As a beginning teacher, I would compare the Integrated Resources Package (IRP) to a newly built house. Professionals have constructed the framework based on experience, research, accepted practice and theory, but until a teacher brings it to life with their personal touch, the input of the class, the community and the culture of the school, it is not yet a ‘home.’
“Regie Routman counsels us to think of curriculum more as a ‘dialogue’ than a ‘document.’" (Constructing Meaning p. 12) This analogy is helpful, as is the notion of looking into what ‘funds of knowledge’ you bring as a teacher, and what your students bring to your class. By identifying the specific areas of ‘expertise’ each person brings, the task of teaching language arts becomes less daunting, and lessons will likely become more relatable. In turn, this will hopefully allow students to have greater confidence in their abilities and more intrinsic motivation to practice language arts throughout their lives.
Thinking back to my elementary years, hundreds of hours were spent in the classroom, but only a few things stand out to me now – and for the most part, those are projects that integrated several subjects and skills and were student driven. The discussion on inquiry based learning in the IRP and the “KWL” (know, want to know, learned) cards created in class were useful as they outlined the teacher’s role in this approach. As an example, it states that “the foundation of inquiry is the asking of thoughtful questions. Teachers help students pose questions and design tasks for seeking answers to their questions. This builds literacy skills in action and simultaneously deepens a student’s thinking process and ability to find solutions.” (IRP p. 18) In an article from American Educational Research by Jacobs, Goldberg and Bennett, the hypothesis was that it was much more powerful to teach through art, rather than to teach art as a separate subject. The same principle appears true in language arts since its six main curriculum organizers are described as “inter-related and inter-dependent”(IRP p. 15) and fall at the heart of all curricular learning, thinking and day-to-day life.
The hindrance of the IRP comes with the fact that teachers are essentially working ‘backwards’ in starting from an idea for a lesson and then having to find the prescribed learning outcomes that fit, rather than using the IRP as a starting point. For example, a prescribed learning outcome (PLO) is to “ask questions to construct and clarify meaning.” The outcome itself doesn’t lend itself to an engaging lesson plan; it is much easier to start with an idea or resource. Clearly, a method of provincial standardization is necessary to ensure that students and teachers can have a baseline, but perhaps a little more specificity as far as content would be helpful for new teachers in order to align the intentions of the IRP with the product delivered in the classroom.
As we gain experience and become increasingly familiar with this document, I feel that we will begin to truly understand its highlights and pitfalls. At this point, it serves as good reference material and I enjoy the sections which give concrete examples, however the principles will not be fully solidified for me until I have some experience with a classroom audience, after which I will be able to relate and reflect more deeply on the content.
Who are Today’s English Language Arts Students ?
Today’s English Language Arts students are a reflection of their surrounding community. Diverse in culture, language and socioeconomic status their needs vary by gender, learning style, interests and previous experience. On a smaller scale, the IRP notes that “family is the primary educator in the development of students’ attitudes and values,” but perhaps the level of the family is still too broad of a classification. Students are individuals. They may not hold the same values and attitudes as their siblings, parents or grandparents, which is why the IRP makes several suggestions to this regard. Under the category of ‘Developing Oral Language’, examples are give such as “build[ing] a personal relationship with each student,” “interact[ing] regularly on a one-to-one basis with each student,” and “create[ing] a safe climate of respectful listening.” The personal nature of a one-on-one relationship allows for a different dynamic than the class group offers. Provided a teacher is willing to put in the time and effort to develop and nurture a one-to-one relationship (and demonstrates a caring and respectful attitude), who students are and what they need to prosper in the classroom environment will become apparent, despite differences in background, ethnicity etc.
How Do They Learn?
Being new to the field of education, articles such as Robert Probst and Ruth Shagourny’s “Tom Sawyer, Teaching and Talking” and “The Need to Write, The Need to Listen” aid in visualizing the different forms that language arts can take on and be learned in a meaningful way in the classroom. Using varied mediums to access the potential of ‘children-at-promise,’ is vital for engagement and the development of skills such as critical literacy, active listening and independent, quality dialogue.
As diversity continues to increase in the classroom, reverting to methods that are comfortable and familiar to us as teachers won’t necessarily maximize the learning potential for today’s technologically savvy students. We need to ask not only how they learn, but how we as teachers learn and adapt to an ever-changing field. How can we increase student comprehension, retention and motivation through our communication strategies and our methods of lesson delivery? Are we checking for understanding and reflecting upon our practice? Learning alongside our students must be embraced, and while theoretical models such as Cambourne’s Conditions for Literacy Learning may continue to be useful tools, in teaching language arts, finding ways to make content relevant and accessible to students may be more of a challenge.
The best advice seems to be simplest. Ask the class. Offer choices. Be open-minded. What do they want? How do they want to learn it? As Vygotsky’s social constructivist model points out, “children’s agency is significant and it will affect curriculum.”(Constructing Meaning, p. 6) An in depth analysis to discover learning methods in elementary children is probably not necessary, since the joy of young children is that they are quite often blatantly honest when asked a question. While you will need to be flexible and creative in implementing their suggestions, by using their suggestions, it will likely create a far more meaningful and literate classroom environment.
Sources
BC Integrated Resource Package, K-7 English Language Arts,
http://www.bced.gov.bc.ca/irp/pdfs/english_language_arts/2006ela_k7.pdf
Joyce Bainbridge, Rachel Heydon, Grace Malicky. Constructing Meaning: Balancing Elementary Language Arts. 4th Ed. 2009. Nelson Education.
Ruth Shagoury. The Need to Write, The Need to Listen. Lessons Learned.
Robert E. Probst. Tom Sawyer, Teaching and Talking.
Victoria R. Jacobs, Merryl R. Goldberg, Tom L. Bennett. Teaching Core Curriculum Content Through Arts. American Educational Research Annual Meeting. 1999. Montreal, Canada.
http://eric.ed.gov/PDFS/ED445984.pdf.
I completely agree with you about giving the class choices. I think this is so important for teachers to always consider. Not everybody learns the same way. They have different needs that need to met and by offering them choices, asking them questions and being open minded, just as you explained, we are creating a classroom environment that is comfortable, which is a strong motivator for children!
ReplyDeleteI think it's very true that we will not fully understand to benefits and drawbacks of the IRPs until we are teaching. That being said, it's so important to have a standardized document that everyone goes to in order to maintain consistency throughout the province. I also think that with time and practice, it will become increasingly easy to use PLOs as starting points for lesson plans.
ReplyDeleteI also agree that spending one-on-one time with students is very important. Looking back on my elementary school years, the teachers that did this and made an effort to establish a relationship with each student are the teachers that I remember.
Finally, asking questions and being open-minded are definitely important if you want your class to run smoothly and if you want your lessons to be meaningful and understood. I love how you mention that kids will be blatantly honest with you - this is so true!