SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY

Education 407-5

The Theory and Practice of Implementation:

Meeting the Challenge of Educational Change

(E2.0O)

Fall Semester, 1991

Instructor: S. Troudt

(September 3—November 29)

Location: Ft. St. John

PREREQUISITE:

Educ 405 or equivalent.

PURPOSE

Education 407-5 is a five-credit course that provides teachers with the opportunity to

use their own classrooms as laboratories for exploring, analyzing and evaluating the

processes of implementation. Theory and practice are linked through workshops,

seminars and classroom implementation projects. The course is operated on a

pass/withdraw basis. No grades will be assigned.

This specific course focuses on the implementation of new program directions

arising from the Sullivan Royal Commission in British Columbia. The purposes of

the course are to help practising teachers and administrators:

Understand the base of theory and research in curriculum, child development,

language learning and other fields on which the recommendations of the Royal

Commission are based;

Examine the beliefs, values and intentions reflected in the Commission's

recommendations, the Year 2000 document, and recent program and curricular

documents;

c Explore the practical implications of new program and curriculum directions by

becoming familiar with a variety of instructional and evaluation strategies that

support a developmental approach to learning and teaching;

Clarify personal beliefs about the teacher's role in a program that assumes a

developmental approach;

Be able to articulate a rationale for using a developmental approach in the

classroom, supported with examples from current educational literature and

classroom practices in such areas as whole language, cooperative learning and

teaching for thinking.

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COURSE COMPONENTS

Workshops

The workshop component of the course will model a student-centred approach to

instruction. Activities will include examination of:

• the Royal Commission recommendations, the Year 2000 document and

materials which support their implementation;

• a developmental approach to teaching and learning based on current

theory and research;

• learning as a constructive, generative and collaborative process;

• principles and criteria for educational decision-making based on a

coherent educational philosophy;

• strategies for creating developmental learning environments;

• strategies for selecting, organizing and implementing appropriate

instructional approaches;

• strategies for assessing and evaluating pupils, teachers and educational

programs.

Seminars

The seminar component of the course will provide a forum in which participants

can support and learn from one another as they compare their implementation

experiences. Seminars will provide opportunities for participants to reflect on their

personal knowledge of children, teaching and learning, and how these change

through the processes of implementation.

Implementation Project

The classroom component of this course will involve the design and

implementation of developmental learning approaches in participants' own

classroom or school settings. On going support, coaching and consultation will be

provided jointly by the course instructor and district personnel. Participants will be

asked to keep a reflective journal in which they document and assess changes in

understanding and teaching practices throughout the semester, and to develop a

portfolio which represents what they have learned during the course.