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    EDUC5220 Discussion Unit 5 - 3

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    Peter Gunawan
    The document discusses Bruner's ideas about curriculum units and their resemblance to the curriculum used in the early childhood program where the author works. Each unit lasts six weeks and covers themes from everyday life, suggesting materials, books, and discussion questions. Having these resources has been very helpful for new teachers. Bruner emphasized making materials usable for all teachers, not overburdening them with reading, while allowing flexibility. He showed empathy for educators' work and drain, and supported collaboration as an important 21st century skill. The author's program focuses on social emotional skills like sharing. While some elements like devices have changed, students' inquiries now help guide learning through models like project-based learning.

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    EDUC5220 Discussion Unit 5 - 3

    Uploaded by

    Peter Gunawan
    108 views2 pages
    The document discusses Bruner's ideas about curriculum units and their resemblance to the curriculum used in the early childhood program where the author works. Each unit lasts six weeks and covers themes from everyday life, suggesting materials, books, and discussion questions. Having these resources has been very helpful for new teachers. Bruner emphasized making materials usable for all teachers, not overburdening them with reading, while allowing flexibility. He showed empathy for educators' work and drain, and supported collaboration as an important 21st century skill. The author's program focuses on social emotional skills like sharing. While some elements like devices have changed, students' inquiries now help guide learning through models like project-based learning.

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    University of the People EDUC5220 Unit 5 Discussion - 3

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    The document discusses Bruner's ideas about curriculum units and their resemblance to the curriculum used in the early childhood program where the author works. Each unit lasts six weeks and covers themes from everyday life, suggesting materials, books, and discussion questions. Having these resources has been very helpful for new teachers. Bruner emphasized making materials usable for all teachers, not overburdening them with reading, while allowing flexibility. He showed empathy for educators' work and drain, and supported collaboration as an important 21st century skill. The author's program focuses on social emotional skills like sharing. While some elements like devices have changed, students' inquiries now help guide learning through models like project-based learning.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    108 views2 pages

    EDUC5220 Discussion Unit 5 - 3

    Uploaded by

    Peter Gunawan
    The document discusses Bruner's ideas about curriculum units and their resemblance to the curriculum used in the early childhood program where the author works. Each unit lasts six weeks and covers themes from everyday life, suggesting materials, books, and discussion questions. Having these resources has been very helpful for new teachers. Bruner emphasized making materials usable for all teachers, not overburdening them with reading, while allowing flexibility. He showed empathy for educators' work and drain, and supported collaboration as an important 21st century skill. The author's program focuses on social emotional skills like sharing. While some elements like devices have changed, students' inquiries now help guide learning through models like project-based learning.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as docx, pdf, or txt
    of 2

    As Bruner discussed his ideas of units of study, there were many things that came to mind.

    One of
    the things that stood out the most, was the resemblance his suggestions have with the curriculum
    we use in the Early Childhood program I currently work at. These are provided by an american
    company and each study or unit comes as a kit that has a teaching guide with detailed information
    and steps to follow daily or weekly. Each study usually lasts six weeks and they cover themes that
    are related to children’s everyday life experiences (clothes, trees, buildings, etc.). It also suggests
    the materials to have at hand for the children either to work or play, books to read and questions to
    ask at the beginning of each study or as a way to extend it if needed. Having resources like this one,
    were very handy at the start of my teaching career seven years ago, since I did not have a
    background in education or prior experience as the lead teacher or a class. They are also practical,
    research based and offer constant revisions, so it allows us to stay updated.

    Bruner (1965) stated that “the materials, in short, have got to be made usable and attractive not only
    to the highly gifted teacher, but to teachers in general, and to teachers who live with the ordinary
    fatigue of coping with younger pupils day by day. They cannot be overburdened with reading, nor
    can the reading be of such an order as to leave them with a feeling of impotence. At the same time,
    the material presented should be loosely enough woven to permit the teacher to satisfy his interests
    in forming a final product to be presented to children” (p 23).

    I think his empathy towards educators was very honest and sums up an aspect of our job. Besides
    the continuous reinvention and our efforts to be there for our students, the reality is that it is quite
    draining to have so much of our energy invested in our jobs and the reason why most current social
    emotional learning programs focus on prioritizing a teacher’s well being before anything else.

    His final words on gathering “educators’ wisdom” to make available for future teachers, also spoke to
    me about collaboration; a concept that contemporary curriculums like IB propose as a skill we need
    to succeed in the 21st century. This is an element that should be prevalent in our classrooms as it
    will support students strive in and out of school environments. In my context, we mainly focus on the
    development of social emotional skills that help kids foster positive interactions and relationships
    with peers. Teaching young children to be assertive or to share supplies are examples that can be
    seen in a preschool classroom every day.

    Change is a significant part of working in this field. There are elements proposed by Bruner that
    have changed overtime. Devices are indeed some of the ones that will continue to vary, especially
    now that both teachers and students are working remotely and exclusively with technology. Another
    element that is visibly different in my milieu is the way students’ queries guide our learning. There
    are many approaches to nourish a child’s curiosity, like project based learning and inquiry models.

    Like Alper (2018) wrote in an article for Edutopia, “recent education reforms call for a shift in
    pedagogy to provide students with the skills necessary to be competitive in a global society. One
    such shift, inquiry-based instruction, is supported by evidence as a successful approach to fulfill the
    goals and processes of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS)”.

    If students are “in charge of their learning”, could this mean all guides and written material that is
    ready for teachers to implement might become obsolete in the future? Who knows..
    Reflecting on the way we are currently teaching versus how it was done a couple of months ago is
    definitely thought-provoking and interesting to keep exploring. The good thing is that our profession
    has prepared us well to embrace and adapt to change.

    References:

    Alper, C. (2018, August 17). Embracing Inquiry-Based Instruction. Retrieved from


    https://www.edutopia.org/article/embracing-inquiry-based-instruction
    Bruner, J. (1965). Man a Course of Study. Man: A Course of Study. Occasional Paper No. 3.
    Retrieved from https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED178390.pdf

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