Module Four |
Reading Three: Process and Product Lesson Planning |
Gathering Speed
Beginning at the District Level
These are logical steps in a progression of implementing process education:
The changes suggested will not work as a Band-Aid or a small procedure with
local anesthetic applied. To provide the type of education which will encourage
the growth of responsible adults and assist in true human development, we will
need to adjust our philosophy, reconstitute our discipline and classroom management,
establish new guidelines for what constitutes valuable use of educational time.
We will find ourselves revitalizing the reporting system to parents and the
community and recognize the power of asking students to be involved in the monitoring
and reporting of their own progress.
We will find that students are one of our most powerful assets in the classroom
and become excited about the roles they take in accelerating the healthy development
of relationship as a valued function of education. Certainly it will be a delight
to have them realize their potential for loving education and looking forward
to each school day unlike many of our consumers of the past.
The global overview or perspective of implementing a process / product curriculum which focuses on the teaching and learning relationships has been suggested. It requires the work of the entire learning community if implementation is to be complete and consistent. If, however, a teacher becomes interested in trying the ideas on a smaller more personal scale - implementation in one classroom - there are guides and steps that would allow this to occur. In those schools where this has been effected on a classroom by classroom basis, certain situational arrangements proved to be important.
Those other educators in the school with whom the teacher works need to be
aware of the process curriculum.
Parents need to be told, usually by letter, that the students will be involved
in a proactive classroom setting and that their child will be expected to take
responsibility for learning, and then parents need to be encouraged to participate
and stay abreast and involved with progress.
Grading philosophy needs to be altered at least to the extent that the students
are involved in monitoring their own progress and the emphasis on mastery of
skills and competencies becomes more important than competitive ranking.
Achievement tests can be given and students can be expected to outperform those
of equal ability who are not involved in process education, but there needs
to be a clarification that the achievement tests are not giving a valid, reliable
or responsive measure of student achievement, teacher expertise or true educational
competencies.
The following models provide a developmental sequence for the seven areas of
process education. These charts have been organized to include a cluster of
related skills and concepts. They are also meant to be developmental and "catch"
a typical student's quest for initiating and working energetically toward acquisition
of the skills as a set of personal abilities at the approximate grade levels
listed. The charting is neither inclusive nor exhaustive. Instead, it is a beginning
point to spark excitement and generate a more thorough scope and sequence in
each set of skills. These can be adapted for each classroom and district setting.
Engage!
If this is such a good idea, why didn't we do it before? This is an exciting
part of the concept. We have been doing it, and in some cases we have been doing
it very well. We have not been getting credit for teaching process and have
not given students, past or present, name recognition of its presence or an
understanding of its vital place in their lives. In fact many times students
have seen it as a ";by the way" outcome and not given education full
credit for the impact it has had in their lives.
In addition, we have not been actively providing training or guidance in areas of process or relationship to educators. We have not been testing for its presence in the curriculum, so we have not been accurately reporting gains. Since it was not tested, many educators discounted or failed to recognize the inherent value. Nevertheless, relationship and process education have existed to some extent in every classroom.
Return to Module Four Menu