COMMON RECOMMENDATIONS OF NATIONAL CURRICULUM REPORTS  

 


Common Recommendations of National Curriculum Reports

Ø     LESS whole-class, teacher-directed instruction, e.g., lecturing

Ø     LESS student passivity: sitting, listening, receiving, and absorb­ing information

Ø     LESS prizing and rewarding of silence in the classroom

Ø     LESS classroom time devoted to fill-in-the-blank worksheets, dittos, workbooks, and other "seatwork"

Ø     LESS student time spent reading textbooks and basal readers

Ø     LESS attempt by teachers to thinly "cover" large amounts of material in every subject area

Ø     LESS rote memorization of facts and details

Ø     LESS stress on the competition and grades in school

Ø     LESS tracking or leveling students into "ability groups"

Ø     LESS use of pull-out special programs

Ø     LESS use of and reliance on standardized tests

Ø     MORE experiential, inductive, hands-on learning

Ø     MORE active learning in the classroom, with all the attendant noise and movement of students doing, taking, and collaborating

Ø     MORE emphasis on higher-order thinking; learning a field's key concepts and principles

Ø     MORE deep study of a smaller number of topics, so that stu­dents internalize the field's way of inquiry

Ø     MORE time devoted to reading whole, original, real books and nonfiction materials

Ø     MORE responsibility transferred to students for their work: goal setting, record keeping, monitoring, evaluation

Ø   MORE choice for students; e.g., picking their own books, writing topics, team partners, research projects

Ø     MORE enacting and modeling of the principles of democracy in' school "

Ø   MORE attention to affective needs and the varying cognitive styles of individual students

Ø   MORE cooperative, collaborative activity; developing the class-room as an interdependent community

Ø   MORE heterogeneously grouped classrooms where individual needs are met through inherently individualized activities, not segregation of bodies

Ø   MORE delivery of special help to students in regular classrooms

Ø   MORE varied and cooperative roles for teachers, parents, and administrators

Ø   MORE reliance upon teachers' descriptive evaluation of student growth, including qualitative/anecdotal observations
(Anderson, et al., 1985; Bybee, et ,,1., 1989 and 1991; Harste)

Best Practice, Zemelma~ Daniels & Hyde, 1992.