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Dr. Hlynka's Courses

Calendar Description

An examination of the theory and practice of the design, development, implementation and evaluation of curricula for K-12 and adult/post-secondary levels. Prerequisite: 132.755 Historical and Contemporary Approaches to Curriculum, or written consent of instructor.

Course Objectives

By the conclusion of this course you should

1. Be able to define, design, evaluate then deconstruct a curriculum.
2. Be cognizant of contemporary trends in curriculum design.
3. Be able to identify and describe the work of contemporary theorists in curriculum design
4. Be able to explain curriculum as political text, semiotic text, racial / gender text, poststructural / postmodern / deconstructed text, and aesthetic text
5. You should be able to define key terms and names in curriculum theory and practice.
6. Be able to identify problems for curriculum research
7. Be able to describe and analyze a curriculum plan based on the theoretic literature.

Course Philosophy

A curriculum map… that is, a listing, mapping and/or explication of objectives, goals, statements of philosophy, scope and sequence, benchmarks, instructional content, evaluation methods… is all necessary, but at the same time limiting. There are many practical models of curriculum development. There are also many different orientations to curriculum, which means that different orientations are reflected in different models. By choosing a model, you automatically also choose an orientation and a philosophy.

A curriculum is an embodiment of the very problem that we face with the notion "reality." The problem or question is, which reality? In a curriculum, is it the depicted reality, or the reality of the curriculum plane (document), or the multidimensional reality the teacher and learner exist in? That all three are involved, points to the fact that curricula are inherently problematic. This problem is not one that can or ought to be eradicated by technical curriculum design models which are inherently reductionist or purist solutions. We know that to successfully achieve the real is to destroy the curriculum, but there is more to be achieved by using it than through its destruction.

Comment

The course description and title both clearly need a certain amount of "unpacking". It is an easy assumption to make that this might be a "hands-on" course focusing on the pragmatics of developing a curriculum. Therefore, it needs to be made clear at the outset that such is not the focus. The critical first word in both the title and description is theory. Theory can deal with design, development, implementation and/or evaluation. But theory is more than a mere framework to identify "how to" do these things. Theory, in this case, means the set of ideas and principles on which the practice of curriculum is based. The original derivation of the word theory is from theoria, "contemplation". This course, then, is a critical contemplation of those basic principles on which the practice of curriculum might be based. In addition, however, the course must deal with the "practice" of designing, developing, implementing and evaluating. These are the kinds of questions dealt with by curriculum committees and curriculum leaders, and are higher level questions that must be informed by theory. To articulate a curriculum vision for the 21st century within prescribed limitations of division, province or country is no easy task.