A Change in the Curriculum for Children with Moderate Disabilities - Essay Example

Curriculum I have often thought about transformation in the present curriculum due to its limitations. There is lot of research being conducted by various experts and educationalists in this field to consider certain changes in the present curriculum. Curriculum refers to the set of activities and contents involved in educating children in any educational institution. It also includes extracurricular activities which enhances their learning capacity . Being a special educator for children with moderate disabilities in Kindergarten and first grade, I strongly feel that there should be a considerable change in the present education system keeping in mind the kind of children that I teach everyday. Children with moderate disabilities have certain skills, which can be enhanced through a change in the curriculum. Our present system of education has also identified a need for this revolution in the curriculum. The entire content of the curriculum should cater to the needs of all children It is a challenging task to redesign the curriculum because it involves close co-ordination and consensus between several individuals and organizations on the implementation of the new educational program . Therefore every individual who is directly or indirectly involved in dealing with children should contribute towards the development of the content in a syllabus. I foresee immense amount of change in my role as a special educator with the implementation of new curriculum. It will enlighten me about various innovative strategies of imparting education and have its own implications on my career as an educationalist. Since a child learns the basics during the first few years of education, our syllabus should emphasize on a change right from the elementary school. The new curriculum will be designed to meet the challenges of future education of children considering the loopholes in the present pattern of the syllabus. The curriculum should caters to the developmental needs such as the emotional, social, physical and intellectual requirement of children. Multiage grouping is one of the concepts that may be introduced in future. It refers to the integration of students from diverse backgrounds, abilities, interests, personalities and ages in a single classroom. Therefore, this set up offers more opportunities for different segment of children to interact with each other. It also teaches normal children to develop a sense of caring, understanding and accommodating nature because they interact with children having various disabilities. It also enlightens them about the kind of concerns that such children face everyday and the measures to deal with it. It makes them more competent to deal with such children. The introduction of multiage grouping will eliminate the concept of conventional graded classroom . Due to the absence of graded level education the related labels associated with it will not be applicable. The students will progress from easier to difficult learning material based on their individual capabilities. Hence, they will continuously progress rather than being promoted yearly. There will also be flexibility in the expectations about each child due to their varied competencies. [Johnson, 1998]. In addition to multiage grouping there will be efforts made to integrate technology into education. There is lot of controversy about this concept of fusing technology into education however I think there will be implementation of new and useful education technologies. This will ensure the learning of new concepts in an interesting manner. This will also help children in actively exploring, experimenting and learning through innovative techniques and methods. The new curriculum will stress on physically exploring various concepts. There are several such activities already in place for Kindergarten children to make learning an interesting task. For instance, building with blocks, digging in sandboxes, and drawing new ideas. The new syllabus is a step towards creative problem-solving, collaborative learning, expressive design, and conceptual abstraction with the help of various innovative technologies. [Classroom of the future, 2003]. Another major transformation will be the Integrated curriculum, which refers to the technique of relating concepts with the real life scenarios. Therefore, students will learn new concept with an experimental approach rather than learning them in isolation. The new curriculum is enforced to cater the developmental needs of the children. Lack of literacy is a major concern faced by the country today and the new curriculum will strive to attain 100 percent literacy. It is a step towards providing academic excellence to all children. It will make students, citizens that are more responsible and teach them to adjust and co-operate with children of diverse background and abilities. The new syllabus will ensure that the students with disabilities and normal children are integrated in a single classroom so that both sections of children are provided with equal opportunity of education. [Statewide Systems Change for Students with Severe Disabilities, 1996]. The curriculum change will put forth immense amount of change in the contents and an approach to teaching them. The content will be formulated after a lot of research. Developmentally appropriate practices based on the children's developmental needs will form a part of the content. The new syllabus will be a combination of different subjects and greater emphasis will be laid on projects. The contents of the curriculum will go beyond textbook and will establish relationship among various concepts and real life scenarios. There will be integration of contents related to various subjects such as combination of art, mathematics; and reading; history, science, and mathematics; history and literature; integrated humanities; health and reading; areas of mathematics; social studies, health, and the arts; physical education, the arts, health, and literature; and science, social studies, health, and the arts. [Lake, 2000]. Language arts will be essential in all school subjects wherein there will be an integration of content and process. The subjects such as mathematics will be a confluence of problem solving techniques, reasoning and communication. In science subjects there will be an attempt to perceive the contents, utilize it effectively and infuse it with meaning. Social studies will stress on understanding an individuals role in a democratic society, exploring cultures and civilization existing in different parts of the world and major issues prevailing in the society. The content of the new syllabus will reflect upon up to date knowledge about various aspects and its appropriate implementation. [California's common core curricula, origins, context and future directions, n. d].Students will be required to produce ideas, integrate curriculum with the real life scenarios and complete tasks such as exhibits, presentations, demonstrations pertaining to it. [Johnson, 1998].The content of new curriculum will be based on creating meaningful process of decision making, problem solving and decision making relating to real-world objects, events, and situations. [Fennimore and Tinzmann, 1990]. The content of the new curriculum will be enforced to ensure better learning outcome through the innovative strategies. There are certain factors that will influence the content of the curriculum. The content of the curriculum will be based on the skills sets of the students and their individual abilities. It will strive to provide students in acquiring high-order learning so that students can relate the content with the real life situations and keep themselves abreast with the latest occurrences and the events in the world. Therefore, any kind of changes occurring in the society will have its effect on the content . The advancement in information technology will also play a crucial role in deciding the content of the curriculum since there is a transition in the traditional process of work with the advent of new technologies. Literatures pertaining to a particular concept, media and technical reports and commercial material will also decide the formulation of the contents. There are various segments of the society who will influence the formation of the content in the syllabus. The primary focus of new curriculum is to understand the requirements of students from various background, age and abilities so that students can achieve certain standards based on their competencies. Therefore, the content will be influenced by the requirement of the various categories of students. Teachers will have a crucial role in deciding the content of the curriculum since education is imparted through them. Teachers understand the most important educational requirements of their students. Hence their perception, attitude and beliefs will decide the content . Our community will also influence the formulation of the content to a large extend. The development and design of this curriculum is very crucial in imparting education to the students of the future generation. Therefore every action and activities pertaining to it has to be conducted very carefully and strategically. The implementation of the new syllabus should be well-planned and should be commenced after appropriate audit of the planned curriculum. In order to attain success through new curriculum, it is imperative that appropriate training is imparted to the teachers so that they can implement effective strategies for teaching the future students. It is also essential to receive consensus from people who are directly or indirectly involved in educating children. The school or educational institution will commence the process of development of the new syllabus. They will consult various individuals such as parents who are responsible for the development of their children. Their notions and perspective about the new curriculum will be considered prior to implementing any kind of change in the present pattern. It will be the responsibility of the senior management team members of the school to co-ordinate the changes and provide appropriate training to the educationalists. They need to stress on the importance of the new curriculum and its implications on the teachers and the students. This should be communicated with clarity . Since there is lot of cost involved in the development of the new curriculum, the ministry of education will have an important role in providing funds for the effective implementation of this new program. My experience as a special educator will help me contribute extensively towards the development of the new curriculum.. Since I am actively involved in working with student of varying disabilities utilizing general curriculum, I can modify it to meet their needs. All special educators can contribute to a great extend in understanding the needs of such children and help in the development of the students need based curriculum. Due to the concept of multiage grouping in the new curriculum and the designation of the same instructor continuously for few years, my expertise will definitely help me to teach all categories of children equally. It will also help me impart education in such a manner that all students assimilate the content easily. I can also provide my feedback with regard to the necessary alteration that has to be made in the present curriculum so that it meets the needs of the children with disabilities. Since I have the experience in teaching children with disabilities with the help of general curriculum, my role may also transform as a trainer because all the teachers have to be competent in teaching students with various level of abilities and disabilities. I can provide training to the general educators so that they equip themselves with the art of teaching children with disabilities. The new curriculum gears up students to meet the increasing demands of the society. As a special education teacher, I have the expertise to design and teach appropriate curricula which includes graded papers and homework assignments based on the requirements and disabilities of the children . I have involved myself in various activities that will help me understand student behavior and taken measures to improve their social and academic development. It has helped the students with disabilities develop emotionally and increase their comfort level in social situations and imbibe the socially acceptable behavior in themselves. I personally can contribute to a large extend in the development of the new curriculum due to the vast knowledge that I have in dealing with moderate disabilities children of Kindergarten and first grade. Since these children learn a lot during these first few years of education, I have found it quite challenging to deal with them. In spite of their disabilities these children can be taught the contents of general curriculum provided it is taught in a manner that is easily assimilated by them. Therefore, my experience will definitely help the management and the educational institutions in designing the new curriculum to a large extend. The new curriculum will have its own implication on me and my career as a special educator. It is quite challenging to teach children with disabilities in Kindergarten and first grade. It is imperative for children to have strong foundation in order to attain competency in their academic education. During my career stint, I have come across children who have exceptional qualities that can make them a winner in spite of their disabilities. It gives me a sense of satisfaction when my students attain heights of success. I remember my mother words "The objective of life cannot be different from that of one's career." The motto of my life is to help the children with disabilities to acquire education and make them responsible citizens. Although I tried to attain this objective by choosing a careers as a special educator, I always felt there was some kind of disparity existing between normal children and the children with disabilities. The new curriculum will eliminate this disparity and offer equal opportunity of education to all the students. I see a new ray of hope for the children with disabilities with the implementation of new curriculum which personally is very self satisfying.. This change in curriculum will also enlighten me about the utilization of various innovative technologies in the field of education which will acquaint me with new strategies of teaching. It is highly motivating and challenging to teach children in this new set up. This new system will also break the monotony of teaching career and open new arenas of experimental approach towards education. My role as teacher may also escalate to the level of a researcher and a counselor since I will try to identify the needs of the students and provide appropriate assistance to them. Although the new curriculum will mean a lot of dedication and hard work from educationalists in learning new methods and technologies, it will also broaden the horizons of my career. There will be less pressure in terms of completing a course within a stipulated time due to the absence of graded level and its related labels. I can teach students based on their competencies and offer them quality and effective education which will provide job satisfaction to me. This kind of teaching will involve learning though various activities hence teaching will be more interactive and break away from the ties of monotony. Teaching is a noble profession which enlighten individuals with the light of knowledge. It is quite de-motivating personally to see individuals being deprived of education due to their disabilities. The planned new curriculum will therefore bring in new hopes to the teachers to equip their students will new levels of education. Moreover the term "general educator" will be replaced by the term "special educator" since every teacher will hold an important place in the students life. Teachers will transform students with disabilities into more competent individuals and make them more responsible. The large scale reforms in education will sharpen my skills and will boost my morale. It will also give me a lot of time to develop my skills as a special educator. Since there will be exchange of knowledge through various training programs, I will attain more knowledge about various aspects of education and its implications. I look forward to this great opportunity of teaching different categories of students which is a challenging task. It will also eliminate the difference between a general educator and special educator. Education will be imparted without any kind of disparity which in itself is a tremendous accomplishment for everyone associated with this field. Personally, I want to contribute extensively towards this new curriculum since it means new opportunities and a brighter future to the students. The planned new curriculum is a great step to foster learning process among all individuals. It has to be designed with a lot of planning so that each individual benefits with this new system of education. Each individual associated with education can contribute extensively to the development of the new curriculum. The future of our country is in the hands of children. An effective education system will make students more responsible citizens and promote new developments in the society. Teachers have a crucial role in its effective implementation . It is their responsibility to make learning an interesting task and provide education without any kind of disparity. References Duckett .I and Moore. S. n. d. Curriculum design and development. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://72.14.203.104/searchq=cache:vMfDoWvcdAIJ:www.vocationallearning.org.uk/files/NewAlevelsReplacementVCE/Curriculum.pdf+Who+will+be+involved+in+the+development+and+design+of+new+curriculum&hl=en Fennimore. T.F and Tinzmann. M.B. 1990. What Is a Thinking Curriculum Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/rpl_esys/thinking.htm Johnson. D. 1998. Critical Issue: Enhancing Learning Through Multiage Grouping. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/methods/instrctn/in500.htm Lake. K. 2000.Integrated Curriculum. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/8/c016.html. Margo A. 2001. Challenges Encountered by First-Year Special Education Teachers. Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty Vol. 35/NO. 2/2001/pp.66-74. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/special_education/half_full_half_empty.html Pattison. C and Berkas.N. 2000.Critical Issue: Integrating Standards into the Curriculum. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/currclum/cu300.htm Statewide Systems Change for Students with Severe Disabilities.1996. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.ed.gov/pubs/OSEP96AnlRpt/chap3c.html Classroom of the future. 2003. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.cs.umd.edu/hcil/kiddesign/cof.shtml California's common core curricula, origins, context and future directions. n. d. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://66.102.7.104/searchq=cache:YZWTX4q5hFUJ:calswec.berkeley.edu/CalSWEC/CommonCoreBackground.pdf+future+content+of+curriculum+for+children&hl=en Margo A. 2001. Challenges Encountered by First-Year Special Education Teachers. Is the Glass Half Full or Half Empty Vol. 35/NO. 2/2001/pp.66-74. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.ldonline.org/ld_indepth/special_education/half_full_half_empty.html Curriculum design and development. n. d Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://72.14.203.104/searchq=cache:YV3TQh0vvMUJ:www.vocationallearning.org.uk/files/quickguides/CurriculumDesign.pdf+Who+will+be+involved+in+the+development+and+design+of+new+curriculum&hl=en Teachers-Special education. 2005. Retrieved on 9th January 2005 from http://www.bls.gov/oco/ocos070.htm Read More