How Can We Connect Middle Schoolers To The World
Middle school is one of the most crucial parts of the education system for children as it is the point of their lives where most students gain different interests in life. Children relate most to the experiences they have in their daily lives and the environment they are surrounded with (K Klimek, 2021). It’s each student's environment that shapes who they are; for instance, children from families where most family members are sports fans are most likely to be sports fans. This is why it is crucial to students are provided with the appropriate guidance from their teachers and parents and even work through dialogic discussion. Whenever a student has goals, it is the role of the middle school teachers to help support them through the process and champion their focus while pinpointing their need to achieve the desired results.
How can the current curriculum impact students?
A curriculum can either pique student interest because its content is closely tied to a student's lived experiences to which students can relate to or a self-study is always an option. When schools are selecting a new curriculum many factors are taken into consideration. For example, We had a transient population- we heavily relied on a spiral curriculum. In this type of curriculum, the content will always spiral back around for students who were not there thus concepts and content would always come back around. Here are the several types of curriculum schools choose from when searching for the right fit that makes sense with their population. The types of Curriculum are:
Subject/Teacher-Centered Design- All knowledge is transferred to students through the subjects
Learner-Centered Design- There is a link between courses and children's psychology, many times it’s according to the interest of the children
Activity-Based Curriculum- anything students do in the classroom in which they react to the material
Integrated Curriculum- a non-compartmentalized approach as opposed to teaching separate subject
Core Curriculum- Mandatory and all students are made to go through the required materials
Spiral Curriculum- A curriculum as it develops revisits basic ideas repeatedly building upon them each time.
Societal- massive, ongoing, informal curriculum of family, peer group, or organizations.
Overt-written directions are formally designated and reviewed by administrators curriculum directions, adn teachers.
Hidden- messages communicated by the organization and public statements of mission and subject area guidelines.
Phantom - the messages are through exposure to any type of media.
Within each curriculum are these ten components:
Content
Assessment
Introduction or closure
Teaching Strategies
Learning Activities
Grouping of students and Pacing
Products
Resources
Extension Activities
Diversity component
When it comes to the curriculum; students and even teachers themselves develop their interests, mindsets, and thinking around a specific curriculum that their lives. The books within each unit will help them develop their thinking and draw their decisions. Thus, the correct curriculum and the correct guidance in life will result in the development of children's mindsets, thus affecting how they will view and deal with matters in the real world (J Sullanmaa, 2021).
The Appropriate Support Network
The role of the teachers is mainly supposed to help the students and the middle school children to link the past and present experiences of the teachers so that they can be well prepared for the future when they are in the outside world. A sound support system and a good school curriculum are crucial to model the children's character and behavior. In different cities in the US, the probability of a child growing into a responsible young person is entirely dependent on the environment (the people they spend the most time with outside school), the guidance/growth, and the focus paid to them at school, and the experiences they go through in life. I think the missing part of any curriculum in most public schools is participation (the doing). The participation part of the children is essential as it is what makes the children able to transform gained knowledge and ideas into their understanding in their daily lives (Wenger, 2021).
Small changes in Middle Schools can help tremendously. What is your school doing to change current practices? Post below.
References
J Sullanmaa, K. P. (2021). Relationships between change management, knowledge sharing, curriculum coherence and school impact in national curriculum reform: a longitudinal approach. International Journal of Leadership in Education.
K Klimek, P. T.-S. (2021). Global Medieval Contexts 500–1500: Connections and Comparisons.
Wenger, G. (2021). The Supportive Network.