EDU5CPP Big Ideas in Curriculum Policies and Pedagogies

Aim: The aim of this task is to learn about and reflect critically on foundational curriculum, policies and pedagogies, and to generate informed ways of thinking otherwise about these matters (SILOS 1, 3). You are required to select two articles from the EDU5CPP Reading List which take up different perspectives on curriculum and write a critical analysis of those articles. A critical analysis adopts a scholarly approach to writing. It uses recent, relevant literature to identify your understanding; requires you to reflect critically on your thinking; and requires you show how and what you have learned from your analysis.

Your critical analysis should be 2000 words in length. It should focus on the two articles selected but analyse these drawing on the other literature you have engaged with in this subject. It should consider your assumptions, beliefs and understandings about curriculum in line with the 4 Rs model of Report, Relate, Reason and Reconstruct as follows.

First, consider each article separately in relation to the following:

REPORT: Summarise the article, including the key issues it raises. What was the purpose of the article? How does the author try to achieve this? How successful were they?

RELATE: Identify aspects of the article which have personal meaning or connections with your experience. Was there anything that triggered a specific emotion or response? Why? Has the article challenged your self-concept, assumptions, attitudes, values, and/or beliefs about curriculum perspectives? Is there anything you need to reconsider or change in your views about this topic?

REASON: Discuss what the article tells us about the curriculum and the wider educational context in which it is situated?

Second, conclude your analysis by synthesising both articles in relation to the following:

RECONSTRUCT: Discuss what you have learned about yourself and your understanding any curriculum issues and perspectives. Can you draw any general conclusions? How could you apply what you have learned to your own work in education (if applicable)