Personal Philosophy Of Curriculum

My personal philosophy of curriculum is grounded in the idea that every human being on the face of the earth has both strengths and weaknesses. Given this mortal condition, I believe the goal of education is to use individual strengths to improve or overcome weaknesses thus allowing students to reach their full unique potential in gaining knowledge. Therefore, curriculum is determined by the population of students being taught. For instance, a general education 2nd grade student might have the potential to read CVVC, or CVCV words; in which case digraphs, vowel teams, consonant blends and even trigraphs should be included in the curriculum. However, a student with an intellectual disability might not have that same potential and thus his

I found that there are certain aspects off all the curriculum theories that I agree with as opposed to just one firmly standing above the rest. Following the Scholar Academic ideology, I believe the disciplines of reading, writing and math should be taught in an explicit manner. This type of instruction is beneficial to students of all types of backgrounds, cultures, socio economic status and abilities. In fact, research has shown that, “children improved substantially in their ability to read words and showed significant . . . gains in their ability to process text as a result of systematic synthetic phonics instruction” (Report of the National Reading Panel, 2006). I accomplish this with a lecture format at the most basic level using explicit phonics. “This is the letter B. The sound the letter B makes is /b/. What sound does the letter b make?” However, I also strongly believe that children internalize learning at a much deeper level when the instruction is highly engaging and fun. I incorporate Learner Centered ideologies into my curriculum to provide first hand learning experiences. As an example, I have hidden small blocks with letters or sight words on them in a container full of beans or kinetic sand. The manipulatives sparks creativity and long term memories are created. Many of the instructional materials I use encourage learning through play or investigation. In contrast to the Scholarly Academic ideology, Social efficiency promotes childhood as a time to prepare for adulthood. On that note, I teach behavior and daily living skills to prepare my students for adulthood. The curriculum becomes a functional curriculum when teaching students how to solve a social problem, how to make a peanut butter sandwich, or proper toileting skills. These competencies hold the most value to my students since these and other specific skills will help them be