The Relevant Curriculum: allowing students to take ownership of their learning

The natural curiosity of children is undeniable. While my high school students might not ask the same "why?" questions as a small child, they maintain the desire to understand the world around them. We, as educators, do our students a disservice when we quell their curiosity by forcing them to sit through a disjointed, independent, and passive classes each day. We need to consider curriculum because it provides the framework for our daily instruction and interactions with our students.

A recurring theme in our current study is that we cannot teach our students from lists of required topics. Wiggins makes his point excruciatingly clear: it is impossible to teach our students every thing that they must know before they leave school. Rather than teaching through a list of topics, we need to allow our students to become owners of their own learning. They must be allowed to actively engage in learning by asking questions, discussing answers/solutions, and reconsidering the results.

Allowing students to form an "essential question" is a strategy that lends itself easily to the foreign language classroom at each level. In the introductory phases, students need to know how to talk about themselves, how to ask about others, etc. As they learn more, they want to know: How would I act in a restaurant? How would I ask for help? How would I help someone who is sick? In more advanced levels, students can ask questions about cultural understanding, literature, and the connections between the histories of Spanish-speaking countries and their own. The important factor in using an essential question is that it must be student driven. These must be questions that students genuinely have an interest in answering.

We do need to reconsider curriculum. In the past, my students have always enjoyed learning about the "exploration" of the Americas. I have observed that my students enjoy the discussion because they have previous knowledge of the explorers from World Civ. or US history. They enjoy the twist in perspective as we discuss the "conquistadores" from the viewpoint of the Mayan or Incan Indians because they are simply adding to previous learning. As I evaluate my teaching, I am determined to find other areas of connection with my students' other content areas so that my students discover the relevance of my curriculum as they look at the complex world around them from a new perspective.

First Post

Hola!
My name is Katie Whitton. I am a Spanish teacher in Boone County. This is currently my fourth year teaching Spanish at the high school level. My first three years were spent teaching in urban schools with students from a diverse socioeconomic background. It was challenging and rewarding every day. This year, I am teaching at Cooper High School where I am working with an entirely different kind of student. They have been energetic and upbeat and have helped make this transition a positive experience for me. My husband and I celebrated our very first anniversary on Monday. We are excited to be in this area near family, especially our neices and nephews! I am looking forward to gaining new ideas and insights about designing curriculum for my classroom. It has been fun to try out some new technology this week. I am hoping to bring some of these ideas into my classroom this year.