As I read Ozar’s chapter on choosing a set of outcomes, I found her simplistic approach extremely thought-provoking. “Learning means responding effectively to the situation. It implies growth and leads to more learning” (Ozar, p.61). Creating an outcome-centered curriculum is the most effective way to communicate and observe what students learn. Ozar states that significant outcomes will lead to significant learning (p. 61). Although, when I think about choosing my own set of outcomes, I begin to over-analyze each outcome questioning whether or not it is ‘significant’ enough. As Ozar suggests, outcomes state the ‘what’ because they focus on student performance. Creating an effective set of outcomes that focus on discipline-specific and value-integration will help make the overall process of integrating an outcomes-centered curriculum easier. Having the learning outcomes specific to both planes will help remind me that I am teaching to the whole student. It's important to be cognizant of the differences between students. Individual personalities, various learning styles, and life experiences are all elements that can affect a student’s learning.
As I reviewed Figures 5.1 – 5.4, I found myself treating each example like a checklist for both my personal and professional life. I wasn’t surprised by the results of Heath’s study on attempting to correlate school-related factors with effectiveness as an adult (p.65). I agree that involvement in extracurricular activities is imperative to a student’s growth. My class recently completed a project where the students had to write an essay on their ‘American Dream’ (where they see themselves in twenty years and the path that got them there). I didn’t think about it until after reading this chapter in Ozar, but every student’s ‘American Dream’ somehow revolved around an extracurricular activity they are involved with today. As we continue to move forward, away from the Industrial-Age model, the hope is to create a learning environment full of opportunities which provides excitement in the classroom for every student.
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I, too, was intrigued and affirmed in my belief that extra curricular activities are important vehicles for student learning. In my past school, we actually changed the name to co-curricular to indicate that what was happening on the stage, in clubs, in service projects and athletics was influential and as formative as the academic component of education. Unfortunately in a down economy, these are the first places that get cut in the attempt to balance a budget, once again reinforcing the notion that education is what happens in the classroom. As Catholic school educators who have long stood on the tradition of a liberal arts education, we should say no to these cuts and find creative ways to either find the money or continue these programs through the stewardship of the faculty and parents.
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