Teaching Practical Skills To Learners (Research Paper Sample)

Journal Response: Effective Approaches to Teaching
The common conception of curriculum is that it is the content taught to learners at different levels of learning. This perception suggests that curriculum is distinct from instruction, the method through which content is relayed to learners. However, the article by Gordon, Taylor and Oliva show that curriculum and instruction are interdependent in that one influences the designing of the other. Personally, I consider the concentric model to be more aligned with my philosophy of learning. The dualistic and interlocking models imply varying degrees of interdependence between curriculum and instruction. In contrast, the concentric model suggests mutual dependency between the two facets. Moreover, I prefer a concentric model in which curriculum is the superordinate and instruction is the subordinate, thus giving more emphasis to curriculum.
The reason I assign curriculum the superordinate position is because it constitutes the structure of learning activities. It is the blueprint that provides guidelines on what should be taught at different levels of learning. Thus, it forms the core of learning since it clarifies the content educators should teach to learners of different levels.
Nevertheless, this concept does not downplay the significance of instruction under the concentric model. Since curriculum constitutes the “what” and instruction constitutes the “how” aspect of education, each influences how the other is designed and modeled (Gordon et al., 2018). For instance, if the content involves teaching practical skills to learners, the instruction/method of teaching should be aligned to enhance cultivation of practical skills, such as motor skills. Thus, teaching learners skills such as carpentry would require practical sessions as the method of instruction. In contrast, classroom learning through dialogue and discussion is more relevant to teaching theoretical concepts.
Question Two
My current framework for designing lessons units involves analyzing the content that needs to be taught, determining the appropriate instructional materials, and outlining the outcomes to be achieved by teaching the specified content. Before reading the article by Wiggins and McTighe, I never doubted the effectiveness of this approach to design lesson plans since it fulfilled my expectations as an educator. In any case, it is the common textbook approach many teachers use, perhaps owing to its convenience. For instance, once the teacher knows the content to be taught, it is easy to determine and outline the method through which to teach the specific content. However, I have realized that this approach is only convenient to teachers and not necessarily effective in achieving the desired results. For instance, desired results tend to be the last consideration since they are viewed as the byproduct of the teaching process as opposed to being the references points that should guide the teaching process.
My approach contrasts with the backward approach because the latter views outcomes as the starting point for effective lesson plans. It highlights the fact that teachers are not free to teach any topic they teach by any means available to them. Instead, teachers are guided by national and institutional standards that specify not only what learners should learn, but what they should be able to do after the learning experience. In this view, I realize that my approach to lesson planning overlooks the significance of outcomes in influencing the learning process.
In the backward approach suggested in the reading, the first step is identifying the desired result. What change is expected to occur in the learners? (Wiggins & McTighe, 2005). This step is necessary because it informs the choice of content and teaching approach. The desired results are like the destination, while the content and teaching method represents the way to reach that destination. Thus, starting with the desired outcomes gives the teacher a clear understanding of what they need to do to achieve the desired results.