Curriculum Journeys: Towards Inclusive Education
A Journey through the world of Curriculum Frameworks for the inclusive education of ALL students
by Dr Karin Oerlemans
Published Feb 2022, available on Amazon Kindle
This book, framed as a journey through curriculum frameworks, takes you, the practising teacher, through seven different planning frameworks for developing a 21st Century inclusive classroom learning environment, one where all students can learn.
The book has 11 chapters, divided into three sections, beginning in Section 1 with an explanation of classroom curriculum frameworks and why they are important to teachers. Drawing on personal stories from my own practice as a classroom teacher, teacher educator and curriculum researcher, I show you how a classroom curriculum can be planned, using well-established frameworks and incorporating technology to include all students in the learning process.
Section 2 covers the seven frameworks, beginning with Bloom’s Taxonomies, followed by the Teaching/Learning Cycle (TLC), then moving through various differentiation models to finish with Universal Design for Learning (UDL). Each successive framework builds on the previous, as I take you as a practising or intending teacher on a journey from the basics of understanding how to plan for a unit of study (Bloom’s Taxonomies and the TLC), planning for a whole year in a classroom (Williams, Makers and others), through to planning as a whole-school approach (UDL).
The book demonstrates how the seven frameworks are still relevant today to help teachers create authentically inclusive environments in the 21st-century classroom. Included throughout each chapter is a consideration of how to utilise each of the frameworks to better and more intentionally incorporate digital technologies in their classrooms to promote students learning.
The book concludes, in Section 3, by showing teachers how to bring together the frameworks for a more holistic approach, how to evaluate other frameworks they may know or come across on their personal teaching journey, and how to work with others in the school system to ensure the successful planning of an inclusive classroom.
Book Content:
Section 1 Introduction: Why curriculum frameworks? 3
CHAPTER ONE What is a curriculum framework? 8
CHAPTER TWO What is curriculum? 15
Section 2 The 7 frameworks: from Bloom to UDL 33
CHAPTER THREE Why Bloom’s Taxonomy? 36
CHAPTER FOUR The Teaching/Learning Cycle 59
CHAPTER FIVE A model for young children 77
CHAPTER SIX Making it Maker’s Model 97
CHAPTER SEVEN What is this Differentiation? 122
CHAPTER EIGHT Universal Design 143
Section 3 Putting it all together 163
CHAPTER NINE Our journey so far – Review of the book’s frameworks 165
CHAPTER TEN Curriculum frameworks and supporting students with additional needs 184
CHAPTER ELEVEN Why move towards inclusion? 206
Interested? Available on Amazon now.