The curriculum is among the tools that facilitate the delivery of education. For curricula to be effective, they should be developed through an inclusive process. It is important for those charged with curriculum development to ensure that all stakeholders are consulted and that their views are considered. The United States has taken commendable steps to ensure that the curricula that schools adopt reflect the needs of the nation. Through its curricula, the nation hopes that upon graduating, students will have acquired the skills, insights and competencies that they need to participate in nation building. As this proposal reveals, the curricula adopted across the US are highly ineffective as they have failed to produce competent individuals who excel in higher education and the workplace. To address the flaws in the nation’s curricula, it is advised that the deliberating democracy model of curriculum development should be adopted.
Problem Addressed
It is not uncommon for employers to lament that institutions are sending out half-baked students who lack the skills essential for job performance. This problem can be traced to the poor development of curricular in the country. This proposal is in response to a serious challenge that schools in the US grapple with. As noted above, the proposal makes the case for the integration of the deliberating democracy model into the curriculum development process. The adoption of this model promises to fix the problem of lack of student representation in the process used to determine the subjects and concepts that are taught in schools. This process is dominated by stakeholders who lack a proper understanding of the needs of students and therefore cannot be expect to create curricula that address these needs. As a result of the lack of representation, students find curricula to be inconsistent with their learning styles, needs and unable to stimulate engagement.
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Goals and Objectives
As is the case with other research endeavors, the proposed study will be driven by a number of goals and objectives. These goals will serve as the general framework around which the study will be conducted. One of the key goals of the proposed study is to establish the ineffectiveness of the curriculum development process that is currently in use in the United States. To achieve this goal, the study will collect the views of students whose learning has suffered as a result of the failure of the current system to accommodate their needs and preferences. Another goal that will guide the proposed study is to explore the implications that the deliberating democracy model presents for learning. Specifically, the study will strive to prove that if implemented properly, the deliberating democracy model improves student engagement and satisfaction levels. Furthermore, it is expected that the study will show that the deliberating democracy model enhances student involvement in the curriculum development process. The goals and objectives of the study are captured in the following research questions that the study will aim to answer:
What are the views of students regarding the current curriculum development approaches?
What effect does the deliberating democracy model have on student participation, engagement and satisfaction with learning?
Literature Review
There have been attempts by the research and academic communities to establish the impact that the deliberating democracy model has on curriculum development and student outcomes. Englund (2015) leads the group of scholars who have authored texts that shed light on this model. The main point that he conveys through his text is that this model reflects the future of learning and curriculum development. According to Englund, the deliberative function that the model emphasizes expands the curriculum development process beyond merely determining the subjects that are to be covered in classrooms. Thanks to the deliberating democracy model, the needs and concerns of various stakeholders are considered and incorporated into the process. For example, suppose that student wish for curricula that prioritizes practical learning. Using the deliberating democracy approach, those charged with developing the curriculum ensure that the prescribed subjects and concepts are mostly of the practical variety.
Tak Shing (2011) is yet another scholar who has shed light on the critical role that the deliberating democracy model plays in learning. In a bid to present this model as effective and urging schools to embrace it, Shing notes that by adopting the model, institutions create room for students and other stakeholders to fully participate in the creation of the curricula. Furthermore, according to Shing, the deliberating democracy model promotes egalitarian principles through which the views and concerns of each stakeholder are assigned equal weight and importance. Plate (2012) is yet another scholar who agrees that the deliberating democracy model holds the key to solving the most serious challenges ailing the American education system. While he does not explicitly discuss this model, Plate makes reference to values, assumptions and principles that underlie the model. For instance, he notes that there is growing pressure for schools to move away from the traditional approach and embrace a new inclusive framework for curriculum development. There is no doubt that a significant portion of the scholarly community find the deliberating democracy model to be instrumental in the creation of teaching methods and approaches that focus on the needs of teachers, students and other actors.
In addition to exploring the benefits that the deliberating democracy model presents for education, scholars have also conducted inquiries on the problems that the model helps to solve. As noted earlier, this model is intended to address the problem of curricula failing to accommodate the needs, concerns and preferences of learners. Haug (2017) is one of the scholars who have dedicated effort to exploring how schools fail students by adopting processes and systems that are non-inclusive. He cites the curriculum development process as among the areas where student participation is lacking. Bron and Veugelers (2014) agree that levels of student participation are unacceptably low and encourage schools to be aggressive in pushing for student involvement in such issues as curriculum development. This point is echoed by Bergmark and Westman (2018) who lament that curriculum design occurs without adequate student participation. Given that it is founded on the belief that equal participation by all actors is beneficial for learning, the deliberating democracy model is a promising tool for addressing the ineffectiveness of the curriculum design approaches that are currently in place.
Research Methods
There is limited research on the influence of the deliberating democracy model on learning and curriculum development in particular. This fact underscores the importance of the proposed study. In the following section, an outline of the methods that will be employed in conducting the study is provided.
Participants
Students and teachers are among those who will be recruited to take part in the study. The study will involve a local high school which has been using standard curricula since its establishment. What makes the school’s students and teachers ideal for the study is that their experiences will shed light on the benefits of adopting the deliberating democracy model. Considering practical issues and as part of efforts to secure the integrity and accuracy of the research process, a group of 40 students and teachers are to be recruited. This sample size is small enough to ensure that the study does not suffer from practicality constraints. Additionally, the size is such that the findings obtained will be so reliable that they can be extended to the general population.
Design and Process
The main method that will be used to gather data is a survey. This survey will contain questions intended to gain the thoughts of the teachers and the students regarding the current curriculum design approach that the school is using. Moreover, there will also be questions which seek to determine the participants’ views on a curriculum development process that is underlain by the deliberating democracy approach. Ideally, a new curriculum will be implemented to replace the one that the school uses. This curriculum will be designed through a consultative process that brings together the local board of education, the school’s teachers and students. It will then be implemented over a two week period. At the end of this period, the survey will be administered. It is likely that it may be difficult to persuade the school to adopt the new curriculum. If the school is unable to abandon its old curriculum, the study will simply seek the perspectives of teachers and students regarding curricula that accommodate their needs and views. The questions posed will focus on the views of the teachers and students concerning their expected changes in their satisfaction and engagement levels if the new curriculum were to be implemented.
Data Analysis
With the data collected, the study will proceed to the data analysis stage. At this phase, attempts will be made to determine common themes that have emerged from the scrutiny of the data. For example, the number of students and teachers who feel that they are more satisfied and engaged as a result of the new deliberating democracy-based curriculum will be computed. If a majority of the participants express greater satisfaction and engagement levels, the study will have achieved one of its goals of establishing deliberating democracy as an effective model. In addition to examining the data provided by the teachers and students, the data analysis process will also involve drawing relationships between the study and other studies that have been performed on the same issue.
Anticipated Outcomes
Since the study is yet to be conducted, it is not possible to predict with certainty the outcomes that it will yield. However, some informed guesses and predictions can be made. Among the outcomes that the study is expected to yield is that a majority of teachers and students are deeply dissatisfied with the curricula which are designed without their involvement. This expectation is based on the fact that literature indicates that non-inclusive curricula design approaches are immensely unpopular with teachers and students. Another outcome that the study is likely to reveal is that the deliberating democracy model is superior to the traditional approach. This model encourages students and teachers to become part of the design process. Consequently, the curricula that are created using this framework reflect the wishes and concerns of all stakeholders.
In conclusion, the American education system has failed to meet the country’s ever-evolving needs. Many students leave schools without gaining the skills and knowledge required for success in the workplace. This problem can be blamed on the processes that the nation’s schools adopt when developing curricula. These processes are unrepresentative and exclusive. It is with the goal of helping the US to overhaul its curricula development process that the proposed study will be conducted. This study promises to shed light on the tremendous benefits that the nation’s schools stand to gain when they phase out their traditional and ineffective design frameworks with the deliberating democracy model whose impact on learning is positive.
References
Bergmark, U., & Westman, S. (2018). Student participation within teacher education: emphasising democratic values, engagement and learning for a future profession. Higher Education Research & Development, 37 (7), 1352-65.
Bron, J., & Veugelers, W. (2014). Why we need to involve students in curriculum design: five arguments for student voice. Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue, 16 (1-2).
Englund, T. (2015). Toward a deliberative curriculum? Nordic Journal of Studies in Educational Policy. doi: 10.3402/nstep.v1.26558
Haug, P. (2017). Understanding inclusive education: ideals and reality. Scandinavian Journal of Disability Research, 19 (3), 206-17.
Plate, R. R. (2012). The evolution of curriculum development in the context of increasing social and environmental complexity. Creative Education, 3 (8), 1311-19.
Shing, T. K. (2011). Deliberation and school-based curriculum development- a Hong Kong case study. New Horizons in Education, 59 (2), 69-82.
