Culture
The traditional concept of culture
Belonging to a traditional cultural concept, artifacts, and symbols such as music, clothing, and food are expressive elements of a given culture. For instance, culture is defined as a system of values, behaviors, social arrangements, and ideologies that help human beings interpret their world and deal with social, natural, and environmental features. These elements help humans learn, understand, and transmit their culture from one generation to another in a social and modifiable context (Bobbitt 62).
The contemporary concept of culture
A culture is defined by the practices, expressions, representations, and knowledge that are recognized in a given community as a part of their cultural heritage. These aspects are passed down from one generation to another but are constantly recreated in response to changes in the environment, interaction with other communities, and nature. Also, intangible aspects of culture, including language, perceptions, and values, normally provide the community with a sense of continuity as well as identity.
Essential differences between traditional and contemporary concepts of culture
Traditional culture is based on the margins of sociological interests. For instance, traditional culture is defined by relationships between individuals, from immediate family to extended family, clans, and tribes. The culture was seen as the one made up of people living within a given geographical region. Each member of the culture knows how he or she fits into the mix because there is a clear definition of relationships and behaviors that go along with them.
While traditional culture takes relationships and people as the major aspects, the modern concept of culture takes power and resources as the aspects that define it. For instance, business life is separate from personal life, while state powers are different from religious powers (Coffey 43).
Secondly, traditional culture tends to remain stagnant or in the same form over a long period. In other words, traditional culture is largely conservative. However, the process of change occurs in response to some forms of forces that tend to yield biological shifts. On the other hand, the modern concept of power tends to consider changing an important aspect of culture. Change creates new commodities and teaches individuals how to use or enjoy them. Technologies, ideas, and new things are constantly added to the cultural system.
Stereotyping
Attribution theory-dispositional and non-dispositional characteristics
In stereotyping, dispositional attribution characteristic is a tendency to attribute the behaviors of a group of people to their personalities, abilities, and characters. On the other hand, the non-dispositional characteristic is the tendency of attributing a problem or people’s behaviors to the social system itself rather than people’s personalities.
Deconstructing stereotyping in schools
Deconstruction of stereotyping in schools refers to the process of reducing stereotypic thoughts and ideas by changing students’ mindsets. The teacher presents challenging questions to students to determine their level of stereotypes. Then, he or she provides them with ideal answers in an attempt to reduce stereotypic mindsets. To avoid tokenism, the number of children from minority groups is increased from 15% to ensure that they are not taken as representatives of the whole group of minorities. To avoid generalization, the behaviors or characteristics of a student should not be considered as collective behavior or a set of behavior for the entire group.
Racism
Institutional racism
Institutional racism is the collective behavior of an organization that provides evidence of failure to provide equality in a profession based on people’s color, ethnicity, or culture. It is presented within the wider context of the institutional attitudes, processes, behaviors. It amounts to discrimination through ignorance, prejudice, and racist stereotyping, which becomes a disadvantage for the member of the minority group.
The role of institutional racism in schools
Certain practices used to manage the education system in the US seem to produce institutional discrimination based on race and ethnicity. For example, the role of institutional racism is observed within the context of curriculum tracking or ability grouping. The term “Ability grouping” refers to the process of dividing students based on particular subjects such as special class assignment for mathematics or reading. The term “ability” comes about when students are grouped based on their performances. Since school performances are closely linked to the socioeconomic inequalities outside the school environment, the criteria for divisions result in institutional racism.
White privilege
White privilege
White privilege refers to the set of economic, political, social, and cultural advantages that white people are believed to enjoy beyond those commonly experienced by other racial or ethnic groups living in the same social, cultural, economic, and political environments. Some of the advantages are obvious and well recognizable. However, others are not obvious, which means that the whites are not able to realize that they are placed at an advantage.
The role of white privilege in schooling
In the United States, education policies often place white students at an advantage over their colleagues from other races. For instance, white students have no problem with dialect as they are given the same language tests with students of color, which means that they are set to perform better.
Deficiency orientation
Definition of deficiency orientation
“Deficiency orientation” is a state that occurs when people tend to focus more on meeting the needs of what they do not have than on what they have.
The role of deficiency orientation in schools
In the education system, policies tend to emphasize meeting needs for what has not been achieved more than what has been achieved. For example, some education policies or practices in certain schools emphasize on providing students with additional subjects that may not be relevant to them, such as French and German. Yet, the children can take English and Spanish courses with ease. It creates a form of discrimination.
Culturally Relevant/Responsive Pedagogy
Culturally Relevant/Responsive Pedagogy (CRP) is a form of pedagogy that emphasizes recognizing the diversity of student characteristics based on their cultural adherence. It adjusts the teaching process to account for cultural diversity. Also, teachers are supposed to show their competency based on cultural diversity.
Banks’ multicultural approaches
Contributions’ approach reflects on the least amount of time and effort involved in multicultural approaches to education in class. To ensure this approach is emphasized in schools, teachers are required to select books and activities that emphasize celebrating various aspects of different cultures, including heroes, holidays, or special events from all cultures.
The additive approach refers to the process of adding concepts, perspectives, content, and themes to the curriculum without interfering with the basic structure. The process involves the incorporation of the literature of people from different cultures into the curriculum (Pinar, Reynolds, Slattery, and Taubman 124).
The transformational approach means the process of changing the structure of the curriculum to encourage learners’ views on the issues, problems, issues, and concepts from a variety of ethnical points of view or perspectives (Jackson 29).
The social approach refers to the process of combining the transformational approach with other tasks to address issues related to social change.
Sleeter & Grant’s multicultural approaches
The human relations approach can be described as the process of placing much emphasis on the establishment of positive relationships between persons of different groups within a school. The aim is to ensure that individuals realize that other groups are not different from them and thus reduce stereotypes. Culturally different approaches involve using strategies that ensure that individuals from different cultures fit into the mainstream cultural system (Bilbao, Lucido, Iringan, and Javier 54).
Single group studies involve a variety of aspects associated with one group of individuals, such as black people or females. An example is the study of the origins and history of black people in the United States. The aim is to promote diversity and acceptance of minority groups in the mainstream culture.
Multicultural education is an approach that consists of efforts employed to promote several aspects such as human rights and diversity of cultures. Students are allowed to play an important role in discussing the advantages and disadvantages of the existing system.
Curriculum Planning
Definition of “curriculum”
The curriculum is a planned program for the interaction of learners with resources, materials, content as well as processes used to evaluate the process of attaining the objectives set for the education system.
Learner-centered (constructivist) and school-centered (school developed curriculum guides) curriculum
A curriculum can be learner-centered or school-centered. A learner-centered curriculum is also known as a constructivist curriculum because it is based on the notion of constructivism that learners tend to construct instead of receiving knowledge. In addition, the notion of construction holds that it depends on experience, previous knowledge, and reflection.
On the other hand, a school-centered curriculum is based on the notion that students tend to absorb knowledge based on their cultural differences. Each school develops its curriculum based on the guidelines provided by the policymakers but must ensure that their curriculum addresses the social and cultural aspects of the student community.
The types of curriculum
The written curriculum is published by the authorities that control the education system and is a part of formal education. It includes lessons, objectives, plans, materials, and grading criteria for the entire course.
The hidden curriculum, also known as the covert curriculum, refers to the information communicated by the institution, which must also be implied. It is based on the norms and values of the specific institution.
The null curriculum is the one that includes materials and subjects that are not included in the written curriculum. For instance, some of the materials or subjects are taught in the written curriculum due to several constraints, such as limited time or resources.
Tested curriculum refers to the body of information on which the student testing will be based. It is based on the need to pass the tests, which compels teachers to teach only the materials that will be tested.
The received curriculum covers the activities that students take out of the class. It includes the tasks, contents, and concepts that can be learned and remembered.
“Core curriculum”
The core curriculum is comprised of the content and materials that must be taught in all forms of educational programs, including literacy, ESOL, numeracy, and pre-entry programs. It also provides a clear set of skills that must be emphasized to meet the state or national education standards.
The forces that affect curriculum development and delivery
Sociological aspects such as religion, culture, and economic statuses affect the process of curriculum development. For instance, the curriculum must accommodate all students from all cultures to avoid events in which students from certain cultural or economic backgrounds will be discriminated while others gain privilege.
Secondly, the philosophical aspects of education and learning determine the process of curriculum development. For instance, theories of learning, including cognitive learning theories, must be considered. For example, some students with higher learning capabilities learn faster than others.
The role of social class plays in curriculum development and delivery
Social class is an important factor in the process of developing and delivering curriculum in the school system. For example, it determines the type of materials, content, and resources available to every student. Students from higher social classes have access to more materials, resources, and content. Therefore, when developing the curriculum, the accessibility of these resources must be considered to avoid discrimination.
The main elements of a unit plan as per the DYC unit plan template
Standards refer to the guidelines provided by the policymakers in the education system, which provide an in-depth analysis of the objectives and aims that must be achieved.
Pre-assessment is the element of a unit plan that provides an outline of the materials and contents already known to students and how the teachers understand their knowledge. It determines the students’ prior knowledge and the tasks they can do.
Curriculum content: it outlines the materials and content that the teacher should organize and teach in every unit of study.
Rationale overview: this section requires the teacher to explain why the task is important, and the materials/content are to be taught. Rationale identifies the purpose of the unit, whereas the overview provides a brief summary of the content of every unit.
Curriculum expectations: They emphasize the items that the teacher and the NYS expect the students to know and be able to do after learning the specific unit.
Learning experience: It emphasizes the tasks that students will be taking during the unit. It requires the teacher to design a lesson and provide a range of materials and tasks that meet the individual needs and abilities of the students.
Instructional strategies: This element outlines the tasks that the teacher will be doing during the unit.
Classroom management system and assessments
Differences between formative and summative assessment
Evaluation: There are two types of evaluation. Formative evaluation outlines the tasks the teacher will do when implementing the unit as a way of drawing the student’s attention. The summative evaluation covers the available criteria for evaluation that are needed to determine if the students will show the required learning outcomes.
The connection between objectives, procedures, and assessments
Objectives are brief and clear statements that describe the desired outcomes of every unit learned. Procedures are processes, tasks, and other activities that are used to ensure that the objectives are achieved. Assessments are the tasks used to determine whether the procedures were effective in ensuring that the teacher and the student achieve the objectives. In other words, each of the three issues affects and relies on each other.
Knowing and explaining the role of the classroom teacher in meeting the needs of students with disabilities including knowledge of the elements of an Individual Education Plan (IEP), the concepts of accommodation and modification of lessons and the unique relationship classroom teacher have with providers of special services (the special education teachers and aides, the school nurse, social worker, and psychologist).
The teacher must ensure that they create a learning environment appropriate for every student to learn without special treatments or concessions. Also, the teacher plays the role of accommodating the students with disabilities because they are not looking for preferential treatment. They just need courtesy and a basic understanding of the student’s basic needs. However, they must ensure that the learning process is easier for students with disabilities.
Constituents of an effective classroom management system
The first thing is to set up rules that will govern the class and the tasks to be involved. Secondly, the teacher must outline the consequences of violating the rules, which must be understood by all students. Thirdly, the rewards for following the rules should also be set and be understood by every student. Finally, it is necessary to emphasize predictability to ensure that there is consistency.
Differences between classroom management and student discipline
Classroom discipline involves student behavior, where the teacher must ensure that student behavior is consistent with the code of conduct in the class. Discipline only stops misbehavior for a short period. On the other hand, classroom management includes those procedures that describe how the teacher should get the right things done in the right manner. Students tend to take ownership of their affairs once they have understood the rules and regulations.
The concept of in loco parentis about issues of classroom management and student discipline
This concept refers to the legal responsibility of a teacher is taking the functions as well as the responsibilities of a parent in class. It means that the teacher assumes the role of the parent, where he or she is supposed to give guidelines and instructions based on how parents treat their children. The teacher must listen to the students and address their issues like a parent. No doubt, there is room for discussion.
The characteristics of standardized achievement tests
Reliability is the degree of accuracy with which a test or exam measures the variable it is intended to determine in a student. A reliable test will produce the same scores when repeated, provided there are no alternations.
Validity refers to the quality of the exam or test that measures the variable it is supposed to determine.
The uses and limitations of standardized achievement tests
Uses
They tend to give impartial information about every student. Secondly, they tend to provide this information within a short period than what other devices do. Also, they measure some aspects of student behavior that could not be possible with other methods.
Limitations
Standardized tests are both unclear and ambiguous. Also, they tend to be either too long or too short. These tests fail to cover the entire content, in addition to having a limited purpose. Finally, they are conducted in a hurry, thus missing the most important points.
Differences between norm-referenced and criterion-referenced evaluations
In Criterion-references tests (CRTs), the examiner compares the performance of each student with a pre-defined set of standards or criteria. On the other hand, non-referenced Tests (NRTs) involve a comparison between the student’s performances to that of other students.
Differences between “knowledge” and “understanding.”
Knowledge is the act of learning and is achieved from education or learning. On the other hand, understanding refers to the confidence a person develops from his or her ability to use a given knowledge on a subject for a given purpose.
Constituents of an effective assessment system
An effective assessment system seeks to tests both knowledge and understanding. In addition to that, it contains the validity and reliability of the tests.
The characteristics of an effective rubric
An effective rubric provides the required guidelines for the content as well as self-reflection to encourage learners to understand the content.
Works Cited
Bilbao, Purita, Paz Lucido, Tomasa Iringan and Rodrigo Javier. Curriculum Development. Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc, 2008. Print.
Bobbitt, John Franklin. The Curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2009. Print.
Coffey, Heather. Culturally Relevant Teaching. New York: Cengage, 2008. Print.
Jackson, Philip W. Conceptions of Curriculum and Curriculum Specialists. New York: Macmillan Pub. Co., 2002. Print
Pinar, William F., William M. Reynolds, Patrick Slattery, and Peter M. Taubman. Understanding Curriculum: An Introduction to the Study of Historical and Contemporary Curriculum Discourses. New York: Peter Lang, 2005. Print