K-12 Curriculum Framework.pdf

THE K-12 CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK The implementation of the K to 12 Curriculum of the Depar tment of Education paved the way for the enhancement of the Teacher Education Curriculum of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The salient features of the K to 12 Curriculum have been thoroughly consider...

THE K-12 CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK The implementation of the K to 12 Curriculum of the Depar tment of Education paved the way for the enhancement of the Teacher Education Curriculum of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED). The salient features of the K to 12 Curriculum have been thoroughly considered to ensure that all the courses in the teacher education program will meet the demands of the 21st centur y classrooms. One of the considerations is the need to implement the following salient features of the curriculum through integrating technologies for teaching and learning. The use of technologies is done in the different levels of learning and in teaching the various f ields of specialization. 1. Strengthening Early Childhood Education (Universal Kindergarten) W i th th e U n i ver s al K i n d er ga r te n p r og ram o f th e D e p a r tm en t, e ve r y Fi l i pin o ch ild i s e xp e cte d to h ave a cce s s to e a r l y ch i l dh o od e d u ca tion. Th i s a cce s s ca n b e f a ci lita ted u s i n g te ch n o log ical to o l s th a t a r e r e a d ily ava ila ble to th e s ch o o l f o r te a ch e r s ' u s e. Th e u s e o f te ch n o log y in K i n d er ga r te n b y va r i o us s ch o o l s i s ve r y e v i d en t i n te a ch in g th e k i n d e rg ar ten p u p i ls th e a l p h a be t, n u m b e r s , s h a p e s , a n d co l o r s th r o u g h g a m e s , s o n g s , a n d d a nce s i n the i r M othe r Tong ue. Research shows that learners will value a curriculum that is relevant to their lives. Students are of ten heard saying, "Do I need to know these to live a meaningful life?" "How will I use this lesson in the actual workplace?" "What is the relevance of this to me?" and so on. The answer to the question of relevance is vital to help the teachers think of some ways by which they will be able to let their students realize that their daily lessons are of good use to their personal well-being and to their professional preparation. Sara Bernard (2010) stressed that students need to have a personal connection to a lesson material that can be done through engaging them emotionally or through connecting the information with that which they already know. This she calls "Give It Context, and Make it Count. 2. Making the Curriculum Relevant to Learners (Contextualization and Enhancement) Briggs (2014) shared some few tips for making learning engaging and personally relevant as cited by Willis, Faeth, and Immordino -Yang: Use suspense and keep it fresh – Drop hints about a new learning unit before you reveal what it might be, leave gaping pauses in your speech, change seating arrangements, and put up new and relevant posters or displays; all these can activate emotional signals and keep student interest piqued.  Make it student-directed – Give students a choice of assignments on a, particular topic, or ask them to design one of their own. "When students are involved in designing the lesson, they better understand the goal of the lesson and become more emotionally invested in and attached to the learning outcomes."  Connect it to their lives and to what they already know - Taking the time to brainstorm about what students already know and would like to learn about a topic helps them to create goals. This also helps teachers see the best points of departure for new ideas. Making cross-curricular connections also helps solidify those neural loops.  Provide utility value - Utility value provides relevance first by piquing students and by telling them the content is important to their future goals; it then continues by showing or explaining how the content fits into their plans for the future. This helps students realize the content is not just interesting but also worth knowing.  Build relatedness – Relatedness, on the other hand, answers the question, “what have these to do with me?” It is an inherent need students to feel close to the significant people in their lives, including teachers. Relatedness is seen by many as having non-academic and academic sides. To be able to apply the tips recommended by various experts and to allow students to realize the value of their curriculum, technological tools can be used. 21 st Century learners are expected to be demonstrating 21 st Century competencies such as collaboration, digital literacy, critical thinking, and problem solving to be able to thrive in this world (Rich, 2014). Contextualizing the curriculum of the students for meaningful learning poses challenges in enhancing teachers' pedagogical skills as well as technological skills.  To be able to promote the child's dominant language and to use it as a language of instruction, maximum use of technological tools is highly encouraged. Currently, a lot of teachers and schools are into 3. Building developing learning materials to be able to implement Proficiency the MTB- MLE program properly especially that there is a dearth of printed and e-materials in the mother (Mother- tongue of the students. Mother Tongue is used in tongue Based instruction and learning materials of other learning areas. The learners retain their ethnic identity, Multilingual culture, heritage and values. Children learn better and are more active in class and learn a second language Education) even faster when they are first taught in a language they understand. 4. Ensuring Integrated and Seamless Learning (Spiral Progression) Learning basic concepts that lead to a more complex and sophisticated version of the general concepts entail TPACK: Technological knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and content knowledge. Rediscovering concepts previously presented as students go up in grade level will be fully supported if all the areas of specialization will be aided by technologies for teaching and learning. This will further strengthen retention and will enhance mastery of topics and skills as they are revisited and consolidated time and again. This also allows learners to learn topics and skills appropriate to their developmental and cognitive skills. 5. Gearing Up for the Future The K to 12 Curriculum ensures college readiness by aligning the core and applied courses to the College Readiness Standards (CRS) and the new General Education (GE) Curriculum. Hence, the K to 12 Curriculum focused on developing appropriate Specialization Subjects for the Academic, Sports, Arts and Design, and Technical Vocational Livelihood Tracks. All of these specialization subjects have to be supported by educational technology for better learning.  6. Nurturing the Holistically Developed Filipino (College and Livelihood Readiness, 21st Century Skills) To nurture holistically developed Filipino, every K to 12 graduate is expected to be ready to go into different paths higher education, employment, or entrepreneurship. Every graduate is expected to be equipped with information, media and technology skills, learning and innovation skills, effective communication skills, and life and career skills. This may happen with the proper implementation of the curriculum and with the facilitation by excellent teachers. For teachers to maintain excellent performance, they need full support, one of which is technological support. ACTIVITY!!! STEP 1: Recalling ICT-integrated Activities Experienced STEP 2: SHARING OF THE ICT-PEDAGOGY EXPERIENCES STEP 3: REPORTING! THANK YOU Brita Tamm 502-555-0152 [email protected] www.firstupconsultants.com