03. Curriculum Innovation
Paper
Curriculum and Pedagogy - Two Sides of the Same Coin?
Daniel Muijs
Queen's University Belfas, United Kingdom
Presenting Author: Muijs, Daniel
The topic of pedagogy has long been a contested one in education. While there is a level of agreement in terms of the importance of factors such as feedback and interaction, there are nevertheless fundamental disagreements between proponents of more constructivist and discovery-oriented approaches and those that lean on direct instruction and teacher-led approaches (Taber, 2011 ; Hirsch, 2016). In recent decades, there has also been increased dissonance around curriculum, with a skills- and competencies-based approach increasingly contrasted with knowledge-rich curricula (Guile, Lambert & Reiss, 2018). The two debates are often linked, in that a knowledge-rich curriculum is often seen as best delivered through direct instruction, while competency and skills-based curricula are associated with more constructivist approaches to pedagogy (see e.g. Hirsh's advocacy of direct instruction).
An ongoing question, however, is to what extent these perceived differences actually translate into differential practice in the classroom. In this study we make use of a ‘natural experiment’ to compare two jurisdictions that are culturally relatively similar, but have taken a radically different approach to curriculum over the past decade, England and Northern Ireland, with the former transitioning to a strongly knowledge-based curriculum since 2010, while the latter has since 2007 followed a strongly skills- and competency-based approach. The relative cultural similarity between these two English-speaking jurisdictions, which are both part of the UK, allows us to overcome some of the issues present when doing international comparisons.
In this study we use data from PIRLS 2021 to compare the two education systems.
Theoretically we draw from a number of frameworks. Firstly, we draw on the distinction between the intended and enacted curriculum (Pak et al, 2020). This relates to the question to what extent we can expect national curriculum frameworks to actually be present in schools and classrooms. The second theoretical lens we will be employing is that of complexity theory in public policy, which will shine a light on the complexity of policy enactment, especially in multi-layered systems such as education (Cairney, 2012).
To look at the relationship between curriculum and pedagogy we will ask the following questions:
1. To what extent do official and espoused pedagogies and curriculum differ between England and Northern Ireland?
2. To what extent do enacted curriculum and pedagogy accord with official curriculum in England and Northern Ireland, and to what extent do they vary within country?
3. To what extent do enacted curriculum and pedagogy differ between England and Northern Ireland?
4. What is the relationship between curriculum, pedagogy, and student attainment?
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedTo answer research question 1 we will conduct a policy study, analysing official documents from England and Northern Ireland, such as curriculum documents, government policy papers, and guidance documents related to curriculum and pedagogy produced by education ministries or related bodies such as the Education and Testing Inspectorate in Northern Ireland or Ofsted in England
To study research questions 2-4 we will use the PIRLS 2021 dataset. The PIRLS study provides us with a range of useful data, as in addition to the tests, the study utilised a curriculum questionnaire, comparing aspects of the curriculum in each country. PIRLS also contains a range of relevant scales and items in its surveys. The teacher survey contains a range of items and scales relating to pedagogy, both specifically in relation to reading (which of course has been a major area of pedagogical contention) and in relation to general pedagogy, as well as items relating to curriculum knowledge and implementation, as does the school questionnaire. The student questionnaire provides useful data on student views on teaching in their school.
To analyse the data, items relating to pedagogy will first be theoretically assigned to the different pedagogical approaches. Confirmatory Factor Analysis will be used to test whether the data fit this structure, in itself a measure of the validity of the dualistic framework that often characterises educational debate. Multilevel regression models will be used to model relationships between pedagogy, curriculum and attainment, controlling for pupil and school characteristics.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe policy study, which has been completed, shows clear differences in curricular intent between England and Northern Ireland. The NI curriculum is based on a framework employing 6 cross-currricular areas of learning. According to the curriculum “teachers should, where appropriate, integrate learning across the six areas to make relevant connections for children” (CCEA, 2007, p.4). The English national curriculum for primary, by contrast, is organised around 11 separate subjects, and stresses the knowledge to be learnt in each subject in each year through separate programmes of study for each subject. The English curriculum in England puts a strong emphasis on phonics, while the ‘Language and Literacy’ strand of the Northern Irish curriculum tends to see this as one element of a broader approach. Similar differences can be seen in the approaches of the school inspectorates, with the English inspection framework having a strong focus on subject curriculum (through subject ‘deep dives’), while the focus in Northern Irish inspections is much more strongly on generic pedagogical strategies such as differentiation.
The quantitative data analysis has not yet been completed, but will be presented in full at the conference.
ReferencesCairney, P. (2012). Complexity Theory in Political Science and Public Policy. Political Studies Review, 10(3), 346-358. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1478-9302.2012.00270.x
Guile, D., Lambert, D. & Reiss, M. (2018). Sociology, Curriculum Studies and Professional KnowledgeNew Perspectives on the Work of Michael Young. Abingdon: Routledge
Hirsch, E. D. (2016). Why knowledge matters: Rescuing our children from failed educational theories. Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard Education Press.
Pak, K., Polikoff, M. S., Desimone, L. M., & Saldívar García, E. (2020). The Adaptive Challenges of Curriculum Implementation: Insights for Educational Leaders Driving Standards-Based Reform. AERA Open, 6(2). https://doi.org/10.1177/2332858420932828
Taber, K. S. (2011). Constructivism as Educational Theory. In: Hassakah, J. (Ed.). Educational Theory. Pp. 39-61. New York: Nova Science Publishers
03. Curriculum Innovation
Paper
‘We Are Not Aiming to Cultivate artists’：Art Curriculum Textbooks Discourse and Teachers’ Interpretation in China’s Secondary Schools
Ruini Huang1, Shuiyun Liu2, Wenyu Song2, Kris Rutten1
1Ghent University, Belgium; 2Bejng Normal Univesity, China
Presenting Author: Huang, Ruini
Aligned with the reorientation of the arts and culture in the educational field in the EU and the US(Commission, 2019; Heilig, Cole, & Aguilar, 2010), China’s government has been working on enhancing schools' arts and aesthetic education in recent decades. On 20 December 2023, China's Ministry of Education issued a new educational policy titled ‘Notice on Comprehensive Implementation of School Arts Education Immersion Initiatives’(2023). This policy serves as a further amendment since a series of state-level policy came out in the last decade related to school arts education(2015; 2020; 2014). As stated in this policy, arts education is supposed to foster a mentally and physically wholesome personality in students and to involve arts immersion among students, teachers, and schools(2023). These aspects, to some extent, reflect the ambition of the government to emphasize arts education in school settings. However, there exists a tension between the expectation and the reality as the current reality of arts education remains problematic (e.g., ) in schools(Sun & Fan, 2018; Yu, 2016). There are some studies about policy and practice(Wang & Zhao, 2022; Xu, 2018), especially none of the previous literature examined the gap and the transition process between the policy and its implementations or, in other words, the reality in China’s school practice.
Apart from the ideal concepts and guidelines present in the policy, we consider the artistic textbooks and the national standards as important perspectives to understand and investigate the aims and the practice of school arts education in China. They are official and ‘persuasive texts’, representing a series of dominant knowledge(s) and governmental expectations(Wang, 2019). More importantly, they are directly received by the diverse participants in schools, arguably act as the ‘bridge’ between the institutional assumptions and the practice(Issitt, 2004). In this case, we formed research question: ‘What functions are reflected(framed) in artistic textbooks, and how are they perceived and interpreted by teachers?’ .
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedIn this study, we adopt the critical discourse analysis, specifically, the Discourse-Historical Approach (DHA). The content of textbooks is neither static nor value-neutral, it is intertwined with contextual knowledge(s) and with specific educational, political and cultural purposes(Jackson et al., 2023; Wang, 2019) in the other words, textbooks are material-political-social-cultural artefacts(Macgilchrist, 2018). Additionally, the discourse in textbooks is vital and situated in the teaching and learning process involving different actors(Kolbeck & Röhl, 2018). The commonly-used content analysis cannot thoroughly examine the underlying power dynamics, while DHA brings contextual, intertextual, and interdiscursive perspectives to understanding the specific texts and helps to understand the ways in which meaning is stabilized(Barbara Christophe et al., 2018; Reisigl & Wodak, 2015). Given the problem-oriented nature of DHA, we have specified the research questions into several sub-questions: 1)What functions are brought into artistic textbooks? 2)What are the textbook structural and discursive strategies? 3) What are the teacher's perceptions and interpretations of the textbooks?
Data selection: In China's secondary schools, the official arts curriculum includes visual arts, music, dance, drama and digital arts, with music and visual arts compulsory in all schools. Despite the variety of textbook editions, two popular ones come to our attention. One is the Fine Art (People's Education Edition,) and the other is the Music (People's Music Publishing House Edition), both of which are used in Xiamen, China, where the interviews are conducted. These two textbook editions are the primary genre in our analysis process, in addition to the selected data:
• 2022 China’s National art curriculum standard
• Interviews with 3 editors (2 chair editor, and 1editor for renewal version of the fine arts, grade 9)
• Interviews with 24 teachers (3 researchers, 13music teachers and 10 Fine art teachers, convenience sampling)
Analytical process: First, we organized the data by addressing contextual information. We then conducted the qualitative pilot analysis to select analytical categories, focusing on three dimensions of discourse themes, discursive strategies (i.e., nomination, argumentation, and framing as focal points, especially in this study), and major claims about the functions of arts education in selected texts. This was followed by a detailed case study in the entire section of data, and we did an interdiscursive analysis across different genres. Finally, we formulated the critique and went back to the board economic and political context and discursive practice , then report the results.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsThe report is formulated to address three research questions. It provides an overview of the primary functions (i.e., aesthetic appreciation, moral and political cultivation, sound personality development, etc.) outlined in the textbooks. This overview is based on an examination of the textbook's objectives and content choices and is aligned with the goals of the national curriculum standards. Notably, there is emphasis on Chinese culture in both editions, reflecting a concerted effort to integrate cultural identity into the educational framework. This cultural emphasis is intertwined with a robust intertextuality among the national standards, the textbooks and policy discourse. Detailed description of discursive strategies contains the claims and assumptions, nominative construction. The ideal-interpretation-implementation loop reveals some autonomy and flexibility of teachers in adapting textbooks to real-world practices and goals, although under certain ideological guidelines. They mentioned the tendency and requirements on emphasizing native and patriotic consciousness, which on the other hand weakens the part of intercultural understanding of art, even the content of the textbook has not been renewed. In relation to the historical context, the political discursive turn in Chinese society promotes the increasing demands for highlighting cultural confidences in terms of the art curriculum. However, there are potential challenges to achieving a balanced and culturally diverse arts education under the state's assumptions.
ReferencesBarbara Christophe, Annekatrin Bock, Eckhardt Fuchs, Felicitas Macgilchrist, Otto, M., & Sammler, S. (2018). New Directions. In E. Fuchs & A. Bock (Eds.), The Palgrave Handbook of Textbook Studies. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-53142-1_30
Opinion of the European Committee of the Regions on ‘Creative Europe and A New European Agenda for Culture’, 37-48 168 (2019). https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/?uri=CELEX:52018AR3890
Coucil, C. s. S. (2015). The Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving Aesthetic Education in Schools. Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xxgk/moe_1777/moe_1778/201509/t20150928_211095.html
Council, C. s. S., & Committee, G. O. o. t. C. C. (2020). The Opinions on Comprehensively Strengthening and Improving the Aesthetic Education in Schools in the New Era Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.cn/jyb_xxgk/moe_1777/moe_1778/202010/t20201015_494794.html
Education, C. s. M. o. (2014). The Opinions on Promoting the Development of Arts Education in Schools Retrieved from http://www.moe.gov.cn/srcsite/A17/moe_794/moe_795/201401/t20140114_163173.html
Education, C. s. M. o. (2023). Notice on Comprehensive Implementation of School Arts Education Immersion Initiatives. Retrieved from https://www.gov.cn/zhengce/zhengceku/202401/content_6924205.htm
Heilig, J. V., Cole, H., & Aguilar, A. (2010). From Dewey to No Child Left Behind: The Evolution and Devolution of Public Arts Education. Arts Education Policy Review, 111(4), 136-145. https://doi.org/10.1080/10632913.2010.490776
Issitt, J. (2004). Reflections on the study of textbooks. History of Education, 33(6), 683-696. https://doi.org/10.1080/0046760042000277834
Jackson, L., Apple, M. W., Yan, F., Lin, J. C., Jiang, C., Li, T., & Vickers, E. (2023). The politics of reading textbooks: Intergenerational and international reflections on China. Educational Philosophy and Theory, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2023.2239446
Kolbeck, G., & Röhl, T. (2018). Textbook Practices: Reading Texts, Touching Books. The Palgrave Handbook of Textbook Studies, 399-410.
Macgilchrist, F. (2018). Textbooks. In J. Flowerdew & J. E. Richardson (Eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Critical Discourse Studies (pp. 525-539). Routledge.
Reisigl, M., & Wodak, R. (2015). The discourse-historical approach (DHA). In R. Wodak & M. Meyer (Eds.), Methods of critical discourse studies (3rd Edition ed.). Sage. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315739342
Sun, Y., & Fan, G. (2018). The Current Situation, Problems and Countermeasures of School Aesthetic Education in China. Educational Science Research(10), 70-75.
Wang, H., & Zhao, l. (2022). The Centennial Evolution of Chinese Aesthetic Education under the Influence of Educational Policies Journal of Southwest University(Social Sciences Edition), 48(01).
Wang, P. (2019). The Methodological Construction of the Discourse Analysis of Textbooks. Educational Research, 5, 51-59.
Xu, H.-S. (2018). Improving School Aesthetic Education —A Study on Key Policies of School Aesthetic Education
during the Past 40 Years of Reforming and Opening. Journal of Aesthetic Education, 9(06), 17-25.
Yu, G. (2016). On Art Education For a Perfect Person [Doctor, Suzhou Univerisity]. https://d.wanfangdata.com.cn/thesis/ChJUaGVzaXNOZXdTMjAyMTA1MTkSCUQwMTAwNzM5ORoIMnR4ZWd1cms%3D
03. Curriculum Innovation
Paper
Successful Integration of Media-related Competencies in All Subjects of Teacher Education: Support Structure as the Key to Success
Marion Susanne Visotschnig, Stefanie Schnebel
University of Education Weingarten, Germany
Presenting Author: Visotschnig, Marion Susanne
The research relates to a teacher education programme (TEP) and pedagogical concepts in teacher education, but has already been highlighted at national conferences for transfer to other degree programmes in the context of digitalisation initiatives at universities, e.g. for implementation in all degree programmes at the university. Key research questions: How can a compulsory additional programme for all students to foster digital and 21st century skills be anchored in the curriculum? What prerequisites for success have been identified? The paper discusses the necessity of a change management process in the context of digitalisation initiatives at universities and presents a designing process for advancing digital transformation. Especially the promotion of digitisation-related competences among teachers is an educational policy concern in the context of the digital transformation. Therefore, the question of how prospective teachers can be better prepared for the effective and productive use of digital technologies in their lessons has been under investigation for some time. Media-related and cross-cutting competences should be specifically promoted (e.g. KMK 2012; 2017; Baumert & Kunter 2006; Koehler & Mishra 2009). A key challenge of teacher education is to develop learning opportunities and learning paths that enable teachers to acquire the required competences.
Teacher education is a core area of degree programmes at the University of Education Weingarten, Germany (UEW), as around 2/3 of its students are currently enrolled on TEP. UEW has chosen a comprehensive approach in the context of the project "Teacher Education goes Digital" (TEgoDi), to the sensitive modification of its TEP on the basis of an interdisciplinary concept in teacher education grounded in educational theory (Müller et al., 2021). Modification result: All teacher students complete two mandatory media projects, aimed at promoting digital competences within subject-specific topics. Media pedagogical and media (subject) didactic competences are strengthened within the TEP. A pedagogical makerspace, CoLiLab, equipped with digital tools, provides the necessary learning and production environment. Results, anchored in subject didactics and educational science curricula, are documented and reflected on via an e-portfolio.
University's decision-making processes, especially with regard to changes in the university’s TEP, are not organised top-down, but take their course through the university’s faculties and departments (Graf-Schlattmann et al. 2020). For this reason, TEgoDi included dedicated change agents attached to the faculties acting as experts for e-learning. They promote and mediate communication and cooperation between lecturers, university management, faculties and project staff (Stratmann et al., 2021).
Our paper presents approaches and means for the successful integration of this programme at UEW. For this purpose, the obligatory curricular elements in connection with the digital skills and competences required of teachers and the implementation of various support structures are briefly presented. In addition, the various instruments used in the project under discussion are described in order to systematically and appropriately involve all stakeholders at the university in the change process. As a central element, we consider an actor-specific perspective with action variables to increase the willingness to change. (Grassinger et al., 2022; Stratmann et al. 2021). In addition, the challenges of curricular anchoring are addressed by discussing the difficulties we have encountered in dealing with research and interventions. The curricular integration with all subjects participating in the TEP facilitated the most effective form of implementation. No add-on was introduced, which is often chosen as a solution for implementation. Instead, the existing course offerings were expanded to incorporate the aspect of enhancing digital-related skills, and the workload was relieved from subject disciplines through the support structures. Aims: 2024 formally linked to the existing study and examination regulations by a transitional statute, from 2025 on, compulsory part for all teacher students.
Methodology, Methods, Research Instruments or Sources UsedWe worked with different work packages to establish demand-oriented support services for lecturers and students to ensure quality and to anchor the two digital media projects in the curriculum. In doing so, we used the method of design-based research (DBR) (Hoadley & Campos, 2022; Reinmann, 2017). DBR models usually assume that existing problems in practice form the starting point of the research, for the solution of which an intervention is developed, which is then tested, evaluated and successively improved. The designation and presentation of the phases vary. We also found this to be the case. TEgoDi applies a participatory change management approach, promoting and maintaining collective willingness to change in the entire university. This approach is comparable to the model of collective readiness for change developed by Graf-Schlattmann et al. (2020).
The formative evaluation follows the iterative development procedure (Allen & Sites, 2012), which encompasses three major development loops. Each loop is evaluated using feedback from students and lecturers (as different target groups) and tutors or board members (as additional stakeholders). The summative evaluation focusses primarily on the effect of the two digital media-based projects on two levels: (1) On students level the central question is the effect on different individual variables, e.g. digital media self-efficacy (Pumptow & Brahm, 2020) or digital media-related competencies (Ghomi & Redecker, 2019). (2) On the level of lectures the acceptance of digital media in teaching–learning processes (Venkatesh & Bala, 2008) or the increased use of digital media during lectures are of interest. Further, it is intended to identify the critical success factors for sustainability of the implemented processes and structures as well as to publish them to transfer knowledge to upcoming projects with similar challenges (Müller et al. 2021).
Firstly, the measures that contribute to the successful implementation of media projects in teacher training are analysed. This is done through a quantitative analysis that involves the use of measurable indicators. These indicators include learning outcomes, utilisation of media resources and students' experiences with the TEgoDi concept. This quantitative approach enables a systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of the TEgoDi concept in improving the digital media literacy of teacher students. Change agents evaluated the need, readiness and acceptance quantitatively in online surveys and qualitatively in workshops with all subjects (initially subject-specific and later interdisciplinary) as well as in meetings with early adopters. Early adopters have integrated media projects into their courses for trialling in 2021-2023.
Conclusions, Expected Outcomes or FindingsIn accordance with the requirements for TEP in Baden-Württemberg/Germany the connection to study and examination regulations was realised, the module handbooks were revised for the systematic and binding integration of media-related competence acquisition in all subjects. Transparency in the module handbooks enables a systematic and targeted processing of teaching and learning from the perspective of digital social change and the associated reflexive examination of subject/learning cultures. This way, the curricular anchoring in all subjects was ensured through acceptance and willingness.
Extensive support services were set up and evaluated at the university as part of the TEgoDi project. To ensure quality, the students are professionally supervised by lecturers in whose courses the projects are located. Part of the decision-making process was the agreement on interdisciplinary standards for both media projects for quality assurance. In addition to templates for lecturers and material for media-didactic and technical input, media-didactic and technical learning guides support the implementation of projects in courses, providing adequate support materials to assist them in collaborating with students on the planning and reflection of media-based learning scenarios in a reflexive, theory-based manner (Janssen et al., 2013). 1. Demand-oriented support services: including an online self-assessment to reflect on one's own media-related didactic competences, the TEgoDi material collection as a digital advice centre and digital self-learning materials on the university’s DokuWiki and moodle lead them on their individual learning path. 2. Extensive support services for students: The learning support team of various learning and teaching labs and service points. While technical solutions simplify the scalability of the support services, learning guides support students individually and according to their needs on their way to acquiring competences. Workshops should enable learners to support each other in planning media-supported teaching and learning settings (Schnebel & Kreis 2014). In addition, the CoLiLab also provides technical equipment.
ReferencesAllen M. & Sites R. (2012). Leaving ADDIE for SAM. An agile model for developing the best learning experiences. Danvers: ASTD Press.
Baumert, J. & Kunter, M. (2006). Stichwort: Professionelle Kompetenz von Lehrkräften. Zeitschrift für Erziehungswissenschaft, 9(4), 469–520. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11618-006-0165-2.
Graf-Schlattmann, M., Meister, D. M., Oevel, G. & Wilde, M. (2020). Kollektive Veränderungsbereitschaft als zentraler Erfolgsfaktor von Digitalisierungsprozessen an Hochschulen. Zeitschrift für Hochschulentwicklung, 15(1), 19–39. https://doi.org/10.3217/zfhe-15-01/02.
Grassinger, R., Bernhard, G., Müller, W., Schnebel, S., Stratmann, J., Weitzel, H. et al. (2022). Fostering Digital Media-Realted Competences of Student Teachers. SN Computer Science, 3(258). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42979-022-01135-8.
Ghomi M. & Redecker C. (2019). Digital competence of educators (Dig-CompEdu): development and evaluation of a self‐assessment instrument for teachers' digital competence. In: Proceedings of the 11th international conference on computer supported education (CSEDU 2019), 1, 541–548.
Hoadley, Christopher & Campos, Fabio C. (2022) Design-based research: What it is and why it matters to studying online learning, Educational Psychologist, 57:3, 207-220, https://doi.org/10.1080/00461520.2022.2079128.
Koehler M. & Mishra P. (2009). What is technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK)? Contemp Issues Technol Teach Educ., 9(1), 60–70.
Kreis, A., Schnebel, S. & Musow, S. (2017). What do pre-service teachers talk about in collaborative lesson planning dialogues? Results of an intervention study with content focused peer coaching. Lehrerbildung auf dem Prüfstand, Sonderheft, 80-106.
Mishra, P. & Koehler, M. J. (2006). Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge: A Framework for Teacher Knowledge. Teacher College Record, Volume 108(6).
Müller, W., Grassinger, R., Schnebel, S., Stratmann, J., Weitzel, H., Aumann, A. et al. (2021). Integration of Digital Competences into a Teacher Education Program: A Sensitive Approach. Proceedings of the 13th International Conference on Computer Supported Education - Volume 1: CSEDU, 232–242. https://doi.org/10.5220/0010527202320242.
Pumptow M. & Brahm T. (2020). Students’ digital media self-efficacy and its importance for higher education institutions: development and validation of a survey instrument. Technol Knowl Learn. 2020(26), 555–75.
Reinmann, G. (2017). Design-based Research. In D. Schemme & H. Novak (Eds.), Gestaltungsorientierte Forschung – Basis für soziale Innovationen. Erprobte Ansätze im Zusammenwirken von Wissenschaft und Praxis (49-61). Bielefeld: Bertelsmann.
Stratmann, J., Visotschnig, M. S., Widmann, J. & Müller, W. (2021). Change-Management an Hochschulen im Rahmen strategischer Digitalisierungsprojekte. In H.-W. Wollersheim, M. Karapanos & N. Pengel (Eds.), Bildung in der digitalen Transformation,143–152. Münster: Waxmann. https://doi.org/10.31244/9783830994565
Venkatesh V, Bala H. Technology acceptance model 3 and a research agenda on interventions. Decis Sci. 2008;39(2):273–315. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-5915.2008.00192.x.
|
