curricula for which they are responsible. Reflecting on connections between a curriculum and one's classroom may involve:

exploring one's own values, feelings, and beliefs about teaching and learning
increasing understanding of one's students, and school and community contexts
developing knowledge of key characteristics of Core curricula, the Core Curriculum framework, and a particular curriculum's contents (intentions, objectives, instructional and evaluation approaches)
critical thinking about the ways curricula, personal beliefs, and local contexts interact to support or deter student learning
creating and evaluating alternative responses to challenges.

Reflective questions are central elements of the Curriculum Reflection process, as well as central to this chapter. They can be used in every stage of the Curriculum Inquiry process and support participation in Curriculum Networks.

Reflection does not necessarily mean thinking serious thoughts -- a humorous approach to a teaching dilemma can also result in new insights.

Reflection is a personal process of increasing self-understanding in ways that support students' learning.

Organization of the Chapter

This chapter describes four areas for Curriculum Reflection. These include areas that support self-understanding in relation to:

personal purposes and professional goals
professional commitments and teaching abilities
teachers' learning needs/students' learning needs
making Core Curriculum work for you.

Material in each area includes:

ideas to stimulate thought
questions for reflection
connections to Core Curriculum, useful for professional growth planning
connections to relevant Curriculum Inquiry or Networking activities.

The four areas are not necessarily intended to be used in one school year. Teachers may select from among them to suit their needs and interests in any one school term.

The four areas for reflection are not necessarily intended to be all used within one school year.

The most important element of a sustaining purpose is that it is yours; that is, it comes from within and reflects who you are and what abilities and experiences are unique to you.

Reflection Focus I: Personal Purposes

This section offers opportunities to examine your beliefs about why you teach and to revise/strengthen your understanding of what sustains you as a teacher. There are many reasons why people become teachers and stay in teaching. Some purposes that teaching fulfills may be stronger than others in terms of:

sustaining feelings of personal satisfaction
maintaining a balance between personal and professional lives
avoiding stagnation or "teacher burnout".

Choosing teaching as a career often coincides with larger moral and social visions, such as the need to contribute to making the world a better place. As well, people choose teaching because they are sociable, people-oriented, and want the rewards of working with and supporting others. Such reasons are genuine and valid but, according to some current thought on teacher development, may be too general to sustain teachers in the long haul. For example, Borich (1993) suggests that real and sustaining purposes:

come from our personal backgrounds
are connected to our past experiences
reflect our individual interests and particular gifts
describe something specific, concrete, and manageable.

Compare the following two types of purposes for teaching. Reflect on the differing ways they may affect a teacher's continuing commitment and energy levels.

General, professional purposes can serve as the basis for professional ethics or as guiding visions, but they are often too vague or all encompassing to motivate the specific actions of daily life in the classroom. Their idealized nature could also contribute to teachers' feelings of inadequacy because their achievement is neither clear nor permanent.

Developing personal purposes for teaching from your own background and unique experiences can have many advantages. For example, these purposes can:

reflect your present abilities
be specific, concrete, and achievable
be shaped to suit challenging contexts and situations.

There are many ways to connect personal purposes to Core Curriculum commitments because both focus on supporting student learning and are related to the satisfactions that come from continuing our own learning.

Personal, individual purposes, however, have several advantages. They can:

guide daily interactions in the classroom
be shaped to suit the strengths and degree of teachers' experience
be changed as teachers grow professionally or their teaching contexts change
be linked to specific elements of curricula for which teachers are responsible.

A novice teacher may be satisfied and motivated to grow personally and professionally in the effort to reach just one student each day, while a more experienced, confident teacher may attempt a more all-encompassing purpose related to her/his strengths and interests.

Reflections

Take a few minutes to reflect on some purposes that, if implemented in your classrooms/classes, would give you a personal sense of accomplishment. In your own words, list all your purposes for teaching -- purposes that reflect your values, beliefs, experiences, and particular interests and gifts. If you have trouble starting, or get stuck, think about your own school experiences.

Do you have memories of individual teachers who motivated you to become a certain type of teacher
Were there events in your school experiences that helped you see the power that teachers have over students' feelings about themselves and their learning (for better or worse)?
Can you think of classroom experiences in your teaching career that represented the essence of good teaching and learning? were deeply satisfying and enjoyable? where everything seemed to come together?

When you feel you have run out of ideas, do not stop. Dig more deeply into what you enjoy and are capable of achieving.

What purposes did those memorable activities fulfill for you? for your students?

Look over your list. Cross out purposes that may be unrealistic or those that would involve achievements too large to accomplish in concrete, incremental steps. Have you set purposes that reflect your strengths and present situation?

Remember. Purposes that are too large and general may leave you with a recurring sense of failure. Finding those smaller but motivating reasons to keep teaching and growing can sustain your emotional and physical well being!

Connections to Core Curriculum

Individual, personal purposes can guide professional development and connect with a teacher's responsibilities to implement Core Curriculum. The chart that follows makes use of some individual, personal purposes to make connections to Core Curriculum.

Individual, Personal Purposes

Connections to Core Curriculum

help at least one student each day to learn something that will make her/ him feel more successful as a learner
use humour in all my classes to value and teach students to use their humour appropriately
help my students value their own ideas/ products and those of others, and to share their ideas and support the participation of others
help students in my classes and extracurricular activities to appreciate the beauty and intricacy of the natural environment and their interconnectedness with it

use the Adaptive Dimension and a variety of recommended resources to adapt aspects of programs to meet individual student needs
focus on appropriate use of humour as part of incorporating Personal and Social Values and Skills (C.E.L.) in all subjects
focus on Communication (C.E.L.), and recommended resources related to it, to provide opportunities for students to discuss and share their ideas in every subject area
science curricula from K-12 all contain a focus on the environment and our role in sustaining biodiversity. Use these themes and concepts as the focus for integrated units and extracurricular activities

Applying your Understanding

Teachers can use the understandings gained from reflecting on the personal purposes that teaching serves for them in the following ways:

Incorporate personal purpose/s into yearly Personal-Professional Growth Plans.

This year my professional growth plan really reflects my own values and strengths.

During challenging or stressful times, focus on smaller steps towards the achievement of personal purposes.

Parents are starting to comment on how environmentally conscious their children are becoming. I know I'm contributing to the development of that value and possibly some lifelong habits of reducing, reusing, and recycling.

Use personal purpose/s as one measure of a good day or week.

It wasn't a great week, so each day I tried a little harder to stay positive and really connect at least once to each student in a positive way. That got me through and by the end of the week we even managed to have a good laugh together!

When you have developed one or two personal purposes that are not too large, yet reflect aspects of teaching that you care about deeply, they buoy you up when you feel discouraged. Each small act that contributes to a larger personal purpose can be an occasion for celebration at the end of a difficult day or challenging week.

"Acting as a professional means realizing and accepting that teaching involves constant change and growth generated from self-assessment and reflection on practice (critical and creative thinking). Acting as a technician means implementing a curriculum or instructional method, or using a textbook or packaged program 'as is' without adapting it after reflection."
(A Saskatchewan teacher)

Reflection Focus II: Professional Commitments

Focusing on professionalism -- the other side of the personal, professional-development duo -- is important because it is our membership in a profession that gives us both the responsibility and the freedom to grow and change. A renewed appreciation of the rewards and responsibilities involved in belonging to the teaching profession enriches individual teachers and the profession as a whole. However, appreciation of professional responsibilities and freedoms cannot be simply handed down. Genuine appreciation is developed by individuals from their own experiences and values.

This section invites you to examine your ideas about what it means to be a professional and to answer the question, "Why should I become involved in further implementation/renewal of Core Curriculum?"

Consider these definitions of professionalism, written by Saskatchewan teachers (see quotations in left margin). How do these compare with your ideas about the differences between viewing yourself as a professional or as a technician?

From the following, choose questions that seem most useful in clarifying: (a) your ideas about the commitments and responsibilities of a professional and (b) how these relate to implementation and renewal of the Core Curriculum.

Reflections

What do I believe are the hallmarks of a professional? What distinguishes the expectations for professionals from the expectations for technicians?
What is special or unique about teaching, as opposed to the freedoms, ethics, and responsibilities of other professions?
What is my personal vision of a teacher as a professional?
How do I enact that vision in my classroom/school/division? (List examples of small acts and larger projects that reflect your personal vision of professional responsibility.)
When I feel resistant to growth and change, what reasons lie behind these feelings?
To what extent do I feel my professional growth is supported by others in my school/division/personal life? What barriers do I face? What additional supports do I need to grow professionally? (See Assessment Tool 1, p. 16 and Reference Chart VIII, p. 18 for additional ideas.)
How do I need to change to make greater professional growth possible? What changes could others make to support my growth better? How will I work towards obtaining needed supports?

Connections to Core Curriculum

The following reflective questions move from your personal views of professionalism to views about their connections to curriculum implementation responsibilities and your particular strengths and concerns. (Before responding to the questions, refer to Chapter 1: Reference Charts I, II, III, and IV for an overview of professional responsibilities in relation to Core Curriculum.)

The STF believes that teachers, individually and collectively, bear responsibility for their own professional development. Levels of teaching competence are highest when teachers fulfill their professional obligation to be open to new ideas, new curricula and new teaching methods and to engage in self-directed, lifelong professional development activities. (The Professionalism of Saskatchewan Teachers, Saskatchewan Teachers' Federation, 1999, p. 10)

As humans, one of the most important understandings for any kind of growth and change is to know what is holding us back.

Reflections

In what ways do teachers' responsibilities to implement mandated curricula limit their professional freedom? In what ways are these limits beneficial? not beneficial?
In what ways do Core curricula support teacher professionalism or the exercise of professional judgement?
What do I see as the most challenging or difficult aspects of Core curricula? How are these challenges related to my classroom situation?
What are my strengths as a teacher? (List all your strengths as they come to mind.) In what ways are these strengths consistent/inconsistent with the forms of instruction and types of content reflected in Core Curriculum?
How do I respond when faced with unfamiliar instructional/evaluation approaches or approaches I dispute?
How well do the overall directions of Core Curriculum match my personal beliefs and values? To what extent, and in what ways, do I shape my classroom practice to match my own philosophy and beliefs about teaching/learning when they appear to be in opposition to Core Curriculum's central features?
How do I respond to teachers whose views about instructional/evaluative approaches are different from my own?
How open-minded am I? Can I adopt a stance that is opposite to, or different from, the one I usually hold regarding these instructional or evaluative approaches (list their pros and cons)? Can I think of alternative approaches that might reflect a middle ground?

Networking Connection. One activity in Curriculum Networking (described in Chapter 4) involves collaborative development and sharing of strategies/lessons/units that reflect a balanced approach to instruction and evaluation, incorporating strategies within teachers' instructional comfort zones as well as strategies that move into new areas/ practices. The above Reflections that focus on our own strengths, challenges, and reactions to new challenges/curriculum change are useful preparation for participating in such collaborative development.

Another focus of Curriculum Networking is on professional dilemmas and common concerns related to implementation. Reflection Focus II is excellent preparation for participating in discussions about these topics in supportive ways.

Applying Your Understanding

When you have achieved greater clarity about (a) your professional responsibilities in relation to Core Curriculum implementation and renewal, and (b) the barriers and supports in your context/personal life, you can apply these understandings in several ways.

A teacher vignette

People can really change at any age; I have. The example that comes to mind is the use of math manipulatives in junior high. My first impression was, "This is going to be disastrous." When I brought out the large tiles for solving equations, the students used them to build houses, bridges, and other patterns. They more or less confirmed my thoughts about the bad fit of manipulatives in a junior high school. The second time I brought them out, I found the students were ready to use them as intended. Now, each time I introduce a manipulative, I give students time to "play" or explore possibilities before we get started.

"To me, open mindedness is thinking of the best possible outcome while planning for roadblocks."
(A Saskatchewan teacher)

"Belonging to a profession means that you have a responsibility to be collegial -- to work with other professionals in a collaborative and positive manner." (A Saskatchewan teacher)

Work on increasing your open mindedness. When you feel your mind about to close down in opposition to a practice being described/ recommended, try to:
- listen even more carefully, instead of blocking out what is being said or read.
- ask yourself why others might recommend this practice. Focus on the idea that it is likely to have some merit and ask others to tell you more about the strengths and uses of the practice/approach.
- develop a reflection about a controversial practice or approach by finding multiple ways to finish the sentence stem: I wouldn't use this approach all the time but it might be useful when . . . .
Acquire collegial supports. Collegiality is an important aspect of professionalism. To strengthen your own support system and help your colleagues, you might:
- develop a Personal-Professional Growth Plan that involves an important step in the implementation of Core Curriculum
  co-operatively with a supportive colleague. Make a list of supports you will need and changes that would help you both achieve your goals. Seek administrative support together.
  
  It really helps me face the magnitude of curriculum change we've been involved in when I know I'm not alone. Others experience similar problems and have similar fears.
- start a Curriculum Network with supportive peers to help overcome some of the isolation you feel or the barriers you face. (See Chapter 4 for guidance in getting started.)
  
  In our network group, we feel that we are in control of the degree and quality of curriculum change. Because we've had some positive results, administrative support has increased.

Reflection Focus III: The Many Faces and Forms Of Learning

This section offers opportunities to revisit your ideas about how people learn and ways students learn best. It focuses on:

your own learning experiences
connections between your learning and your students' learning
what you believe about the concepts of learning and intelligence
connections between your ideas about learning and intelligence, and those that underlie Core curricula.

Learning is an essential focus for reflection because teachers' views of learning affect the types and quality of the learning opportunities they provide. All teachers hold personal theories of learning which, consciously or not, influence teaching decisions and interactions with students.

As a starting point for refreshing your personal theory of learning, think about and develop written responses to some of the following questions regarding difficult and enjoyable learning experiences.

All teachers have their own learning theories that influence their planning and "on-the-spot" decisions and interactions. The more these theories are conscious and reflected upon, the more likely they are to be used constructively in classroom situations and long- and short-term planning.

A practical focus of reflection is drawing connections between your past experiences as a student and the needs of the students you now teach.

Reflections

What was the most difficult thing you had to learn in your K-12 school years? Why was this information/knowledge, skill/ability, or value so difficult to learn? How was it presented? What did the teacher do that was, or was not, helpful? (After completing these questions, see the following table, Example of One Teacher's Analysis of Difficult Learning, p. 28.)
To what extent do you still use the learning you identified as "difficult"?
What was your most enjoyable learning experience in school, university, the workplace, or during a leisure pursuit? What made it so enjoyable? To what extent did your enjoyment correspond to the strength and retention of this learning?
How do you best learn content (information or conceptual knowledge)? What makes content learning difficult? Have you recently changed any of your beliefs as a result of acquiring new knowledge or information?
How do you best learn new skills/abilities? What makes skill learning difficult? Have you recently changed any of your skill-related behaviours (e.g., doing things with your left hand instead of your right)? How easy was it? What led to this change?
How did you learn your values? Have you recently changed any values or attitudes? If so, what led to the change or caused the learning? How quickly do you learn new values or attitudes?

When you have completed this reflection, ask friends, family members, and/or students a few similar questions and compare experiences. After collecting and comparing a few sets of experiences of both difficult and enjoyable learning, use the next set of reflective questions to analyze and apply your insights.

Reflections

Are there similarities across people's learning experiences? within categories of experiences (i.e., things people find most difficult about skill-related learning)?
Are there marked differences between your experiences and those of others?
What implications for your teaching practices can be drawn from examining your own experiences and those of other adults or students?
To what extent would using a variety of teaching methods compensate for differences between learners? What else might be necessary?
Are there teacher behaviours that would make learning easier for all students, regardless of their strengths and difficulties? behaviours that would make learning more difficult?

Example of One Teacher's Analysis of Difficult Learning
Type of Learning I found difficult	Gr. 11 and 12 Chemistry -- almost everything related to it (particularly content learning)	Gr. 9 Typing (skill learning)	Gr. 11 and 12 Physics (affective learning -- learning values and attitudes; content learning)
Why I found it difficult	didn't see relevance couldn't understand it, had to memorize it once I'd memorized it, I seldom had to use it again or apply it to anything found the teaching methods boring and repetitive, and the teacher not very friendly	pressures to learn it quickly, lots of timed tests were stressful I'm not very good at skills requiring good orientation in space or eye-hand coordination did poorly on first tests and lost confidence	Couldn't grasp the concepts with the lecture and read-the-text method and was afraid of the teacher Didn't see its relevance to my life Thought it was a "boy's" subject and boys dominated the labs and discussions
Extent to which I use or am interested in this learning now	almost nil	Extensively -- as a result of working on a computer, I have increased my speed considerably with practice	I'm interested in some of the ideas in the "new" physics but find them difficult to understand even in books written for the layperson
What might have helped my learning	The following things might have made a difference: if the teacher had been friendly and established a relationship with me as a person if the teacher had been enthusiastic about the subject matter and demonstrated its relevance if some of the material had been presented as concepts to be understood, instead of information to be memorized -- teacher could have used some concept attainment strategies if the tables, formulas, and other factual information had been used in some way on a regular basis or applied regularly I see now that I was not just involved in content learning but was also learning a negative value - that chemistry was boring and unimportant	It seems obvious now that typing (which became keyboarding) is a useful skill but with only the knowledge of hand-and-finger placement, I taught myself the rest outside of school . . . so, maybe the subject needed to encompass more than keyboarding The teacher could have helped back then by reducing the pressures of timed tests and public comparison of marks It would have been helpful if the teacher used a greater variety of methods/strategies The teacher also could have included our names and little things about us in the material we had to type -- personalized it in some way	The same things I said about Chemistry could be said about Physics. I think it also would have been important to really capture our imaginations about the scope of physics -- I see its relevance and how it connects to "big picture" types of questions now, but I didn't then I think the teacher might have been more sensitive to what we would now call gender bias in the materials and in the methods of presentation -- most girls seemed to need different kinds of supports for their learning than they got It might have helped if teachers had the C.E.L.s to support developing higher level thinking and more active student participation

Using visualizations and creating metaphors or analogies are two ways to develop awareness of the concepts you hold and the assumptions you make. These practices are used in the reflection process to strengthen understanding of the concepts of "learning" and "intelligence".

Another way to strengthen your insights into the views about learning that influence your teaching decisions/classroom interactions is to examine your concepts of learning and intelligence. The following questions and activities can be used in this examination.

Visualizations and Reflections

Imagine the learning of a child in kindergarten. Develop a clear visual image of this child as s/he is at the beginning of school -- what s/he looks like, appears to be feeling. Now, develop a visual image of the child learning many new things. Find any kind of metaphor for acquiring or developing new learning that works for you. Use this as part of your visual image. What does learning look like to you?
Use the following two contrasting examples of visual metaphors. Compare them to your own ideas. Is your image of learning closer to one metaphor than the other?

Metaphor 1: Packing the Suitcase
As a metaphor for how learning occurs, imagine a child going to school with an empty suitcase and a teacher adding contents that will help the child travel through life. Imagine how heavy the suitcase is by the end of the first year. What happens when it is too full for the child to carry? Now, imagine the child discarding some items. Visualize the teacher assessing the child's learning. How could s/he do this?

Metaphor 2: Changing the Inner Map of Reality
Imagine that within a child's body is an invisible map of reality, one the child has drawn in his/her learnings about the world. Only the child can see and make changes to the map. The teacher provides new experiences that broaden and deepen the child's ideas of the world. Imagine the child making additions or changes to her/his inner map with a magic set of pencils. What does the map look like by the end of the first year of school? How will the teacher, who cannot see the map, know that the child is learning?

Brainstorm and list all activities that come to mind when you think of the concept intelligent behaviour. Begin your list by focusing on yourself and all those things you do, feel, or think that you consider to be signs of your intelligence. Complete this reflection before reading on.
When you have run out of ideas, compare your list to the one that follows.

Intelligent Behaviour is:

improving your abilities at a team sport
painting an original picture
making your friends laugh by the ways you respond to social interactions
sensing that someone you care about is unhappy, without being told
building a stone wall by hand
questioning and/or seeing the long-term consequences of short-term gains
throwing a clay pot
getting the correct answer to a mathematical calculation
making an elaborate pattern or construction with lego bricks
avoiding "getting caught" when you have misbehaved
making a sand castle
hiding your insincerity
making a pun
seeing a connection between something you learned in school and a movie you have
ecently seen
sensing that someone poses a threat to your safety
asking the right question when you do not understand something.

How similar is your list to the one above? In the above list, are there examples you do not consider intelligent behaviour? If so, why? What definition of intelligence are you using to make that decision?
Focus your ideas more specifically on some of the typical and unique behaviours of your students. Extend your list to include all of the types of things that students say, do, or do not do, that you would consider intelligent behaviour. By broadening your concept of intelligence beyond 'right answers', can some behaviours -- exhibited by students who are usually considered 'weak' -- be added to your list?

One way to become aware of your concept of 'intelligence' is to brainstorm a list of intelligent behaviours as observed in daily life.

The last decades of research in human learning have presented new insights into the ways that learners are active in constructing their own understanding. Constructivist learning theories have shown the limitations of viewing 'learning' as something we can "give" to students that they will "receive" or learn in exactly the same form, at exactly the given time.

Connections to Core Curriculum

Constructing learning. The view of learning underlying all Core curricula and the Common Essential Learnings is referred to as a "constructivist" theory of learning. It is based on the idea that humans construct their own learning in active processes of observing, questioning, and making connections. (See the first column of Reference Chart II: Central Features of Core Curricula, p. 9 for a summary of beliefs related to this theory.)

The essential purpose behind the extensive research that led to this theory was to observe and describe how humans develop understanding of phenomena and ideas in their world. This was a departure from earlier theories that studied how humans could be trained to acquire rote learning and technical skills. While these more behaviourist theories can still be usefully applied in some classroom situations, they are not adequate to support teacher planning when we want students to understand and apply their learning.

Teachers will recognize how constructivist views of learning apply across Core curricula by reading the Instructional Strategies, and Assessment and Evaluation sections of the guides in different subject areas. All those strategies/tools -- involving active student participation in the development of their learning -- support a focus on understanding and application. Such active participation can take many forms, including moments where students are "deep in thought".

Another way teachers can recognize the constructivist view is in Saskatchewan Education's use of Foundational Objectives and developmental continuums of specific learning objectives. Constructivist theories have shown the ways that learning develops in an integrated and individual fashion. This differs from earlier theories that focused on 'learning' as acquisition of discrete facts/skills, within similar sequences, at similar rates for all individuals.

Multiple intelligences. Core curricula and the C.E.L.s also reflect the belief that students have multiple forms of intelligence that differ in kind and degree from student to student. The theory of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1995; Walters & Gardner, 1985) is another aspect of the learning theory underlying much of Core Curriculum development. Theories such as this differ from earlier ideas that intelligence could be represented as an aggregate of linguistic and logical-mathematical skills or as an intelligence quotient (IQ). The theory of multiple intelligences that underlies Core curricula also recognizes and supports cultural differences.

The view of 'learning' underlying Core curricula is reflected in the Foundational Objectives and developmental continuums of learning objectives that are sensitive to individual and contextual differences. This view describes 'learning' as an active-interactive process, influenced by individual learner's circumstances and unique characteristics, as well as characteristics of the learning environment.

A significant contribution to our view of 'intelligence' -- one that influenced Core Curriculum development -- is the idea that intelligence is not fixed for all time, but can be developed by caring teachers and through teaching practices sensitive to the affective domain. (Goleman, 1995; Perkins, 1995)

Gardner's Multiple Forms of Intelligence
bodily kinesthetic intelligence interpersonal intelligence intrapersonal intelligence linguistic intelligence	logical-mathematical intelligence musical intelligence naturalist intelligence spatial intelligence

Teachers interested in learning more about the uses of the multiple intelligence (MI) theory may be interested in Gardner's (1993) or other recent books that directly relate MI theory to educational practices. For example:

New City School Faculty. 1996. Multiple intelligences: Teaching through the personal intelligences. St. Louis M0: New City School.
Glock, J., Wertz, S., & Meyer, M. 1999. Discovering the naturalist intelligence: Science in the school yard. Kitchener ON: Mind Resource

Learnable intelligence. Another significant way that intelligence theory has changed in response to research is viewing intelligence as having important aspects amenable to learning and growth; that is, the belief that one's intelligence is not fixed for all time. For example, Goleman (1995) and Perkins (1995) have developed views of intelligence that emphasize the role of dispositions, attitudes, and values for intelligent behaviour, noting that intelligent behaviour in the emotional and reflective realms is learnable.

Applying your Understanding

A broader, more conscious understanding of your own ideas about learning is useful in many ways. Some ways this understanding might be applied include:

Use your understanding that similar learning and intelligence theories consistently apply across all Core curricula to plan integrated units that use active instructional approaches and evaluation/assessment techniques. In secondary programs, you may work with a colleague to develop an integrated unit that applies the same instructional strategy/process in two subject areas. Remind yourself that the more students use and apply a strategy to different subject areas and situations, the more likely they are to understand it, use it outside school, and for life.
The next time you develop an assignment or set of assignments for a unit, brainstorm a list of all the ways students could demonstrate their learning. Offer students several alternatives to written work. Include a combination of shorter written portions with such things as drawings, three-dimensional models, and oral or dramatic presentations. Remind yourself that while students spend time on developing such varied products/presentations, they are actively learning. Time spent in creating is time spent in learning.
Be alert to the ways that students who appear to be struggling academically may demonstrate a form of learning or intelligent behaviour. Make specific, appreciative remarks when you see these behaviours/signs of learning, regardless of whether they have obvious academic implications.
If student self-discipline/classroom management are of particular concern, notice and appreciate students' positive uses of social and personal intelligence. Use a grading scheme that takes this area into account within each area study. Remember, Personal and Social Skills and Values (C.E.L.) are part of all subject areas and, thus, are an important focus of learning.
Develop ways to recognize and incorporate positive types of learning that extend beyond, or take place outside, the school setting. Use students' knowledge and abilities from out-of-school experiences as starting points for other learning. \
Recognize and appreciate your own abilities and types of knowledge. Ask, "What interests, knowledge, and abilities do I have that I am not applying to my teaching? How could I make more use of all my strengths?"

Teachers who are conscious of their
views about learning and intelligence can use this awareness to question their planning and teaching practices on the basis of the alternatives, choices, and possibilities these present for students, both individually and as a group.

Reflection Focus IV offers teachers opportunities to
(a) increase their knowledge of the similarities that exist across all Core curricula and (b) use this understanding to streamline planning and strengthen teaching.

Reflection Focus IV: Making Core Curriculum Work For You

This section contains:

ideas and reflective questions useful for deeper understanding of the patterns and similarities that exist across all, or most, Core curricula
examples of key aspects of the philosophy and/or theoretical underpinnings of individual curricula
reflective tasks to use with these examples.

Recognizing and Using Common Curriculum Elements

The purpose for including material that uncovers patterns and similarities across curricula is to support teachers in the following ways.

1. Increase the ability to recognize familiar Core Curriculum themes/patterns when learning about/implementing new curricula. Rather than learning about an entire curriculum each time, concentrate on its specific subject matter/content and the unique aspects of its directions and approaches.

2. Decrease the demands of planning in more than one subject area:

gain facility in recognizing and appropriately using the same instructional strategy/assessment technique in more than one subject area
recognize opportunities to develop integrated units -- from more than one subject area -- that achieve similar or related learning objectives
make more instruction time available by building on concepts, skills, and strategies introduced in other subject areas.

Reflections

Choose from some of the following activities to (a) focus your thinking on the similarities that exist within instruction and assessment across Core curricula and
(b) determine the extent that you use these similarities to support learning and streamline planning.

For each subject area you teach, brainstorm and list all the instructional strategies and assessment tools/techniques you presently use. Circle the ones you use in more than one subject area or across subject areas. Are there others that, with minor adjustments, could be used in many subjects? What would be the advantages/disadvantages for student learning?
Look at your list again. How broad is the range of strategies and tools/techniques you use? How many strategies and techniques incorporate a high degree of student involvement and critical or creative thought? interaction between students? student choice and independent study? exploration and inquiry? Can you find strategies/techniques in the curricula you are responsible for that would reflect some of these elements?
In the Core curricula you are responsible for, turn to the section on "Instruction" (i.e., "Instructional Strategies"). Skim through it, check the strategies you use every term/year. Do the same for the section on "Assessment and Evaluation". Choose another Core Curriculum guide; repeat this process. Can you develop categories of strategies and assessment tools/techniques that would reflect the types of instructional strategies and assessment in all Core curricula (e.g., individual strategies, group strategies)?
Go back and look at the strategies and techniques you do not presently use. Can you find one or two that would be useful to (a) learn more about and (b) implement in more than one subject area or class that you teach? Which one/s? Are there some similarities -- in terms of types of instructional strategies and assessment tools and techniques -- that you tend to avoid? If so, what similarities? If you learned to implement one strategy of this type effectively, would it support your implementation of other similar strategies or tools/techniques?
For strategies that employ small-group formats, what similar preparations and supports do students need? If the skills and abilities underlying co-operative learning are effectively taught in one class, how could that carry over to group learning strategies in other classes? What different or additional preparations/supports would be needed?
What similar preparations and supports are needed for independent study and resource-based learning? Could a teacher who has effectively used these strategies in one subject area or class transfer this learning to other subjects and classes? Under what circumstances would this be difficult? inappropriate? useful and effective?

A teacher vignette

I can give you an example of ways a strategy can carry over to other subjects. I have taught for 6 years. For the last 3 years, we have been articulating professional growth goals. My goal last year was to try more Writers' Workshop strategies. At first, it was very chaotic. The students weren't serious about writing and the results I thought would happen, didn't. However, I kept trying different ways of organizing the Writers' Workshop time and continued to talk to the class about the importance of each person's ideas. Now, after a year and six months, I am seeing the positive benefits. The class is on task during writing time and attentive during sharing time. They are also carrying over their writing experience to other areas, like creating better descriptions of science exploration and developing a deeper appreciation for literature during Readers' Workshop.

Although many teachers report they sometimes feel impatient with, and have a tendency to skip philosophical, theoretical material, educational theories soundly based in classroom practice can be of great use. Teachers who devote time to understanding the theoretical underpinnings and instructional/evaluation principles on which a curriculum is based will reap many benefits from their efforts.

The reflections related to instructional strategies and assessment tools/ techniques are useful to develop an understanding of the range and common types of instructional and assessment approaches that apply across all Core curricula.

One benefit of understanding the philosophy underlying all Core curricula is an increased ability to "think on one's feet", responding quickly and appropriately to a variety of instructional situations.

"There's nothing so practical as understanding the theory behind what I am doing!"
(A Saskatchewan teacher)

Uses of Philosophical and Theoretical Understanding

Teachers who understand the foundations of Core curricula can:

evaluate the appropriateness of any practice or resource
explain and/or justify any practice to students, parents, and administrators
"think on their feet" in meetings and during classroom interactions and instruction
strengthen their own teaching/learning philosophies and increase their clarity in explaining them during interviews, discussions, and planning sessions.

Reflecting on patterns and similarities in Core Curriculum philosophy

The following reflective questions use Reference Chart II: Central Features of Core Curricula (p. 9).

Reflections

Before reviewing Reference Chart II (p. 9), brainstorm and list all key words/phrases that come to mind in answer to the question, "How would you describe the philosophy behind Core Curriculum or individual Core curricula?"

Philosophy is intended to mean the:
(a) intentions (purposes, goals, rationale, beliefs about teaching and learning)
(b) approaches (general principles that drive instruction and assessment
and central teaching processes).

Do not be concerned by correctness. You simply want to increase awareness of your present assumptions and beliefs about Core curricula. If adjectives such as "demanding" come to mind, include these as well as descriptors that relate more directly to the philosophy.
When finished, skim through Reference Chart II. Circle all the words that you feel to be key words (e.g., in the column entitled Learning Theory, you might circle "active" and "purposeful").
How closely do these circled words match those in your brainstormed list? Can you match or draw relationships between all your descriptors and the key words circled in Reference Chart II?
Look at the column headings in Reference Chart II. Each heading represents an important aspect of Core curricula. Are some of these aspects not reflected in your list? If so, which ones? Why might these aspects not have come to mind?
Consider each individual point in Reference Chart II from the perspective of whether you agree. Choose those points whose classroom implications with which you either disagree or are not totally clear. Reflect on them further. What is really meant by the words that describe each of those points? To get a stronger sense, ask "What would this look like if I acted on it in my classroom?"
Using the points that are unclear or that you somewhat disagree with, think about each word and whether, if the word were left out, the meaning of the point would be the same. For example, is the word "completely" a significant word in the point: "Processes are never completely mastered"? If so, why? What are the implications of its inclusion for your instructional or evaluation/grading practices?
How might you change or further qualify a point of disagreement to better reflect your own beliefs? How might this change of wording be reflected in your classroom practice? Would the resultant changes be so different they would contradict the overall philosophy and directions of Core Curriculum?

Reference Chart II
(p. 9) provides a relatively quick means to develop an understanding of common elements of all Core curricula and the underlying philosophy of Core Curriculum.

Many "traditional" teaching practices play a useful role in supporting student learning (e.g., direct instruction). An important understanding of such practices is to use them to achieve specific objectives, in specific situations, and as part of a varied instructional repertoire. All instructional strategies and assessment techniques can suffer from overuse or inappropriate use

Understanding the Intentions and Directions of Individual Subject Areas

This section provides a concept development process to understand key aspects of a Core curriculum's overall intentions or central approaches. The process is briefly described and illustrated through examples in several subject areas. Key aspects of the philosophy or theory base of a number of the Required Areas of Study are provided in this section. Choose one subject area that you teach. Read the material suggested for that subject before responding to the questions for reflection.

The Process

Skim the initial section/s of a Core Curriculum guide in a subject area you teach. Pay particular attention to sections describing the curriculum's principles, premises, rationale, aim, and goals, and material that describes its overall directions or intentions.
Summarize the main ideas by restating them in your own words, highlighting key phrases or selecting one or two concepts you believe are most central to the curriculum's directions and approaches.
Reflect on what a teacher would be doing in her/his classroom to implement these central intentions/directions and approaches. How would the classroom be organized? What types of resources would be used? What would the teacher be saying and doing on a regular basis? What would students be doing?
To achieve greater clarity about what the curriculum's directions would look like in practice, develop an "Examples/Nonexamples" type of analysis. As your focal point, use teaching practices that match, and do not match, the curriculum's central directions/intentions. Another useful way is to contrast classroom practices related to the new curriculum with the dominant teaching methods used prior to the implementation of Core Curriculum that do not match its intentions.
Note. Many so called "traditional practices" are incorporated into Core curricula and continue to be useful when used in a balanced, varied overall approach to instruction. Be sure to note previous practices that continue to match the new curriculum's intentions/directions. You may want to use a three-part analysis using headings such as, "Practices that reflect this curriculum's philosophy", "Practices that could reflect this curriculum's philosophy if used appropriately", and "Practices that contradict this curriculum's philosophy".
Before you start your analysis, read through one or more of the following examples.

Example 1: Understanding a conceptual approach to teaching physical education

Choose the physical education curriculum guide most relevant to the level/s you teach and read the short section of it that is suggested below. Each section describes a conceptual approach to physical education and its rationale. These documents are available from the Saskatchewan Education website at www.sasked.gov.sk.ca

Physical Education 1- 5: A Curriculum Guide for the Elementary Level (1999), pp. 8-10.
Physical Education 6-9: A Curriculum Guide for the Middle Level (1995), p. 5.
Instructional Physical Education: A Curriculum Guide for the Secondary Level (1994), p. 5.

One way to check your understanding of a "Conceptual Approach to Physical Education" is to think how you would describe this approach to students and parents/guardians.

Reflective Tasks

What does "A Conceptual Approach to Physical Education" mean to me? How would I translate this approach and its rationale into my own words?
How could I describe it so students would understand it? parents? (If you are uncertain that you have a clear understanding of this approach, ask a colleague how s/he would explain it. Work on a mutual definition that shows how this approach would look in practice.)
What is new or different about this approach? Read the following two-column analysis and see if you can add your own examples.

Shifting the Organizing Centers in Physical Education*
From Teaching Games and Skills	To Conceptual Teaching and Learning
Lessons and units are organized around particular activities such as, gymnastics or particular games or sports, such as volleyball. The activity, game, or sport is considered an end in itself. The emphasis is on doing -- students engage in largely non-reflective skills learning. (Often the emphasis for students is on "winning" as opposed to "learning"). Add other instructional and assessment practices that show an emphasis on games and skills.	Lessons and units are organized around concepts such as "Sending" or "Responsible Leadership". The activity or sport is considered a means to an end; it is the vehicle used to teach and learn the concepts. Increased emphasis on thinking (reflecting) while doing -- on the "how" and "why" of doing Add other instructional and assessment practices that show an emphasis on conceptual teaching and learning.

Example 2: Analyzing the central directions/intentions of English language arts

Choose the English language arts curriculum document most relevant to the level/s you teach or find it on the Saskatchewan Education website, and read the short section of it that is suggested below.

Early Literacy: A Resource for Teachers (2000), pp. 13-19.
English Language Arts: A Curriculum for the Elementary Level (1992), pp. 4-5.
English Language Arts: A Curriculum for the Middle Level (1997), pp. 3-5.
English Language Arts: A Curriculum for the Secondary Level (1999), p. 3.

One way to keep your thinking about the intentions and directions of Core curricula from becoming too "black and white" or dichotomous is to develop a three-category analysis of a new curriculum's approach to instruction and assessment:

"traditional" practices that have been retained
new practices that have been added
"traditional" practices that have not been included because of their contradiction of the curriculum's central intentions.

Reflective Tasks

What is my understanding of these Essential Practices or Curriculum Principles? How would I translate each one into my own language? How could I reword the essential practice/principle so students could understand it? parents?
(If a practice/principle is difficult to understand, ask a colleague how s/he would explain it. Work on a mutual definition to show how this principle could be
translated into practice.)
What is new or different about this curriculum's instructional emphases?· Which traditional practices have been retained but recommended within a broader/ balanced range of strategies?
Are there traditional practices I use that would not reflect the curriculum's intentions, even if incorporated into a broader range of instructional strategies?
Develop a three-column analysis describing the ways you have previously taught
this subject area, listing practices that were (a) contradictory to the new
curriculum's intentions, (b) useful but not sufficient, and (c) the way you would
teach the subject area when you implement this curriculum. An example of a few
items from one teacher's analysis follows. Can you add to it?

Example of One Teacher's Analysis Focus: English Language Arts
Past Practices That Contradict the New Curriculum	Past Practices that are Useful but not Sufficient	Desired Practices
Focus on: isolated skill instruction and decontextualized activities Add other practices that would not reflect the intentions of the new curriculum as you understand them.	Focus on: reading and writing, primarily print texts teacher-directed instructional strategies Add ideas for practices that could be retained if incorporated appropriately within a balanced approach.	Focus on: balanced literacy (attention to the six language strands of: listening, speaking, reading, writing, viewing, and representing) print, aural, and multimedia texts balance of direct instruction, modeling, guided practice, independent work, and interactive or student-centred strategies · language skills and strategies in meaningful, authentic contexts Add ideas to reflect all the principles as you understand them.

Sometimes, misunderstanding a curriculum's intentions happens because the curriculum guide uses familiar terminology, but applies a different meaning (e.g., "problem solving" is an old term used in a new, specific way in mathematics).

Example 3: Understanding the problem-solving approach in mathematics

Reflect on the meaning of the following sentence from the Middle Level mathematics curriculum: "Problem solving is a process that is learned by doing."

What is new or different about this approach? Read the following examples and non-examples of the curriculum's approach to problem solving. See if you can add your own.

The Approach to Problem Solving in the New Mathematics Curricula
Non-examples	Examples
Students do problem solving once a week in isolation from other students and from the development of their mathematical understandings. The teacher, through one or two worked examples of the same type, demonstrates a single problem-solving strategy. The students then work individually on a set of similar problems, often as a homework task. Single solutions are taken up in the next class and the class moves on to a new topic. Add other examples.	Students are frequently engaged in co-operative groups, working to solve meaningful, challenging problems. Class discussions and presentations are used to share problem-solving strategies and challenges that students have faced in the process. Many of the problems used for instruction have multiple-solution strategies and/or multiple solutions. Add other examples.

Example 4: Understanding the intentions related to the inclusion of Aboriginal Content and Perspectives

Many Core Curriculum guides and other documents contain summary statements related to Core Curriculum initiatives. Finding and carefully studying these short sections can lead to a greater understanding of individual initiatives and to the concept of equity. The following is an example of a summary statement that relates to Aboriginal Content and Perspectives. As you read, reflect on its meaning for teaching and learning.

The inclusion of Aboriginal Content and Perspectives fosters meaningful and culturally identifiable experiences for First Nations, Métis, and Inuit students. The inclusion of such content, resources, and perspectives also promotes the development of positive attitudes in all students toward aboriginal peoples. Increasing an awareness of one's own culture and the cultures of others develops students' self-concepts, promotes an appreciation of Canada's cultural mosaic and supports universal human rights.

Such culturally sensitive practice goes beyond the addition of appropriate materials and resources to also include a supportive, respectful environment and a range of instructional strategies and assessment techniques -- ones that reflect students' needs, backgrounds, abilities, and interests.

Reflective Tasks

In my understanding, what is the main rationale for the inclusion of Aboriginal Content and Perspectives? How could I reword this for my understanding?
How could I describe it so students and parents could understand it?
How could I translate this rationale into my teaching practices? How would this influence my classroom environment? my relationships with students, parents and community? relationships between students? the content, resources, strategies and assessment techniques I use?

The following presents a few examples of how this rationale would influence teaching. Can you add to it?

Environment

Relationships

Content and Resources

Instructional Strategies

Assessment Techniques

Environment

Teacher displays posters of First Nations, Métis, and Inuit persons, and persons from a variety of cultural groups who have made a positive contribution to Canadian culture.
Add other ideas.

Teacher talks about her/his cultural background, place of birth, family members/ relatives and shows interest in students' backgrounds.
Teacher models appropriate ways to use humour and values its positive use by students.
Add other ideas

Canadian history is presented from the perspectives of all cultural groups.
Add other ideas

Teach the behaviours and values needed to use
co-operative learning techniques successfully. Vary your
co-operative pairs and small groups to (a) meet students' evolving needs, (b) incorporate student suggestions, and (c) promote cross-cultural friendships.
Add other ideas.

Incorporate a variety of student self-assessment tools and techniques after teaching their uses and purposes
Add other ideas.

Reflections

How different would your chart look if it were focused on Multicultural Education? What would be similar? different?
What aspects of the Aboriginal Content and Perspectives rationale would apply to other equity initiatives such as Special Education or Gender Equity? to the C.E.L. of Personal and Social Values and Skills?
In what ways does Resource-based Learning support this rationale and the teaching practices that follow from it?

Applying your Understanding

Understanding common themes and patterns across Core curricula, and philosophical underpinnings and central approaches of individual curricula, has many uses. In addition to those previously described (pp. 32-34), the following are further practical applications of such understanding.

Use your understanding of the why of particular approaches to:
- explain their importance to students and parents
- increase student motivation
- justify and acquire needed supports or resources.
Use your knowledge of the active learning approaches that are important in all subject areas (e.g., co-operative group learning) as a focus when planning personal-professional growth activities, teacher workshops, and conference sessions or selecting professional reading material.
Become a "myth debunker". When parents, friends/acquaintances, or colleagues appear to have inaccurate/incomplete views of aspects of curricula, an atmosphere can result that negatively affects your work. You may be able to provide additional information or supply important qualifiers that incorporate their ideas within a larger framework. For example, you could say, it is true that our approach to language arts is not one that recommends the use of isolated drill related to phonics, but phonics instruction is a very important part of our new curriculum. We try to teach phonics in ways that have more meaning to our students. The curriculum guide states this very clearly. Could I show you the pages? If others are not willing to change their present views, you will still have a confidence in your teaching that is based on study of curriculum documents and not on hearsay.
When you understand the why of things, you can think on your feet during instruction, respond more reasonably to student questions or classroom situations, and make adaptations more readily and appropriately.

Summing Up

Reflective practice develops from many elements and can take many forms. As in all life processes, balance is an important aspect of reflection -- for example, balancing questions with possibilities and serious thoughts with humourous insights. Another important balance is between "reflecting back" and "looking forward".

As your reflective practice develops, you may see students becoming more reflective as well.

Reflection often seems to be about "thinking back". The process for Curriculum Reflection is intended to be useful for also "thinking forward", that is, for applying new insights to future practices.

*This analysis is adapted from a similar one in the Elementary Physical Education Curriculum, p. 10.