Cross Curriculum Instruction: Emerging Strategies in Curricular Reform

The need for curricular reform has become a major issue in contemporary educational contexts (Atkin & Black, 2003). This is largely due to the growing dissatisfaction with existing educational frameworks and materials among teachers and educational policymakers. This literature review sets out to identify emerging strategies in curriculum reform. The review demonstrates that curricular reform is a continuous process that involves the adoption of different strategies. They vary depending on the arising issues, achievements sought, and the styles of those who are responsible for implementing the curricular reform projects.
To begin with, a common strategy entails integrating technology into the curriculum (Harris, Mishra & Koehler, 2009). Moreover, policymakers are keen to promote cross-curricular collaboration with a view to share teaching experiences (Mary, Richard & Jenny, 2004). For example, collaboration between humanities and science teachers has become a common phenomenon. It leads to the emergence of novel and interesting ideas on how to look at subjects such as genetics from social and ethical perspectives. Such endeavors enable teachers to examine socio-scientific issues relating to certain science topics such as genetics (Phillips & Ochs, 2003). The idea is to promote an understanding of the topic from both social and scientific perspectives, thereby helping teachers to manage emerging ethical debates and dilemmas (Phillips & Ochs, 2003). Furthermore, the idea of policy “borrowing” has emerged as a common curricular reform strategy (Phillips & Ochs, 2003). This strategy involves cross-national sharing of educational experiences in order to enrich the process of decision-making and the implementation of curricular changes.
Meanwhile, curricular reform can also be understood from the perspective of changing educational practices. For example, one trend that has emerged since the 1990s involves devolving responsibility to teachers themselves to make changes not only to methods of teaching but also the selection of content (Atkin & Black, 2003; Porter, Archbald & Tyree Jr., 1990). Educational policymakers have realized that teachers can contribute significantly to the creation of a curriculum structure that best addresses learners’ needs (Friend & Cook, 1990; Marks & Louis, 1997). In this case, the idea is to promote collaboration in curricular reform as an integral part of a broader school reform process (Friend & Cook, 1990).
At the same time, the need to promote professionalism, empowerment of teachers, and restructuring of schools has significantly influenced the choice of curricular reform strategies (Friend & Cook, 1990). For example, curricular reform in the United States is being driven by the need to empower teachers and subsequently redress the country’s declining status as a global leader in education (Friend & Cook, 1990). In recent literature, the declining stature of U.S. educational standards on the global stage is blamed by the country’s failure to embrace large-scale curricular reform the way other developed countries are doing (Fullan, 2009; Ennis, 2006; Berliner, 2006). Some of the countries that have successfully introduced large-scale curricular reform include Finland, England, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Canada (Fullan, 2009).
In conclusion, curricular reform is a necessary undertaking in today’s rapidly changing world. Teachers need to embrace new educational frameworks and materials to be effective in the classroom. Curricular reform should also lead to the adoption of teaching methods that best address learners’ needs. Some of the strategies that have been widely explored in literature include integration of technology into curriculums, cross-cultural collaboration, policy “borrowing”, and efforts to devolve responsibility to teachers in terms of choice of teaching methods and content selection. Finally, findings indicate that the choice of curricular reform strategies is being influenced significantly by the need to promote professionalism, empowerment of teachers, and improvements in a country’s educational standards in relation to other countries.

References
Atkin, J. & Black, P. (2003). Inside Science Education Reform: A History of Curricular and Policy Change. New York, NY: Teachers College Press.
Berliner, D. (2006). Our impoverished view of educational research. Teachers College Record, 108(6), 949–995.
Ennis, C. (2006). Curriculum: Forming and reshaping the vision of physical education in a high need, low demand world of schools. Quest, 58(1), 41-59.
Friend, M. & Cook, M. (1990). Collaboration as a predictor for success in school reform. Journal of Educational and Psychological Consultation, 1(1), 69-86.
Fullan, M. (2009). Large-scale reform comes of age. Journal of Educational Change, 10(2), 101-113.
Harris, J., Mishra, P. & Koehler, M. (2009). Teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge and learning activity types: Curriculum-based technology integration reframed. Journal of Research on Technology in Education, 41(4), 393–416.
Marks, H. & Louis, K. (1997). Does teacher empowerment affect the classroom? The implications of teacher empowerment for instructional practice and student academic performance. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 19(3), 245-275.
Mary, R., Richard, H. & Jenny, M. (2004). Teaching ethical aspects of science: Is cross-curricular collaboration the answer?: Ethics in science education. School Science Review, 86(315), 39-44.
Phillips, D. & Ochs, K. (2003). Processes of policy borrowing in education: Some explanatory and analytical devices. Comparative Education, 39(4), 451-461.
Porter, A., Archbald, D. & Tyree Jr., A. (1990). Reforming the curriculum: Will empowerment policies replace control? Journal of Education Policy, 5(5), 11-36

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