ED 670 Curricular Challenges Strand Introduction

(all units in strand required)


	ED 670 Home	ED 671 Home	Moodle	Email Mark
Curricular challenges intro: (all required)	670 unit 1.a	670 unit 1.b	670 unit 1.c	670 unit 1.d
Curricular solutions intro: (pick one)	670 option A	670 option B	670 option C	670 option D
Learning theory intro: (all required)	671 unit 1.a	671 unit 1.b	671 unit 1.c	671 unit 1.d
Social development intro: (all required)	671 unit 2.a	671 unit 2.b	671 unit 2.c	671 unit 2.d

Introduction to the Essential Curricular Challenge Strand

Alright... here's the premise of this entire unit... (1) the world is an infinitely interesting place, and; (2) issues of motivation and engagement are real issues in today's schools. Do you agree with each of these statements? If so, how can this possibly be true at the same time? I suppose the skeptic in me would say because school - as it is currently conceived - has nothing to do with the world (focus here on middle school - though probably true for most levels). Think about it... we ask kids to move around throughout their day to focus on different content, with different teachers, under different rules... not to draw on their understanding of other topics or issues... and to rely on themselves for solutions and understanding. This just doesn't really reflect learning in the real world. Recall Resnick's article called Learning in School and Out from 671 unit 1.c - school as we have organized it is weird... and doesn't reflect reality. The result, in my opinion, is that issues of motivation and engagement are some of the most serious impediments to high quality learning in secondary schools - and in particular, middle schools.

In this strand we will deal with these issues thoroughly looking first at issues of affect and interest, layering in a concept called flow... wondering how we can create these qualities in our classrooms. From there we will move into Mark's solution to these issues drawing on the aesthetic theory of John Dewey. Dewey describes that art helps us to have powerful experiences - experiences that are different from ordinary experiences. Dewey's transformative, aesthetic experiences suck us into engagement, help us see the world differently, and leave us fundamentally different people as a result. Imagine if school and learning had this impact? That's exactly where we're headed and 670 unit 1.d provides some illustrations of how to use Dewey's ideas about art and experience to teach and provides some examples of kids who learned in this way. Invest time and energy in understanding each of the units in this strand... but focus heavily on 670 unit 1.c and 670 unit 1.d as these will serve as the basis for your Big Ideas Unit Sketch assignment (see 670 home).

Send your Big Ideas Unit Sketch to Mark via email by Friday, August 24th!