ECS 210
School Curriculum and Treaty Education7/23/2020 In the reading "Curriculum policy and the politics of what should be learned in school" by Ben Levin; he discusses different ideas about how school curricula is implemented and developed. Curriculum is defined as the "official statement of what students are expected to know and be able to do (Levin, 2007)". Public policy govern every aspect of education- what schooling is provided, how, to whom, in what form, by whom, with what resources.
The article discusses the input that goes into planning the curriculum and which parts are implemented. The planning can be by many different individuals or groups, educational governance usually involves some combination of national, local, and school participation. The final authority over the curriculum usually is voiced by the national or sub national governments. One thing I had learned, was that schools have their own authorities over curriculum. Such as in High school each school has their own say over the electives or optional classes they choose to implement. When planning curriculum public attention is not a factor or has little impact on the curriculum; and even though teachers have degrees in teaching that doesn't mean they have a voice in the planning of the curriculum either. In policy and curriculum planning it is all about power; "those who have the least status tend to have the least influence on political decision making (Levin,2007)". I feel like teachers should have a say on political decision making because they are with the students and know the students better than higher status individuals in the school system. In the article Treaty Education Outcomes and Indicators it gives an insight into how Treaty Education is implemented into the Saskatchewan curriculum. One thing I noticed before even reading the article was that it was last updated in 2013, which was seven years ago. So many important First Nation events have happened, with more information coming out and being discovered each year. I think this document should be updated at least every couple years. "The Ministry of Education respects the federal government’s legal, constitutional, and fiscal obligations to First Nations peoples and its primary responsibility for Métis people. As well, the Ministry of Education is committed to providing the appropriate supports and programs that reflect and affirm the unique status of First Nations and Métis peoples"; in this statement we begin to understand how the government is trying to implement First Nation culture heritage into the Saskatchewan school system. I don't know if I am right with saying this but I think that having a separate document for First Nation indicators outcomes further separate them from us. We are all on the same land and we are all treaty people so why are we still separating our education. I think it is important for every school to learn about Treaty Education in Saskatchewan. When the implementation of the Treaty outcome and indicators happened in 2007, I believe there would have been a ton of push back from parents and citizens in Saskatchewan. Even today there is probably some individuals who don't agree with students learning about Treaty Education. There is nothing that someone doesn't have an issue with though. Even though, some people had push back I still believe it is important for students to learn about Treaty Education, and the history/ culture of First Nation people.
1 Comment
Anastasia
8/3/2020 03:02:19 pm
Meagan,
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