CURRICULUM SUPERHIGHWAY OR MINDLESS INTERVENTION?

Thomas Armstrong,in his article "The Curriculum Superhighway" describes the current move in the US of having a sort of connectivity from pre-school to elementary and, until it will reach as far as graduate school. Aptly called "No Child Left Behind" (How does this compare to our Child-Friendly School System?), the intervention focuses on "test scores, benchmarking, data, accountability, and yearly progress". In short, it focuses on the outcomes rather than the unique developmental needs of the child.

According to Armstrong, by focusing on "academic achievement discourse' the US educators has forgotten the more essential "human development discourse" which, according to him, is more essential than any educational intervention.

In most schools in the US play, which is an integral part in early childhood has been missed by many young children while in their developmental stage. Armstrong took time to appreciate Habibi's Hutch, which is a unique kind of preschool which emphasizes PLAY while taking on lessons in life like cooking, making and acting on their own plays, and dabble with art materials and manipulate toys in play houses.

I agree with Armstrong that total development of the child rather than emphasizing academic achievement is more paramount than anything else. Individuals have unique educational needs and cannot be addressed by mass production type of intervention. The same thing is true in our educational system. It is always asking for achievement rates expressed in MPS, yearly progressions, comparing this with other schools and divisions, and taking time to admonish slow performing, or non-performing schools.

But the US is a rich nation. Ours is a developing one. Our needs may be similar but our capacity and material resources are not. Yet the US has a hard time customizing the education in accordance with individual needs of the child. Only expensive preschools can approximate what Armstrong describes as human development discourse. To be in such situation needs experts and fewer class sizes, and countless implements. That would mean a plethora of materials and expert human resources which we simply can’t afford given our present state.

Yes, the child is the most important protagonist in this drama of life called education. Yet, we can only dream of that state wherein a child's educational needs is addressed in accordance with what he actually needs and at a pace he can walk with. Only then can we implement what Armstrong describes as Human Development Curriculum.