Teaching Models in Education of the Gifted - Annotated Bibliography Example

Curriculum Development Name Institution Affiliation Table of Contents Curriculum Development 3 Introduction 3 The Key Issues 3 Implications of Key Issues in Curriculum Development 7 Questions Arising 8 Implications of the Issues for my Talent Development Centre 9 Curriculum Development Introduction Curriculum development is a vital component of any educational process. It serves to address the concerns around the abilities and attributes of learners, the tasks they are capable of accomplishing, how they do this, why and how well they are able to accomplish certain tasks. Given the complexity of learning today, the contemporary approaches developed in curricular development have become more sophisticated but they too address the traditional concerns of the learning process. This report espouses some of the key issues identified that are found to impinge on the various facets of curricular development, how they are addressed in curricular development literature and their implications for stakeholders and policy makers. 1. Chapter Seven Maker, C., & Nielson, A. B. (1996). Curriculum development and teaching strategies for gifted learners. PRO-ED, 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757-6897. The Key Issues Learners, for whom curriculum is usually developed, are characterized by a great deal of diversity in almost every dimension of their lives. For this reason, it is not by accident that diversity has become a critical variable that informs the development of curricular the world over. In the development of curricular, it has come out clearly that experts and policy makers are increasingly laying emphasis on the various structures of curricular that create room for the differences observed amongst learners (Marker & Nielson, 1996). Essentially, curriculum and pedagogy ought to be structured to account for the learners diversity i.e. backgrounds, abilities and need. However good a curricular may be, it may fail to yield the intended outcomes due certain intervening factors. These factors are majorly situational factors and imply the physical and psychological context of the learner. The factors come in as critical considerations since a curricular is usually complete with a criterion to evaluate outcomes of the learning process. The outcomes are usually influenced by situational factors, which may disadvantage some learners or otherwise propel them to perform better making them different from other learners yet they are subjected to the same teaching and learning techniques. The role of parents and teachers in developing a curriculum cannot be overestimated. Teachers are familiar with the “complex” classroom situation where learners exhibit different abilities and manifest varying needs. Parents also have a role to play owing to the great influence they have on their children’s general perception towards learning. Therefore, the process of developing a curricular does include simulation of the actual class situation as well as conditioning the perceptions of learners to embrace learning as a process. Additionally, since the teachers are the “agents” through which knowledge is transferred to learners, they need to identify challenges on their part that result from using certain techniques especially with regards to delivery. 2. Chapter Eight Maker, C., & Pease, R. (2013). Differentiation for gifted students in regular and special classrooms using interdisciplinary teaching examples: Examples from Australian Curriculum. EDST5805. University of New South Wales. In the development of a learner-oriented curricular, educators have to follow a systematic procedure that will ensure measurement and evaluation of progress. Moreover, the issue of involving interdisciplinary experts in the development of curricular also takes center stage. This is ostensibly necessitated by the fact that curricular development is an extremely technical and sophisticated process that requires both competence and experience to achieve desirable objectives. Other stakeholders and interdisciplinary information are as much critical to ensure that all the facets of learning are addressed by the curricular so developed. Appeal to the cognitive abilities of students has also come to be a leading factor in developing an-all inclusive approach. There is a considerable inclination in the contemporary techniques employed today in curricular development, which emphasize the significance of developing critical skills and concept-based learning. In this approach, development of curricular entails coming up with learning strategies, which equip learners with the concepts, rather than the “traditional” strategies that were outcome-oriented. This, it is espoused, ensures that learners are engaged in constant decision-making and actually understand what they are doing. Essentially, the techniques employed in this kind of a curricular development structure seek to ensure that the learners are trained on the use of obtained information rather than the acquisition of that very information. One common model of curricular development that emphasizes these techniques is the DISCOVER Curriculum Model which prescribes that students are presented with factual and conceptual tasks. 1. Chapter Five Maker, C., & Nielson, A. B. (1995). Teaching models in education of the gifted. Pro-ed, 8700 Shoal Creek Blvd., Austin, TX 78757-6897. Gifted students and talented learners occupy a central position in the realm of curricular development. There is a trend emerging in curricular development in which students who exhibit exceptional abilities are considered for a special approach. Essentially, it is proposed that this kind of learners ought not to be subjected to the standard curricular owing to their innate abilities and therefore there is need to provide special training which will develop them further. Curricular prescribed for these learners involves providing them with concrete information and facts as compared to hypothetical class scenarios typical of the “traditional” techniques. Other important issues in curricular development embody the fact that curriculum development is a stage-by-stage endeavor encompassing the content, process and product. What’s more, the three stages are so intricately related that one stage leads to the other in a mutually reinforcing mechanism that characterizes the logic and sequence of developing a curricular. The stages, as distinct as they are, are all anchored on learners’ needs, interests and abilities. Better still, there are experts who have argued that the success of a particular curricular lies squarely on the strategies adopted during its implementation where it is given a practical shape. Nevertheless, integration of learners’ language and culture into a curricular is critical in the sense that it enables the learners to “own” the entire process and identify with it. Implications of Key Issues in Curriculum Development The concerns identified above all need to be addressed if the process of curricular development is to yield desired outcomes. The major implication that can be drawn from the issues addressed is that there is indeed a need for teachers to tailor a curricular according to the needs of students. This is informed by the fact that there is no universal strategy that can address the specific needs of all students yet it is beyond reproach that learners have different abilities and needs. As for the task force entrusted with developing standard curricular, accounting for differentiation may involve coming up with a universal structure, which is universally applicable then creating room for customization by teachers according to the incidental learner requirements. Parents can help with identifying the strengths and weaknesses of students especially concerning out of class activities. This may provide useful information concerning their cognitive abilities. Owing to the fact that interdisciplinary experts are required for the development of a “holistic” curriculum, there is need to view learning process as being multifaceted in which social, cultural, political and economic factors all have a role to play. The multidimensional approach to learning as a process comes in handy as a way to address the concerns around developing a holistic approach to learning as a process. Recognition of the influence that situational factors play in the development of a curriculum implies that in giving a certain curricular practical shape, there is need to control for certain contextual factors so that the intended outcomes of the developed strategy can be realized. Alternatively, in circumstances where these variables cannot be ascertained, they can be factored in during evaluation to filter for their ultimate effects on the learners. Teachers have an increased role especially when it comes to differentiation since they are able to identify the specific needs and abilities of students. Parents also need to monitor the progress of learners outside class since the performance of students in some outdoor activities has been found to correlate with the classroom performance. Moreover, the students have to be conditioned to solve more complex problems on their own to boost their confidence and general individual development. Similarly, the assessment of student performances in certain specific tasks should be concept-oriented so as to enable them develop skills necessary for real world practices. All stakeholders have almost a personal role to not only identify but also to nurture the gifted students to use their innate abilities to be more productive. The customization of learning strategies should also encompass the language and culture of learners to enable them identify with strategies and therefore be motivated. Questions Arising A few critical questions arise concerning the issues raised by this report. For instance, concerning what exactly is critical thinking and concept-based learning, the insights generated herein espouse that concept-based learning, which has been fronted as an important learning strategy, refers to learning techniques in which students are made to understand the underlying mechanisms through which things come to be rather than conceiving the eventual outcomes. In this, strategies lay more emphasis on the “means” rather than the “end”. Another question that arises is how can the curriculum be differentiated using integrated models for gifted and talented students? In this, the most accepted strategy is to come up with a standard model that is universally applicable to all learners but the model should also be flexible for augmentation to allow for augmentation to suit them for exceptional learners. More aptly, the dimensions that should be adjusted include complexity, variety (in terms of enrichment experiences), study subjects (for instance, they are supposed to study creative, influential and productive individuals). Having stressed on the importance of caring out class assessments by teachers to enable them undertake different programs for different students (differention), the next logical question that follows is how does authentic assessment inform flexible grouping and planning a differentiated program? Here, based on the group and individual performances, teachers are able to identify common attributes amongst learners. Additionally, teachers are able to ascertain the margins in the performances between students to determine the degree to which the “standard” procedures can be augmented to suit different student abilities. It is clear that there is need to undertake an interdisciplinary curriculum differentiation. Nevertheless, just how can the curriculum be differentiated using interdisciplinary teaching strategies for gifted and talented students? Gifted and talented students are special learners and it is expected that they will end up being more creative and productive relative to their colleagues. In this respect, it is important to treat them differently by providing them with a variety of enrichment experiences and offering them with concrete and factual information in all other disciplines of knowledge. Implications of the Issues for my Talent Development Centre The role of the teacher in identifying student needs and unique innate abilities is highlighted as being critical in curricular development and this would be critical in my institution where there are so many students in any single class. To ensure that the teaching and learning strategies achieve their intended objectives for each particular student, teachers will be assigned a specific number of students for whom they will keep track. The need to incorporate students’ culture and language into the curricular will also be addressed in my institution by introducing a few lessons dedicated to conveying certain lessons in the local dialect to students at the elementary level to enable them embrace the entire “system”. Additionally, professional guidance and counseling sessions would be conducted at the institution on a voluntary basis to ensure that situational (non-academic) factors are kept in check so that they do not influence the outcomes of the adopted strategies. Read More