Effects of Education Context on Curriculum

Effects of Education Context on Curriculum 1a How can the curriculum offer and delivery vary according to the education and training context or purpose? The education and training context in this instance varies according to community outreach venues, specifically chosen to reach the parents of children needing ESOL teaching, who have low levels of first language literacy and so require potentially different means of supporting language learning. Different approaches to curriculum design are going to influence how the teacher develops the syllabus or the scheme of work, because this will affect how they select each topic to be taught, how sequence topics and themes, language stages, based on whether this is a process or product based syllabus, notional/functional syllabus, Communicative Syllabus, Top-based syllabus.[1] For example, a content-based syllabus, based maybe on grammatical structure, would be organised according to sequencing structures, while a communicative syllabus might be more functional or based on identified needs. Syllabus design is one of the means by which teachers can approach the process of facilitating language learning[2]. However, in language teaching, syllabus design has been largely neglected. Curricula are ways of organising learning, indicating lesson content and learning progress, while syllabuses are much more concerned with what actually goes on in the classroom, forming part of ongoing development, review and refinement of the syllabus[3] to meet the needs of the learner while satisfying the requirements of the institution or awarding body. Syllabus design is the selection and grading of content, and is argued to also relate to the selection of tasks and materials[4]. Because of the complexity of language learning, selection of tasks and selection of content may be different than in other types of learning.[5] â€Å"Lesson planning involves reinforcement with frequent feedback on learning, delayed feedback, allowing trial and error, and praise, marks and prizes.†[6] All o f these means of ordering learning are focused on what and how the ESOL student will learn.[7] In this context, the focus is on ESOL Keeping up with the Children – Family Learning, and so the curriculum is designed with this in mind, but the needs of learners in ESOL can vary, including a more academic approach, such as ESOL in FE[8], or intensive ESOL training for Job Search, or Vocational ESOL (eg ESOL embedded in something else, like Catering). This would then require a more functional syllabus which would be focused much more on vocabulary, and schemes of work would take this into account, practicing key elements of communication rather than simply grammar. Dynamic language learning is more complex than simply the repetition of sounds, words and sentence structures, and so the communicative approach may be much better suited.[9] However, all of these approaches could also potentially serve to help ESOL students integrate into the social world as well.[10] However, the syllabus design and development in this case is also constructed within the requirements of the awarding body, thus requiring that students learn sufficient and in the right manner to meet the assessment requirements, and develop a general English vocabulary which covers personal details and experiences, work, education training, housing, family and friends, health, transport, weather, buying goods, leisure, UK society. The scope of such learning is significant, and cannot all be developed in one term, but the provision of vocabulary lists, and the implementation of constructive methods of learning can be built into the syllabus to allow for ongoing linguistic development which builds upon learning session by session.[11],[12] 1b  How might the different approaches to curriculum design you have outlined influence the outcomes for individuals and groups? The kinds of outcomes which relate to the curriculum here include looking at what skills, vocabulary and language structures will have been learnt in the different educational settings or contexts[13]. For example, the work or occupational based ESOL courses will be limited to the kinds of vocabulary which relate to work activities and practices, and will be quite specialised, while the kinds of programmes which are to do with family learning are likely to relate more strongly to more practical language which can be used in the home and in key scenarios such as learning how to communicate with school teachers and other people about the child. But over-defined objectives can limit learning, rather than support the dynamic forms of learning which are often more suited to ESOL.[14] One of the problems is that the primary contexts for learning, particularly if they are very specialised, such as the occupational learning context, or even learning English as a tourist, can lead to bad habi ts, because language learning is a process of developing attitudes and habits.[15] Thus the habits that have been developed in one context, may benefit or hinder the use of language and the learning and development of further language skills in another setting. However, supporting a degree of learning awareness and self-direction in learning is important, and depending on whether the curriculum is didactic or communicative, this could be more easily achieved or else become more difficult. A communicative approach is much more focused on the needs of the learner, and so is more dynamic, and more likely to foster self-direction in language learning. [16] Self-direction and the identification of structural regularities in language, such as learning applied grammar, can be enhanced by more directed learning approaches, or by a mixture of content-focused syllabi and communicative approaches[17], which has been the author’s experience in their current context. Despite the strengths of different approaches, the context of learning is very significant in how and how well students learn.[18],[19] However, language learning curricula, and the impacts of different approaches to teaching and learning, are still relatively poorly researched, and it would be useful to have more, diverse research and case studies which identify what kinds of approaches have been proven best in which settings.[20], [21] References Armitage, A., Bryant, R., Dunhill, R., Hammersley, M., Hayes, D., Hudson, A., Lawes, S. (1999) Teaching and Training in Post-Compulsory Education, Open University Press. Brillinger, K. (2003) From Theory to Practice: Creating Intermediate ESL Reading Materials Based on Current SLA Research and Theories, Newsletter of the Association of Teachers of English as a Second Language of Ontario, 29(3), 1-6 Burns, A. (2006) Surveying landscapes in adult ESOL research, Linguistics and Education, 17, 97–105 Curzon, L. B. (1997), Teaching in Further Education: an Outline of Principles and Practice, (5th ed.). London: Cassell. Dagenais, D. Beynon, J. and Mathis, N. (2008) Intersections of Social Cohesion, Education, and Identity in Teachers, Discourses, and Practices Pedagogies: An International Journal 3 (2) 85 – 108. Ewald, J.D. (2004) A classroom forum on small group work: L2 learners see, and change, themselves. Language Awareness 13 (3) 163-179. Ferris, D.R. (1994) Lexical and syntactic features of ESL writing by students at different levels of L2 proficiency. TESOL Quarterly 28 (2) 414-420. Lochtman, K. (2002) Oral corrective feedback in the foreign language classroom: how it affects interaction in analytic foreign language teaching International Journal of Educational Research 37 (3-4) 271-283. Long, M. (1996) The role of the linguistic environment in second language acquisition. In Ritchie, W. and Bhatia, T. (eds) Handbook of Second Language Acquisition (413-468) San Diego, CA: Academic Press. Morgan, B. (1997) Identity and intonation: linking dynamic processes in an ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly 31 (3) 431-450. Morrice, L. (2007) Lifelong learning and the social integration of refugees in the UK: the significance of social capital, International Journal of Lifelong Education, 26(2), 155-172 Reece, I. and Walker, S. (2000). Teaching, Training and Learning: a practical guide. Sunderland: Business Education Publishers. Roberts, C. Baynham, M. (2006) Introduction to the special issue: Research in adult ESOL, Linguistics and Education, 17, 1-5 Rogers, A. (1996), Teaching Adults, 2nd edition, Buckingham: Open University Press. Widodo, H.P. (2006) Approaches and procedures for teaching grammar. English Teaching: Practice and Critique. 5 (1) 122-141. Zamel, V. and Spack, R. (2006) Teaching Multilingual Learners across the Curriculum: Beyond the ESOL Classroom and Back Again. Journal of Basic Writing (CUNY), 25 (2) 126-152. 1 Footnotes [1] Nunan, D. (1988) [2] Nunan (ibid) [3] Nunan (ibid) [4] Nunan (ibid) [5] Zamel, V. and Spack, R. (2006) [6] Reece, I. and Walker, S. (2000). P 106 [7] Armitage, A., Bryant, R., Dunhill, R., Hammersley, M., Hayes, D., Hudson, A., Lawes, S. (1999) [8] Curzon, L. B. (1997), [9] [10] Morrice, L. (2007) [11] Morgan, B. (1997) [12] Lochtman, K. (2002) [13] Burns, A. (2006) [14] Reece and Walker (ibid) [15] Reece and Walker (ibid) [16] Rogers, A. (1996), [17] Widodo, H.P. (2006) [18] Long, M. (1996) [19] Ewald, J.D. (2004) [20] Roberts, C. Baynham, M. (2006) [21] Brillinger, K. (2003)

Kumdo in Korea

This martial art technique rooted way back 2000 years ago at the time of the early Three Kingdoms period – Shilla, Plahae, and Koryo.   In those times, sword bearing is a way of life, they follow every rules religiously and conduct their daily lives with strictly disciplined and moral manners. Through the use of sword the above dynasties have expanded their respective territories especially during the 7th to 15th century.   Specifically, the Palhae Dynasty was found and ruled by the ex-Koguryo warrior class after the fall of Koguryo in 668 A.D. After the fall of the unified three Kingdoms, the warrior class was just limited to state military who refined and developed the art under the name of â€Å"Ghihuck-Gum.† In 1896, Ghihuck-Gum was chosen to be the compulsory training requirement for the newly founded police academy.   From there on, Kumdo, the modern amalgamation of â€Å"the art of the sword† and â€Å"the way of righteousness† from the Taoist philosophy, was developed to be practiced by some as a sport and by others as a means of character development or spiritual refinement (U.S. Hwa Rang Kwan, 2006). In the 20th century, Kumdo used the bamboo sword and lightweight armor used in Japanese Kendo.   The population of people studying this technique grows very fast as the availability of the practice armor and sword made Kumdo flooded the market.   It made the technique more popular. What is Kumdo â€Å"Kumdo† means â€Å"sword way†.   It is the Korean counterpart of Japanese Kendo.   The current technique uses â€Å"juk do†(4 split bamboo sword) and the â€Å"ho goo†(the head and body gear), which began in 18th century. With â€Å"juk do† and â€Å"ho goo† the art of Kum Do took a surprising turn in its style. Allowing more experimentation without injury, the style became more effective by allowing stronger and deadlier blow without a considerable and extensive swing of the sword. The present form that combines of the inner strength (much signified by a scream from within â€Å"ki†), the absolute and unbounded swing of the sword(â€Å"kum†), and use of one's lower back and body(â€Å"chae†) was recently perfected. This is known as â€Å"ki-kum-chae.† Thus in tournaments one does not receive a point, although striking the opponent successfully, if the blow is not accompanied by all three components of â€Å"ki-kum-chae.†(Chang, 2006) The purpose of Kumdo can be summarized as: Mental and Physical Discipline Spiritual Discipline and Awakening Improved Technique Through Practice Discipline Based Upon the Spirit of Hwarang (Hwarang Ogae) Kundo practioners wear the same uniform as those who practice Kendo.   But there are many who are willing to use or vary the uniform including the color and accessories.   In Korea, practioner wear black trim and stripes on theur hakama instead of blue and this became popular in many dojos around the world. Like Kendo, Kundo has also 10 forms, removing sonkyo bow and using Korean names and terminologies instead.   Kumdo practitioners can compete in kendo tournaments.   There are a total of 400,000 practioners of Kumdo in Korea alone and is ranked as second most popular martial arts in Korea, next to Taekwondo. Origin Of Kumdo This technique originated in Korea but these art was admitted to be a direct interpretation of its Japanese counterpart – Kendo (â€Å"Ken† means sword and â€Å"do† means way) In fact, some of the early founders of this technique says that there is totally no difference between the two form of art. It should be understand that these similarities in technique in the two techniques can be rooted to the history of Korea. The annihilation of Japan to all the documents and historical artifacts of Korea including all the written documents about Korean Martial Arts have made it difficult for the Korean people and martial arts practioners to trace the original techniques of the Korean sword that originated way back in 4th century.  Ã‚   It is said to be composed of twenty-five poses and postures that would result in the immediate defeat of the opponent. Kumdo as an Art Just like any other martial arts techniques, Kumdo can be considered as an art because it has a very rich and deeply rooted technique that was developed because of the interesting classical traditional, religions, philosophies and meditation techniques from Korea. A martial art like Kumdo is an art but not an art form.   It is a skill acquired by experience, study and observation.   Also, it is something that can be enjoy and participate of any people from all walks of life.   But again, it is, first and foremost, an art of self defense. Although there are people that are motivated to study this because of the self-defense benefit of the technique but to appreciate the beauty and art that is inextricably intertwined in this (Orlando, 1997) It is an art because it has so many different artistic aspects. Just like dances, it has timing and rhythm. It has movements that can be used in dancing.   Just like in painting where artist mixed colors to produced art, it is the same thing with Kumdo, it is an infusion of classical traditional, religions, philosophies and meditation techniques. Spiritual Aspect of Kumdo Kumdo has three level of mastery and one of them is the spiritual alignment of a person.   Under this the limitations of physical body and mind merges through meditation techniques.   The mind is silenced through the refined focus and the sword is used solely as a tool to link the body and the mind with the infinite. (Shaw, 2000) It brings peace of mind and self-confidence and a disciplined and healthy mind. Through training, a person will have an honest self-examination or spiritual awakening. Ranking System and Ability Level Ranking in Kumdo Kyu from 10 to 1: jukyu, kukyu, hachikyu, nanakyu, rokyu, gokyu,yonkyu, sankyu, nikkyu, ikkyu.   Dan from 1 to 9: shodan, nidan, sandan, yondan, godan, rokudan,nanadan, hachidan, kudan.   Teaching certificates from lowest to highest: renshi, kyoshi, hanshi. The older schools (koryu) did not have dan ranks – they are a moderninvention. Instead, they used certificates ofmerit. There is virtually no standardization or commonality. Two common termsare menkyo-kaiden, referring to†graduates†, and kirigami for a first rank. Many ryu consider the ranks aslevels of initiation which have noparallel to dan and kyu. Still others broke the ranks down simply as studentand teacher, of possibly various levels. There are three levels in Kumdo 1.Physical Mastery – The students becomes expert in the physical aspect of the art.   These include understanding correct sword etiquette, mastery of the stances, and proper techniques in drawing and moving with the sword. 2.Mental Mastery –   The second level witnesses the Kumdo practitioner beginning to rise above the objective techniques of the sword. The Kumdo technician no longer needs to contemplate whether or not he is in the correct stance or unsheathing the sword efficiently. Through long periods of practice, all movements have become natural and there is no unnecessary thought given to them (Shaw, 2000) 3.Spiritual Alignment –   in this level the practitioner learn to make his physical body and mind work as one through the use of meditation technique. References Chang, Soon (2006) What is Kumdo?. U.S Hwa Rang Kwan. Retrieved on December 17, 2006 http://www.kumdo.com. Shaw, Scott (2000) Kumdo the Korean Art of Sword. Retrieved on December 17, 2006. http://www.scottshaw.com/kumdo.html Orlando, Bob (1997) Martial Arts America: A Western   Approach to Eastern Arts. California. Frog Ltd. ;

Adolescents as a Vulnerable Population for Obesity Essay

The adolescent, aged 12 to 18 years, is in the stage of identity versus role confusion. Life for teens is complex and the transition from the previous stage is tremendous. Teens are expected, and desire, to commence taking charge of their lives and their futures. They make decisions about who they are and how they will fit into the world. Knowledge and experience as these are related to education, health, politics, sex, environment, culture, family, and social relationships, all shape the teen’s identity. If adolescents do not successfully navigate this stage, they experience role confusion (Pantea, 2011). During the stage of adolescence, children attempt to self-identify or gain a sense of who they are and their role in life, while facing the challenges of peer pressure and other environmental factors. It is important to educate adolescence on the importance of maintaining self-strength to avoid the influence of the society around them. For us, as educators, this may be one o f the greatest challenges because we must try to relate to an adolescent in reference to their age, gender, socioeconomic status, etc. There are many theories that describe the changes an adolescent may go through; a popular theorists, Sigmund Freud describes both psychosexual as well as personality development throughout childhood. Adolescence is a very important time for teaching maintenance of healthy habits. The goal being, to carry these healthy habits into adulthood. Some factors which influence adolescent obesity are, limited access to healthy and affordable foods, environment, food insecurity related to lack of money, poor eating habits, an increase in â€Å"screen time† such as television, computers and video games causing a decrease in activity, and food marketing targeting children and adolescents. Adolescents eat more  food prepared away from home than in the past. Eating away from home increases calorie consumption, and many of the calories come in the form of saturated fats. Bottom line, kids are eating more unhealthy foods and they are a lot less active. â€Å"In 2009, less than 20 percent of high school students engaged in the recommended amount of physical activity of 60 minutes every day and over 20 percent did not get exercise on any day, though rates vary by gender and race† ( Schwartz & Peterson, 2010). In 1992 the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created the food guide pyramid. This basic drawing explained the pieces of a healthy diet. The pyramid was widely used in schools, on food labels, in print media and medical brochures. However this was not based on much scientific evidence and did not do much to encourage healthy eating. In 2011 the USDA replaced the pyramid with â€Å"My Plate†. This new image is a simple way to remind people to think about food choices when eating a meal. The www.choosemyplate.gov website is designed to help people of all ages and backgrounds incorporate better eating habits. This site offers meal planning, education, games for children, and also links to other sites that can enhance your knowledge on nutrition (USDA, 2014). â€Å"Epidemiology is the science and practice which describes and explains disease patterns in populations and puts this knowledge to use to improve health† (Bhopal, nd), or the science or study of epidemic. It is the scientific study of disease exploration. According to the CDC the ten steps used in investigating an outbreak of a disease are: 1) Prepare for field work, 2)Establish the existence of an outbreak, 3)Verify the diagnosis, 4)Define and identify cases, 5)Describe and orient the data in terms of time, place, and person, 6)Develop hypotheses, 7)Evaluate hypotheses, 8)Refine hypotheses and carry out additional studies, 9) Implement control and prevention measures, 10) Communicate findings. (Centers for Disease Control, 2004). The epidemiologic triangle is a model that scientist have established for studying health problems. The triangle has three corners called vertices. The three vertices of the triangle are the agent, host, and environment. In relationship to adolescent obesity, the primary agent influencing adolescent obesity is high caloric food and its availability, the host is the teenager being physically inactive and/or over eating, and  the environment is the absence of accessibility to nutritious healthy foods, education resources and support Epidemiologists prefer two types of studies for searching out risk factors for disease, case-control studies and cohort studies. A cohort study would be most suitable for the research of adolescent obesity since it would provide a much better opportunity to establish a cause-effect relationship as it begins with the exposure, high calorie food and moves forward in time to the disease, adolescent obesity, which could be stretched further into adulthood obesity and the diseases related to it. The three levels of epidemiological disease prevention are, primary, secondary and tertiary. The primary level focuses on prevention methods before the person gets the disease. So in the case in adolescent obesity the primary level of prevention would be to develop a plan that is effective both at home and in school for preventing weight gain by promoting healthy eating and exercise habits. Schools possess the opportunity to give students the tools and strategies for them to adopt and continue healthy lifestyles even after they graduate or leave. Assuring there are strategies in place at schools to promote healthy activities is also crucial to reshaping student’s habits for the better. First, they must build the foundation for healthy activity and eating. Schools need to have a coordinated school health program in place as a guideline. CSHPs provide a systematic approach to promoting Student health and learning. The model promoted by CDC consists of eight components that can strongly influence student health and learning including health education, physical education, and school meals, which are present in most schools (CDC, 2013). â€Å"Active coordination is needed to engage school staff,   implement district/school priority actions assess programs   and policies; create a plan based on data, sound science, and analysis of gaps and redundancies in school health programming; establish goals, and evaluate efforts. A well-coordinated school health program results in an organized set of courses, services, policies and interventions that meet the health and safety needs of all students† (CDC, 2013, pg.3). So primary prevention reduces both the incidence and prevalence of a disease. The secondary level focuses on after the disease has occurred but before the person realizes anything is wrong. The goal of secondary prevention is to find and treat disease early. So, say for instance, the adolescent is â€Å"a little overweight† or â€Å"thick but not fat†, by the time the teenager is recognizing and using these terms, they are most likely well on their way to being classified as obese. Finally the tertiary level is aimed at those people who already have symptoms of the disease. The goal of tertiary care is to prevent the disease from causing any further health related complications and to perhaps slow down the disease process. There is also a goal of providing better care to the patient and maybe even doing it well enough that the disease can be reversed and the patient can be healthy again. So an obese adolescent who has been diagnosed as obese and is aware they are obese would fall into this category. In conclusion, epidemiologists study the adolescents and their health problem of obesity and from these studies they try to find the contributing factors to the problem of adolescent obesity. Then the epidemiologist look for a solution to the problem, by perhaps researching ways to eliminate the contributing factors, in hopes of preventing the disease of adolescent obesity before it starts. References Bhopal R nd What is epidemiologyBhopal, R. (nd). What is epidemiology? Retrieved from http://www.pitt.edu/super7/18011 20140413220211460672974 Center for Disease Control 2004 Steps for an Outbreak InvestigationCenter for Disease Control (2004, November 17). Steps for an Outbreak Investigation. Retrieved from http://cdc.gov/excite/classroom/outbreak/steps.htm. Center for Disease Control and Prevention (2013) Adolescent and School Health. Retrieved 04/12/14 from http://www.cdc.gov/healthyyouth Pantea, M. (2011). Adolescence. In M. Stange, C. Oyster, & J. Sloan (Eds.), Encyclopedia of women in today’s world. (1st ed., pp. 26-28). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, Inc. doi: http://dx.doi.org.ezproxy.apollolibrary.com/10.413 5/97814129vcvvvvcffffddfdfr 95962.n11 20140413222409263847828 Schwartz S Peterson J 2010 Adolescent Obesity in the Unted StatesSchwartz, S., & Peterson, J. (2010, November). Adolescent Obesity in the United States. Retrieved from http://www.nccp.org/publications/pub_977.html United States Department of Agriculture. (2014). Choose my plate. Retrieved from http://choosemyplate.gov/ 20140413214914517867326

The Japanese Word Kagaku

For those interested in Science, and in studying the Japanese language, get to know the word, Kagaku. Kagaku or  Ã§ §â€˜Ã¥ ­ ¦ (㠁‹ã Å'㠁 ) in Japanese characters is the Japanese word for science.   Example Kagaku  ga  shinposhite,  watashitachi  no  seikatsu  wa  benrini  natta.​ ç §â€˜Ã¥ ­ ¦Ã£ Å'é€ ²Ã¦ ­ ©Ã£ â€"㠁 ¦Ã£â‚¬ Ã§ § Ã£ Å¸Ã£  ¡Ã£  ®Ã§â€Å¸Ã¦ ´ »Ã£  ¯Ã¤ ¾ ¿Ã¥Ë† ©Ã£  «Ã£  ªÃ£  £Ã£ Å¸Ã£â‚¬â€š Translation: Thanks to the development of science, our lives have become much more convenient.​