How does the IRP help and/or hinder you as a beginning teacher? Description of who today's ELA students are and how they learn. A personal response to the theory visited in the IRP and the course texts/readings and class discussions.

In this post I intend to contemplate and discuss the English and Language Arts Intigrated Resource Package (IRP).  The document was complied by the British Columbian Board of Education and features everything from the legal obligations of a teacher to a list of extensive teaching/learning resources.

I will admit I was skeptical if not weary at the the thought of a package that would places rules, regulations, and widely accepted guidelines on all teachers in the province.

The lyrics and images of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall" immediately came to mind.  The song was written by bassist Roger Walters, who had grown up in a traditional English schooling system.  The video was designed to look as though school was a children factory, slowly molding and shaping young students into mindless robots.  As a protest against rigid education systems the chorus chants "We don't need no education. We don't need no thought control [...] Hey! teachers! leave them kids alone!"

During the completion of my undergraduate's History degree I took particular interest in studying education.  I have explored the horrendous effects of the British Columbian education system on Aboriginal communities; and I have examined the misuse of education for the purpose of mass manipulation and control.  History would prove that the incredible amount of power a governing body can gain through the use of mass regulation of an education system, can be extremely dangerous. For these reasons I approached the IRP with curiosity and caution.

I am pleased to say what I found in the IRP impressed me. The IRP accommodates for individuality both of teachers and of their students.  I am excited to be working with a resource package which focuses on prescribed learning outcomes while encouraging teachers to go about achieving those outcomes in unique ways. In its own words the IRP "includes opportunities for individual teacher and student choice in the exploration of topics to meet certain learning outcomes." (ELA IRP, 2006)  So, while learning outcomes are provided, these outcomes include the development of vial skills including literacy and oracy, while refraining from creating a ridged curriculum to guide the teachers in doing so.

As Canadian teachers our classrooms will be filled with children from all walks of life.  They will have different religious, socioeconomic, cultural, and linguistic backgrounds.  As a result our pupils will come together with varying abilities, and perceptions.  Students will have individual ideas about morality, health, gender, spirituality, and self value.
Furthermore, Students will vary in cognitive abilities, motivation, health, and learning styles.  Some children will be learning to work around or with learning disabilities, while some explore exceptional aptitude. Students will even vary in their linguistic ability and knowledge/grasp of the English language.  

Such unique and rich diversity must be accommodated for in the classroom.  The IRP addresses this by encouraging teachers to "plan their programs by using topics and examples that are relevant to their local context and to the particular interests of their students." (ELA IRP, 2006)  This flexibility allows for students to explore their own interests, morals and beliefs.  Teachers are able to use their own skills and areas of expertise for the purpose of helping students explore their strengths and interests while developing  literacy/oracy skills. 

This method allows for a constant flow of new ideology and creativity to penetrate the curriculum because students and teachers are constantly bringing new ideas and perspectives to the classroom.  The text Constructing Literacy, highlights the importance of encouraging teachers to treat each class individually; "[...] language arts is about constructing meaning, [...] if we understand that to teach well we must begin with children's funds of knowledge, then who the children are before us is of critical concern." (Nelson, 2009)  It is thus of great value for the sake of learning, that teachers find ways to teach using diverse topics and mediums in their lessons.  Using fiction and nonfiction, and exploring a range topics in Language Arts we can engage girls and boys of all cultures and abilities.

Most importantly, the IRP encourages that children learn skills which will teach them to think.  The IRP allows for teachers to choose the materials and topics to suit their classroom so that children are interested and are given the chance to engage with material.  Prescribed learning outcomes are aimed at developing the ability to engage with literature, ask questions and think critically.  It pushes teachers to have their students engage in debates and discussions, in turn fostering a sense of community and individuality.  In this environment we hope that all viewpoints can be heard and respected.

This sense of community and inclusion mixed with the ability to think and question will take students into any unknown future.  In the words of Robert E. Probest,  "We need to teach our students to use conversation to build better ideas collaboratively than any of us will come to on our own."  The IRP helps teachers to do this while allowing them to collaborate and use their own ideas to come up with ideas which would be better than the any rigid schooling system could develop.

The IRP seems to lend itself to endless creativity.  As one who is learning to become a teacher I find myself feeling daunted not only by the IRP's 600 page package but having one just like it for every subject and every grade.  In my exploration of the IRPs I often waste time wondering where to begin.  The IRP will not tell me how to teach my class, as a student teacher this is sometimes overwhelming because there is so much room for individual exploration and theory, but the communal rewards of having such an open ended IRP will be much greater than having a set curriculum ever could be.

I hope the members of Pink Floyd would rejoice at our progress :)