Anna Tyrlik

EDL 318E
April 23, 2014
Deb Heard
Inquiry to Curriculum: Midterm Paper
Mini literature Review:
As a teacher, one of the jobs I have is to create curricula and lessons, which are relevant
to my students. I am able to achieve this somewhat simple goal through learning where my
students come from, what is important to them and which standards I am required to teach in the
school district I am working in. It is the seamless harmony of these three elements that create
meaningful lessons, which follow the stringent guidelines given by the local and state
governments and mandated by the federal government. Personally, a goal of mine is to include
students in the creation process of my lesson plans to ensure that I am reaching their interests and
not only helping them discover more about topics they love but also teaching them that school is
interesting and can be enjoyable.
Teaching in the democratic society today has become a task for the more intelligent and
learned teachers because in the past, teachers were given scripts to follow and did not have as
many standards to meet with their instruction. When the scripts were the most common form of
instruction, children were mostly from middle class families who did not have to work to ensure
their families had enough food on the table. This sounds like it was over one hundred years ago
but this was as recent as 30 years ago.
In modern day classrooms, Beane explains that the goal is to create classroom where
both students and the teacher play an integral part in planning the curriculum for learning
because this ensures the students will be engaged during the school day and the teacher ensures
that all of the requirements given by the government are being met. Teaching the democratic
way means involving young people in decision making whenever possible to whatever degree
possible (Beane 2007). This quote by Beane explains that integrating student choice and
decisions into the curriculum will allow students to be able to learn what they are able to relate
to. The curriculum taught cannot be disconnected or unrelated to what children are going through
in their own lives.
Through helping my students develop the curriculum, I must also not lose my own
identity or integrity within the lesson plans. Palmer talks about having your own identity as a
teacher when you enter the classroom and making sure your integrity is not faltered when your
beliefs are tested by the school district you are working in. Your heart, identity and integrity
should be in the lessons you write and create with your students to learn. if the work we do
lacks integrity for us, then we, the work and the people we do it with will suffer (Palmer 1997).
Palmer explains in this quote that if the work has no value to us, it will suffer and not be
important to our students.
It was important for me to understand what the viewpoint of a researcher who studied the
question I phrased for this topic and I found an article written for Education Line that explored
this topic. This comes to show that the question I posed has not been answered but researched
since 2000. Houghton and Ali looked into urban and disadvantaged communities in order to look
into the varieties of cultures present and how to create a relevant curriculum for the schools. One
of the largest struggles that occurred for the researchers was The education community, if there
is one, [should] comprise of a diverse membership with often, though not always, little in
common between community organizations, LEA, further and higher education providers which
many did not. Looking at this through the lense of how to create a meaningful curriculum, the
authors state to look into community resources and ensure that the lessons pertain to the
students cultures and are informing them about their heritage as well as current issues.

Citations:
Houghton, A. M., & Ali, H. (2000). Voices from the community: the challenge of
creating a culturally relevant curriculum and inclusive learning environment. Education Line.
Palmer, P. (1997, November 20). The Heart of a Teacher . Change Magazine , 26, 14-21.
Apple, M. W. (2007). Teaching for Democracy's Sake . Democratic schools: lessons in
powerful education (2nd ed., ). Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann.


Context

A. Middletown, Ohio
Population:
o Middletowns population-
48,694 (2010)
o Population in Poverty-11,389
o Population Growth Since
2000= -5.64%
o Population Density=
1,843.11 per square mile
o Population by Races-
White: 40,545
Black: 5,691
Hispanic: 1,838
Asian: 232
Native: 128
One Race, Other: 767
Two or More Races:
1,331
o Population by Gender-
Male: 23,149
Female: 25,545
o Median Age= 38.30 years old
o Language Spoken at Home-
English: 18,921
Spanish: 521
Other Indo-European
Languages: 237
Asian and Pacific
Islander Languages:
137
Other: 42
o Population in Poverty-
11,389
o Population- 100% urban
o Family in Poverty- 2,417
o Population of 25 years or
over-
High school or
higher- 81.1%
Bachelors degree or
higher- 13.8%
Graduate or
professional degree-
4.8%
Unemployed- 12.9%
Commute time- 21.3
minutes
o Population Age 15+
Never married- 28.5%
Now married- 46.2%
Separated- 2.7%
Widowed- 7.5%
Divorced- 15.0%


Employment:
o In Population Over 16-
38,352
o Employed Males- 18,325
o Employed Females- 20,027
Housing:
o Median Household Income:
$35,607 (2008)
o Median Price of a House-
$104,300
Education:
o School Districts That Cover
Middletown- 8
o Middletown City School
District: Ranked 1 out of 5
stars
o Middletown School Ranking:
44
o Female Final Graduation
Rate: 80.4%
o Male Final Graduation Rate:
77.8%
o Enrollment by ethnic group=
White- 1,226
Black- 417
Hispanic- 84
Asian/Pacific
Islander- 13
Multiracial- 86
o Average Years of Teacher
Experience- 13
o Full Time Teachers- 97
o Average Teacher Salary-
$51,059
o Overall AYP- Not Met
o Graduation AYP- Met
o Reading AYP- Not Met
Crime:
o Crime Rate/Index- 3,602.35-
(The Middletown crime rate
is much higher than the Ohio
average crime rate and is
much higher than the national
average crime rate.)
Classroom:
The 17 students in the classroom are 5-6 years old and come from a variety of homes but
most from low-income homes. Learning for the students generally occurs through direct
instruction, centers and worksheets. There are a few songs sprinkled throughout the day to keep
the students engaged, slightly, but mostly the teacher is speaking and the students are required
to be silent and listening. There are two students who are currently medicated for ADHD but are
not on an IEP for this. Another student is identified as having developmental delays and
receives services outside of the school setting. The classroom has 4 distinct areas- teacher area
with her desk and small group intervention table, carpet area for learning at the front, tables for
cooperative learning, and back carpet for quiet reading during centers.

Findings:
The issue I chose to research for this assignment was to learn about and ensure that the
curriculum is relevant to each child when it is being implemented. I observed in the beginning
that a few of the lessons taught were not thoroughly understood by a large portion of the
students and decided to look at how do we, as teachers, create a curriculum that will relate to
and be understood by a majority of the students in the classroom, if not all? I first observed this
issue when I saw a read aloud seem to go over the students heads. The lesson was about
excuses for not going to be after reading a text about how the sheep did not want to count them
to sleep. Many students did not comprehend what the excuse was supposed to be and instead
explained that they went to bed when they were told.
When creating the methodology for this project, I planned to observe my teachers
instruction, ask questions about how the curriculum is designed in my school district, and
wonder about how I can create a set of lessons that would reach the lives of many of my
students (Tyrlik 2014). These three methods were selected for this particular project because
they were non-invasive, simple to implement and effective when I first was planning the
project. The first method was to simply observe my teachers instruction and make notes about
the instructional methods, texts used in the classroom and learning strategies implemented. This
was something I was already doing and now could simply transfer my notes into inferences and
thoughts about how the lessons taught relate to my students and are apart of a curriculum that is
understood by majority of the class. The second method was to ask questions about how the
curriculum is designed in Middletown City Schools. This required some inquiry into different
sources for the lessons and asking questions to the principal and cooperating teacher. The final
method was to wonder and reflect about how I personally would create the lessons to impact as
many of my students as possible. This method would require internal thought and reflection
after coming home from field.
As a result of these methods, I discovered that many of the lessons taught for
Kindergarten in the Middletown school district were oral or direct instruction lessons for
language arts and math was taught using Investigations. These lessons were not taught with any
life from the teacher and most were presented in a direct instruction format without much
deviation for self-discovery or student initiated topics. The topics were selected either by the
school district or the teacher herself. She would teach Social Studies using holiday units, which
are not inquiry based learning and though appropriate for kindergarten, may not apply to all
children.
The curriculum was developed through the school district and is taught in the same
manner across the district. Each teacher has a binder for each grade level and subject area and is
required to teach those lessons on the given day. The teacher has some creativity with the lesson
plans but must include all of the information given. When speaking with my cooperating
teacher about the instruction, she said to me that she was not instructed on how to create a
curriculum or individual lesson plans, that she prefers the pre-created lesson plans, and would
not like to go to a district where she creates her own lessons. Majority of the outside activities
that are used within the classroom come from an online source and are copied to be used in the
classroom.
If I was the head instructor in this kindergarten classroom, I would be interested in
creating a social studies units on friendships, community, learning about school, families and
other topics which are directly related to the students lives. The holiday curriculum is nice at
times but is not generally effective in teaching the standards assigned by the state. The language
arts materials would most likely be thrown out and taught as an integration with social studies,
science and through centers. This reflection period has allowed me to think critically about the
methods my teacher currently uses for instruction and which of those methods I would use and
which I would change for my future classroom.

Discussions:
After looking into the literature about the topic of creating relevant curriculum and
reflecting on the methods discussed, I cannot come up with one simple solution to the over
arching question for the entire field of education but am able to see it and apply the various
solutions in the classroom I am in presently. The requirements for becoming a teacher are
increasing while the requirements of execution of lesson plans by a current teacher are
decreasing to where they are simply reading from a script and do not need any other knowledge
but how to observe children.
Following the reflection period in the third method of research for the over arching
question, I began to realize that it is becoming more relevant to learn how to create lessons,
understand the ins and outs of the curriculum I am instructing and know what my students are
interested in learning. My cooperating teacher has mentioned that she is not trained to create
curriculum but she has completed coursework in lesson planning and creating of lessons. I feel
as though her passion and heart are not in the profession and it demonstrates in a few of her
actions. I at times would have made different pedagogical decisions and implemented some of
the lessons in a different way. Though I am still a pre-service teacher and she is a licensed
teacher and I am in no place to critique her, I hope that I will be able to make my classroom
engaging and effective for students.
Curriculum is set and relevant for students who are typically middle class and grow up
with a normal childhood. Many of the students in lower income areas do not have exposure to
many of the experiences that students who are in a typical, middle class family. They also have
exposure to things that are unimaginable by students who grow up in a suburban community.
Creating a classroom that allows for all the students needs to be met while being engaging is a
difficult task for the teacher. If the correct lessons are created and the students are involved in
the democratic decisions by the teacher, then they will engage in the lessons.
This inquiry into learning has taught me that there are many steps to creating a
curriculum and that knowing the students you are teaching is key. Students should be included
in making decisions within the classroom, the teacher should understand the students and their
backgrounds, and creating lessons that are relevant and engaging is important for students to
maintain interest in the school setting.