Core Curriculum: Plans for Implementation (Saskatchewan Education, 1987) defines the Core Curriculum as including the seven Required Areas of Study, the six Common Essential Learnings, the Adaptive Dimension, and Locally-Determined Option s. Mathematics is one of the Required Areas of Study.
The following foundational documents are supportive of the philosophy of Core Curriculum.
Understanding the Common Essential Learnings: A Handbook for Teachers
(Saskatchewan Education, 1988) as a foundation document for Saskatchewan Education, defines and expands on an understanding of these essential learnings.
Instructional Approaches: A Framework for Professional Practice (Saskatchewan Education, 1991), is intended to generate discussion and promote reflective thinking about instructional practices and to act as a catalyst for further professional development.
The Adaptive Dimension in Core Curriculum (Saskatchewan Education, 1992), establishes the rationale for the Adaptive Dimension as an integral part of Core Curriculum and outlines a process for adjusting program to meet diverse student needs.
Student Evaluation: A Teacher Handbook (Saskatchewan Education, 1991) is intended to provide teachers with information in support of appropriate student evaluation, including: a process for taking stock of current personal evaluation practices; suggestions for enhancing student evaluation programs; descriptions and examples of specific assessment techniques; and the connections between learning objectives, instructional strategies, and assessment techniques.
It is important to incorporate C.E.L.s in an appropriate manner. For example, some areas of mathematics may offer many opportunities to develop the understandings, values, skills, and processes related to a number of Common Essential Learnings. The development of a particular C.E.L., however, may be limited by the nature of the subject matter under study.
It is intended that Common Essential Learnings be developed and evaluated within subject areas. Therefore, Foundational Objectives for the C.E.L.s are included with the Foundational Objectives for Mathematics at the beginning of each grade overview in this guide. Since Common Essential Learnings are not necessarily separate and discrete categories, it is anticipated that working toward the achievement of one foundational objective may contribute to the development of others. For example, many of the processes, skills, understandings, and abilities required for the C.E.L.s of Communication, Numeracy, and Critical and Creative Thinking are also needed for the development of Technological Literacy.
Incorporating Common Essential Learnings into instruction has implications for the assessment of student learning. A unit that has focused on developing the C.E.L.s of Communication and Critical and Creative Thinking should also reflect this focus when assessing student learning. Assessment should allow students to demonstrate their understanding of the important concepts in the unit and how these concepts are related to each other or to previous learning. Questions can be structured so that evidence or reasons must accompany student explanations. If students are encouraged to think critically and creatively throughout a unit, then the assessment for the unit should also require students to think critically and creatively.
It is anticipated that teachers will build from the suggestions in this curriculum guide and from their personal reflections in order to better incorporate Common Essential Learnings into Mathematics.
"the concept of making 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, p. 1)The essence of the Adaptive Dimension rests in the phrase "seeking other ways". Offering students alternative access to, and expression of, knowledge facilitates their participation in learning. Just as physical environments can be made more accessible through modifications such as ramps or wider doorways, learning environments can be made more accessible through a modification of setting, method, or material. The Adaptive Dimension is used to:
These purposes address a primary function of the school, that of helping students to maximize their potentials as independent learners.
Students may find learning to be difficult or not to be challenging but with varying adaptations of teaching methodologies, curriculum organization, time tabling, or with the assistance of the appropriate technologies they can be active participants in their learning. Some general guidelines for adaptation follow:
The Adaptive Dimension includes all practices the teacher employs to make learning meaningful and appropriate for each student. Because the Adaptive Dimension permeates all teaching practice, professional decision becomes the critical factor. The curriculum guide encourages such flexibility and decision-making.