Chapter 11: Teaching the Curriculum

Teachers are bound by a school's established curricula. Before explicit curriculum was established in what is now a contemporary currulum, teachers had to create their own curricula. The contemporary curriculum involves reading, language arts, science, mathematics, health, physical education, and the arts. However, schools today continue to be reformed for overall improvement.
Teaching the curricula is not enough if there are no goals and objectives. Outcome-based education can be useful in obtaining results for mastery of certain aspects of curricula. Direct instruction can also be useful for teachers. They determine what students will learn and how will they learn by the use of lecture and demonstration. Another technique that may be benefitial is the nondirect instruction where students learn through their own experimentation, learning from other students, and cooperative learning through discovery and scaffolding.
Because curriculum varies from teacher to teacher, it is important to know what works in the classroom by applying knowledge to students in multiple lessons, integrating test preparation into instruction, by making connections across instruction, curriculum, and life; providing strategies to students, assist them to be critical thinkers, and lastly by engaging students to work collaboratively not only with their own peers but also with their teachers. With these features it is important to remember INTASC standard 4:

The teacher uses various instructional strategies to encourage students'
development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.