The article, "Curriculum Design and Materials Development" left me with unanswered questions. I did like however, the way she distinguished between curriculum and syllabus. Curriculum is a framework or set of guidelines for the teaching of a subject area. Syllabus is a more particularized document that addresses a specific audience of learners and teachers, a particular course of study or a particular series of textbooks. But, this is where I am feeling confused. If the curriculum is a framework I am suppose to follow and put in my syllabus, using a particular series of textbooks, how am I suppose to trust the the textbooks when I do not know if these "paraprofessionals" have ever been in a classroom?
The article describes customers, consumers, and stakeholders. Language teachers are usually not the actual "customers" of the curriculum, but they certainly are consumers of the products based on the curriculum. Who then is the major customer of the language curriculum? "Probably the textbook writers or the course and materials developers, test developers, and program evaluators." Who are these people, though? Have they been in the classroom prior to writing these textbooks? If not, I believe that the author himself/herself should collaborate with the teacher when creating the materials. So many teachers trust these textbooks and lesson plans, but are teachers modifying their syllabus to meet the students' needs? I understand that a textbook cannot and will probably never be perfect, but I do believe that if an author of a textbook collaborates with a teacher/ an or teachers/principals, students (all the stakeholders) the textbook itself can be more legitimate. I am a pre-service teacher so I am not sure about these textbooks, but I do know for a fact that the learner-based curriculum is a great approach because it places the learner and his/her needs at the center of planning, thus gradually developing the syllabus from loosely planned guidelines based on the learners' needs, and will change throughout the course.
I think that very often textbook authors will tell you somewhere in the front or back of the book their prior experiences. I agree with you, though, we should not just trust everything a textbook says. I also think that those who have been in the classroom will have more useful information to add to a textbook than someone who has not, so it is definitely a valid concern!
ReplyDeleteTina,
ReplyDeleteI agree with the idea that so many people out there believe what textbooks say. Sometimes people are so willing to just accept what an author or authors have written in a printed text, that the individual does not challenge themself or attempt to research other sources to see if other sources confirm the information given in the text. I admit that I am guilty at times of reading a textbook, finding a fact that sounds legitimate, and just assuming what is said is true. I need to be careful of this because sometimes authors skew their information or word it in such a way that is ambiguous or gives a false respresentation of the facts. I think that we as future educators need to be conscious and knowledgable of the textbooks we decide to use in the classroom. We should make sure the information is factual and real. We should also not be afraid to go outside of the box sometimes! :)
Great thoughts Tina!