Curriculum Development in the Postmodern Era


Book Description

The 3rd edition of this introduction to and analysis of contemporary concepts of curriculum that emerged from the Reconceptualization of curriculum studies brings readers up to date on the major research themes within the historical development of the field.







Understanding by Design


Book Description

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.




A Post-Modern Perspective on Curriculum


Book Description

Doll draws relationships among the ideas advanced in chaos theory, Piagetian epistemology, cognitive theory, and the work of Dewey and Whitehead. In this book on the post-modern perspective on the curriculum, the author asserts that the post-modern model of organic change is not necessarily linear, uniform, measured and determined, but is one of emergence and growth, made possible by interaction, transaction, disequilibrium and consequent equilibrium. Transformation, not a set course, the book argues, should be the rule, and open-endedness is an essential feature of the post-modern framework. In the book, the author envisages a curriculum in which the teacher's role is not causal, but transformative. The curriculum is not the race course, but the journey itself; metaphors can be more useful than logic in generating dialogue in the community; and educative purpose, planning and evaluation is flexible and focused on process, not product. “Scholarly, yet direct and to the point, [Doll’s] ideas make sense to front line educators in the real world of today’s schools.” —Kenneth Graham, Seaford Union Free School District







Curriculum Planning


Book Description

The fifth edition of this critically acclaimed approach to curriculum planning continues to receive accolades for its balanced presentation, pertinent case studies, and advice from practicing educators. It skillfully interweaves the themes of multicultural education, constructivism, and education reform. The author documents the latest trends, such as e-learning, blended learning and flipped learning, the controversial Common Core State Standards, and the impact of technology in our schools, including the BYOD (bring your own device) movement, digital citizenship, and technological literacy. This well-researched text spotlights ways to involve parents, students, and teachers in the curriculum-planning process and engages the reader in critical thinking and analysis about curriculum planning and education reform.




Curriculum Development


Book Description

Curriculum and curriculum issues are at the heart of current debates about schooling, pedagogy and learning. This book will enable practitioners, scholars and academics to understand how to re-design or to suggest changes to curriculum structure, shape and content. Grounded in theory and philosophy, the book also offers practical help in grasping this controversial area. Inside, the authors: provide practical planning templates support and provoke analysis, discussion and experimentation include definitions of key terms and reflective questions incorporate practical examples and case material based on their work worldwide on curriculum design and evaluation.




Learning That Transfers


Book Description

"It is a pleasure to have a full length treatise on this most important topic, and may this focus on transfer become much more debated, taught, and valued in our schools." - John Hattie Teach students to use their learning to unlock new situations. How do you prepare your students for a future that you can’t see? And how do you do it without exhausting yourself? Teachers need a framework that allows them to keep pace with our rapidly changing world without having to overhaul everything they do. Learning That Transfers empowers teachers and curriculum designers alike to harness the critical concepts of traditional disciplines while building students’ capacity to navigate, interpret, and transfer their learning to solve novel and complex modern problems. Using a backwards design approach, this hands-on guide walks teachers step-by-step through the process of identifying curricular goals, establishing assessment targets, and planning curriculum and instruction that facilitates the transfer of learning to new and challenging situations. Key features include Thinking prompts to spur reflection and inform curricular planning and design. Next-day strategies that offer tips for practical, immediate action in the classroom. Design steps that outline critical moments in creating curriculum for learning that transfers. Links to case studies, discipline-specific examples, and podcast interviews with educators. A companion website that hosts templates, planning guides, and flexible options for adapting current curriculum documents. Using a framework that combines standards and the best available research on how we learn, design curriculum and instruction that prepares your students to meet the challenges of an uncertain future, while addressing the unique needs of your school community.




Modern Curriculum for Gifted and Advanced Academic Students


Book Description

Modern Curriculum for Gifted and Advanced Academic Students addresses the need for advanced curriculum design in an age of national standards and 21st-century learning innovations. The text and its authors work from the assumption that the most advanced learners need a qualitatively different design of learning experiences in order to develop their potential into outstanding achievement, answering the question, “How should we design learning experiences for our most advanced academic students in the foundational curriculum areas?” This book provides the most contemporary thinking about how to design in-depth courses of study in the foundational curriculum areas with a high degree of complexity and advanced content. The book includes chapters articulating specific design components like creative thinking, critical thinking, and authentic research, but also subject-specific chapters in mathematics, language arts, science, and social studies to demonstrate application of those design components.