I’m by no means suggesting that backwards designing an entire education for every specific student is anywhere near a tangible possibility. Perhaps however, in a world where parents and students alike are requiring different approaches it could be adapted in a useful way. As has been in the news recently, this now even extends to curriculum, for example, with the new Ontario sexual education curriculum causing waves. If we must consider the need for accommodation, not only for exterior influences but also as a result of interior information based in the curriculum, how is this to be accommodated?
I suggest that perhaps, backwards design can be applied on a larger scale. If teachers were to consider a number of alternatively designed educational programs, having planned alternative learning backwards sourced from a number of the most common problems and complaints, teachers would be able to best address the issues while still maintaining common ground and a strong alignment.
The following video illustrates this backwards design:
As is said in this video, backwards design is all about helping the student to reach a “final destination” or goal in their educational landscape. Although there has been much controversy particularly recently with the release of the aforementioned sex education curriculum, perhaps, if teachers were to begin planning alternative assignments now for those students who may be withdrawn from classes or unable to complete specific segments, they may be able to create more common ground for removed students.
This may appear idealistic and, coming from someone with minimal classroom experience and a limited knowledge of the inner workings of such matters, it may well be. However, perhaps, in the field of education we are overlooking the best education we ourselves receive. We are taught to think ahead by thinking to the furthest point and working our way backwards. Perhaps if this were applied within the context of curriculum issues or classroom projects, IEPs could spread from a more fringe movement within the school community and be utilized to their fullest potential, to help the largest amounts of students possible at a given time, foreseeing future problems and attempting to accommodate rather than prevent. While I myself may not see any issues with curriculum as it stands, this does not mean others will react in the same way. As a prospective teacher, think it’s important that we start being proactive rather than reactive. I don’t doubt many are already, but perhaps this needs to be a movement, one which engulfs education for the better.
Reference List
Drake, S.M. & Reid, J.L. & Kolohon, W. (2014). Interweaving curriculum and classroom assessment: Engaging the 21 Century Learner. Toronto, ON: Oxford University Press.
You bring up a very interesting point. In university we are taught the importance of backwards design and creating lessons that will be directed to each of our individual students, yet, these two concepts are not discussed together. I think finding a combination of the two concepts will be very important in our future careers. Using the backwards design is a great starting point for creating lesson plans and a direction for the class to move in. What will be important in altering our lesson plans to work for our students with IEPs will be our knowledge of the curriculum across different grade levels. If we use backwards design as a direction but keep in mind that we may need to alter our plans for our students, then I believe we can combine these two concepts appropriately. I think that the activities we will plan in our backwards design will not have to be changed much for most IEPs, but what we assess and the degree of difficulty which we assess may change. Using backwards design is an excellent tool, and a great way to ensure that everything we are teaching lines up with what we are assessing.
ReplyDeleteBoth good points from Michele and Alex. I think that backwards design is what allows you to be creative. One you know where you have to go with the RPAT - and assuming that it is connected to expectations - then you are free to interpret the rest the way you want to. You just need to get to your goal. The MOE is clear that a teacher needs to have students meet expectations but how they get there is up to the teacher. Not all those in the field understand this so they get lost in meeting an expectation one by one and maybe literally. Glad you will not go that route.
ReplyDeleteThe structure of an IEP is certainly not something I am familiar with and I hope to have the opportunity to learn more about them in my future studies and practicum experiences. However, I do know there are 2 basic elements to any IEP: modifications and accommodations. Modifications are the alterations to the expectations of the student and are not generally determined by the individual teacher, but rather by the special education teacher in conjunction with the school administrator, student, parents, etc. As such, when we consider what we want students to know, do and be at the end of a lesson/unit/project through backwards design, we must ensure those expectations align with the IEP modifications. So for example, if an IEP modification does not require the student to communicate orally, other forms of communication would have to be considered in any assessment. On the other hand, the accommodations are the changes in how the student learns. These are the in-class alterations that we as teachers need to implement to facilitate learning. Through backwards design, teachers must understand that how each student arrives at those end goals may be different, regardless of whether the student is on an IEP or not. The role of the teacher then becomes to ensure students are equipped with the knowledge and skills to achieve those outcomes through appropriate (and often differentiated) instruction. It seems then, that the consideration of an IEP and the implementation of backwards design can and do co-exist. So how do we accommodate the individual learning preferences, abilities and interests of 30 different learners? Start by knowing your students and your curriculum. Nobody said teaching was going to be easy!
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