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By RUDLEIGH MACLEAN Examiner Staff Reporter initiated an In heeding public demands for improvements in the educational system and for return to the basics of teaming This undertaking tor of the Human Relations CWT Public demands Simcoe County teachers have joined together as team and innovative re structuring program core curriculum development Core curriculum refers to the program writing of the entire school sub ject courses from kindergarten to Grade 13 K13 Currently is called Unlimited patience high endurance threshold and willingness to devotemany evenings to reading reports and statistical data Is necessary prerequisite for members of the Curriculum Writing Team CWT says Jean Mockford direc for improvements in the essential areas of study con stituting school subject The three subject County teachers initiar madeup Writing Team CWT educational system and for retunr to the restructuring program The program involves rewriting of the entire relations Each subject is of team of 16 teachers alled the curriculum areas are involved in this Dr Robert Thomas superin program English tendent of curriculum develop involves the re mathematics and human ment for the Simcoe County basics of learning have prompted Simcoe County teachers to join together as team and initiate an innovative school courses from kindergarten to Grade 13 Examiner Photo Board of Education SCBE beleives when this revamp ment program is completed Simcoe County will have one of the most progressive and upto date educational systems in Canada There is an important element of uniqueness in this core curriculum development program says Dr Thomas For the first time in the history of Simcoe County school subject courses are being written by county teachers for use across the county he said Prevrousty subject course guidelines were written largely on an individual school basisand occasionally on family of schools basis high school plus its feeder public schools EXPLAINS ORIGINS The whole idea came out of This year two curriculum writing teams have been for med English and human relations Each team is made of 16 teachers selected from ementary and secondary schools in the county Each school division of the six areas in Simcoe County is represented The English and human relations curriculum writing teams have been formed for the 19Tl78 school year Each team has facilitator or director and chairman Terry Benbow chairman of the English curriculum writing team tCWIi and head of the English department at Collingwood Iollegiate In stitute explains the makeup of his writing team The English curriculum for all grades from K13 has to be developed from communit involvement level he sai That was why we carried out needs assessment evaluation where we had public meetings at various schools in the County to find out the feelings of the parents about what should be taught in the English school programs As well our curriculum writing learn gets 20 teaching days year in which to meet and draw up our Enlgish curriculum for all grades And the WT will complete most of its work during the writing year chbow says The Simcoe County Board of Education must hire 20 supply If youre Curriculum Writing Team 1WIJ mem ber Jean Mockford suggests you must have unlimited patience high endurance threshold and willingness to devote many evenings to reading voluminous reports and statistical data Miss Mockford is the director of the Human Relations CWT and she says her team has only 20 teaching da in which to write up compete courses of study from kindergarten to Grade 13 tK13 The purpose of this curriculum program is to en courage an interdisciplinary tcornbining of two or more school subjects approach to the teaching of human relationsconnnected courses Miss Mockford says Human relations courses comprise such subject areas as family studies interpersonal skills and physical education Because of such sensitive learning areas as sex education the human relations CWT must proceed carefully in structuring and Writing its curriculum programs says MissMockford Were looking at four main areas of study in our writing program students develop ment of positive selfimage the growth and development area human sexuality at the feeling level reather than the anatomical level artI irfe within the family Miss Muck fordsays TWO TIIER TEAMS Like the other two curriculum writing teams English and Mathematicsflthe human relations CWT is putting together complete course of stud from kindergarten to Grar 13 stressing consistency continuity and integration by all schools in Simcoe County Because of these objectives Miss Mockford says the CWT program is unique in Ontario In our program we are going beyond the ministerial course guidelines This prodecural design manual for core curriculum development is unique because other boards in the province bring in con sultants People from other school boards in Ontario are already coming to us for direc tion and assistance she says QUESTIONNAIRES Currently the Human response to statements by the minister of education Thomas Wells in 1975 and from the publics concern over the weakness in the fundamentals of school subects Dr Thomas explain Up until the implementation of this new curriculum program in 1976 the main problem with the educational stem in Simcoe County was there was little or no con sistency among the school programs in the county Dr Thomas said School department heads developed their own respective subject programs from the sub ject curriculum requirements as set down by the ministry of education guidelines The existence of country teachers to fill in for the days the writing team members miss from their classes Some persons might suggest these teachers absences are disrupting the education of their respective students But according to Dr Robert Thomas superintendent of curriculum development such reasoning would be misleading and wrong The longrun gains to be made by the educational system far outweights the shortterm disadvantages and inconveniences The job the Iiimember writing teams must complete in their 20 days of meetings is mammoth The main problem our team faces is the time limitation says Jean Mockford facilitator for the human relations writing team We have 20 teaching days in which to write up the general and specific aims and the student performances TIGHT TIME LIMIT Within this tight time limit the CWTs must write new programs for the entire school year for all grades in their respective subjects As well they must attempt to seek ways to integrate its work with that of other curriculum wiriting teams In undertaking the writing of basic subject program each CWT is responsible for con ducting needs assessment evaluation determing the basic or core program writing Relations CWT is carrying out its evaluation study in the for ms of questionnaires and in terviews Almost 1800 questionnaires have gone out to superin tendents principals teachers students and parents Also were in the process of doing 250 interviews with public health nurses police doctors clergy and special education con sultants Mockford says This evaluation study is being undertaken for three reasons The Human Relations CWT wants to involve all segments of the county concerned with the development of children to in form the public of his whole procedure and to get from people their ideas on what is critical in the area of human relationships Because of the extensive research involved in the writing up of the subject course studies associated with huamn relations Miss Mockford says all the work cannot be com innovative program school programs was such that we had no countywide curricular statements says Dr Thomas It was done on the initiative of county prin cipals and teachers This meant then that county adaptation of curriculum program guidelines didnt exist he said In 1976 members of the Sim coe County Board of Education produced comprehensive definitive procedural manual so that the basic curriculum develo ment program could be used all subject writing teams MAJOROBJECTIVES This manual is composed of three major objectives to provide more specific ap proach to the development of TERRY BENBOW general and specific aims organizing the student perlt formances to use as basis for the units of instruction and completing the final draft of the curriculum As far as needs assessment devices are concerned those mainly used by the CWT teams include the studying of all board and ministry of education guidelines open forums questionnaires staff meetings and media input The members of the writing teams stress the importance of open lines of communication among themselves the Simcoe EAN MKFRI leted in the 20teacherdays imit The writing team will be ex pected to do lot the oxamlner Wednesday Dec 14 1917 10 school subject programs to provide scope for teacher and pupil individualit and to offer framework or program development The preparation of school programs from kindergarten to Grade 13 will contain basic program of fundamental knowledge and skills developed from lower to higher grades and roviding flexibility for enric ment in accordances with special needs and interests at all levels says Jack Ram say director of education for the SCBE Core curriculum refers to the basic or essential factual knowledge concepts and skills that will be introduced and developed in chronological or der from K13 Two CWT fo med County teachers principals and board administrators And once CWT team com pletes the writing of its program for all grades year of fieldtesting begins FIELD TESTED The mathematics CWT program is now being field tested in designated elemen tary and secondary schools throughout the county There is one elementary and one secondar school in the county using new math cur riculum in all its grades Other schools involved in the math fieldtesting phase are using the program in specific grades At the end of the 197778 school year the mathematics members will meet again to make revisions in the mathematics curricula from 13 Then next fall all schools in the county will be using the mathematics program To help Simcoe county teachers implement the new programs effectively teachers resource centre has been opened at Barries Prince of Wales Public School The purpose of this centre is to provide information specially suited to meet the needs of the writing teams and the teachers says Florence Fish resource centre director Dr Thomas says this resour ce centre another dimen sion of the curriculum develop ment program project that is very important Many work hours workespecially readingon their own she says Terry Benbow chairman of the English CWT echoes Miss Mockfords concern for developing program studies that will promote integration throughout the county schools The way teachers teach writing skills is very important And integration of all subject areas is very important in drawing up our English programs Its the respon sibility of all teachers in all subjects to stress the teaching of language skills Benbow says Finally Miss Mockford sa an important feature of curriculum writing teams is the curriculum uniformity that will be achieved in all schools One of the most important results for this curriculum writing program is all teachers at all levels in the county will be able to see what is being taught at the lower and upper of levels she said Mrs Moore 445 Essa Road Barrie correctly identified Frank Drea as provincial cor rectlonal minister and the riot at the Barrie Jail as last weeks contest entry Her prize is Big Meal at McDonalds It then send your name address an aminer Barrie AM 4T6 you think you know who and whats behind this weeks entry telephone number to Newsmakers Box 370 The Ex Winners are selected from random draw Monday of all correct answers