Course: C&T 709: Foundations of Curriculum and Instruction

Title: “Philosophy of Curriculum: Moving Towards Enhancing Scholars’ Leadership, Problem-Solving, Inquisitive, and Creative Skills” Final Paper

In C&T 709: Foundations of Curriculum, I wrote a final paper regarding my philosophy of curriculum. This final paper consisted of three parts. Part I involved the comparison of two theorists, Maria Montessori and John Dewey’s, methods of education. Part II described my stance on a curriculum issue. The curriculum I focused on was called Primary Talent Development (PTD). Lastly, Part III elaborated on my philosophy of the Primary Talented Development curriculum using Montessori’s and Dewey’s theory of methods of education.

For Learning Outcome 1A I selected the final paper I wrote for C&T 709 titled, “Philosophy of Curriculum: Moving Towards Enhancing Scholars’ Leadership, Problem-Solving, Inquisitive, and Creative Skills.” It aligns to Learning Outcome 1A because I discuss how a curriculum, Primary Talent Development (PTD) can be implemented with more fidelity and effectiveness in not only kindergarten through second but beyond those grades and up to twelfth grade while also using Maria Montessori and John Dewey methods of education in all academic subjects.

Primary Talent Development (PTD) is a program in Maryland that my school has been implementing for the last three years. It is a curriculum in Maryland implemented in kindergarten through second grade and it aims to foster seven essential skills: perception, communication, inquisitiveness, persistence, creativity, resourcefulness, and leadership (Maryland Department of Education).

In my final paper I discuss how I believe on mainly focusing on essential life skills such as, leadership, creativity, inquisitiveness, communication, collaboration, persistence, and resourcefulness rather than how they perform on tests. Using a curriculum that is conscious of the skills that need to be fostered in order to benefit scholars in the long run would be very beneficial and effective for their future in addition to the math and literacy curriculum we currently use. I do not include the science and social studies curriculum because those curriculums are not consistent nor organized and resourceful for teachers and scholars to use.

Through C&T 709 I was able to study theorists and their educational methods to see which ones I could implement to support my scholars learning. One method I studied and implemented in my classroom is Maria Montessori’s which focuses on providing learners the opportunity to work in group or individual self-directed hands-on activities. The teacher will support or intervene only when necessary. This approach allows scholars to make their own creative choices on how to complete certain tasks using the resources or manipulatives available which strengthens their resourcefulness skill. Using their inquisitiveness, resources, or manipulatives to work independently or in a group enhances their creative, inquisitive, communication, leadership, and persistence skills which meets the PTD standards.

As for John Dewey’s method of education of integrating academic subjects and relating the activities or projects to things that occur or have occurred in their society can go hand-in-hand with the PTD curriculum because scholars will be able to use their perceptive, communicative, inquisitive, creative, persistent, resourceful, and leadership skills to complete assignments they can relate to. When scholars learn about topics that are relatable and useful to them, it can enhance their participation, effort, and understanding of the topic.

After researching both theorists, I can see that both approaches can be used within the classroom to build scholars’ skills and knowledge about the information learned within each academic subject. In addition, these teaching methods can help improve learner’s self-confidence and positively impact their commitment to learning (Daily Montessori, 2019).

Writing this final paper broadened up the way I thought about teaching my scholars. The 2020 fiscal school year has been challenging and even though I have been teaching virtually, I have still been able to carry out part of my philosophy. Whenever I have a chance to integrate the Primary Talent Development essential skills into academic subjects, hands-on activities, or project-based learning assignments, I do so in order to engage and challenge my scholars academically and socially while still teaching virtually.

Since I cannot simultaneously be present in each breakout room, I create breakout rooms with scholars where one in-person scholar is in a group with at-home scholars, that way I can hear the conversations being held in each breakout room. Even though this method of teaching and learning is not ideal, we have all been able to adapt and many of my scholars have been able to grow in their communication, leadership, resourceful, and persistence skills when completing academic tasks online. In breakout rooms, learners are able to have discussions on a certain topic and share questions or ideas so they can then work independently on an assignment. This online teaching method can be considered to be more of Montessori’s because it allows scholars to complete a task using a method of their choice to show what they know. They can complete the task verbally, in written form, or drawing form.

I have provided learning options for my learners, during math, writing, and reading, so they can choose how they would like to complete a problem. In writing, they write a diary entry every week. The topic is of their choice. Then, they share their thoughts, stories, or solutions to the whole class. Not only does this encourage independent thinking and strengthens most of the PTD skills which is the best we can do during these trying times but it relates to Maria Montessori’s method of education which involves self-directed activities.

In addition, my learners have been able to have discussions are about Presidents of the United States of America after reading about them. After reading a grade level text and researching information about Presidents and having discussions about a President they are able to complete a one or two page google slide presentation showing their knowledge about that specific President. In math we were learning about money, so we were able to integrate our knowledge we gained in social studies and reading to math when learning about which presidents are on certain coins and dollar bills. This group assignment relates to John Dewey method of education because he encouraged the integration of academic subjects and relating activities or projects to things that occur or have occurred in their society.

References

Flinders, D. J. & Thornton, S. J. (2017). Curriculum and Consciousness. In Maxine Greene. The Curriculum Studies Reader (5th edition) (pp.147-159). New York, NY: Routledge.

Montessori Northwest. (n.d.) What is Montessori Education? Retrieved from https://montessori- nw.org/what-is-montessori-education

Daily Montessori. (2019, August 20). Montessori Theory. Retrieved from http://www.dailymontessori.com/montessori-theory/