{"id":2308,"date":"2016-06-29T14:54:55","date_gmt":"2016-06-29T21:54:55","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/?p=2308"},"modified":"2021-11-08T15:13:40","modified_gmt":"2021-11-08T23:13:40","slug":"choice-and-flexibility-some-thoughts-on-the-new-curriculum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/2308","title":{"rendered":"Choice and flexibility: some thoughts on the new curriculum"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"wp_fb_like_button\" style=\"margin:5px 0;float:none;height:30px;\"><script src=\"http:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/all.js#xfbml=1\"><\/script><fb:like href=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/2308\" send=\"false\" layout=\"standard\" width=\"450\" show_faces=\"false\" font=\"arial\" action=\"recommend\" colorscheme=\"light\"><\/fb:like><\/div><p>The latest drafts of the grades 10-12\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/bctela.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/ELA-10-12-Proposed-Curriculum-R.doc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">English<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1LoZzlS8Pfa_kjAIMN-KTgtAdv0jz4ClebGn_C8Zm6zI\/mobilebasic?pli=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social studies<\/a> curricula and the recent announcement of BC\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/www2.gov.bc.ca\/gov\/content\/education-training\/k-12\/support\/graduation\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new graduation requirements<\/a> <em>[Ed. note: This link has been updated.]<\/em> confirm what many secondary teachers have feared: the continued (and perhaps accelerated) slide toward a consumer-oriented education system that offers little accountability.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with the new curricula. Because I am a secondary humanities teacher, I\u2019ll confine my remarks to English and social studies; from what I can see, these two disciplines appear to be at the bleeding edge of this general curricular shift. The central, recurring motif of the new English and social studies documents is <em>choice<\/em>. In the latest English draft, for example, we see choice as the key to student motivation:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Enabling students to be active participants in their learning is well-recognized as a powerful motivator. For this reason, choice is provided to students early in the Graduation years, as a testament to their capacity as young adults to make judicious selections from a variety of English Language Arts Options and to allow them a sense of agency in their own education. This is consistent with a strength-based rather than a deficit-based approach to education.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Leaving aside the horrifically loaded jargon of the final sentence, it\u2019s clear that this is a <em>system full of choosers<\/em>. Choice is \u201cpowerful\u201d, leads to \u201cjudicious selections\u201d and provides \u201ca sense of agency\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>Given this core value, both curriculum proposals have been adjusted to maximize student options. The latest <a href=\"http:\/\/bctela.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/04\/ELA-10-12-Proposed-Curriculum-R.doc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">English<\/a> proposal offers a Core course and five different optional courses: Composition; Creative Writing; Focused Literary Studies; New Media; and Spoken Communication. According to the latest proposal, students entering Grade 10 will choose two of the five \u201cOptionals\u201d via two half-year (i.e. two credit) courses; this will equal the four credits that students currently receive for English 10. Students in Grades 11 and 12 will select one of the Optionals in a presumably more advanced four credit version, and take the four credit Core course, \u201cwhich represents \u2018essential learning\u2019 in language arts, including reading and writing, speaking and listening, viewing and representing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The commitment to choice is even more pronounced in the latest <a href=\"https:\/\/docs.google.com\/document\/d\/1LoZzlS8Pfa_kjAIMN-KTgtAdv0jz4ClebGn_C8Zm6zI\/mobilebasic?pli=1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">social studies<\/a> draft. First, the curriculum has been revised and condensed downward. Social Studies 9 and 10, ironically, are positively crammed with content, quite the opposite of what teachers were seeking. However, the solution is obvious: <em>pick and choose<\/em> your content to reflect thematic Big Ideas. Want to discuss &#8220;conflict&#8221; in the <a href=\"https:\/\/curriculum.gov.bc.ca\/curriculum\/social-studies\/9\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">new Socials 9<\/a>? Sample some of these topics:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Opium Wars<\/li>\n<li>Boxer Rebellion<\/li>\n<li>Boer War<\/li>\n<li>wars of independence in Latin America<\/li>\n<li>Armenian genocide<\/li>\n<li>Chilcotin War<\/li>\n<li>Fraser Canyon War<\/li>\n<li>American Civil War<\/li>\n<li>Franco-Prussian War of 1871<\/li>\n<li>Russian Revolution<\/li>\n<li>Crimean War<\/li>\n<li>Russo-Japanese War<\/li>\n<li>Chinese Rebellion of 1911<\/li>\n<li>World War I<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>As we can see, these topics are not listed chronologically or even alphabetically, but that\u2019s on purpose. <a href=\"http:\/\/historicalthinking.ca\/historical-thinking-concepts\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Traditional historical thinking concepts like continuity and change, or cause and consequence<\/a>, are largely supplanted by <em>sampling<\/em>, as if history is a potpourri of exotic ingredients mixed into a thematic soup.<\/p>\n<p>Social Studies 11 will be eliminated. In\u00a0its place, secondary students will choose a final course from a veritable smorgasbord of optional secondary titles. At the time of writing, there are <em>a staggering 17 secondary options, <\/em>with \u201cmore more courses in draft form\u201d<em>.<\/em> Many of these courses are reboots of existing offerings (Law 12, History 12, etc.) but most of them look like 1st year university survey courses. Whether all of these could be realistically available even in the largest of schools is a matter of debate, though students moving between schools or taking online courses seems like a likely solution.<\/p>\n<p>So we\u2019ve established that choice is\u00a0a foundational concept in the curriculum revisions and that the new drafts have responded in kind. Yet one question continues to come to mind: Is this faith in choice justified? Worryingly, only one piece of evidence (in the English draft document) is provided:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>The aim of the ELA 10-12 curriculum structure is to maximize students\u2019 chances of success by allowing them to choose the Optional courses that are most engaging for them and to achieve deeper learning. Because the curriculum has been redesigned to be less prescriptive and more flexible, there are increased opportunities for students to pursue their interests, aspirations, and passions and to benefit from more specialized areas of language arts study. Choice also includes encouraging increased opportunities for students to select the types of texts they will use, such as a variety of text types in the context of literature circles, particularly in the Options (e.g., Focused Literary Studies or New Media):<\/p>\n<p>\u201cResearch has demonstrated that access to self-selected texts improves students&#8217; reading performance\u2026 This is especially true for struggling readers\u2026.\u201d (Krashen, 2011). From: <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ascd.org\/publications\/educational-leadership\/mar12\/vol69\/num06\/Every-Child,-Every-Day.aspx\">http:\/\/www.ascd.org\/publications\/educational-leadership\/mar12\/vol69\/num06\/Every-Child,-Every-Day.aspx<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>After reading the article above, I\u2019m a little perplexed. It refers to children (apparently of elementary age) who are choosing books within a classroom. But how does this apply <em>to adolescents choosing courses for an entire year? <\/em>I really don\u2019t find this reference particularly convincing, and it seems like another example of progressive educators building an edifice without a solid research base. Speaking of research, I\u2019m reminded of John Hattie\u2019s work, in which he concludes that the positive effect of \u201cstudent control over learning\u201d is <a href=\"http:\/\/visible-learning.org\/nvd3\/visualize\/hattie-ranking-interactive-2009-2011-2015.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">almost negligible<\/a>.\u00a0 One <a href=\"https:\/\/studylib.net\/doc\/6589511\/synthesis-of-hattie-work-with-effect-sizes-in-ascending-o...\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">synthesis<\/a> of Hattie\u2019s research explains that the effect \u201cof student choice and control over learning is somewhat higher on motivation outcomes than achievement outcomes, but neither have major consequences on learning and too many choices can be overwhelming.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps the Ministry of Education will eventually buttress its curriculum\u00a0with more evidence, but in the meantime it\u2019s probably more fruitful to see this commitment to course-based choice as part of a larger commitment to neo-liberal education reform. Much of this is inspired by\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/thetyee.ca\/News\/2012\/10\/05\/BC-Education-Plan\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GELP<\/a>,\u00a0a\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.innovationunit.org\/sites\/default\/files\/GELP%20Partners%20final.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">corporate sponsored<\/a> global\u00a0education reform\u00a0organization <a href=\"http:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/453460-case-study-bc.html#document\/p1\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">connected to BC\u2019s Ministry of Education<\/a>,\u00a0and manifested in the current government&#8217;s\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.bcedplan.ca\/assets\/pdf\/bcs_education_plan_2015.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BC Edplan<\/a>. At its most ideological level, GELP aims to \u201cto design public services that deliver different and better outcomes <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cisco.com\/c\/dam\/en_us\/solutions\/industries\/docs\/education\/ecosystem_for_edu.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">at a lower cost<\/a>\u201d. At its most benign level, the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.documentcloud.org\/documents\/453460-case-study-bc.html#document\/p3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">GELP approach<\/a> is designed to \u201ccreate better opportunities for parents to engage in their child&#8217;s learning with more flexibility and choice with respect to what, how, when and where their child learns\u201d. Even here, though, the policy above is preceded by a chilling notion that &#8220;parents and students still have choice and opportunity to decide which school their child attends within the public and independent school systems&#8221;. Given BC\u2019s current discussion about a <a href=\"http:\/\/thetyee.ca\/Opinion\/2016\/06\/20\/BC-Two-Tier-Education\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">two-tiered<\/a> education system, it\u2019s a little disconcerting to hear our current Minister of Education <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/british-columbia\/education-minister-on-vsb-school-closures-and-funding-private-schools-1.3649251\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">defend private school funding<\/a> with similar language: \u201cWhen we look at education in British Columbia, I would say we don&#8217;t fund private schools. We fund students. We fund opportunities for students and those opportunities are chosen by parents.\u201d At this point, it sounds awfully similar to the logic\u00a0of the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.slate.com\/articles\/news_and_politics\/the_dismal_science\/2014\/07\/sweden_school_choice_the_country_s_disastrous_experiment_with_milton_friedman.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">voucher system<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Overall, we appear to be facing a curricular worldview in which students are viewed as consumers rather than citizens. Consumers choose their individual preferences rather than work together for a greater good. Teachers, in turn, are merchants of learning outcomes, controlled by the vicissitudes of supply and demand. And humanities courses, needless to say, become commodities that are valued according to consumer taste. In the fragmented (or, rather, &#8220;specialized&#8221;) market place we see above, there doesn\u2019t seem to be much space for common cause or a common narrative. Neither is there much room for a teacher with high standards, not when one humanities course is fully equivalent to another course down the hallway with no essays or challenging assessments. I\u2019m not saying choosing courses necessarily leads to vouchers and market-based schooling &#8211; after all, this is likely just another example of BC&#8217;s reductive obsession with lowering standards and improving the graduation rate &#8211; but surely there&#8217;s an affinity between course choice and a funding system that encourages parents to &#8220;decide which school their child attends&#8221;. And if we accept the former as \u201ccommon sense\u201d or \u201cobvious\u201d, then the latter becomes much easier to introduce.<\/p>\n<p>_________________<\/p>\n<p>See also:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/1587\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Reflections on a 21st Century School<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/1312\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Same Coin, Two Sides: Resurrecting the Liberal Arts Ideal<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/1258\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">The Rise of the Electives and the Smorgasbord Kids (And Why Trades vs Academics is Obsolete)<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/archives\/950\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">A Lament for the (Grade 12 ) Provincial Exams<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The latest drafts of the grades 10-12\u00a0English and social studies curricula and the recent announcement of BC\u2019s new graduation requirements [Ed. note: This link has been updated.] confirm what many secondary teachers have feared: the continued (and perhaps accelerated) slide toward a consumer-oriented education system that offers little accountability. Let\u2019s start with the new curricula. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,9,14,15],"tags":[23,194,22,195,196,64,197],"class_list":["post-2308","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-bc-politics","category-education","category-language","category-modern-culture","tag-change","tag-choice","tag-education-2","tag-flexibility","tag-gelp","tag-innovation","tag-neoliberal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2308"}],"version-history":[{"count":31,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2555,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2308\/revisions\/2555"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2308"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2308"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/lexiconic.net\/wheatfromthechaff\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2308"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}