Ch 6 Reaction

Ling 611-Ch. 6 Course Planning/Syllabus Design

This chapter was painful to read. It was very dry reading material. I didn’t understand why I was being forced to read it unless I was planning to create my own language development model or syllabus for some curriculum development company or if I had to evaluate the language program that is being used at our site. I did not see any relevance or “aha” moment in this chapter. I guess if I worked at the district office, this would be more meaningful to me. I kept asking myself during the reading, why is this important? How does this relate to my research? How does this impact the way that I think about my own teaching? The only thing that came to mind was that we had to read this chapter because you are wanting us to look at the programs we are using and to possibly determine the scope and sequence that is used and question if it is the right approach according to research.

Ch 5 Response/reaction

Ch. 5-Planning goals and leaning outcomes

So far, I have found this chapter to be the most revlevant to my research because it explores the different ideologies behind various curriculum. I didn’t realize that each of these ideologies can actually be categorized. As I read each one, I began to wonder where ME School curriculum fits. I definitely see the learner-centeredness approach being the one that matches the closest to where our language curriculum fits where prior knowledge and growth through experience is essential for learning. I also see the social and economic efficiency being another strong component of our program with the way that the phases are set up with skills and objectives, with the school being a factory that produces students with specific skills with an emphasis on the teaching of English because that is what is expected from the society in which we live. I wished that our model leaned more towards social reconstructionism and cultural pluralism, now that I can actually understand what they mean after being in this program. I think our schools do a poor job in empowering our students to realize the social injustices that relate to class, race, or gender so that they can be filled with hope to make positive change in their lives, schools, and communities. I think that is why we are in this program. Each one of us are becoming “criticalists’ (Richards, 118) with each class that we take. We are all coming to recognize the various forms of control that have been forced and placed upon us through the government and its poor track record in assimilating our culture through education, Indian Education laws, and policies that have undermined our people and culture. I believe that the goal of our district should be one that empowers the philosophy of cultural pluralism where a Yupik speaking child is valued and looked more fondly upon instead of something that may be holding them back from speaking/ reading English more fluently. Too often I feel that the dominant language of English is considered superior to our Yup’ik language here in Bethel, and it really frustrates me because that is what society and the federal government wants all of us minorities to believe.

Week 4-Situation analysis

On page 96, I agreed with the comment that “ a person who is a good teacher may not make a good materials developer or project leader”. I have worked on many committees where experienced respectable teachers are put in charge, but they do not know the dynamics of running a functional and positive working situation because they get caught up in the trivial details of strong personalities that lead into power battles. As a result, the working group does not accomplish the assigned task, and people walk away feeling frustrated and defeated.
In regards to institutional factors, I could relate to the “culture” that is created in each school and how that culture affects the dynamics of change inside a school setting. I felt like the second paragraph described the two different schools here in Bethel: Kilbuck School and ME School. Ours, of course being the favorable environment and Kilbuck being the other. I was a miserable teacher at Kilbuck because of the negative culture of the school and the isolation that I felt because of the school politics and lack of cohesiveness amongst staff members. Since I moved to ME, I feel very fortunate to work in a school that is open, supportive, and collaborative, and always seeking ways to improve our curriculum and planning.

Blog #2-Needs analysis

BLOG #2-Needs Analysis

When discussing needs analysis, the author says that a need is reflective of the interests and values of the stakeholders…and that the language needs are often those described as the skills that are needed to live in an English dominant society. The author Auerbach also points out that English language teaching is considered to be a transfer of skills that are created by the needs of social institutions, rather than the actual language learners, and often ignores the questions of power. (p. 54-55) I think Auerbach is on the right track in his comment and beliefs. It is the institutions that are creating the curriculum guidelines and ideology that formulates the standards that we are faced with in our schools that we have to deal with as teachers. It gets more upsetting to me as I take more of these classes, how the questions of power are often ignored and yet they are the reason why so many languages are now on their way to being lost. The federal government and the policy makers are often making decisions based on the needs of a particular political agenda that most people don’t even realize.

I think I am officially a blogger!

I am presently testing my blog...
testing..
testing..
testing...
okay. I hope I can do this tomorrow..when I really need to say something important.