Page 76 - Linguistically Diverse Educational Contexts

LINGUISTICALLY DIVERSE EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS
Putting Ako's concepts into practice enables teachers to build a mutual learning community where the contribution of each person involved in the learning process is valued. A Living Learning Programme does not change indefinitely, it is simply alive (Marshall & Wilson, 2012).
I mention this concept because it shows that integrating the local context into formal education can contribute to raising the level of education and allows us to see that academic achievement is both a personal and institutional responsibility (Marshall & Wilson, 2012). It seems that with this approach, a more informed choice of culturally appropriate learning strategies could be made while referring to shared cultural values.
4.4 Objectives and purpose of own research
In the current global context, there is a clear need for change and for the creation of new curricula (including language education) based on research: the evidence-based curriculum, consisting of practices that have been scientifically validated. Evidence-based curricula and educational practices not only help to improve educational attainment, but also contribute to the professionalisation of teachers by empowering them to initiate activities that improve the quality of education126 and, moreover, bridge the gap between theory and practice127.
Research that C. Huertas-Abril and I conducted on Polish and Spanish students in 2020 shows that the majority of the survey participants (67.7%) would be interested in taking responsibility for co-designing a language course, which may suggest that offering learners a more prominent role in the creation of educational content may have a beneficial impact on their engagement in the process. This is important because when acquired knowledge and educational experiences do not reflect learners' cognitive and emotional internal structures and lived experiences, their ability to create personal meaning and confront the formal educational programme becomes limited128.
In Poland, little attention is paid to the scientific rationale when designing curricula or creating textbooks. Issues related to planning the teaching and learning process are left to publishers and educators. Meanwhile, in countries such as the United States, Canada, New Zealand, and Australia, curricula are a significant part of education research, as they have a direct impact on learners' learning and thus on their future lives. The United States has the longest tradition of curriculum research in the world129. Contemporary research on school curricula originates from there. Young researchers there have an open path to write their doctoral theses on curriculum and pursue their research path in this
126 Petty, 2009.
127 Evidence-Based Practices https://nemtss.unl.edu/essential-elements/essential-element-3/
128 Joldersma & Deakin-Crick, 2012, p. 170.
129 Mills, 1958; Tyler 1949; Pinar 1975; Greene 1978, 1988, 1995; Macdonald et al., 1973; Kuhn, 1962.
In 1964, the American Educational Research Association (AERA) created a curriculum division called Curriculum and Objectives, which was renamed Curriculum Studies in 1983. In 1991, E. Short's influential book Forms of curriculum inquiry was published. Major works on curriculum illustrate the development of the field in the US in many diverse directions (Schubert, 2017). Philip Jackson's Handbook of research on curriculum (1992) is one example, and another is the later update of works on policy practice, context, and theory history by F. Michael Connelly, Ming Fang He, and Joann Phillion (2007) in the Sage handbook of curriculum and instruction. In addition, the Encyclopedia of curriculum studies, published by Sage and edited by Craig Kridel (2010), provides a two-volume summary of many topics, giving readers alternative perspectives on key issues by different authors. Building on Understanding curriculum (Pinar et al., 1995), Marla Morris (2015) has produced a two-volume work entitled Curriculum studies guidebooks, addressing major themes that have emerged in the literature since the 1995 volume.
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