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Ms. Soho’s Anecdotal Philosophy of Curriculum and Instruction

Fran Soho

Faculty of Education, University of Lethbridge

ED 3501: Curriculum and Instruction

Instructor JB Ellefson

October 26, 2021

Ms. Soho’s Anecdotal Philosophy of Curriculum and Instruction

As an aspiring teacher, it is important that I ground what I truly believe in to remind myself wh at

I would like to continuously improve in and work on throughout my career. Throughout m y edu cat ion al

courses, we were encouraged to critically think, and with all these thoughts, I am able to express what m y

current beliefs are as a student teacher. It is extremely important to me that I will continue to keep an

open mind that will help me think rationally, especially in our forever evolving world. The curriculum

shapes the way we think and what our students think. It allows us to look at the bigger picture of bot h ou r

culture and student learning. The curriculum slowly evolves, along with our world, and we conform to

align our thoughts. We will all form our own ideas, take previous concepts of what we have learn ed, an d

apply them to our everyday lives. It is the cycle of learning, conforming, and critically thinking that

reflects our identity as people who shape our curriculum and society today.

Students have the capability to take charge of their own learning. I believe that in order to

develop meaningful and engaging learning opportunities for your students, you must try your best to

focus on facilitating their learning to help students find their own intrinsic motivations. My belief st em s

from the success of Sudbury school systems. They believe that children are extremely good at main

behaviors they will need as adults, such as creativity, imagination, alertness, curiosity, thoughtfulness,

responsibility, and judgement, and that all they lack is experience (Greenberg, 1991). Studen t s are given

the opportunity to be free in their learning as the school’s philosophy is that if students are given that

responsibility and respect, they return that respect and embrace the responsibility. (Huang, 2010). When

students are given the autonomy to learn something that interests them, they can intrinsically motivate

themselves to effectively and efficiently learn something new. Sticking to the original structure of

classrooms, I want to implement the chance for students to make choices, meet their own learning

objectives, and measure their progress to those goals. In order to achieve this, I will actively give students
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opportunities to self-reflect on their learning to formatively provide information for both t h em selves an d

me. Students will be given the opportunity to evaluate themselves in relation to their work and those

around them. They may think about and consider their behaviours and attitude toward different topics,

practicing their intentions with learning. Giving students the freedom to goal set, problem solve, and

critically think can help them navigate themselves morally and socially in the classroom.

In Carl Leggo's poem "SPELLING", I sense the feeling of sadness and resentment as they were

given limited freedom to explore other intriguing factors of life in his learning career. It was part of my

learning career that I conform to exactly what the teacher and syllabus wanted me to learn, never focusin g

on anything I was interested in. In my second year of university, I signed up for an educational

psychology course over the summer, and this was the first true opportunity I was able to explore topics in

my own regard. We were given the freedom to focus on anything in relation to education and make a blog

about it. The format of this course allowed me to find my own incentives and inspirations to be truly

engaged in the material. I was also able to retain almost everything I had written about as they were

subjects that I was genuinely curious in. From my past experiences, I believe that givin g st u den ts t h ese

opportunities may help them feel as though they are in charge of their own learning and help them

develop a growth mindset filled with intrinsic motivations. It is important that teachers act as facilit at ors

that spark learning, provide resources, monitor progress, and encourage students to find solutions.

In a 2015 documentary film, “Where to Invade Next”, Michael Moore explores Finnish school

systems, and they describe and show that their curriculum caters towards their students learning processes

and their happiness. Finnish teachers examine and note that our school systems cater to t h e st an dardized

test. Many topics I wrote about in my educational psychology course were ideas stemming from the

Finland’s school system:

I do not believe that homework will make a huge difference in a student ’s understanding of the

material. Students need time away from their schoolwork to digest information. I believe that students can
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find connections to what they have learned in school and apply it to their lives outside of school. I

encourage studying and reviewing for an exam to test their knowledge of what they have learned.

Homework concerning a student finishing up an assignment quicker or taking the time to under st an d t h e

material at a deeper level should be self-motivated. I do not believe in using multiple-choice (MC) tests

very often, or even at all. When a student gets a MC question wrong, this does not mean that t h e st u den t

has no knowledge for the question, and this would not be accounted for. If a student get s a MC qu est ion

right, this does not represent their understanding of the concept on a deeper level. With a multiple -ch oice

question, the answer is selected, not generated.

I believe that learning should be student-centered. I aim to cater my teaching style and

evaluation based on student needs. Students may have more trouble with a certain topic in comparison

to others in their grade level, and this must be accounted for. In both my psychology class with Thelma

Gunn and my evaluation class with Doug Checkley, we learned the importance of differentiation through

case studies. We measure progress based on a students’ strength and limitations, and shape and

develop an assessment that is valid and reliable to each student. Having individualized expectations and

modalities based on the student creates fairness in the classrooms. Classrooms should act as a safe

environment for students to make mistakes and put the effort to learn from them. Our feedback should

be timely and relevant in guiding a student so that they are able to apply that feedback long term.

Students should be able to go to the washroom. Let me rephrase this, students sh ou ld be t reat ed

with respect. When students have respect for their own learning environment, they will not feel t h e n eed

to take advantage of using the washroom to avoid learning or in -class activities as they have their own

incentives to learn and be part of their classroom. It is important for students to be learning, and it is m ore

important that students are motivated and happy. Just like adults, students should feel valued and

respected. Jumping back on the idea that students have the capability of taking charge of t h eir learn in g,
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we should be able to trust that a student has enough respect for their learning en viron m en t t o n ot abu se

the power of being able to go to the washroom themselves.

“We ask 18-year-olds to make huge decisions about their career and financial future, when a

month ago they had to ask to go to the bathroom.” (Adam Kotsko, 2018)

There may always be a base guide of knowledge that the Program of Studies will provide, but

there are ways that teachers can provide students with different material that will help create an in clu sive

learning environment, while sparking interest in their students. Duchscher (2018) notes that there is black

history that is not represented in the curriculum today. The classroom is a place where students find

themselves. When approaching the curriculum, teachers are encouraged to creat e an inclusive space for

students and implement ways to represent the beauty of diversity in the classroom. Fract als (Du ch sch er,

2018) is a poem that stresses that our education system has been unchanging to the eye of a person of

color. As educators, it is our responsibility to be aware of our classroom environments and maintain an

inclusive learning environment. We must understand what is important to each individual student. It is not

the curriculum that shapes a teacher’s decision, but how the teacher approaches teaching from the

curriculum. When making decisions in the classroom, teachers must keep an open mind of our

continuously changing world around us. We have the responsibility to spread awareness so t h at st u den ts

can understand our world beliefs today.

Most importantly for myself, I believe there is always room to learn and improve. I will

continuously make every effort and try my best, especially if it involves others. I believe that it is an

absolute privilege to be part of a student’s learning career. I get the opportunity to watch students learn

and develop their own understanding of how our world came to be, and where it may be going. I believe

in myself, and I believe in the students.

References

Adam Kotsko [adamkotsko]. (2018, Jul 29). We ask 18-year-olds to make huge decisions about their

career and financial future, when a month ago they had to ask to go to the bathroom. [Twitter

post]. Retrieved from https://twitter.com/adamkotsko/status/1023753697711546368?lang=en

Greenburg, D. (1991). Sudbury Valley School: The Birth of a New Paradigm for Education . Sudbury

Valley School. Retrieved from https://sudburyvalley.org/essays/sudbury-valley-school-birth-new-

paradigm-education

Duchscher, T. (2018) Seeking Race: Finding Racism. Journal of the Canadian Association for

Curriculum Studies (JCACS), 16(1), 127-142.

https://jcacs.journals.yorku.ca/index.php/jcacs/article/download/40360/36369/50937

Huang, V. (2010). Laying the Foundations for Democratic Behavior - A Comparison of Two Different

Approaches to Democratic Education. Journal of Unschooling and Alternative Learning. 8.

Retrieved from https://jual.nipissingu.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/25/2014/06/v81152.pdf

Leggo, C. (2013). Spelling Hope: A Poet Teacher’s Testimony. We Saved the Best For You: Letters of

Hope, Imagination, and Wisdom for 21st Century Educators. p.25-28.

Michael Moore et al. (2015), Where to Invade Next [American Documentary Film]. YouTube.

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwmVj-YbH_M)