The Impact of a Curriculum Leader:

Ideas from Dr. Ross Todd and from Dr. Jon Wiles’ Leading Curriculum Development

Erika HartEDTH 838

Dr. Ross Todd is an educator and an expert in how students

seek and use information.

Dr. Jon Wiles is an educator, author, and international curriculum consultant.

What is technology literacy?

Using technology (computers, software, the Internet, etc.) to locate, analyze, and create information in order to communicate effectively and solve problems.

How does it affect education today?

Students need to have the 21st century skills required to be productive members of their global, digital society.

Educators need to provide complex learning experiences that will equip students to thrive in their futures.

Curriculum leaders must help establish achievable goals aimed at improving the school’s learning environment which will allow students and educators to be successful.

Dr. Todd says, “Multiple literacies, including digital, visual, and technological

literacy, are critical to surviving in a fast-paced,

high tech world. More than ever

before, in the increasing complexity of the

information landscape, . . .

today’s learners need systematic and explicit help in developing these literacies to make sense of the store of information, disinformation, and misinformation they encounter every day. ”

http://www.nmm.net/storage/resources/The_Importance_ of_School_Libraries.pdf

21st-Century Education:

In order for a curriculum leader to be successful, she must . . .

• Articulate a vision of where the school will be when improvements are made,

• Create the path that promotes 21st-century learning experiences that leads to student achievement,

• Show how staff, parents, and the community play a necessary role in accomplishing the vision,

• And show specific progress along the way as the school brings to life the vision.

Stating the Vision

• Dr. Wiles believes the school philosophy must be a “…living document, guiding daily decisions. The program is a tool for achieving desired educational ends” (59).

• The curriculum leader will help everyone see the curriculum as a creative plan in which the diversified learning experiences lead to greater student achievement.

Mapping the Curriculum . . .

• Leads to analyzing where weaknesses are in the curriculum in order to look at priorities and adjust teaching methods,

• Leads to curriculum alignment, especially in grades 5 though 9,

• Leads to a K-12 plan of coordinated 21st century learning experiences,

• And allows school to meet their goals for high student achievement.

Establishing Goals

Goals should organize the underlying principles for educating and should be focused on what students will be able to do based on learning experiences.

What are the needs of our students?

What do we desire of them, and how will this be done?

Standards . . .

• Should be presented as minimum requirements as students work toward mastery of the curricular information,

• Need to be integrated and not considered separately.• Should be included at each grade level in the curriculum,• Should provide experiences for hands-on learning and

problem-based inquiry,• Should allow for independent learning as well as team

collaboration, • And should be used to provide opportunities to show

students knowledge and creativity.

The curriculum leader must obtain feedback from the teachers on curriculum mapping to account for what is being taught and when.

Clarifying the Steps

• Follow a flow chart that maps out steps in improving the curriculum: the input, the process, and the output.

• Identify methods currently being used in everyday teaching and learning experiences.

• Enpower a small group of lead teachers to guide staff through curriculum mapping.

What Dr. Todd believes is important is . . .• Knowledge construction and human

understanding, implemented through a constructivist inquiry-based framework

• Actions and evidences that show that it makes a

difference to

students

www.slav.schools.net.au/downloads/08pastpapers/.../slaks.ppt

Using Feedback

• The curriculum leader must keep interested parties informed of all progress.

• Periodic reports should show what has happened and why.

• Use graphs and numbers to help communicate the specific results.

• Project patterns from these results.• Re-assess areas to be improved as needed.

Dr. Todd Confronts the Status Quo:

“The challenges of the 21st century cannot be met behind the closed doors of classrooms.

Instead, these challenges call for a collaborative effort to bring information

and technology to the expertise of the classroom teacher.”

http://www.nmm.net/storage/resources/The_Importance_of_School_Libraries.pdf

Achievement of the Vision

• Outcomes of learning are attained.• Evidence of achievement is observable.• Improvements in teaching methods

have been made.• Collaboration has brought unity and

ownership, and because of our efforts we can say, . . . .

In our school, students have opportunities

to demonstrate their capabilities and to explore the possibilities

of their world.

Opportunities

Capabilities

Possibilities

“…..inquiry, thinking, imagination, discovery, and creativity are central to students’ information-to-knowledge journey, and to their personal, social and cultural growth.” –

Ross Todd

http://www.nmm.net/storage/resources/The_Importance_of_School_Libraries.pdf

One looks back with appreciation to the brilliant teachers,

but with gratitude to those who touched our human feelings. 

The curriculum is so much necessary raw material,

but warmth is the vital element for the growing plant

and for the soul of the child.  - Carl Jung

Educators provide that human touch.

Images by Flickr Creative Commons:

Student ipad 013 by flickingerbradECU School of Education Class Room by phi1317Student_ipad_school - 122 by flickingerbradTechnology is a Given by Scott McCleodI was promised flying school by See CantrillStudent by CollegeDegrees360The Future of Books by Johan LarssonAspiring scientists explore their futures at career fair by RDECOMDell Technology Camp 2013 by Dell’s Official Flickr PageMoodboards by VFS Digial DesignHaving a Ball by NazarethCollege