PME 811: Blog Assignment

  In the article, “ Foreign Influences on Curriculum and Curriculum Policy Making in Canada” by Tomkins (1981), he explored the influence other countries and curriculum have had on Canadian curriculum development throughout history. Overall, the author mentions the positive and negative influences on the Canadian curriculum, meaning there are both good reasons for this, and reasons that it makes defining Canadian education difficult (Tomkins, 1981). The article explores what it means to teach, as it highlights the conflicts from when Canada was first declared independent and the mixture of French and English viewpoints (Tomkins, 1981). For teaching, the article explores this as a collection of learning that is influenced by external forces, especially American. Thus, there is an exploration that Canadian teaching has a rich history of multiple cultures blending together. For learning, it states that Canada is close to the mainstream global learning curve (Tomkins, 1981). Thus, it l...

  In the article “Pedagogy of Hope” by Bourn, the main argument is that using hope to frame educational policies will address the current needs in education (2021). The article also argues that hope is a driving force for social change and to address societal needs (Bourn, 2021). In terms of the definitions, Bourn gives an outline of how to approach learning and teaching (2021). Learning involves students sharing, listening, understanding, and action (Bourn, 2021). Thus, learning could be defined as an experience of sharing, listening, understanding, and action when acquiring a new skill. For teaching, Bourn’s pedagogy proposal involves exploring, thinking, acting, and evaluating (2021). Thus teaching involves identifying a need that needs to be addressed, thinking of what steps are needed, which actions are needed to address this need, and evaluating what outcomes you want students to learn. For innovation, the article explores the need to address societal issues, especially those...

  What is innovation in learning and how can I apply to my classroom?  When thinking about innovation, the first things that come to mind are fancy glass rooms, high tech, niche topics to explore, and inventing new gadgets. Then, when I think about my classroom, I am struck with the confinements of the physical space and how it will not look like a fancy futuristic classroom. However, I feel my classroom could still have those aspects of an innovative classroom.  As a new teacher, I am still trying to figure out my teaching style. For the first few months of the school year, I realized that the assignments and lessons I was giving were very similar to how I was taught when I was in school. Upon recognizing this, I felt the intense need to re-evaluate my teaching practices. The world has changed since I was in school and my classroom should reflect a modern society and explore those issues that affect my students.  According to Forbes, author Shulman suggests teachers...