Eisner and the Three Curricula

1. Grades and Competitiveness

Following our discussion on grades and competitiveness, I through Eisner's lens I was able to better grasp why students become so competitive when it comes to grades. Clearly, as a part of the Implicit Curriculum, students need this gratification from their triomphs over their peers if teachers aren't able to give them it. Moreover, when students are so stressed from test-to-test they don't see the overall picture of their grade for the whole term and become comparative and competitive with their marks from test-to-test. I think this leads to a culture of students who are thriving continually thriving and students who perform below expectations have their performance drop off. This is clearly unhealthy and as a teacher, I need to be mindful of my Implicit Curriculum, grades, and competitiveness in my classroom.

2. Paradox of non-existent curriculum

When the subsection on the Null Curriculum was introduced, I through our last month in the UBC program, I have some understanding of this paradoxical curriculum. From the perspective of critical pedagogy, as educators we need to be aware of what we are excluding in our teaching and that impact is has on students.

Ways that this might expand our ideas about what is meant by 'curriculum'. How does the mandated BC Provincial Curriculum connect with Eisner's ideas?

Eisner's ideas about the curricula which fall outside of explicit curricula was very eye-opening. I had always thought that my curricula as a teacher was in-line with what the Provincial Curriculum entailed. My duties as a teacher in BC. However, from the perspective of critical pedagogy I need to also be mindful of the other curricula as a math educator. One thing I feel I can do is discuss math that is omitted in the curriculum as, in my opinion at least, this math is what is truly interesting and beautiful. Of course, the Provincial Curriculum introduces some beautiful ideas but I think students do need exposure to math outside of this set list. I do acknowledge that I have some bias towards this idea of exposure as I would have never pursued a career in mathematics if I wasn't exposed to "extracurricular" mathematics.