Reflection Week 3

Week 3

Topic 2: The Roles of Curriculum Worker

Through this topic, it will be discussed about curriculum workers, curriculum practitioners, classroom teacher, curriculum evaluates, curriculum advocates, curriculum developer and curriculum theorists. 

1. Curriculum Workers

People who work on curriculum engage in many different types of endeavors. Curriculum workers had the first time approach that appeared both comprehensive and workable. They are advised to concentrate on student behaviors in devising objectives for a unit to emphasize appropriate learning experiences rather than simply identifying content to be covered.

• Curriculum practitioners use curricula within the instructional arena and super- vise its use in schools.

• Classroom teachers who plan instruction using social studies textbooks, implement a reading program, or derive a science program from curriculum ideas offered on a Web site are curriculum practitioners. 

• School administrators who make curriculum adjustments to meet state or national curriculum standards, implement team teaching, encourage teachers to utilize a particular instructional methodology, or insist on the use of a particular textbook series are also curriculum practitioners. 

• Curriculum disseminators make known to curriculum practitioners the existence of curricula and the proper methods of using them. A curriculum disseminator might be a textbook salesperson, a school district subject matter specialist, a college professor offering a methods course, or a workshop leader for a publishing company or professional organization.

2. Curriculum Advocates

• Curriculum advocates are educators and members of the general public who are concerned about and attempt to influence what is taught in schools and how it is taught. 

• A curriculum advocate might be a parent attempting to influence the curriculum decisions of his child’s school, a citizen trying to influence the curriculum decisions of the state department of education, or a politician (perhaps a president, governor, or legislator) attempting to implement her curriculum ideas through the political process.

3. Curriculum Developer

• Curriculum developers intentionally create curriculum materials and strategies for others to use in the instructional arena. The important ideas here are “for others to use” and “instructional.

• Curriculum developers can be textbook writers, teachers who work on school curriculum committees, curriculum specialists who work for private educational organizations, or concerned citizens who design instructional materials for homeschooling.

4. Curriculum Theorists

• Curriculum theorists examine the philosophical and ideological underpinnings of existing curricula;

• study how curricula are used, disseminated, created, and evaluated; study the endeavors and intents of other curriculum workers;

• speculate on what curricula should accomplish; probe the “whys” of their own examinations; and

• write books such as this one, all for the purpose of contributing to the general body of knowledge about effective curriculum practice, dissemination, advocacy, development, and evaluation.