Critical Review Of Articles

Write a Critique Based on the given two Articles.

 

 

There are a lot of challenges faced by the pre-school educators in proper implementation of the early childhood curriculum (Tsangaridou, 2016). The education system has become more complex and there is an expansion in the roles of the pre-school teachers. The young children are considered merely a political and social commodity (Jennings & Niemi, 2014). The teachers are finding themselves in a social revolution for either winning votes or for other particular causes. The childhood educators are expected to perform greater roles than merely imparting education to the preschoolers (Tsangaridou, 2016). They are also expected to be health care providers, curriculum specialists, child advocates and others. The modern teaching systems are subjected to more stringent rules and new versions of pedagogy.

The article by Simon Ntumi focused on the different challenges faced by the pre-school educators based in the Cape Coast Metropolis (Ntumi, 2016). There have been changes in the criteria of providing good education to the children. Hence, it has become important for the teachers to give premium quality of curriculum implementation (Ntumi, 2016). The early childhood educators have a great responsibility in shaping the minds of the small children (Ntumi, 2016). Hence, it is important to manage the challenges faced by them so that they can impart good quality of education. It is also important to seek data for the educational leaders as well as the policy makers so that there is clear representation of the actual problems (Ntumi, 2016). The study found that one of the main challenges of the pre-school teachers is central to the idea of lack of proper training of the teachers. The trainings are not appropriate and they do not address the needs of the teachers in addressing the questions related to the implementation of curriculum (Ntumi, 2016). The findings of the research show that the schools do not have sufficient learning as well as teaching materials so that the early childhood education can be implemented in a smooth manner. The teachers are also not aware of the proper curriculum that should be

According to Noe (2015), there is reduction in the involvement of the parents in the education of their pre-school wards. This makes it difficult for the teachers to function alone. They are often unable to understand the requirements of the child and follow-up with the same. Ballantine and Hammack (2015) argued that the child care educators are offered low packages as compared to other fields of work (including service based roles). This often makes it difficult to find suitable qualified pre-school teachers. The childcare educators are also overburdened with lot of activities on a day to day basis such as keeping records of the children’s activities, daily attendance, meal planning, lesson planning and others (Ballantine & Hammack, 2015). The pre-school teachers often face the fear of getting complaints from the parents. The family engagement becomes a major issue. The teachers also face that they do not get sufficient recognition while performing the job of a pre-school teacher. They feel under-valued in their present job roles. Caruso and Fawcett (2015) opine that there is an increasing lag between the program implementation and the original policy made by the policy-makers towards the pre-school education. There is difficulty in the implementation of the course curriculum in a pre-school level. There are other concerns such as time constraints, stringent rules, funding issues, safety concerns, lack of appropriate curriculum content and others. This makes the teacher unable to meet the desired education criteria of the pre-school students.

The school children especially in the pre-school are fresh minds whose knowledge needs to be enhanced from a nascent stage. This article focused on the different types of challenges faced by the pre-school teachers in the implementation of early child courses. The challenges include lack of proper training, not sufficient training materials for teachers, no infrastructure that facilitates the pre-school learners and others. The analysis of the literature shows that there are several challenges faced by pre-school teachers such as low packages, unable to understand the requirements of the child and others.  It is important to manage the different types of challenges. The teachers should be exposed to wide spread training for the purpose of gaining more in-depth knowledge to the subject matter. There should be special training sessions, which focus on the training of the pre-school children. This would enable the pre-school teachers in becoming comfortable with the subject.

Article -2:Teachers' Perspective towards Their Involvement in Selection and Organization of Learning Experiences and Implementation of Secondary School Curriculum in Kenya

The role of teachers in education is providing skills and information to students to help them develop the powers of judgment and reasoning. The empowering process of education cannot overlook the contribution of teachers in effectively enhancing the learning of students. The responsibility of the teachers include developing their competence in taking charge of the growth of the organization they are employed in and their personal growth too. They participate in the curriculum development process to adequately respond to the critical demands of the education world and the growing concern of the educational community (Kimwarey, Chirure & Omondi, 2014).

According to this article by Dr. Lydia Kanake Kobiah the talents and experiences of teachers are untapped and less utilized at the time of curriculum development in the Kenyan education system (Kobiah, 2016). This is mainly because of the top-down model followed by the Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) and the centrally-controlled processes for curriculum development. She has suggested that the teachers must partake in the steps of planning and development of the curriculum to ensure its effective implementation. This perspective of Kobiah is backed by the opinions of Alsubaie (2016) who also suggests that the involvement of teachers in the process of curriculum development is imperative. Alsubaie has further stated that the experience, knowledge and competencies that teachers possess ensures a successful learning process for the students (Alsubaie, 2016). In cases where the curriculum is already developed, it is the responsibility of the teachers to get involved in that and understand it. It is also the responsibility of the curriculum development team to cooperate with the teachers and accept them as a deciding factor of the whole curriculum development process. Teachers who are involved in the process are found to have reported in favor of the involvement, with increase in their self confidence and morale, along with the oncoming of fresh ideas and remodeling of existing ideas of their own. Teachers regularly interact with students and their practical knowledge would be useful for the curriculum committees in assessing the developed ideas and their capacity. The curriculum developed by teachers can be used by other teachers as well throughout the system (Danielson, 2013).

Along with the involvement of the teachers comes the creation of lesson plans and syllabi inside the structure of the curriculum to meet the needs of the students. Other studies support the view of Kobiah regarding the teacher empowerment by means of participation in curriculum development. However, several studies opine against the participation of teachers in curriculum development. The involvement of teachers in the curriculum development process has raised questions regarding their affiliation with their own classrooms. Teachers mostly get major satisfaction from completing their teaching, duties involving direct interactions with students, relationships with the learning and the instructional activities and outcomes. It has been found that teachers are more comfortable carrying on with their classroom tasks instead of the organizational responsibilities, with the classroom claiming more importance over organizational initiations (Thiessen, 2012). Another factor is the non-involvement of teachers in the curriculum development process where teachers who are isolated from other teachers tend to concentrate wholly on the classroom. The basic conservatism that teachers possess, work against their involvement in the curriculum development committees. Teachers are more comfortable in their routine – it is safe and a shelter for them. From this, it can be understood that if there is any vested interest from the teacher’s side regarding the maintenance of the status quo, they would have limited incentive in participating in curriculum development committees, since the development process tantamount to change (Moon, 2013).

The situation ultimately comes down to being problematical.  The arguments on behalf of the participation of teachers in curriculum development process are convincing, but the different factors that are working simultaneously to keep the attention of teachers on their own classrooms make the participation factor less convincing. In Kobiahs’ article recommendations have been put forward for The Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) to widen the scope for the process by recruiting and developing more strategies for the involvement teachers in the curriculum development process. The redefining of the curriculum development process as an extension of the school system would provide more opportunities for the teachers to get involved in it. The decentralization of the development process would make the participation process easier at all levels. Additionally, more research, similar to this one must be conducted so that alternative models can be found to help the teachers and other related stakeholders participate completely in the development process (Kobiah, 2016).

References

Alsubaie, M. A. (2016). Curriculum Development: Teacher Involvement in Curriculum Development. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(9), 106-107.

Ballantine, J., & Hammack, F. M. (2015). The sociology of education: A systematic analysis. Routledge.

Caruso, J. J., & Fawcett, M. T. (2015). Supervision in early childhood education. Teachers College Press.

Danielson, C. (2013). The framework for teaching: Evaluation instrument. Princeton, NJ: Danielson Group.

Jennings, M. K., & Niemi, R. G. (2014). Generations and politics: A panel study of young adults and their parents. Princeton University Press.

Kimwarey, M. C., Chirure, H. N., & Omondi, M. (2014). Teacher empowerment in education practice: strategies, constraints and suggestions. IOSR Journal of Research & Method in Education (IOSR-JRME), 4(2), 51-56.

Kobiah, L. K. (2016). Teachers' Perspective towards Their Involvement in Selection and Organization of Learning Experiences and Implementation of Secondary School Curriculum in Kenya. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(28), 53-59.

Moon, J. A. (2013). Reflection in learning and professional development: Theory and practice. Routledge.

Noe, R. (2015). Accelerating the'Pace'Against Illiteracy: Parent and Child Education. Yale Law & Policy Review, 7(2), 6.

Ntumi, S. (2016). Challenges Pre-School Teachers Face in the Implementation of the Early Childhood Curriculum in the Cape Coast Metropolis. Journal of Education and Practice, 7(1), 54-62.

Thiessen, D. (2012). Classroom-based teacher. Early professional development for teachers, 317.

Tsangaridou, N. (2016). Early childhood teachers’ views about teaching physical education: challenges and recommendations. Physical Education and Sport Pedagogy, 1-18.