Curriculums need new teaching practices
By: M Ahmad
Curriculum is a standards-based sequence of planned experiences where students practice and achieve proficiency in content and applied learning skills. Curriculum is the central guide for all educators as to what is essential for teaching and learning, so that every student has access to rigorous academic experiences. The structure, organization, and considerations in a curriculum are created in order to enhance student learning and facilitate instruction. Curriculum must include the necessary goals, methods, materials and assessments to effectively support instruction and learning.
A curriculum is a collection of lessons and assessments that a will be taught in an educational institution by a teacher. Or to put it another way, it describes the totality of experiences a student will have when taught in an institution by a teacher.A curriculum is important because it imposes some order onto what is taught in an educational institution. And most importantly of all, it communicates clear expectations for both teachers and students about what ought to be achieved by the end-point of the course.
Having a curriculum allows students to pass between institutions and so that they can progress and go on to get further qualifications. At primary and secondary school level many students will move between schools. This is why a curriculum is important. It means that schools are standardised and students will not suffer or miss out on teaching just because they move from one school to another.
What’s more, it sets a goal for the end of the primary school years for all students to reach. All primary schools follow a curriculum so that they are prepared to the same level for when they start studying at secondary school level.A good curriculum will also provide specific subject knowledge. Perhaps this is to give students what they need to pass an exam or standardised assessment. Or perhaps the curriculum will cover what students need to learn in order to do a job or enter a profession. Many view education as the passport to preparing young people for adult life which is why the curriculum is important.
The international curriculum aims to build global citizens, where students see themselves connected with the global community and develop a great sense of responsibility to its members. They develop an awareness of the inter-relatedness of nations and peoples and recognise the complexity of the relationships.
Through the various experiences that the curriculum offers, they develop an appreciation and diversity of cultures in the world and understand their perspectives. Since the 21st Century is all about views, the international curriculum aims to build an attitude of responsibility in the students and a commitment to society. The students are usually involved in interacting on a level beyond the classroom, sharing and celebrate diversity. Various curricula include:-
STEM: It is an educational curriculum that combines Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math. It is meant to be a comprehensive approach; instead of teaching each subject separately, educators aim to incorporate some or all elements of STEM into each project. Unlike traditional education experiences in which subject areas are concentrated on separately, STEM education emphasizes technology and integrates subjects in ways that connect disciplines and relate them to each other. It also emphasizes collaboration, communication, research, problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity, skills that students need to be successful in today’s world regardless of specific interests or career goals. STEM is a direct response to the realization that our future will be built on our capacity for innovation, invention, and creative problem solving.
STEAM: It is an integrated approach to learning which requires an intentional connection between standards, assessments and lesson design/implementation. True STEAM experiences involve two or more standards from Science, Technology, Engineering, Math and the Arts to be taught and assessed in and through each other.
A STEAM education encourages meaningful learning and enables children to think outside the box. As kids start primary school and participate in extracurricular activities, helping them see topics of their interest from a different perspective would be beneficial. Furthermore, the STEAM curriculum allows students to use objects in a variety of ways. Teachers may, for example, invite students to make vehicles out of modelling clay or cardboard. This activity teaches kids how to make things from the ground up while also allowing them to experiment and let their imaginations run wild.
STREAM: It adds one more layer to STEM and STEAM: Reading and Writing. Thus STREAM defines, S – science; T – technology; R – religion; E – engineering; A – art; and M – mathematics. Advocates of STREAM see literacy as an essential part of a well-rounded curriculum, as it requires critical thinking as well as creativity.
STREAM projects are similar to STEM or STEAM, but fold in the components of reading and writing. STREAM curriculum allows students to learn vital skills such as problem solving, critical thinking, collaboration and innovation along with essential technology skills sets. So if only the STEM curriculum would be stressed, students would only be acquiring technical skills and come up with innovative ideas without evaluating the human aspects. Humanities is actually a stream that helps students to know more on the human society, ideologies, beliefs and knowing more on humanity expressing itself in terms of art, architecture etc.
NEP-2020: As per NEP policy, on the curricular side, there will be an increased focus on foundational literacy and numeracy – and generally, on reading, writing, speaking, counting, arithmetic, and mathematical thinking – throughout the preparatory and middle school curriculum, with a robust system of continuous formative/adaptive assessment to track and thereby individualize and ensure each student’s learning.
Curriculum content will be reduced in each subject to its core essentials, to make space for critical thinking and more holistic, inquiry-based, discovery-based, discussion-based, and analysis-based learning. The mandated content will focus on key concepts, ideas, applications, and problem-solving. Teaching and learning will be conducted in a more interactive manner; questions will be encouraged, and classroom sessions will regularly contain more fun, creative, collaborative, and exploratory activities for students for deeper and more experiential learning.
Scientific learning and scientific skills are undoubtedly important and there is no denying to it but without having a human touch that of emotion and feeling in it, the scientific logic is meaningless. Thus to conclude, why STREAM learning has become popular is something that was ought to be and it had valid reasons to become popular. The only thing that needs a big accolade is the fact that, educators and educational philosophers have taken the right decision to turn STEM into STEAM and further into STREAM in order to build a holistic package of modern curriculum. We hope following such a method of curriculum, the future students will turn out to be strongest currents of scientific creative professionals and leaders. Let’s essence of all the disciplines and integrate them into future societal developmental process.
“What we want is to see the child in pursuit of knowledge, and not knowledge in pursuit of the child”….George Bernard Shaw
(The author is an educationist and is based in Srinagar)
