Whether we looked at new ways to build content knowledge, skill sets, or assessment strategies, I found myself always coming back to one thing: the new curriculum. Due to the increased flexibility of the new curriculum, I found that most ideas that we toyed with were totally feasible under the new curriculum. At first glance it seems to allow us to experiment as a teacher. We can explore new topics of interest, or try out new teaching/assessing techniques without being as worried about checking everything off of the Integrated Resource Package (IRP) list.
A topic that I will specifically takeaway and attempt to implement in my teaching practice right away, is Problem-Based Learning (PBL). I found that our conversations often, in a round-about way, made reference to PBL, or at the very least, made reference to pedagogical goals that PBL also shared. Some of our readings discussed different ways to make learning more student-centric (embodiment, community knowledge). I also recall in the article, "Does Everybody Count", the issue of specific mathematical content knowledge not being as useful in the workforce as it once was. This is similar to PBL's goal of developing effective problem-solvers, which does not necessarily involve memorizing facts and formulae.
A few questions that I still have are:
1) Just because PBL seems to fit into the new curriculum nicely, will it actually be used more than it is currently?
2) Besides new content knowledge, and teaching strategies, will the new curriculum also bring about new assessment types?
3) Are we moving towards a more privatized education system? (not discussed very much in class, but it is still something that I am very concerned about)
