When listening to Ashley's presentation about the use of the butterfly to represent the music curriculum I couldn't help but think "This is how they should all be done!" I love metaphors and find them to be a useful teaching tool. When I see a butterfly, I think about the lesson that my wife does with her grade one students on symmetry. She gets the kids to fold a piece of paper in half. On one side, they paint a design. Once done, they fold it over and they can see that the other half of the butterly is identical. The kids are amazed to think that the two sides of the butterfly have identical markings.
I especially like this metaphor for curriculum because it shows the dependece between the outcomes in all of the clusters. When examining the music curriculum, one can see that the G.O. in the top left wing complements the G.O. in the top right right, and same for the bottom wings. The thorax of the butterfly, which represents "making music" is dependant on all G.O.'s working together. The butterfly metaphor clearly slows how multiple aspects of curriculum must be integrated to achieve the end product. In other subject areas, our curriculums are very linear and it can be challenging to see the interconnectedness of the outcomes. Maybe if us educators had an opportunity to "paint" half of our curriculum we would be amazed as well, to see the connections between our outcomes and the final goal. Having a big picture also makes it easier to see currculum potential and jump in at points where individual teachers feel most comfortable. Now maybe I feel this way because I'm a visual learner, but I'd be interested to know what others think about turning their curriculum documents into metaphors as well?
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I agree completely with the need for an "interconnectedness" between curricular elements. However, i, much like Denis, struggled to see how a butterfly is an accurate metaphor for the music curriculum. I agree that all 4 components are important, interconnected, and necessary and they all relate to the middle (making music)...and i have no doubt that the theory and contents of the new curriculum are valuable. But, could not any 4 limbed creature be used to show that metaphor....what is it about a butterfly that represents music more than a cat? dog? or horse? each of those has 4 limbs and a thorax that are connected and important.
ReplyDeletemaybe i'm just trying to stir the pot?
Hi Brad, I haven't seen another curriculum I have worked with as a metaphor, but I think it would be an interesting idea. For example, one of the symbols that had a lot of meaning for me when teaching about AIDS in West Africa was the snowflake. This was significant because one of the biggest challenges we ran into was that the learners we were working with didn't believe that AIDS actually existed (one of the challenges of working in a country with a low prevalence rate, and therefore a low visibility). Often, to open conversations, we would talk about snowflakes - even though people in Africa might never have seen/touched/experiences snow didn't mean it wasn't real. Similarly, just because they hadn't seen/touched/experienced AIDS didn't mean it didn't exist. Since the snowflake was such an important symbol, it would be interesting to try and create/modify the curriculum as a snowflake metaphor.
ReplyDeleteHowever, I think Ryan raises an interesting point about how cats and dogs have four limbs and a thorax, just like a butterfly. In the case of the example I described, I suppose there would be some connection to constructing the curriculum as a snowflake because snowflakes were a important symbol throughout the lessons. But other than that, I'd be hard pressed to justify why the curriculum should be a snowflake and not something else that the learners hadn't seen. Like a rollercoaster. Or a curling iron. I guess it raises the question, do metaphors always have to an ideal comparison, or is it enough that the metaphor has some significance about what it's trying to represent?
You're right - it could have been a cat or a dog. But I think the butterfly is universally understood to have a beautiful, creative (just look at all the different kinds of wings!), free connotation to it. That probably had something to do with the butterfly being chosen over a cat. When we're being truly creative, we're allowing our students (and their music) to "take flight". And yes, Ryan, I think you're just trying to stir the pot. Haha :) The music butterfly is the man.
ReplyDeletepainting half a curriculum!!!!!...too prescriptive a curriculum leaves you no room for innovation or creativity...lots of freedom doesn't work in all cases and i might not agree with 50% in all cases but i do like the idea that there is some wiggle room...the AP curricula are very vague and unstructured...general ideas and concepts are given and it is really up to the individual instructor to develop their own programme...they do require a copy of the course plan for validation but it was really a great feeling to be in charge of the whole thing...a bit daunting as well because i knew there was a mother of an exam waiting at the end
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