A curriculum ideology to match my philosophy of education
A few weeks ago, I wrote a paper stating my philosophy of education. My thesis statement went like this — "Education that is significant to life nurtures integrated human beings and not success-seeking ones".
As I wrapped up the study of curriculum theories over the last 4 weeks I began to wonder what curriculum theory would match the philosophy I have stated. At the heart of my philosophy is the need for education to bring forth the inner wisdom and goodness of children and to do this by respecting and nurturing the inner curiosity of the child. Based on even just this succinctly stated core, it is obvious that my philosophy is closely aligned with the Learner Centered ideology of curriculum. However, I cannot say that my philosophy fits squarely and completely with the ideology. It departs in some significant ways.
In the Learner Centered ideology, the child is considered to be born good and the goal of education is the nurture and stimulate learning and growing in children, teachers and all others involved. Children are not guided by externally imposed goals and the acquisition of externally defined objective knowledge is not considered essential or valuable. Instead children are seen as meaning-makers who construct their own knowledge of the world through experiences. Community and hands-on experiences that are connected to living are considered important and learning is fostered in a community environment. Social interactions with people of all ages and choices are considered critical. Evaluations are frowned upon and when conducted are for the benefit of the child. Thus, it is often seen that children assess themselves. Teachers are considered to be colleagues and observers of student learning rather than being authorities to be listened to.
My philosophy aligns well with all the above stated aspects of the Learner Centered ideology. It begins to depart with the emphasis on self-awareness based spirituality. The implementation of Learner Centered ideology can sometimes lead to environments where children are free to make whatever choices they want, whether or not those choices are completely sensitive towards themselves and people around them. Obviously crass and careless choices are monitored but subtly variant choices that may not be unhealthy are not inspected that closely. With the emphasis on self-awareness I consider it critical for children to always be engaged in the process of experiencing and knowing who they are. I don't imagine for this to happen in a structured and pedantic manner but instead being fostered in how difficult situations are handled and in how the adults around the children model such self-awareness oriented learning. I believe that the core emphasis on self-awareness then leads to children understanding their connection with the world around them and their place and role in the world.
I also depart in the goals of education. While the core goal of stimulating and nurturing learning is key, I think it needs to also include the influence of understanding and learning about the world and our connection to all that is around us. In this way my philosophy is in some ways connected to the Social Reconstruction curriculum ideology which aims to bring about social change. I don't believe in directly educating children into being social change agents however I do believe that understanding our connection to the world will eventually lead children to bringing about essential and sensitive change in society.
Finally, I depart in one more significant way. Leaner Centered education is sometimes focused on honoring children and their uniqueness to the point of them feeling special. I do believe in accepting every child for who she is however I don't believe that this acceptance needs to be value-laden. When the acceptance is accompanied with the value of making the child feel special, it is possible to miss seeing the child and get more focused on making them feel special. Making children feel special can lead to false ego boosting which I oppose. Plain acceptance of what is in the child naturally need not be value laden and need not lead to ego boosting.
In summary, I have learnt that the curriculum ideology that aligns itself most closely with my philosophy is the Learner Centered ideology with a few significant departures and some minor inclinations towards the Social Reconstructionist ideology.