EDCP 342 was an amazing course, and I had so much fun learning about mathematics curriculum and pedagogy. I learned about school institutions and the evolution of mathematics through the ages beginning with the progressivist movement led by John Dewey, to New Math reform of the 1960s and to current math practices beginning the 1990s.
One of my favourite readings was Eisner’s Three Curricula that all schools teach as it discusses the implicit curriculum that students learn in school and is not explicitly listed in the official teaching curriculum. These remind me of the “life lessons” or “life skills” that usually come up in my elective courses in home economics and automotive, but also appear in academics unintentionally.
Being exposed to the different aspects of the BC curriculum such as core competencies and big ideas are very helpful from Susan’s guidance and microteaching activities as it got us thinking about ways to incorporate different elements of these goals into teaching and developing lesson plans. This has changed my ideas that every unit has to include all aspects of big ideas/core competencies, when in fact different units may be easier to promote different big ideas/core competencies. For example, in my unit plan assignment on data analysis for Math 9, I found it to be a great unit for developing mathematical communication and reflection rather than specifically focusing on mathematical computation.
I also enjoyed the
discussion on Csikszentmihalyi’s idea of flow. It got me thinking about ways to
develop lessons that promote focus and concentration while also submersing students
into a sense of timelessness.
A suggestion I have for
improving the course next year, would be to consider reducing the number of
assignments so that there can be more time for reflection and stronger development
of ideas from multiple draft review opportunities. Towards the end of the
course after the short practicum, there have been several instances where I
felt rushed to complete assignments such as this unit plan. Nonetheless, this
was an amazing course and I am very thankful to have such a caring and
knowledgeable instructor like Susan to teach this course.
Thank you, Susan.
