Core Curriculum Components and Initiatives

Core Curriculum

Core Curriculum has four components: Required Areas of Study, Common Essential Learnings, Adaptive Dimension, and Locally-determined Options. In addition, Core Curriculum has several supporting initiatives which are, in effect, principles that guide curriculum development and classroom instruction. Brief descriptions of these components and initiatives follow.

Common Essential Learnings

Common Essential Learnings are those knowledge, skills, and attitudes that can be developed across the curriculum. In Saskatchewan, they have been organized in six areas: Communication, Numeracy, Critical and Creative Thinking, Personal and Social Values and Skills, Technological Literacy, and Independent Learning.

The incorporation of the Common Essential Learnings into a journalism studies course assists students with learning the concepts, skills, and attitudes necessary for success both in school and beyond. Journalism Studies 20 offers many opportunities for developing the Common Essential Learnings (C.E.L.s). Some examples follow.

Communication

Students will:

• use language to think about, listen to, view, read, write, discuss, and produce various media
• recognize that each medium has a set of codes, conventions, and characteristics which affect the way the messages are transmitted and understood
• extend their language repertoires and explore journalistic styles
• communicate in various formats for various audiences and purposes.

Numeracy

Students will:

• read, interpret, and communicate facts and figures through reports, charts, and graphs
• recognize and create organizational patterns to communicate quantitative information
• use statistics to interpret and communicate information.

Critical and Creative Thinking

Students will:

• use language as an instrument of thought
• think reflectively, critically, and creatively
• listen, read, and view analytically and critically
• make and justify decisions
• pose questions and seek clarification
• seek truth, accuracy, and objectivity.

Personal and Social Values and Skills

Students will:

• learn to interact, co-operate, and collaborate
• understand the importance of social responsibility and personal integrity in the use of language and media
• respect the rights of individuals
• understand that the values of cultural groups differ
• recognize social, legal, and ethical obligations of the press.

Technological Literacy

Students will:

• understand that technology is a tool to facilitate communication
• learn how technology impacts on their lives, society, and the environment
• understand how technological developments are shaped by society.

Independent Learning

Students will:

• learn knowledge, skills, and attitudes necessary to become lifelong learners
• learn to use a variety of resources to assist their learning
• learn to access information from a variety of sources.

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

Adaptive Dimension

The Adaptive Dimension is an essential part of any journalism program. Like the Common Essential Learnings, the Adaptive Dimension should permeate the classroom 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:

• 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 respect 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 for students who need it
• vary the types of activities (e.g., direct instruction, peer tutoring, individual contract)
• vary resources
• provide program enrichment and/or extension when it is needed
• 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 su ccessful learning.

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 program s 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, Saska tchewan 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 these students must recognize that they 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 students with English language development. Teachers are encouraged to use 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 wi ll 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 at the Secondary Level 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 into their Journalism Studies 20 course. They must also teach their students that, in the past, Aboriginal peoples were generally depicted by the mass media in a very inaccurate and stereotypical manner. This has had a profound and continuing impact on the way Aboriginal peoples are viewed in society, as well as how Aboriginal peoples view themselves. Teachers have a responsibility to choose resources carefully, to teach all students to recognize bias, and to discuss the nature and impact of these biases on both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples. 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’ language and critical thinking abilities. Suggested Indian and Métis resources are included in the bibliographies developed by Saskatchewan Education.

It is important that the Journalism Studies 20 course 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 Indian, Inuit, and Métis authors whenever possible
• include historical and contemporary issues.

Multicultural Content, Perspectives, and Resources

A multicultural perspective addresses the major cultural groups in a country. Such a perspective should permeate the English language arts program through the reflection of all peoples’ experience. Some guidelines for teachers follow.

• Students should be given opportunities to learn about concepts (racism, for example) by studying the real experiences of groups and individuals.
• 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 emphasize the differences between groups and individuals. For example, many Acadians speak French but some do not. Many Aboriginal people speak their language (e.g., Saulteaux) but many do not.
• The program should reflect an awareness that class, gender, region, and religion all influence individuals and that there is a fine line between generalizing and stereotyping.
• Teachers should choose resources that are representative of diverse cultural backgrounds, that are authentic, and that are free of cultural bias.

Portrayal of Persons with Disabilities

Portrayal of persons with disabilities in literature and mass media has been varied and often negative. Inappropriate information has engendered attitudes ranging from feelings of pity or revulsion to expectations of superhuman powers of intellect or insight. It is critical that teachers 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 mass media frequently portray people with disabilities in a sterotypical way. When evaluating material for use in the journalism studies 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 characters 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. 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 and producers throughout the course.
• 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 Journalism Studies 20, teachers can:

• 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 listen, read, and view widely.
• Model resource use by acting as a co-learner with students and by using a wide range of materials.
• Incorporate resources 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 projects for students.
• Collaborate with resource centre staff and other teachers in planning and teaching modules.
• 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.

Note: It is important to be aware of current copyright regulations regarding the use of audiovisual and/or print materials in the classroom. Many resources that are currently available for private viewing cannot legally be shown or used for education purposes without the permission of the copyright holder.