Curriculum and Worldview
Worldviews affect teachers' understanding of curriculum and their curriculum design. Curriculum is the selection and organisation of experience for the purposes of teaching and learning. The criteria that determine curriculum selection and organisation express a perspective on the kind of world in which we live and what is important for fulfilling our vocation. This unit encourages critical evaluation of curriculum structure and process and considers ways in which curriculum can express a Christian worldview. The unit considers the effect of various perspectives on teacher effectiveness and student learning.When and Where Offered
This unit is offered in intensive mode. This format involves 30 hours of class contact over 2 weeks followed by another 6-hour session a few weeks later.
In 2008 on Macquarie Univeristy Campus classes will be held as follows:
Monday 7 - Fri 11 July; Mon 14 - Thurs 17 July. 9 am to 1.30 pm
Lecturer
Dr Neil Holm, Dip. Teach (CSU), B.A. (Hons)(UNE), Ph.D., MACE
Dean and Senior Lecturer in Education Studies and Christian Formation, Macquarie Christian Studies Institute.
After an early teaching career in one-teacher and Aboriginal schools NSW and the NT, Neil Holm played a key role in the development of the Aboriginal Teacher Education Centre (the forerunner of Batchelor Institute for Indigenous Tertiary Education).
He extended his cross-cultural education and administration skills as Director of International House (a cosmopolitan residential college within The University of Queensland) and as Administration and Development Manager at St John's Anglican Church (an inner-city church working in partnership with marginalised people in the Kings Cross/Darlinghurst area of Sydney). His long interest in the integration of faith and work has been expressed through his membership of the Australian Christian Forum on Education, editing the international Journal of Christian Education for 10 years, and serving on the board of the Zadok Institute for Christianity and Society for 10 years. He is a life member of the Australian College of Educators. Neil is also involved in the Wellspring Community.
Unit Code and Details
IN433 (MCSI 333) Curriculum & Worldview
This unit is equivalent to a standard semester undergraduate unit at advanced level. For example it is worth:
3 credit points at 300* level towards Maccquarie University undergraduate degrees
4 credit points at 400 level towards Australian College of Theology undergraduate degrees.
For advice on how to credit this subject to other institutions please contact our advisor.
*Note: from January 2008 MCSI units are no longer able to be credited at 300 level towards Macquarie Degree programs. Students enrolling in this unit will receive 3 credit points at 200 level.
Prerequisites: the equivalent of 18 months (3 semesters) full time study (12 subjects) of university level study should be completed before enrolling in this subject. (Students not meeting this prerequisite can request permission from MCSI Dean to enrol)
It is recommended but not required that students have completed :
IN 425 (MCSI 230) Schooling: Christian Perspectives.
Postgraduate Students please note: there is an equivalent unit at postgraduate level. Go to postgraduate unit information>
Unit Content /Lecture Topics
1) Introduction to curriculum
2) Curriculum and Pedagogy
3) Introduction to worldviews
4) Worldview and Curriculum
5) Worldviews and the English Curriculum
6) Worldviews and the Science Curriculum
7) Worldviews and the Mathematics Curriculum
8) Core Curriculum and the Religious Education Curriculum
9) Leadership and Renewal in Curriculum and Pedagogy
10) Presentations and Conclusion: Review of course learning; Strategies for action
Assessment
a) A 1-hour exam that reviews the assigned reading (25%)
b) Presentation of a learning activity for this class that connects curriculum and worldviews:
i) Prepare a 20 minute lesson for an age group of your own choosing.
ii) This lesson should integrate some of the basic worldview questions (eg Sire, p. 18; van Brummelen p. 50, Mitchell, p. 6).
iii) Teach this lesson to the group.
iv) Write a 2,000 word essay that explains your worldview and how it is expressed in the aims and pedagogy of the lesson . (35%)
c) A 2,500 word paper on assessment issues that examines the connection between worldview and assessment issues in the school curriculum and illustrates ways in which assessment processes that express a Christian worldview might differ from another worldview. You might approach this in the following way:
i) Analyse a case study on assessment issues (eg case study on grading policies in Walker & Soltis, pp. 110-11 or on Rich Bishop in Lieberman and Miller, p. 33ff or other case study of your choice). Use Hill's framework (p. 161) or other framework of your choice to assist your analysis.
ii) Discuss the worldviews expressed through these assessment processes and discuss how a Christian worldview might be applied. (40%)
Textbooks and Reading
Intensive mode requires about 500 pages of pre-reading. For this class the pre-reading is
- Walker, Decker F. and Jonas F. Soltis. Curriculum And Aims. New York: Teachers College Press; 2004 (132 pages)
- Fenstermacher, Gary D. and Jonas F. Soltis. Approaches To Teaching New York: Teachers College Press; 4th edition, 2004 (109 pages)
- Hill, B. V. (2004). Exploring Religion in School. Adelaide: Open Book (242 pages)
Other Required Reading:
Charis Mathematics Writing Team. (1997) Charis Mathematics Units 1- 11. Stapleford, Notts: The Stapleford Centre. [MCSI reader]
Charis Science Writing Team. (1997) Charis Science Units 1- 11. Stapleford, Notts: The Stapleford Centre. [MCSI reader]
Fenstermacher, G D and Soltis, J F. (1998) Approaches to Teaching, New York: Teachers College Press [Multiple library copies]
Gregory, M. (2001). Curriculum, Pedagogy and Teacherly Ethos, Pedagogy, Vol 1 No 1, 69-89 [online database]
Hargreaves, A. (2003). Teaching in the Knowledge Society. Maidenhead: Open University Press.
Hill, B. V. (2004). Exploring Religion in School. Adelaide: Open Book
Lewis, C. S. 1970. Voyage of the Dawn Treader. New York: Macmillan
MacNeill, N. and Silcox, S. (2005) Pedagogic Leadership: Putting Professional Agency Back into Learning and Teaching, Curriculum Leadership, 18 January. [online database]
Mitchell, J. (2004) Teaching about Worldviews and Values. Sydney: Anglican Youth & Education [Purchase?]
Mitchell, J. (2004). Worlds of Difference: Exploring Worldviews and Values in English Texts. Melbourne: Council for Christian Education in Schools. [Purchase?]
Sire, J W. (1988) The Universe Next Door, Leicester: Inter-Varsity Press. [Multiple library copies]
Smith, D. (1999) Making Sense of Spiritual Development. Stapleford, Notts: The Stapleford Centre. [MCSI reader]
Van Brummelen, H. (1994). Steppingstones to Curriculum: A Biblical Path. Seattle, WA: Alta Vista College Press. [MCSI reader]
Walker, D C and Soltis, J F. (1997) Curriculum and Aims (3rd edition), New York: Teachers College Press [Multiple library copies]
Wineland, R. K. (2005) Incarnation, Image and Story, Journal of Research on Christian Education, Vol 14, No. 1, pp. 7-16 [online database]
Other Useful Texts
Apple, M. (1990). Ideology and Curriculum. 2nd edn. New York/London: Routledge.
Beane, J.A. (Ed.). (1995). Toward a Coherent Curriculum. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Brady, L & Kennedy, K. 2003. Curriculum Construction. Sydney: Prentice Hall.
Dewey, J. (1902). The Child and the Curriculum. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Edlin, R. (1999). The Cause of Christian Education. 3rd edn. NICE Press
Goodlad, J.I., & Su, Z. (1992). "Organization of the Curriculum", in P.W. Jackson, Handbook of Research on Curriculum. A Project of the American Educational Research Association, New York: Macmillan, pp. 327-344.
Grundy, S. (1987). Curriculum: Product or Praxis? Deakin Studies in Education Series. London: The Falmer Press.
Hill, B. V. (1994). Teaching Secondary Social Studies in a Multicultural Society. Melbourne Longman Cheshire, 1994.
Print, M. (1998). Curriculum Development and Design. 2nd edn. Sydney: Allen & Unwin.
Schrag, F. (1992). "Conceptions of Knowledge", in P.W. Jackson, Handbook of Research on Curriculum. A Project of the American Educational Research Association, New York: Macmillan, pp. 268-301.
Smith D. & Lovat T. (1995). Curriculum: Action on Reflection Revisited. 3rd edn. Wentworth Falls: Social Science Press.
Stronks, G.G., & Blomberg, D. (Eds.) (1993). A Vision with a Task: Christian schooling for responsive discipleship. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books.
Thiessen, E. J. (1993). Teaching for Commitment: Liberal Education, Indoctrination, & Christian Nurture. Montreal, Ca: McGill-Queen's University Press.
Vanden Ende, T. (1986). Conflicting Conceptions of Truth: implications for curriculum. Grand Rapids, MI: Calvin College.