One more time around the curriculum

Can our curriculum be student centered AND leave no child behind, posits Gayle Andrews in her excellent curriculum article in the November 2008 issue of Middle School Journal? Gayle talks about the changing context for the original vision of Turning Points 2000 when it was published in 2000...

"In a world increasingly focused on accountability, extensive federal and state legislation, policies, and mandates seem to clutter the educational landscape and obscure and perhaps overshadow the students who should dominate it."

This is the second encounter I've had today with the essential notion of young adolescents as the focal point for middle level education. Imagine that. Maybe we are making some progress...or merely returning "back to the future." Here, in this article, Gayle Andrews makes a critical point about redefining some priorities.

And here is where it gets sticky..."Turning Points 2000 called for integrating curriculum across disciplines, a seemingly problematic suggestion in light of discipline-based standards and high-stakes tests." But, Andrews delivers the clincher when she points out the (curriculum) elephant sitting in the room, "Although disciplines and departments have reigned in schools for more than a century, few could reasonably contend that these structures have led most students to deep understanding in the various subjects." Ouch. Of course they don't, because they are disciplines in departments are organizational conveniences that only give a semblance of order, structure, and yes, learning.

Later, Andrews indicates that if she and co-author, Tony Jackson, were to write Turning Points 2008...they would turn the first recommendation about curriculum "on its head....In a new version, the concerns of young adolescents would be the primary foundation for curriculum, with standards and how students learn best in a close tie for second."

The rest of the article makes a case for returning to integrated curriculum and centering on students as the middle level focus. Among several other important points is the one that Andrews acknowledges..."...the limitations of teaching concepts absent a rich context that students find relevant and meaningful." There is no doubt...and everyone is writing about it...that the current system lacks that rich context because teachers focus on the details within the standards rather than the overarching concepts.

The solution...we must get teachers thinking again about the big picture...and not the details of disciplines and test items. If you haven't read this gem of an article—and it carries a big punch—walk, don't run to secure your copy.