Core Curriculum Components and Initiatives

Common Essential Learnings

The incorporation of the Common Essential Learnings into the English language arts program assists students with learning the concepts, skills, and attitudes necessary for success both in school and beyond.

Teachers can find many opportunities in their English language arts program for developing the Common Essential Learnings in an authentic manner. Some examples follow.

Communication

• Students use language as a tool for learning and communicating.
• Students listen, speak, read, write, view, and represent with competence and confidence.
• Students extend their language repertoires.
• Students communicate in various formats for various audiences and purposes.
• Students use the language to think, read, write, discuss, and learn about life, literature, and language itself.

Numeracy

• Students read, interpret, and communicate facts and figures through reports, charts, and graphs.
• Students recognize and create organizational patterns to communicate quantitative information.
• Students understand the difference between quantitative and qualitative data and comparisons.

Critical and Creative Thinking

• Students use language as an instrument of thought.
• Students think reflectively, critically, and creatively.
• Students generate and evaluate ideas, processes, and products.
• Students listen, read, and view analytically and critically.
• Students make and justify decisions.
• Students pose questions and seek clarification.
• Students recognize bias and fallacies.

Personal and Social Values and Skills

• Students learn to interact, co-operate, and collaborate.
• Students understand the importance of social responsibility and personal integrity in the use of language.
• Students recognize how stereotypical views can lead to prejudicial attitudes and discriminatory practices.
• Students explore the range of human virtues: those common or unique to different cultures, those which have remained constant, and those which have changed through the ages.
• Students understand self and society more completely.
• Students realize that literature enriches and broadens the experiences of life, including one’s personal and social understanding and responsibilities.
• Students respect cultural perspectives that differ from their own.

Technological Literacy

• Students understand that technology is a tool to facilitate language learning and communication.
• Students examine how technology shapes and is shaped by their lives, society, and the environment.

Independent Learning

• Students learn knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to become lifelong learners.
• Students learn to use a variety of resources to assist their learning.
• Students learn to plan, monitor, and evaluate their own learning.

For more information, refer to Understanding the Common Essential Learnings: A Handbook for Teachers (Saskatchewan Education, 1988).

Adaptive Dimension

The Adaptive Dimension is an essential part of the English language arts program. Like the Common Essential Learnings, the Adaptive Dimension permeates all curriculum and instruction. It encourages teachers:

... to make adjustments in approved educational programs to accommodate diversity in student learning needs. It includes those practices the teacher undertakes to make curriculum, instruction, and the learning environment meaningful and appropriate for each student (The Adaptive Dimension in Core Curriculum, Saskatchewan Education, 1992).

The Adaptive Dimension addresses the importance of providing alternatives for students’ learning and evaluation to promote optimum success for each student. Learning environments for students can be made more accessible through adapting settings, methods, or materials. It is important for teachers to consider the following guidelines:

• Identify students’ strengths and needs and continually monitor progress.
• Accept, respect, and broaden the students’ abilities, learning styles, language abilities, and interests.
• Increase curriculum relevance for students and affirm their cultural backgrounds.
• Build background knowledge or experience for students when it is lacking.
• Use a variety of instructional and assessment strategies and procedures to accommodate individual abilities and learning styles.
• Vary the manner in which students are required to demonstrate their learning.
• Alter the pace of activities or lessons.
• Vary the types of activities.
• Vary resources.
• Provide program enrichment and/or extension.
• Encourage students to participate in planning, instruction, and evaluation.
• Provide additional practice for students.
• Provide options for students.

The Adaptive Dimension includes all practices teachers employ to make learning meaningful and appropriate for each student. Because the Adaptive Dimension permeates all teaching practice, sound professional judgement becomes the critical factor in successful learning.

In the context of a language class, teachers need to be particularly sensitive to English as a Second Language (ESL) students and English as a Second Dialect (ESD) students. Teachers should consider the following guidelines for instruction and assessment:

• Model respect for cultural and linguistic diversity by encouraging students to share their languages and cultures.
• Identify, acknowledge, and respect differences in verbal and nonverbal communication styles by encouraging students to learn and interact in ways that are culturally familiar to them.
• Extend, if necessary, time for ESL and ESD students to achieve the foundational and specific learning objectives and provide extra support, where possible.
• Ensure that teacher talk is clear and concise.
• Provide a variety of resources in English and in the students’ first languages.
• Encourage students to use visual dictionaries to verify meanings or spellings of words.
• Pair students with fluent English speaking "buddies" for collaborative projects.
• Provide English language audiotapes.
• When assessing students’ oral language development, focus on conceptual understanding before pronunciation.
• Model positive and motivational feedback to develop self-confident, risk-taking language users and learners.
• Give all students the opportunity to reflect on their progress through self-assessment and evaluation.

Multicultural Content, Perspectives, and Resources

A multicultural perspective should permeate the English language arts program. An "authentic unity" that reflects all peoples’ experiences--not just the traditional Anglo-Saxon one--should be reflected in the program. Some guidelines follow.

• A multicultural perspective addresses the major cultural groups in a country.

• Students should be given opportunities to learn about "concepts--such as immigration, intercultural interactions, and racism--using various groups and their experiences as the vehicle to explore them" (Willis, l993, p. 2).

• The program should help students see historical events from a variety of perspectives. Students should understand the social, economic, and cultural history of "people", not just military heroism or campaigns.

• The program should reflect an awareness of stereotyping and generalization. It should underscore "the differences between characteristics of groups and the behaviour of individuals" (Willis, 1993, p. 3). For example, many Acadians speak French but some do not. Many Aboriginal people speak an Aboriginal language (e.g., Saulteaux) but many do not.

• The program should also reflect an awareness that class, gender, region, and religion all influence individuals and that there is a fine line between generalizing and stereotyping. "Identities are multiple; they can be fluid and complex" (Banks, l993, p. 3).

• The literature of an English language arts program provides a unique means of exploring vicariously the spectrum of human experience. Culturally relevant literature can be an important tool for developing student literacy. It is particularly important for students from minority groups to see their lives and experiences reflected in literature.

• Choosing literature that is representative of diverse cultural backgrounds requires sensitivity and an awareness of potential cultural and gender bias.

Indian and Métis Content, Perspectives, and Resources

Saskatchewan Education recognizes that the Indian and Métis peoples of the province are historically unique peoples, occupying a unique and rightful place in society today. Saskatchewan Education recognizes that education programs must meet the needs of Indian and Métis students, and that changes to existing programs are also necessary for the benefit of all students (Indian and Métis Education Policy from Kindergarten to Grade Twelve, Saskatchewan Education, 1995).

The inclusion of Indian and Métis content, perspectives, and resources promotes the development of positive attitudes in all students toward Indian and Métis peoples. Increasing an awareness of one’s own culture and the cultures of others develops students’ self-concepts, promotes an appreciation of Canada's cultural mosaic, and supports universal human rights. The inclusion of Indian and Métis content, perspectives, and resources in each curricular area fosters meaningful and culturally relevant experiences for Indian and Métis students. Teachers working with Aboriginal students must recognize that these students come from various cultural backgrounds and social settings including northern, rural, and urban areas. The language abilities of Indian and Métis students range from fluency in an Indian language, to degrees of bilingualism in an Indian language and English, to fluency in English. Teachers must understand and respect this diversity and use a variety of teaching strategies to assist Aboriginal students with English language development.

Teachers are encouraged to utilize a variety of teaching strategies that build upon their Indian and Métis students’ existing knowledge of language and further extend their English language abilities. Knowledge of cross-cultural education, language acquisition theory, and second language teaching strategies will all assist teachers in meeting the needs of individual students. It is crucial to use a variety of instructional, motivational, and assessment approaches that are sensitive to the range of Indian and Métis cultural values and ways of communicating.

Indian and Métis students in Secondary Level English language arts programs are in the process of becoming young adults. All facets of their identities, including their cultural identities, need to be reinforced and extended in order for them to maintain a positive sense of themselves, experience success in school, and graduate as articulate and literate citizens. Secondary Level Indian and Métis students continue to grapple with the complex factors at work in identity formation--gender, family, religion, socioeconomic factors, and the nature of one’s membership in society and the global community. The issues around identity for Indian and Métis students can be further complicated by the negative attitudes and perceptions they sometimes encounter in society at large. This can result in a serious loss of self-esteem and motivation to succeed in school. Teachers should recognize and counter these negative effects on identity and self-concept through anti-racist teaching strategies. Teachers should also affirm all students’ cultural backgrounds and social environments, and foster personally meaningful and culturally identifiable experiences for Indian and Métis students.

All Saskatchewan teachers must integrate accurate and appropriate Indian and Métis content and perspectives in their English language arts program. Teachers have a responsibility to choose resources carefully and teach all students to recognize and discuss bias and stereotyping. Guidelines in Diverse Voices: Selecting Equitable Resources for Indian and Métis Education (Saskatchewan Education, 1992) can assist teachers and students in selecting resources and understanding forms of bias in resources that inaccurately portray Indian and Métis peoples. The document can help teachers plan classroom experiences that will effectively increase awareness of such bias and develop students' oracy, literacy, and critical thinking abilities. Suggested Indian and Métis resources are included in the sample unit of this curriculum, as well as in bibliographies developed by Saskatchewan Education.

It is important that the English language arts curriculum and classroom resources:

• reflect the legal, cultural, political, social, economic, and regional diversity of Indian, Inuit, and Métis peoples
• concentrate on positive and accurate images of Indian, Inuit, and Métis peoples
• reinforce and complement the beliefs and values of Indian, Inuit, and Métis peoples
• include resources by Aboriginal authors whenever possible
• include historical and contemporary issues.

Portrayal of Persons with Disabilities

Portrayal of persons with disabilities in literature and the mass media has been varied and often negative. This has served to teach readers inappropriate information and has engendered attitudes ranging from feelings of pity or revulsion to expectations of superhuman powers of intellect or insight. It is critical that the language arts teacher use materials that portray persons with disabilities realistically and fairly.

Wherever possible, ability rather than disability should be stressed. Materials that imply that persons with disabilities must be cared for or pitied should not be used. Language of the materials should convey respect for the individuality of persons with disabilities. For example, "people with disabilities" or "has a disability" should be used rather than "the less fortunate", "afflicted", or "suffers from a disability".

Heim (1994) suggests that when choosing material for use, it is important to be aware that literature and media frequently portray people with disabilities in a stereotypical way. When evaluating material for use in the English language arts classroom, consider the following:

• Accurate and up-to-date language and information is used to describe the disability. In fiction, the best approach is one where aspects of the disability are revealed, not as the main focus of the book, but through the unfolding of the story.

• Stereotypes frequently found in media portrayals of people with disabilities include: pitiable and pathetic, object of violence, a burden, and incapable of fully participating in everyday life. When using material that includes characters with disabilities, the resource should provide an insight into the feelings and thoughts of the character with disabilities, rather than using the characters with disabilities as literary archetypes to provoke certain feelings and thoughts in the reader.

• Often a character with a disability is used as a vehicle for the growth of another character who is "normal". The "normal" character gains sensitivity or awareness because of his or her relationship with the character with a disability. The character with a disability does not grow or change. This treatment is troubling because the character with a disability is relegated to a passive role and is not treated as a unique, whole individual.

Gender Equity

Expectations based primarily on gender can limit students’ ability to develop to their fullest potential. Therefore, it is the responsibility of schools to create an educational environment free of gender bias. While some stereotypical views have disappeared, others remain and endeavours to provide opportunities for all students must continue.

The following suggestions from Gender Equity: A Framework for Practice (Saskatchewan Education, 1992) may help teachers in the creation of an equitable learning environment.

• Select resources that reflect the current and evolving roles of women and men in society.
• Have equally high expectations for both female and male students.
• Spend an equitable amount of time with all students regardless of gender.
• Allow equal opportunity for input and response from female and male students.
• Incorporate diverse groupings in the classroom.
• Model gender-fair language in all interactions.
• Discuss any gender-biased material with which students may come in contact.
• Seek a balance in the number of male/female protagonists in literature.
• Seek a balance of male/female authors throughout the course.
• Acknowledge the accomplishments of women and men.
• Teach respectful listening.

Resource-based Learning

A resource-based curriculum encourages students and teachers to use a variety of resources in their learning and teaching. In the English language arts program, it is important to:

• consider a wide range of graphic, visual, auditory, and human resources in their course planning
• create a classroom environment rich in resources
• encourage students to read widely
• model resource use by acting as a co-learner with students and by using a wide range of materials and resource people
• incorporate resources, and locational and research skills in appropriate lessons
• encourage students to determine for themselves the skills and resources they need to accomplish a learning task
• incorporate resource-based assignments and unit projects for students
• collaborate with resource centre staff and other teachers in planning and teaching units
• encourage students to explore a variety of sources, databases, and resource centres for both information and enjoyment
• encourage students to draw upon appropriate resources in their own communities.

Managing ideas and information is important in the home, school, workplace, and community. Students need to know how to use resources as well as the skills and strategies to manage the volume of information available to them.

Resource-based learning encourages students to develop research and study skills in order to find, analyze, and organize information from a variety of sources. Students learn how to find, access, and organize knowledge and information when these processes are integrated into a meaningful context, such as a particular assignment or task. Teachers can assist students to develop these lifelong learning skills and strategies by giving them opportunities to learn and apply critical concepts and processes (see chart on following page).

Saskatchewan and Canadian Content and Perspectives

This curriculum encourages students to explore the rich and exciting literary works that exist in this province and country. It is important that students become familiar with their own literary heritage (Gambell, 1990). If they study a range of Saskatchewan and Canadian literary works, they will recognize themselves, their concerns, their feelings, and their environment expressed in many different ways. They will learn that Saskatchewan and Canadian writers deal with personal, cultural, regional, national, and global concerns and that their works are cause for celebration .

Research and Study Skills