The Implementation of Universal Primary Education Programs in the UK - Essay Example

Running Head: CURRICULUM AND DIVERSITY Curriculum and Diversity s Table of Content Curriculum and Diversity Introduction One of the most important dimensions of the implementation of Universal Primary Education programs in UK and other European countries is the broadening of access to education for disadvantaged groups. The adequate provision of universal basic education to all children irrespective of social class, gender, ethnicity, religion or region depends largely on the teachers. It is therefore hardly surprising that issues such as the condition of service of teachers, teacher supply and demand, attrition and retention, etc. have in the past few years become areas of concern and intervention by the state in UK and many European countries. Laudable as these efforts are, they are yet to address the issue of teacher preparation, particularly pre-service training programs, which initially prepare teachers for teaching in primary and secondary schools. Despite the importance of initial teacher preparation in shaping the teachers' attitudes towards teaching and providing the requisite 'tools for the job' in the form of knowledge of subject matter and pedagogical skills, it is surprising that The SEN curriculum of teacher SEN has not received adequate attention from policy makers and development partners. However, the tendency to take the teacher SEN curriculum for granted and the assumption that it is suitable and appropriate to all students' and classroom realities need to be questioned. Questions should be raised with regard to the extent to which The SEN curriculum adequately prepares teachers for the realities and expectations not only of mainstream schools but also of schools for minority students. Discussion Key Terms Pedagogy - the skill and knowledge of schooling and learning - that lets an educator to frequently improve and adjust his/her practice in order to constantly and successfully help student's master content and skills. (Feiman-Nemser, 2000). Diversity- pertains to the amalgamation of students from different cultures/ethnic/religious etc in the same classroom. Diversity is a very common aspect of primary classrooms in UK due to the multi-cultural aspect of UK. Plurality- refers to the majority of children in the classroom from one culture/group or ethnicity. Key stage two (primary) children learning is of strategic importance for both their future and that of the nation. Key stage 2 (primary) teachers must be prepared with the knowledge, skills, values and techniques to interact successfully with children, parents, colleagues, administrators, and others who affect children's lives. They must adapt to the interests, learning styles and needs of individual children in a complex, rapidly changing and culturally diverse society. (Garet, Porter, Desimone, Birman, Yoon, 2001) That's why teaching is a changing process for which key stage 2 (primary) teachers must be prepared. The Core Knowledge Foundation has found that a significant majority of teachers lack basic knowledge and skills needed for effective teaching in even the earliest grades. McRobbie (2000) notes that well over half of teachers get less than a day's worth of professional development annually, in contrast to teachers in other countries who engage in professional development for 10-20 hours a week. Hilliard (2000, p. 29-31), in claiming that a critical problem exists with traditional professional development activities, calls for fundamental change in how such activities are implemented. Research suggests that preserves teachers often resist new knowledge that challenges their experiences with regard to the realities of race, class, gender, sexual orientation, and ability within the classroom and society (Pattnaik & Vold, 2001). Moreover, research highlights that predominantly white preserves teachers are typically unaware of their own racial identity (Powell, 2000). In addition, many preserves teachers tend to cling to and defend discourses that privilege those of dominant culture (discourse of potential) and deny opportunities for Others (discourse of deficit) (Pohan & Mathison, 2003; Powell, 2000; Wade, 2001). As such, preserves teachers have difficulty considering their responsibility as educators to employ culturally responsive pedagogy and are often resistant to learning effective practices (Gallavan, 2000 and Gallavan, 2000). As teacher educators, we are troubled by preserves teachers' resistance to diversity issues found within the literature and believe that it is our responsibility to challenge this resistance. Analysts know that some teacher educators/researchers organize teacher SEN courses by centralizing notions of whiteness and privilege in order to help preserves teachers make sense of these issues in relation to schooling and their future teaching practices (Pohan & Mathison, 2003; Powell, 2000; Wade, 2001). Other teacher educators offer critical-consciousness activities in their classes with the belief that preserves teachers might gain empathy for others (Allen & Porter, 2002; Parsons and Brown, 2001). Still other researchers specifically design their courses to engage preserves teachers in thinking about diversity issues in relation to their own identities, and as a result, preserves teachers began to question their biases and the implications of those biases in their future teaching practices (Schmidt, 2001; Young, 2001). Achievement strategies have been suggested to consist of several successive sub stages (Cantor, 2002 Nurmi and Showers). First, individuals orientate themselves towards the task and anticipate the possible outcomes based on their previous experiences in similar kinds of situations. These expectations then provide a basis for the selection of certain goals, the construction of the means to reach the goals, and the regulation of behaviour to attain them. Finally, the individuals evaluate their success in goal attainment, and search for the causes for this in terms of causal attributions. Ore (2003) explains that teachers can promote change within the institution by using "her or his position within the institution to change her or his students through using a curriculum that is inclusive and focuses on transformation rather than perpetuation of systems of oppression" (p. 586). Furthermore, it is important to recognize that transformation of systems of oppression must take place on multiple levels, including institutional, societal, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. The revisions to this course, our trials and triumphs, are an attempt to be a part of this transformation process, a process that provides for broader, evolving understanding and implementation of social justice frameworks within preserves teacher education programs. In addition, while it is our hope that this project extends to professional development opportunities for in-service teachers, as well, we recognize that further research with preserves teachers is in order. That is, questions concerning how preserves teachers struggle with issues of sexual identity with respect to their future practices, and the ways in which preserves teachers enter into diversity -focused conversations (why is ability an easy entrance point Why is race such a difficult conversation) Need to be explored. SEN and gender differentiation When children enter primary school, they are faced with two major academic challenges: acquiring literacy and mathematical skills. Success in acquiring them then provides a basis for successful achievement in other disciplines (Juel and Stanovich). Not surprisingly, a large amount of research has been carried out on the development of reading and mathematical skills at school. The insights provided by some of the studies cited above do reveal the major paradoxes in the implementation of the pedagogical education program in UK. While the school curriculum is a cultural adaptation of the National Primary School Curriculum, there has not been any serious attempt to design and implement a special pre-service curriculum for those who will teach in SEN schools. It is indeed paradoxical that, while funds have been invested in curriculum design and development to produce a culturally relevant curriculum, very little has been invested in teacher preparation programs that can facilitate an effective implementation of the Pedagogical Schools Curriculum. The SEN curriculum of key stage 2 (primary) teacher educations is now recognised as an important area of intervention by governments in the context of the quest for quality and equity in basic education and the improvement of teaching and learning in primary and secondary schools. Key stage two (primary) teacher education, though not the only determinant of the learning achievements of pupils in primary school, plays an important role in determining teacher quality and even the subsequent performance of teachers. This is particularly true in UK and other European countries, where very few opportunities for continuing professional development of teachers exist and where teachers have to rely on the knowledge base that they developed during pre-service training in their day-to-day professional activities (Umar, 2005). There is a growing consensus among scholars and policy-makers that "nothing is as important to learning as the quality of a student's teacher" and that reforming teacher education and improving teacher quality may in the end have the greatest impact on improving students' performance (Izumi & Evers, 2002). The assumption that the SEN curriculum can adequately prepare special students to teach in mainstream primary schools and pedagogical schools needs to be questioned in the light of existing evidence that The SEN curriculum is not even good enough for preparing teachers for mainstream schools, much less teachers of pedagogical schools. For example, one of the findings of the Committee on the Review of Teacher SEN in UK is that: at the primary level, many teachers are ill-prepared as class teachers who are generally expected to teach many, if not all of the subjects in a given day. Teachers also lack up to date teaching methods and techniques, initiatives, creativity, and motivation needed for fostering active acquisition of literacy, numeric and life skills (Committee on the Review of Teacher SEN Curricula, 2005, p. 17 Concern over preserves teachers' difficulties in considering their responsibilities as educators to culturally responsive pedagogy as well as their resistance to learning related effective teaching practices (Gallavan (2001) and Gallavan (2000)) lead us to the revision of this secondary teacher SEN course. Throughout our revision process, as well as our research, we explored the following question: In what ways do preserves teachers deem the diversity -focused course curriculum as relevant to their future teaching stances/practices. What we uncovered, through our various trials and triumphs with respect to revising the course, were that pedagogical teachers entered into these conversations in varied ways. Some of the pedagogical teachers connected with the diversity -focused activities; others struggled, while some resisted. Siwatu (2006a) conducted an in-depth literature review to identify these competencies. The primary key words used in the literary search were culturally responsive teaching, culturally congruent instruction, culturally appropriate instruction, culturally compatible instruction, and culturally relevant teaching. Secondary key words used in the search included but not limited to the following: urban education, black education, social psychology and education, urban schooling, urban teachers, multicultural education, and anthropology and education. These key words often identified the work of scholars in a variety of fields with interests in the schooling of today's culturally and linguistically diverse school population. Therefore, the identification of the culturally responsive teaching competencies took on a multidisciplinary approach. The competencies reflect the voices of scholars and practitioners who have called for the implementation of equitable and culturally sensitive teaching practices that have been commonly associated with a culturally responsive pedagogy. Exploring course revisions has also helped us to realize the necessity of leading pedagogical teachers into conversations about social justice in non-threatening ways. That is, we realize the necessity of providing pedagogical teachers with time to think and time to make sense of social justice issues without rushing them through the process. Rand's resistance was, most likely, a result of our hurry to deliver The SEN curriculum as planned rather than recognizing the needs of learners. Analysts wonder how he would have reacted had we provided him with more reflection space or figured out alternative ways to ease him into the process differently. In addition, we wonder about how he might be thinking about and integrating, if at all, the ideas presented in this course, specifically within his teaching practice. More research that explores the ways pedagogical teachers integrate diversity -focused ideas into their classroom curriculum is necessary. What happens when novice teachers get out into the classroom How do they make sense of, question, challenge, if at all, dominant school culture How do they rethink, if at all, The SEN curriculum as presented Conclusion This paper has analyzed the SEN curriculum that is used to teach children of key stage 2 (primary) in relation to gender differentiation and special educational needs. It has shown that The SEN curriculum has failed to prepare teachers adequately for the realities of pedagogical education and therefore needs to be reformed in ways that permit sensitivities to local needs and realities and that focus on the dissemination of skills required for effective teaching in both mainstream and pedagogical primary schools. Indeed, the actualisation of the goals of universalisation of basic education as articulated in the Dakar Framework of Action demands that teacher SEN be reformed so as to provide equal educational opportunities to all children, irrespective of social class, gender or ethnicity-or residence pattern. Therefore, the need for highly trained pedagogical teachers is higher than ever before, especially with the influx of so many diversified SEN students in UK schools. References Allen & Porter (2002) J.D. Allen and O.F. Porter, Teaching about diversity issues, Kappa Delta Pi Record 38 (2002) (3), pp. 128-133. Cantor, N., 2002. From thought to behavior. "Having" and "doing" in the study of personality and cognition. British Psychologist 72, pp. 408-422. Committee on the Review of Teacher Education Curricula (2005) Committee on the Review of Teacher Education Curricula, Review of the pre-service teacher education curriculum in UK: A report prepared for the National Dialogue on Teacher Reform, Tee Kay Consultancy, London, UK (2005). Feiman-Nemser, S. (2000) Teacher Mentoring: A Critical Review. ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Teaching and Teacher education. Gallavan (2000) N.P. Gallavan, Multicultural education at the academy: Teacher educators' challenges, conflicts, and coping skills, Equity & Excellence in Education 33 (2000) (3), pp. 5-11. Gallavan (2001) N.P. Gallavan, Why aren't teachers using effective multicultural education practices, Equity & Excellence in Education 31 (2001) (2), pp. 20-27. Garet M., Porter A., Desimone L., Birman B.F., Yoon K.S. (winter 2001) "What Makes Professional Development Effective Results from a National Sample of Teachers", British Educational Research Journal. Vol. 38 (4), pp. 915-945 Hilliard, A. (2000). The structure of valid staff development. Journal of Staff Development, 18(2), 28-34. Izumi & Evers (2002) L.T. Izumi and W.M. Evers, Teacher quality, British Research Institute, London, UK. Juel, C., 2000. Learning to read and write: A longitudinal study of 54 children from first through fourth grades. Journal of Educational Psychology 80, pp. 437-447. McRobbie, J. (2000). Career-long teacher development: Policies that make sense. Knowledge Brief. San Francisco, CA: West End. Nurmi, C. and, Showers N., 1985. Social cognition: A look at motivated strategies. In: Rosenzwieg, M. and Porter, L.W., Editors, 1985. Annual Review of Psychology, Annual Reviews, Palo Alto, CA, p. 36. Ore (2003) T.E. Ore, The social construction of difference and inequality: Race, class, gender, and sexuality (2nd ed.), McGraw-Hill, London, UK (2003). Parsons & Brown (2001) S.C. Parsons and P.U. Brown, Educating for diversity: An invitation to empathy and action, Action in Teacher Education 23 (2001) (3), pp. 1-4. Pattnaik & Vold (2001) J. Pattnaik and E.B. Vold, Pedagogical teachers' multicultural literacy: Are we missing the forest for the trees, Equity & Excellence in Education 31 (2001) (3), pp. 73-84. Pohan & Mathison (2003) C.A. Pohan and C. Mathison, Dismantling defensiveness and resistance to diversity and social justice issues in teacher preparation, Action in Teacher Education 20 (2003) (1), pp. 15-22. Powell (2000) L.C. Powell, The achievement (k)not: Whiteness and "black underachievement". In: M. Fine, L. Weis, L.C. Powell and L. Mun Wong, Editors, Off white: Readings on race, power, and society, Routledge, London (2000), pp. 3-12. Schmidt (2001) P.R. Schmidt, The abc's of cultural understanding and communication, Equity & Excellence in Education 31 (2001) (2), pp. 28-38. Siwatu (2006a) Siwatu, K.O. (2006a). The development of the culturally responsive teaching competencies: Implications for teacher education. Stanovich, K.E., 2000. Matthew effects in reading: Some consequences of individual differences in the acquisition of literacy. Reading Research Quarterly 21, pp. 360-407. Umar, A. (2005). Teacher development in UK: A concept note. Discussion paper presented to the Committee on the Review of Teacher Education, Universal Basic Education Commission, London, UK. Wade (2001) R.C. Wade, Brick walls and breakthroughs: Talking about diversity with white teacher education students, Social Education 62 (2001), pp. 84-87. Young (2001) L.J. Young, Care, community, and context in a teacher education classroom, Theory into Practice 37 (2001) (2), pp. 105-113. Read More