Cross-curricular Themes Research Articles

The Analysis based on Cross-curricular Themes in the Elementary School Curriculum

The Analysis based on Cross-curricular Themes in the Elementary School Curriculum

Four Nations Going Their Own Ways? Citizenship Education in the United Kingdom

Citizenship education at secondary school level across the UK is taught in different ways: as a statutory subject in England and Northern Ireland; as a non-statutory subject in Wales; as a cross-curricular theme in Scotland. The educational approach is didactic and subject-based in England whereas whole-school strategies and experiential learning have prevailed elsewhere. Citizenship education in Northern Ireland has stemmed from the need to establish a stable basis for peace. England, Wales and Scotland have considered it as a possible solution to the low participation of young people in politics but Wales and Scotland have also used CE to further their identities.

Compromiso y esperanza en educación: Los ejes transversales para la práctica docente según Paulo Freire

<p>Pedagogía de la autonomía es un texto donde Freire aborda cómo todo acto educativo es un acto político e ideológico, condicionado pero no determinado, que va más allá de la simple transmisión de conocimientos. Considera los saberes requeridos para la práctica docente y detalla al menos cinco ejes transversales: la relación dialéctica entre aprender y enseñar, la importancia de tomar en cuenta los aspectos emocionales, el carácter político que encierra, enseñar es más que transmitir información y el compromiso ético del personal docente. Aduce que la práctica educativa como acto político es deliberado y depende de la visión de mundo (ideología) que tenga cada docente. Tal acto debe conllevar el desarrollo de una intencionalidad: la autonomía del educando. Freire prevé el proceso de globalización y el impacto de las tecnologías digitales en el campo educativo y advierte sobre la intencionalidad de dicho proceso: subordinar la educación en calidad de apéndice de la economía. Por lo anterior, apela a considerar la práctica educativa como una relación dialéctica, holística, humanista, ética, donde tanto aprenden como enseñan quienes participan de ella, lo que permite plantear que la educación abre la esperanza a un mundo mejor.</p><p> </p>

¡Abre los ojos! Un proyecto de mejora educativa para la prevención de drogas en adolescentes

La Educación para la Salud (EpS) es un tema transversal del currículo que adolece de propuestas didácticas novedosas para la intervención pedagógica. El objetivo del trabajo que se presenta es poner en marcha un plan de mejora para la prevención de drogadicciones en adolescentes. Para ello, se ha trabajado con un total de 142 estudiantes de 3º de Educación Secundaria Obligatoria (ESO) con edades comprendidas entre los 14 y los 16 años que cursan estudios en el Instituto “Francisco Salzillo” de la localidad de Alcantarilla (Murcia). Concretamente, este artículo da luz al Proyecto ¡Abre los ojos!, que forma parte del Plan de Acción Tutorial (PAT) y del Plan de Mejora para la Prevención de Drogas (PMPD) propuesto desde el Departamento de Orientación. Se exponen ad hoc las actividades implementadas durante las 3 sesiones trabajadas con cada uno de los 6 grupos-clase escolarizados en este nivel. Haciendo uso de la reflexión-acción, el alumnado ha desarrollado una conciencia crítica acerca de los riesgos que entraña para la salud el consumo de drogas. Asimismo, mediante la técnica de grupos de discusión los discentes han realizado un interesante debate cuyas ideas han sido organizadas en torno a tres aspectos clave: causas por las que se empieza a consumir, cómo evitar caer en las drogas, y alternativas de ocio y tiempo libre para una vida saludable. Finalmente, se especifica la necesidad de abordar tareas de prevención en los centros educativos así como de facilitar información y de resolver las inquietudes de los jóvenes acerca de esta temática.

English

English

Developing Cooperative Learning through Tasks in Content and Language Integrated Learning

This article presents the results of a study on teachers’ perceptions regarding specific work with tasks in the CLIL (Content and Language Integrated Learning) classroom, a context where academic content and a foreign language are learnt simultaneously. A questionnaire consisting of closed and open questions was administered to 25 teachers working in a school participating in an innovative project based on the implementation of tasks used as an instrument to promote cooperative learning. Following an interdisciplinary approach, the teachers worked in collaboration to design tasks that were organised and linked around a common topic. These crosscurricular themes were selected in the different subjects with the objective of making students work towards a common final goal through several developmental stages. The results of the study show that the teachers are concerned about the methodological difficulties that the use of tasks entail, about their own ability to cope with them, and about the problems that they encounter to collaborate. However, the teachers also value the benefits of this strategy in terms of achievement of learning objectives, and display a high degree of motivation to continue working with this model.

Improvement Plan for the Curriculum Document related to Cross-Curricular Learning in South Korea through International Comparison

The purpose of this study was to investigate ways to improve the curriculum document related to cross-curricular learning in South Korea through international comparison(UK. Finland, Canada Quebec, and the U.S.). In order to do so, this study analyzed the significance of cross-curricular learning, cross-curricular themes, and the presentation of curriculum documents. Based on the results of this analysis, several implications for improving the curriculum document related to cross-curricular learning in South Korea are discussed. First, the significance of cross-curricular learning should be stated clearly by reflecting the needs of the nation and society and the nature of integrated learning. The curriculum documents related to cross-curricular learning in foreign countries emphasized the following two aspects: practical and meaningful learning to enable the students to be successful as individuals and members of society and integrated learning cross subjects. Secondly, cross-curricular themes should be refined. The cross-curricular themes commonly suggested by the curriculum documents in foreign countries were communal citizenship, environmental education and sustainable development, personal development, cultural identity and diversity, health and safety, and technology and media. Based on this result, cross-curricular themes in South Korea were refined. Finally, the presentation of curriculum documents related to cross-curricular learning should be improved, as the curriculum documents in foreign countries included detailed guidelines for cross-curricular learning.

Cross-curricular themes and lesson hours outlined by legislation and government policy to be implemented at schools

This study aims to explore the issues and problems of the cross-curricular themes and lesson hours outlined by legislation and government policy which directly affect the school curriculum. They become a part of a school curriculum without the national curriculum governed by「Elementary and Secondary Education Act」and「Enforce Decree of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act」. In this way they give a significant burden on the learning of students and distort the autonomy of individual schools. In relation to the cross-curricular themes and lesson hours, first, the factors that influence directly in the school curriculum are studied. Second, the demanding hours and different kinds of themes, and its characteristics are analyzed. Third, the issues and challenges are discussed in terms of legislation, government policy, the national, regional and school curriculum, and quality management systems. The suggestions are in the following. First, setting up an adjustment office or organization in the ministry of education, second, establishment of law and securing education experts to adjust the conflicts among the cross-curricular themes, the national, regional, and school curriculum, third, a way to deal with the cross-curricular themes and lesson hours in the boundary of the national curriculum, fourth, including minimum provisions and guidance about the cross-curricular themes and lesson hours in the national and the regional curriculum, and fifth, the continuous feedback and improvement efforts through curriculum evaluation are recommended.

Implementing technology education in Finnish general education schools: studying the cross-curricular theme ‘Human being and technology’

In 2009 the Finnish Ministry of Education and Culture assigned the National Board of Education with the task of carrying out a nationwide evaluation of all seven cross-curricular themes. The evaluation is one of the largest education evaluation projects the National Board of Finland has ever organised. The present authors were invited to evaluate the theme “Human Being and Technology”. Data were collected during fall 2010 with ninth-grade pupils (the last grade in Basic School) around Finland answering the questionnaires. The questionnaire was completed by 1,181 (both Finnish and Swedish speaking) grade-nine pupils. The main focuses of the study are: (1) pupils’ knowledge about technology, (2) pupils’ attitudes towards technology, and (3) pupils’ activity know-how of technology. It seems that the development of technological ideas has not been implemented at all in HBT cross-curricular teaching, even though this particular section of the cross-curricular theme could have introduced something new and concrete that would steer pupils towards innovativeness and creativity. Paying more attention to this aim would better link visual art and craft education to this cross-curricular theme, particularly since it is only in visual arts and craft studies that learning of innovation processes is given as one of the learning objectives. It is particularly the contents of craft education that refer to the learning of a technological innovation process. The attitudes of youth towards technology and the development of technology were in line with the objectives of the national framework curriculum, yet the wide-ranging utilization and application of technology, let alone the further development of technology, has not been made possible, neither in this particular cross-curricular theme nor in school routines. A positive observation, however, was that the majority of young people understood the connection between technology and manual skills.

Cross-curricular themes in curricula

Bu çalışmada, 2005 yılında İlköğretim Programlarının yenilenmesinden bu yana uygulanmakta olan ara disiplinlerin; amacı, işlevi, özellikleri, belirlenmesinde ihtiyaç analizine duyulan gereksinim, öğretimi ve değerlendirme süreçleri incelenmiştir. Çalışmada tarama modelinden yararlanılmıştır. Verilerin toplanmasında belge tarama yöntemi kullanılmış; ara disiplin yaklaşımını uygulayan diğer ülkelerin ulusal programlarındaki açıklamalar ve öneriler incelenmiş ve bir sentezleme yapılmıştır. Ara disiplinlerin; toplumların yüz yüze oldukları karmaşık sorunların işlenmesi amacıyla öğretim programlarına yerleştirildiği; ulusal ve toplumsal gereksinim ve öncelikler dikkate alınarak belirlenmesi gerektiği sonucuna ulaşılmıştır

Competences for Education for Sustainable Development in Teacher Education

Competences are intensively discussed in the context of cross-curricular themes, such as Sustainable Development and Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), especially in light of the United Nations Decade for ESD (2004–2015). Recent literature on ESD lists a number of competences for ESD in various fields with the exception of teacher education. A competencemodel for ESD for educators was generated in the Austrian research project KOM-BiNE (Competences for ESD in Teacher Education) as part of a large-scale EU project. The KOM-BiNE competence model consists of areas of competences within fields of action. The constituent elements of the competence model are described in detail and are illustrated with examples.

Discursive positioning in Norwegian teacher education: Shifting from cross-curricularity to skills-based subject specialisation

Late and limited organisational differentiation is a characteristic which has, until now, distinguished the structure of education – including teacher education – in the Nordic countries from that of the rest of Europe. However, this tradition is now challenged by utilitarian ideologies, supported by international comparison tests such as PISA and TIMSS. In Norway, a new teacher education system has been recently introduced requiring students to choose to specialise in one of two age ranges – grades 1–7 or grades 5–10 – and in addition to specialise in particular school subjects. This paper traces how different learning discourses regulate spaces for professional becoming(s), focusing on an analysis of a number of policy documents underpinning the shift from broad cross-curricular themes and project-based education towards a skills-based subject specialisation. The investigation explores how particular discourses are taken up, merged and transformed in relation to the Norwegian egalitarian school tradition.

Leaving it to the schools: ctizenship, diversity and human rights education in the Netherlands

Background: The Netherlands traditionally has a strong civil society. This has had an impact on the education system through the relatively high degree of autonomy for schools on moral and didactical choices as well as on the curriculum. Such freedom provides ample room for citizenship to develop at alocal level. The large degree of curricular autonomy allows schools to shape education according to their own vision and values in partnership with those in civil society. Purpose: This article explores how citizenship education, cultural diversity and human rights education are implemented within such a context. The main aim is to analyse how societal and political ideals are laid down at the policy level (intended curriculum), how they are implemented at the school level (implemented curriculum), and how they impact on student learning (attained curriculum). Sources of evidence: Formal educational policy documents are analysed to gain insight into the intended curriculum. Insights in the implemented and attained curriculum are gathered through analysis of research studies into classroom practice. Main argument: The article argues that although citizenship education, cultural diversity and human rights education are prominent themes in political and societal debates and expectations of schools' contribution to these themes are high, the intentions are formalised only briefly in the intended curriculum. The freedom of education is mentioned as the main reason for the lack of policy commitment. The article argues, however, that local empowerment cannot do without school leadership to develop a school-specific vision and approach, aswell as a coherent long-term vision on the way forward at the macro level. Conclusions: This curriculum analysis shows that cross-curricular socialisation themes do not play a prominent role in curriculum policy and that implementation in classroom practice is varied, but generally limited. With ambiguity in educational policy and limited implementation support, it is a complex challenge for schools to make strategic choices in interaction with civil society and to set their own social agenda. Given the current political and societal context, with itsfocus on freedom of education, it is necessary, but not realistic, to expect moredetailed curricular regulations on these curriculum domains. Moreover, the current emphasis on basic skills in literacy and numeracy also limits the room for these societal issues, in both curriculum policy and practice. The article concludes that schools need more support to make autonomous choices as well as more clarity on what is expected from them. Also more insight is needed about feasibleand coherent approaches to incorporate citizenship education in a core curriculum that has a strong emphasis on the basic skills.

What is the future for primary school history in England?

This article examines teachers' attitudes to history and how they are currently organising history in their schools. In 2011 it is expected that a new Primary Curriculum will be introduced into English and Welsh schools which may change how history is approached and organised, as it is possible that most of the history taught will be organised in cross-curricular themes. Through accessing the voices of practising teachers it was established that they need support from a trained member of staff, either within the school or a Local Advisor, in order to make the most of the opportunities for change. The findings of this research also suggest that more training is needed in how to teach history, if it is to be organised and taught in meaningful ways; some schools have not responded to suggestions to introduce more cross-curricular work into their classrooms.

DEPTH–developing professional thinking for Finnish technology teachers

The Finnish case contributing to the international DEPTH study was carried out within the Technology Education NOW! project at the University of Oulu. Nineteen project teachers participated in the study. The recent revision of the Finnish Basic Education Curriculum with the introduction of the cross-curricular theme “Humans and Technology” provided the contextual framework for the study. The graphic tool called the ‘DEPTH tool’ was introduced to the teachers to help and support them in their professional thinking of their technology teaching in this period of transition. Qualitative research methods were employed in the study. The teachers’ responses to the study indicate that it was appropriate and helped them to make sense of the situation. The DEPTH tool appeared to work well with most of the teachers. Even though some of the teachers used the tool to present a list of activities they have carried out in their technology teaching, most of them understood that they could use the tool in a deeper way to enhance their professional reflection. Five categories of teachers emerged from the data. The categories indicate different aspects and levels of teachers’ professional reflection, especially in relation to curriculum revision and the cross-curricular theme Humans and Technology. Interestingly, some of the teachers who showed a thoughtful level of reflection did not pay very much attention to the revised curriculum.

The State of Citizenship Education in Turkey: Past and Present

Citizenship education in Turkey has been a part of the state-centric modernization project involving the transformation of public and private lives of Turkish citizens. Although there has always been a separate course on civics, citizenship education emerges as a cross-curricular theme in the Turkish educational system which aims at creating a self-sacrificing and patriotic citizen. Besides its particularistic content, however, Turkish citizenship education also involves references to a universal conception of citizenship in line with Turkey’s aspiration to be a member of the European Union. This paper presents a historical frame and breaking points for citizenship education in Turkey from its foundation to the present. It critically examines paradoxical content of the current citizenship and human rights education curriculum.

Mathematics in early childhood

The recent development of the British eary years (3-5years) maths ourrioulum is described as a function of successive educational reforms aimed at the primary school curriculum in general and the primary maths curriculum (5-12 years) in particular. Contradictions within this curriculum development process are explained in terms of current curriculum theory. Young children’s experience of the British primary maths curriculum is illustrated with data from a longitudinal study of early maths concepts from 5 to 8 years of age. Case study data show how normative assumptions embedded in the curriculum make teacher’s work unneccesarily difficult, and deprive children of satisfying learning experiences in mathematics. It is argued that an efficiently implemented early years maths curriculum (from 3-8 years) would take young children’s developmental characteristics into account, and would stress cross-curricular themes and indirect teaching of concepts.

Education for Sustainable Development in Secondary Education of the Flemish Community: Challenges and Perspectives

AbstractEnvironmental Education is one of the cross-curricular themes, introduced in the mid 1990s in the curriculum of Flemish secondary education (12-18 yr). Both the Brundtland report and the ENSI philosophy inspired the development of the objectives for EE. A strong partnership exists between the departments of education and the environment of the Flemish Ministry and the provincial authorities, which resulted in the project ‘MOS’, an environmental management system for primary and secondary schools. Besides environmental objectives, the pedagogical objectives of the project are strongly emphasised. The UN Decade of Education for Sustainable Development provides a strong stimulus to link Environmental Education to the other cross-curricular themes, Citizenship and Health Education and to include the ‘MOS’-project into the broader framework of Education for Sustainable Development.

Citizenship education: does it have a place in the curriculum?

Abstract The call for citizenship education as a compulsory part of curriculum has met with a varied response worldwide. While everyone would espouse ideals of ensuring our young people grow up to be active and fair-minded citizens, why does citizenship education not figure more prominently in our curriculum'? This article discusses past, present, and possible future of citizenship education in New Zealand Curriculum. Introduction The call for citizenship education as a compulsory part of curriculum has met with a varied response worldwide. In United Kingdom it was made a compulsory cross-curricular theme in 2002 (see, for example, Kerr, 2002); in United States (where it is known as civics) it is a curriculum area with a set of national standards (Pederson & Cogan, 20(12); in Australia there is ministerial endorsement of Discovering Democracy (a programme that is federally funded and distributed to all states) and there are active citizenship programmes in most states (O'Brien & Parry, 2002); in Canada there has been renewed interest across provinces (Hebert & Sears, 2001); in New Zealand, it barely rates a mention. This article takes notion of citizenship education and discusses its relationship to current New Zealand curriculum. Why has this concept not taken root? I will argue that although it is not specifically named as such, it does exist in a range of guises. I will also argue that there is huge potential for enhancing and strengthening threads that do exist. This article begins with a general discussion of citizenship and citizenship education. I then examine history of citizenship education in New Zealand curriculum and discuss its current status before concluding with recommendations for strengthening its potential. Citizenship: what is it? If not born in New Zealand or of New Zealand parentage, an applicant for New Zealand citizenship must, under Citizenship Act 1977, have: * completed a period of permanent residency for three years (or two years, if married to a new Zealand citizen); * intention to continue to live in New Zealand; * ability to understand and speak English; * a knowledge of and privileges of New Zealand citizenship; and * been certified to be of good character. (1) So what are these responsibilities and privileges? Yvonne Hebert and Alan Sears (2001), writing for Canadian Education Association, define citizenship as the relationship between individual and state, and among individuals within a (p. 1). Rob Gilbert (1996, p.108), an Australian social studies educator, views citizenship as a contested term. He explains: Some definitions emphasise nation stale as an entity to which people should give allegiance and loyalty. Other definitions emphasise individual rights or a sense of shared loyalty. Others focus on citizen participation in government. Gilbert outlines four major views of citizenship: * as a status implying formal rights and duties; * as an identity and a set of moral and social virtues based on democratic ideal; * as a public practice conducted through legal and political processes; and * as participation in decision making in all aspects of life. When discussing citizenship in New Zealand elsewhere (for example, Mutch, 2005) I have adapted these categories as follows, with second one being separated into two to make a total of five: citizenship as status; citizenship as identity; citizenship as democratic ideal, citizenship as public practice; and citizenship as participation. Citizenship as status relates to legal rights and that a person has as a member of a nation state and of a community within that political entity. Citizenship as identity is broader than purely national identity--it can include religious, political, ethnic, regional, or other affiliations, a notion that Kymlicka (1995) calls multicultural or multiple citizenship. …

The attitudes and nutritional knowledge of 11‐ to 12‐year‐olds in Merseyside and Northern Ireland

AbstractSchool is a major area for providing young people with nutritional knowledge and skills. In Northern Ireland home economics (HE) is taught to 11‐ to 12‐year‐olds. The 1988 Education Reform Act introduced the national curriculum and HE as a subject was effectively abolished in English schools, and key stage 3 pupils in England are taught nutrition in Science, Design and Technology and in the cross curricular theme of health education. The aim of the study was to compare the attitudes and nutritional knowledge of children in Merseyside, England (M) and Northern Ireland (NI). A questionnaire was designed, which examined attitudes to aspects of healthy eating and tested the subject's knowledge, practical and theoretical, on nutrition and healthy eating. Subjects aged 11–12 years were recruited (M: 541, NI: 128). The majority ‘understood and knew what to eat to have a healthy diet’, ‘liked the taste of healthy food’ and considered that ‘there were healthy foods at home’. However, a significantly greater number in Merseyside agreed that ‘their health will be affected in the future by what they eat now’ (M: 71%, NI: 54%, P < 0.01) and agreed that ‘they enjoyed cooking’ (M: 76%, NI: 56%, P < 0.01). Whereas more from Northern Ireland agreed that ‘they do not know what foods to eat to have a healthy diet’ (M: 14%, NI: 30%, P < 0.01), ‘that healthy eating involved “dieting” ’ (M: 29%, NI: 59%, P < 0.01) and agreed that ‘there are no healthy food choices at school’ (M: 23% NI: 42%, P < 0.01). More subjects from Merseyside disagreed that ‘healthy eating is a waste of time’ (M: 87%, NI: 77%, P < 0.01). The mean knowledge scores (correct answers) from Merseyside were significantly greater than from Northern Ireland (total score: M: 51%, NI: 43%P < 0.05; practical score: M: 58%, NI: 49%P < 0.05, theory score: M: 38%, NI: 31%, P < 0.05). The results indicate that the healthy food message seems to have been better learnt by children in Merseyside but results of surveys in Merseyside into eating habits suggest that many have not put this knowledge into practice.