Cutting the curriculum - Science

I'm writing a series of blog posts with the intention of persuading people that the primary curriculum is overloaded with content and needs to be cut. In this post I'm looking at science - specifically a small part of grade 4 science.

The National Standards Curriculum is daunting. (Information taken directly from the curriculum is in blue.) The curriculum emphasizes the importance of developing process skills. Those relevant to this blog post are observing, communicating, predicting, inferring, formulating hypotheses, experimenting.

The curriculum also states “content is easy to forget but process skills remain forever.” I would add that content is easy to access – if you want to know something, look it up. So why is so much content packed into the curriculum?

The curriculum also emphasizes the importance of attitudes: curiosity, objectivity, critical mindedness, open mindedness, inventiveness, intellectual honesty, humility and perseverance.

My suggestions for cutting the content of the curriculum are based on the importance of emphasizing skills and attitudes.

The science for grades 4, 5 and 6 is about 200 pages long. 

I’ve taken a small section which, as a biology teacher, I’m familiar with and concerned about. It's the section of the grade 4 curriculum on sense organs.The GSAT curriculum has been rearranged for the NSC, so that the eye and the ear which were originally taught in Grade 6, are now taught in grade 4. This means they are taught before sound and light (which would include lenses), which I don’t think is a rational move. I concentrated on the following:

Focus question 2: How does the structure of sense organs relate to their functions? (8 lessons). 
(Focus question 1 was Why are sense organs important?)

The content is to be taught during 8 lessons, but the curriculum leaves it up to the teacher to write the lesson plans. The lesson numbers given here are mine and not included in the curriculum.

Lesson 1. The Eye 

Look in a mirror at their eyes and/or examine a model/picture (online/ offline), record their observations (colour, parts) and discuss what they see. Make an annotated drawing of one eye to show the external features and their related functions.

Labels include eyelid, eyelashes, white of the eye, iris and pupil. They can suggest functions of the parts. Looking at how the iris constricts in bright light provides a clue to the function of the iris. 

Research and label diagram of the eye provided by the teacher (cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina and optic nerve ONLY). Using the diagram, show the route that light travels through the eye, and the information then transmitted to the brain.

Sequence this on a flow diagram (cornea à pupil àlens àretina àoptic nerve àbrain). Suggest possible responses of the body after the information is interpreted by the brain.

I would leave most of this out. I think it’s sufficient to tell them at this stage that after light enters the eye it is converted to signals that go to the brain. They will learn more detail in high school. Looking at videos of how the eye works could be an optional enrichment activity.

In groups, examine an eye from another animal e.g. slaughtered cattle/goat/pig and compare the external features with that of the human eye. Discuss and record their observations and share with the class. 

 

I’ve heard so much about children having to get cow eyes, I was surprised they were given as an example only. I think it would be better to get the children to look at the eyes of pets or farm animals, observe how they differ from human eyes and record their observations in drawings or writing.

Lesson 2 . The Ear

 Using a variety of media (electronic or non-electronic) provided by the teacher (e.g. charts, models, online resources), examine the structure of the human ear then label a given diagram of the major parts (pinna, ear canal, eardrum, middle ear, inner ear and auditory nerves) and state their functions, excluding details of the middle and inner ear. (Students are ONLY required to identify the middle and inner ear; no further details are needed.) 

What we normally refer to as an ear is the ear pinna. I think that the children need to know at this point is that the ear’s function of converting sound to signals that go to the brain takes place in the inner ear, basically what is outlined here.

Make a simple flow chart showing the route sound travels through the ear, and the information then transmitted to the brain (pinna à ear canal à ear drum à middle ear à the inner ear à auditory nerve à brain).

Take turns to be blindfolded while another student makes a sound from different points, inside or outside the classroom. Identify the type of sound, direction it is coming from, distance away, loudness of sound etc. As a class, discuss outcomes of the activity and suggest what they think the role of the brain was in identifying the different information about the sounds.

Use graphic organisers found in a word processor or presentation software to aid your construction of the flowchart.

Lesson 3 The Nose

Observe and interact with digital/non-digital resources on the human nose (chart, videotapes, model, educational CDs/DVDs/websites, etc.), label a diagram of the major parts (nostril, septum, hairs, nasal cavity).

Describe and record the scents they smell when the teacher opens various containers. In groups, suggest how they were able to smell and differentiate the various scents. Share their ideas with the class. (Teacher should emphasise that the brain interprets the information and makes us identify the odours.)

 Observe multimedia content on how the nose functions, (video clips, educational CDs/DVDs/websites, etc.), make a flow chart showing how the nose helps us to smell (odours in the air à nostril à nasal cavity à brain).

For homework, in preparation for the lesson on the tongue, children can perform this experiment: Get a small piece of onion. Close your eyes, hold your nose and taste the onion with the tip of your tongue. What do you taste?

Lesson 4 The Tongue

Discuss what children discovered about the onion. Have a discussion about taste – children’s likes and dislikes. What happens to your sense of taste when you have a cold? Is some of what you taste really smell?    Get children’s ideas about what tastes are specific to the tongue.

In groups, search a variety of sources (online/offline) for information on the human tongue. Construct a simple model of the human tongue showing the taste centres (salt, sour, sweet and bitter). Make a flow chart showing how the tongue helps us to taste (substances in food à taste buds à information sent to the brain). Share models and flow charts with the class. As a class, discuss how different tastes are identified (the brain interprets the information from the different taste buds and makes us identify the flavours). 

The tongue

There are some scientists who question the existence of taste centres.

Children should design an experiment to find out if there really are taste centres and where they are located on the tongue. Children may get different results for this experiment because people differ in their abilities to discern flavours.

Instead of constructing a model, children could cut out a tongue shape from a piece of pink paper, label the taste centres on it, and paste it into their books.

Lesson 5: The Skin

In groups, use a magnifying glass to examine their skin at different points of their body, example: the back and palm of their hand; the upper and lower surfaces of the forearm etc. Then, describe and record their observations (skin tone, hairs, sweat pores, creases and folds etc.). Compare the appearance of the skin at the different points of the body examined. Suggest reasons for the differences and their ideas with the class.

In groups, use a variety online/offline of sources (e.g. videotapes, model, computer software, charts, books) to gather basic information on the external structure and functions of the human skin.

Please note – the curriculum does not require students to look at a diagram of a section through the skin, (which is commonly found in 4^th grade text books. Leave that for high school.)

I think it would be good to have a discussion about skin colour. Black pigmentation protects the skin from the sun. White skin gets badly burned in tropical sun. Skin makes vitamin D in sunlight. In temperate climates, where there’s not as much sun in the winter, white skin allows more sun to penetrate and make vitamin D. People with dark skin are likely to be deficient in vitamin D. Bleaching damages the skin and doesn’t help it to make vitamin D.

Lesson 6: Sense organs in the skin

 Identify and record the five stimuli to which the skin responds (pain, pressure, heat, cold and touch). Make a flow chart showing how the skin helps us to feel (stimuli à skin sensors à nerves àbrain).

I would review all the sense organs at this point and relate to Focus Question 1 – why they are important. Discuss how the brain uses input from all the sense organs to make us aware of our environment.  

The following activities can be given for homework.

 Predict what will happen if they insert one hand into a container of cold water, and at the same time the other hand in warm water, then place both hands simultaneously into another container of water at room temperature. Carry out the investigation and record their observations. Compare their predictions and observations. Suggest simple explanations for their observations. Share and discuss their findings and ideas.

Taste samples of fruits, e.g., sweet orange, then sugar, then sour orange/grapefruit, rinsing their mouths with water after each sampling. Record and suggest simple explanations for their observations. Share and discuss their ideas.

Lesson 7: How sense organs can deceive us

Carry out optical illusion activities (e.g. roll a sheet of letter size paper to form a tube with diameter of about 2 cm. Hold the tube with your left hand and look through the tube with the left eye. Place the right hand against the tube with the palm facing the right eye. Move the right hand slowly back and forth alongside the tube while viewing simultaneously through both eyes). Discuss and give possible reasons for their observations.  That’s a good one!

Look at other optical illusions.

What do you see?

Discuss and record ways in which their hearing can deceive them, e.g. reflected sound (echoes) may mislead our ears regarding the origin of a sound. Create a song/poem/drawing/dance etc. to convey how people’s hearing can deceive them.

Review the ways in which their senses can mislead them. Discuss the limitations of the senses. In groups, compose a story on how someone’s senses deceived them. Use story making or presentation software to design and produce the story which should include at least pictures, narration/sound and text. Share stories with class.

Lesson 8: Instruments used to extend the senses.

Do research using a variety of sources (online/offline) or interview a resource person, on how instruments are used to extend the senses, example: detect smoke and odours, view distant objects, view objects at night, detect subtle temperature changes, hear faint sounds, detect vibrations, etc. Make models of the instruments and use these in reporting to class on how the instruments work.

I hope I have demonstrated here that the content prescribed cannot be completed in the time frame given, and that much of it can be deferred to high school.

In case you are concerned that an important aspect of sense organs was omitted,

Focus question 3 is How can I care for and protect my sense organs?

COVID 19 and the Primary Curriculum

COVID 19 has brought into sharp focus inequalities in the education system. While some children, supervised by their parents, have had Zoom classes with their teachers, watched educational videos on Youtube and submitted work to their teachers, others have simply missed three months of schooling. Primary School children will never be able to catch up, because the curriculum is so overloaded with content that there’s no time allowed in it for anything else. 

A student following a class on Zoom

 In my retirement, (I was a biology teacher), I’ve helped children with learning to read, with GSAT and now with PEP. I have looked over class work, assisted with homework and been driven mad by projects, from grades 1 to 6. My opinions are based on what I have observed during the last 15 years, and not on the objectives stated in the curriculum. I realized that one blog post wasn’t sufficient to support my argument, so I’m starting with my list of:

10 Reasons for cutting curriculum

1.         Children need to know that they are loved and wanted and that there is a place for them in society. When children fail to keep up, they lose interest, and start to misbehave.

2.         Children need to learn how to get along with others and co-operate and have empathy. These traits are not developed when there is so much emphasis on competition; and when children are discouraged from expressing their opinions. (See Tracy-Ann McGhie-Sinclair's article on this in the Gleaner.)

3.         Every child has a strength.

a.         Knowing one’s strengths builds self-esteem.

b.         Children’s strengths need to be identified early and coached. Coaching children’s strength encourages them to perform better in their weaker areas.

c.         Praise for good performance is a more effective enforcer than punishment for something done badly.

4.         The Grade 1 curriculum explains to children that we are all different, while at the same time expecting all children to learn at the same pace and with the same attention span. No allowance is made for children suffering from anxiety or ADHD, or even undiagnosed sight or hearing problems. 

5.         The curriculum is designed to inculcate knowledge, skills and attitudes. However, knowledge dominates at the expense of the other two, in spite of the fact that bits of knowledge are soon forgotten. Values and attitudes such as honesty, courtesy, punctuality and reliability are equally as important as knowledge, and are learnt for life.

6.         Children see all assessment as a judgment of themselves. Poor performance in tests lowers their self-esteem, so children label themselves as stupid. The PEP curriculum claims that assessments are student centred and formative, meaning that assessments help teachers identify concepts that students are struggling to understand, and skills they are having difficulty acquiring, so that adjustments can be made to lessons, instructional techniques, and academic support. Teachers have no opportunity to do this, because PEP prescribes factual material to be taught in every lesson in every week of the academic year.

7.         One reason for cramming so much content in the curriculum is that assessment of students’ performance in grades 4, 5 and 6 is the basis on which they are selected for the high schools. Competition for ‘brand-name” schools is so intense that too much attention is given to the children in the top 20% of the ability range. However more important than the top 20%  having mastered grades 7 & 8 work in grade 6, is that all the children should be reading and have mastered computational skills required at their grade level.

8.         Much of the same material that is in the curriculum for grades 4, 5 and 6 is taught again at high school. In fact, some of the better performing students are bored in grade 7, because they’ve done all the work before.

9.     

    Math is a building subject. If children haven’t mastered the basics in grades 1 and 2 they

will flounder in higher grades. Hence the dislike and fear of math in the general population.

10.     The best ways of mastering the English language are by reading for pleasure and by writing one’s own thoughts to communicate with others. Children who are taught to read with access to plenty of books they can read on their own are more likely to enjoy reading. As their reading improves, a whole world of knowledge is open to them. They don’t have to have it prescribed in a curriculum. 

Children's reading room at Hanover Parish Library

I welcome comments on the above. 

I written several blog posts on this same topic including 
Reflections on PEP  and
We are failing our children

PEP and Summer Reading

Parents and teachers have expressed concerns about the Performance Task component of PEP (Primary Exit Profile), which will replace the Grade 4 Literacy and Numeracy Tests in Jamaican primary and prep schools next year. The mock test was recently administered in grades 4 and 5. The headline in The Gleaner on Tuesday, June 19, 2018  was “Students sail through first day of PEP mock exam.” However, the report didn’t paint such a rosy picture. The main concern was that slow readers would be challenged, and not have sufficient time. Perhaps that test should be given over two sessions, as 70 minutes is a long time for these students to maintain concentration.

In another Gleaner article:  “New placement exam’s success rests on parents – teachers”. Noel Pennant, Principal of Windward Road Primary and Junior High School, opined that it is going to require a massive amount of help from parents. Denise Buchanan, a grade five teacher at the same school, told The Gleaner "All in all, I think PEP is relevant and I like it based on the analysis and what students are required to do. But I am not certain at this time, that they will be able to manage it because it’s overloaded with information."  I too have expressed this opinion several times in my recent blog posts.

In another Gleaner article: “Ministry understands parents’ PEP anxieties” Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean, assures us that she will continue to disseminate information about PEP, including a full publication with different kinds of questions showing how they are aligned to the curriculum. However, there doesn’t seem to be any allowance for modification of what they have planned based on feedback from teachers and parents, or suggestions that the curriculum should be cut. 

In the meantime, the best way to prepare children for PEP is to ensure that they read plenty of story books of their own choosing. It has been shown that children who read for pleasure during the summer do better in school the following year than those who don’t. I described the research on this in my blog post “SummerReading – Some Surprising Findings”.

The question then arises: “How can parents get hold of plenty of story books and what titles should they select?” I make suggestions in my blog posts on “Books by Jamaican Authors for Children”; “Summer Reading for 8-12 year-olds”; "My picks for Class Libraries"; "1000 Black Girl Books"; and "Children's Books from or about Africa". 

Parents may only be able to afford one book given the amount of money they have to fork out for books on a booklist, but they could get together, each buying one title which they could swap with other parents. Or the children themselves could form a book club and share their books. They should aim to read at least 6 titles over the summer holidays. Books in Carlong’s Sand Pebble Series sell for about J$500 and are available at Sangster’s Book Store. If family members are visiting from abroad, they could be asked to bring books for children also.

Another consideration when choosing books is that if children are forced to read a book they don’t like, or is too difficult for them, they will get turned off and not want to read at all.  For reluctant readers,
  .... a book should be compelling, so interesting that the reader is "lost in the book".

I have this challenge with a 9-year-old boy I mind after school two days a week. When I took him to the library, I picked out about a dozen books I thought might interest him. (The children’s books are arranged in alphabetical order of authors, easy readers to classics all mixed up. There’s little chance reluctant readers will find books to interest them before they get bored looking.) He chose books with lots of pictures, at a lower level than he’s capable of reading, which he could finish in about five minutes. I also took him to Sangsters to choose a book I would buy for him, but he was only interested in the skateboards! I ended up buying him one of the “Diary of a Wimpy Kid books”.

I have tried to encourage him to read “Captain Underpants”; books from the Sand Pebble Series; the Beeny Bud books by Linda Gambrill; and Pinky and Rex Series by James Howe. Two titles in The Magic Tree House Series by Mary Pope Osbourne: “The Hour of the Olympics” and “Night of the Ninjas” were the only ones he found captivating. They were the right length and at a reading level he was comfortable with. There are plenty more books in that series and they are not too culture-bound. If we are to change the reading culture of our children, those of us who are committed to reading will have to persevere with our vision until reading becomes fashionable. You will hear more from me on this topic! 

Reflections on Jamaica’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP)

Jamaica’s Primary Exit Profile (PEP) is being introduced to replace the Grade Six achievement Test (GSAT). In theory, it is not a pass/fail assessment, but in practice, as was GSAT, given the disparity between secondary schools,that is what it will be. As I said in my blog post of April 2012, “Reflections on GSAT” It is the pressure to perform to get into ‘brand-name schools’ which puts so much stress on the students and their parents.

It is claimed that under PEP emphasis will be placed on project-based and problem-solving learning, with Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics/ Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics (STEM/STEAM) integrated at all levels. The approaches will allow the learners to have hands-on experiences that are similar to real-world situations, making the learning experience less abstract and more concrete.

However, many concerns have been raised about PEP. On Wednesday, April 4, 2018, Dionne Jackson-Miller of TVJ’s All Angles hosted a panel from the Ministry of Education to discuss PEP. The panel consisted of Dr. Grace McLean, Chief Education Officer; Stacy Witter-Bailey, Assessment Officer in Mathematics; and Terry-Ann Thomas-Gayle, Manager of Students’ Assessment Unit. The general public was invited to participate via Twitter, Facebook and text messages.

Members of the public were greatly concerned about class size. With as many as fifty children in a class, teachers are hard pressed to implement the methodologies required by PEP. Dr. Grace McLean, Chief Education Officer, said that the teacher/pupil ratio has been reduced to 1:25, and that no classes should have more than 25 students. My question is this: Where are you going to put them? I know of a school in Montego Bay with approximately 1200 students. There are 6 grades with 4 streams, equivalent to 24 classes of approximately 50 children in 24 classrooms. You might be able to employ the teachers, but they would have to share classrooms, which are already overcrowded. Is this feasible?

An underpopulated school in
Mount Vernon, St. Thomas 2011 

One of the main problems for schools throughout Jamaica is that parents opt to send their children to the big urban schools, often by-passing rural schools. Referring to my blog post of September, 2011, Class Size and the Teaching of Reading, in two deep rural All Age Schools, the total enrolments were 40 and 45, and there were 3 teachers, each teaching 3 grade levels. At the other end of the scale was a school in the heart of an urban area, with a total enrollment of 1,720 and a ratio of 37:1. This school has a 6-stream entry, with about 48 children per class, for which 36 teachers would be required. With the stated ratio of 37:1, the school could employ 46 teachers. Why not a 7-stream entry? Because there was no space—all the classrooms were occupied.

One of my main concerns is that the curriculum is overloaded with too much content. Take for example the sense organs studied in Grade 4, Term 2, unit 1. I would have thought it sufficient for children to observe their eyes in a mirror and identify the parts they can see. They would unlikely to be able to determine their functions on their own, but would be able to understand them when told. I think it’s totally unnecessary for them to draw and study a section of the eye and learn the functions of the parts. That is certainly not a concrete activity. 9-year-olds do not have the mentally capacity to conceptualize the internal structure.

 Furthermore, this will be taught again in high school. In addition, the curriculum specifically states that the children should learn the terms cornea, iris, pupil, lens, retina and optic nerve only, but in their work book the sclera, choroid, rods and cones are also included! I think the terms cornea, iris and pupil are quite sufficient at this level. Care of the eyes is very important, but surely it doesn’t make sense to expound on the types of lenses needed to correct long and short sight. We are getting into CXC Biology topics here.

Similarly, at this level it is not necessary for children to learn the internal structure of the ear. The senses of smell and taste, and sensations felt by the skin lend themselves well to investigation by children, but it is unnecessary for them to identify parts on a diagram of a section of the skin. The time frame in which these topics are to be covered is very tight, allowing no time for re-teaching, review or helping less able children. My recommendation is that there should be a core curriculum with enrichment activities for the more able children.

This brings me to the most deleterious effect of large class size and overloaded curriculum. The less able children get left behind and end up learning very little. In 2017, 15% of the children failed to achieve mastery in the Grade 4 Literacy Test; and 40% in the Numeracy Test. In an article in The Gleaner on Monday, February 5, 2018: “To really fix education”, the Rev. Ronald Thwaites addressed this problem. He cited an example of a school of a school where the grade-four teachers report that only one-third of their students habitually do homework and only half came into their grade cognitively, emotionally and socially ready for this higher standard. The same teachers and their principal, all well-trained, dedicated and, in two instances, professionally acclaimed, report having to spend up to 40 per cent of class time trying to keep order, to induce children to stop talking, and to attract their sustained attention.

He asserted: “Promotion of underachieving students without satisfactory remediation is both folly and cruelty to all concerned. All we are doing is cascading the problem to the higher grades and, ultimately, to the national scene.” Does he recommend that these children not be promoted to higher grades?

In my opinion, this is not the solution. Why have these children been allowed to reach the end of Grade 4, barely being able to read? One reason is that the teachers in grades 1-3 had to get through the curriculum with large classes which allowed for no individual attention. The children who are not keeping up lose interest and motivation, hence act up. If the focus in grades 1-3 was not to complete the curriculum, but to ensure that all the children acquired basic literacy and numeracy skills, we would be in a better position. One teacher cannot listen to 50 children reading individually, but the children can listen to and help each other. This presents an opportunity for children to work in groups, and to introduce a spirit of volunteerism. To keep the above average children occupied, they can be given enrichment activities. They can also be allowed to read story books. The best way of encouraging children to improve their reading is to have an ample supply of suitable books. In many classes in Jamaica, there are no story books at all.  

This brings me to another concern, why is PEP being introduced at Grade 4, by which time children have been programmed to learn by rote? Why not introduce hands-on project based learning in Grade 1? Perhaps had this been done, the less able children would not have been so turned off education. There would have been something in it for them.
If you are in agreement with what I have said here, please add your voice to those clamouring for change.

 

 

 

We are teaching children, not the curriculum!