Academic Knowledge Construction and Multimodal Curriculum Development builds a conceptual and political foundation that supports multimodal practices in education. It frames practical conversations with philosophical and theoretical concerns regarding the use of digital technologies in educational processes. Knowledge is synonymous with information and that accessing information equals learning. This book challenges such thinking. Thinking and means of thinking and rethinking affect teachers and students, and influence curriculum. Education, knowledge and thus this book, involves lived experiences of learning. Innovations and change impact teachers, learners and curriculum. As educators increasingly incorporate newer technologies in the administration, planning and implementation of instructions, revision of curriculum is obvious. Newer applications sharp thinking, imagination, sensing, observation and implementation continuously, newer forms of information and knowledge are to germinate. Broadening and widening of created knowledge will likely, force to improve curriculum. Curriculum change is evident, in this scenario but what may be the effective and valuable curriculum, this is a very eminent question stationed before us. This book explores shifts in teaching and learning, in this enlightening age of information and knowledge. By examining pat-terns and practices of knowledge construction in elementary, secondary, college and university classrooms, the authors examine commonalities and differences in practices across educational levels, disciplines, and in-school and out-of-school settings. This text presents models, ideas, examples and theories to prod critical reflections leading to praxis that acknowledges local/global contexts, histories, cultures and conceptual frameworks. I hope this book will assist the learners to get concrete and absolute, information and knowledge, and will satisfy them to all their active and unsatisfied sites.

Written at a time of uncertainty about the implications of the English government's curriculum policies, Knowledge and the Future School engages with the debate between the government and large sections of the educational community. It provides a forward-looking framework for head teachers, their staff and those involved in training teachers to use when developing the curriculum of individual schools in the context of a national curriculum. While explaining recent ideas in the sociology of educational knowledge, the authors draw on Michael Young's earlier research with Johan Muller to distinguish three models of the curriculum in terms of their assumptions about knowledge, referred to in this book as Future 1, Future 2 and Future 3. They link Future 3 to the idea of 'powerful knowledge' for all pupils as a curriculum principle for any school, arguing that the question of knowledge is intimately linked to the issue of social justice and that access to 'powerful knowledge' is a necessary component of the education of all pupils. Knowledge and the Future School offers a new way of thinking about the problems that head teachers, their staff and curriculum designers face. In charting a course for schools that goes beyond current debates, it also provides a perspective that policy makers should not avoid.

What is understanding and how does it differ from knowledge? How can we determine the big ideas worth understanding? Why is understanding an important teaching goal, and how do we know when students have attained it? How can we create a rigorous and engaging curriculum that focuses on understanding and leads to improved student performance in today's high-stakes, standards-based environment? Authors Grant Wiggins and Jay McTighe answer these and many other questions in this second edition of Understanding by Design. Drawing on feedback from thousands of educators around the world who have used the UbD framework since its introduction in 1998, the authors have greatly revised and expanded their original work to guide educators across the K-16 spectrum in the design of curriculum, assessment, and instruction. With an improved UbD Template at its core, the book explains the rationale of backward design and explores in greater depth the meaning of such key ideas as essential questions and transfer tasks. Readers will learn why the familiar coverage- and activity-based approaches to curriculum design fall short, and how a focus on the six facets of understanding can enrich student learning. With an expanded array of practical strategies, tools, and examples from all subject areas, the book demonstrates how the research-based principles of Understanding by Design apply to district frameworks as well as to individual units of curriculum. Combining provocative ideas, thoughtful analysis, and tested approaches, this new edition of Understanding by Design offers teacher-designers a clear path to the creation of curriculum that ensures better learning and a more stimulating experience for students and teachers alike.

Understanding and Shaping Curriculum: What We Teach and Why introduces readers to curriculum as knowledge, curriculum as work, and curriculum as professional practice. Author Thomas W. Hewitt discusses curriculum from theoretical and practical perspectives to not only acquaint readers with the study of curriculum, but also help them to become effective curriculum practitioners. Key Features: Emphasizes the various dimensions of curriculum practice: Becoming a curriculum practitioner requires understanding academic-practice knowledge, the forces shaping curriculum, the array of curriculum work from policymaking to evaluation, and how those are integrated forming a sense of professional practice. This book examines curriculum knowledge that is both academic and practice based. Brings theoretical concepts to life: ′Perspective into Practice′ sections illustrate the relevance of the material to both elementary and secondary school settings and contexts. In addition, end-of-chapter resources provide ideas for further discussion and assignments that address different roles and the various dimensions of curriculum practice. Examines current issues: Part of being a good practitioner is understanding the inevitability of change and the necessity to keep current about issues and trends that affect both the knowledge and the work of curriculum. Separate chapters on issues and trends give students the opportunity to explore what is happening in today′s schools and curriculum. Intended Audience: This is an ideal text for masters and doctoral-level courses on Curriculum, Curriculum Development, and Curriculum Design.

How can elementary school teachers—the proverbial jacks-of-all-trades—feel more confident in their knowledge of science and teach science more effectively? The Essentials of Science, K-6 aims to unleash every elementary educator's inner science teacher. Through a plethora of classroom examples, interviews with award-winning elementary science teachers and science education experts, and a wide-ranging look at recent research examining the state of science education, readers will learn * How to align curriculum to state standards using such practices as backward design. * How to use inquiry-based science to infuse meaning into class investigations and teach students problem-solving skills. * Strategies for engaging students and keeping the curriculum fresh. * Ways to increase English language learners' participation in and understanding of science. * How to use formative assessment techniques to determine what students know both before and during lessons. * How professional development can orient teachers to new content and to a deeper way of seeing the natural world. With the right practices, science teachers can make their students' journey into learning about the natural world both productive and enjoyable.The Essentials of Science, K-6 provides practical information to help teachers reflect on their own approaches to teaching science and make the transition from apprehension to self-assurance.

"This book presents practical conversations with philosophical and theoretical concerns regarding the use of digital technologies in the educational process, challenging the assumption that information accessibility is synonymous with learning"--

A must-read for parents and teachers, this major bestseller reveals how cultural literacy is the hidden key to effective education and presents 5000 facts that every literate American should know. In this forceful manifesto Professor E. D. Hirsch, Jr., argues that children in the United States are being deprived of the basic knowledge that would enable them to function in contemporary society. They lack cultural literacy: a grasp of background information that writers and speakers assume their audience already has. Even if a student has a basic competence in the English language, he or she has little chance of entering the American mainstream without knowing what a silicon chip is, or when the Civil War was fought. An important work that has engendered a nationwide debate on our educational standards, Cultural Literacy is a required reading for anyone concerned with our future as a literate nation.