Designing the Classroom Curriculum Designing the Classroom Curriculum | Page 47

Lynch, Smith, Howarth
We have proposed that ‘curriculum development’ approaches and established teaching models based on the
creative, individual teacher, take for granted that teachers can actually ‘teach’. By ‘teach’ we mean achieve
defined learning outcomes in all students. Whether the models emphasise mere ‘planning’, or how the
curriculum ‘should be’ implemented, creativity remains the underlying premise of ‘teaching’ or ‘learning
activities’ in a traditional teacher mindset. If we ask the question “Why does teaching end up the way it
does?” we realise that there is an unopened ‘black box’ between curriculum content and learning outcomes:
teachers just creatively make up what they will do in their classrooms with their students: a consequence no
less of their teacher training (Lynch, 2012; Smith and Lynch, 2010; Hattie, 2009).
We do not wish to be overly critical of educational theorists and academics in making such assertions. They
work to a different drum beat to teachers and schools because they are university staff with particular
requirements attached to their tenure. They are in part distracted by their own research, teaching, publication
and engagement with social theory as well as being expected to teach, supervise and credential new teachers.
In practice, almost all institutions leave the ‘teaching’ bits of the pre-teacher program to teachers in schools,
where, we suggest, the creative individual teacher concept holds sway. The adage “all teachers can teach but
not all students can learn” was used to explain the inability of some to learn and thus gives insight into the
prevailing teacher mindset. Learning Management aims to open this black box! (Smith and Lynch, 2010).
Figure 3.2: The Component Pieces of the Learning Management Design Process
Newly graduated teachers report having learnt many theories about various aspects of ‘teaching’ but the
learning to teach part --- the demonstration of theory in action or of various teaching techniques, the
coaching, mentoring, application, feedback, and practice--- was either hit and miss, disconnected to the ‘main
on-campus teacher education regime’ or relegated to a third-party practicum. Being ‘creative’ when it comes
to teaching can appear to be the most logical stop-gap survival measure for new teachers. When students
fail to learn what is planned, it appears to be common sense to invoke the idea that I’ve taught it but they just
haven’t learnt it! (see Smith and Lynch, 2010; Fullan, 2007; Cochran-Smith, 2002).
The Learning Management Design Process (outlined in greater details in the next chapter) is an attempt to
overcome all the difficulties we have outlined in earlier sections, but also to provide explicit guidance as to
what’s required when developing the classroom curriculum. The process is a component of Learning
Management as Figure 3.1 illustrates and it captures ‘teaching’ to provide such explicit guidance.
47