Posner describes the common concepts around curriculum to include: Scope and sequence, or a series of intended learning outcomes.

., with the role of guiding both the instructional and evaluation decisions. Syllabus, or plan for an entire course, with elements of both the ends and means of the course. Content outline, which is sufficient only if the sole purpose of education is to transmit specific content. Textbook, or a guide to both the ends and means of education. Course of study, with the concept of a journey through the educational program. Planned experience, actually comprising all experiences planned by the school. (Posner, p. 5, 9) Posner defines various levels of curriculum (Posner, p.10-12): The official curriculum, or written curriculum, gives the basic lesson plan to be followed, including objectives, sequence, and materials. This provides the basis for accountability. The operational curriculum is what is taught by the teacher, and how it is communicated. This includes what the teacher teaches in class and the learning outcomes for the student. The hidden curriculum includes the norms and values of the surrounding society. These are stronger and more durable than the first two, and may be in conflict with the them. The null curriculum consists of what is not taught. Consideration must be given to the reasons behind why things are not included in the official or operational curriculum. The extra curriculum is the planned experiences outside of the specific educational session. Maria Harris is Visiting Professor of Religious Education at Fordham University and New York University, and is the Core Faculty of Auburn Theological

Seminary in New York. Her publication that is used here is Fashion Me A People: Curriculum in the Church (Westminster/John Knox Press, 1989). Harris refers to Acts 2:42, 44-47 as "first portrait of church curriculum we have, although the word "curriculum" is not used. In the description, Luke gives us the central elements, or the set of forms, that embody the course of the church's life. In this book [Fashion Me a People] I propose to show that fashioning and refashioning of this set of forms is the core of the educational ministry of the church. I also propose to show that the forms themselves are the primary curriculum of the church, the course of the church's life, and that in fashioning these forms we fashion the church. And becausewe are the church, the fashioning of the forms becomes the fashioning of us." (Harris, p.17) The footnote in the New Oxford Annotated Bible with Apocrapha (Oxford University Press, 1992, p.614 NT)or the scripture cited above notes that Christians in Jerusalem held everything in common, which reinforces the intensity of the religious community. These concepts gives the definitional premise: a religious education curriculum is the learning which occurs in connection with the church community. This is consistent with Harris's description of curriculum as being fluid, as being "in the midst and celebrating a meaning of curriculum that consciously incorporates other facets of ministry" which means "that a fuller and more extensive curriculum is already present in the church's life: in teaching, worship, community, proclamation, and outreach." (Harris, p.63)
The Nature of Curriculum Development System Curriculum Curriculum comes form the Latin root, "currere" which means "to run", which later came to stand as the "course of study." Curriculum is the sum total of all learning content, experiences, and resources that are purposely selected, organized and implemented by the school in pursuit of its peculiar mandate as a distinct institution of learning and human development. (Why should a listing of subject areas, course of study and textbook series not considered as a curriculum?) Curriculum Development Development is a specific word that connotes change. Change means any alternation or modification in the existing order of things. Change may not necessarily result in development. Only positive change brings about development. For change to be positive and result in development, it must be Purposeful, Planned, and Progressive.

Positive change brings about improvement. It takes a person or a group to higher levels of perfection. (What then is the purpose of curriculum development? What should be the basis for developing the learners' meaningful experiences? Curriculum Development System A system is an assemblage of objects in some form of regular interdependence or interaction; an organic organized whole. It is generally defines as some form of structure or operation, concept or function, composed of united and integrated parts. From systems theory, a system is characterized as having a boundary (well-defined limits), environment (time-and-space), tension (existence and activity), equilibrium ( steady state), hierarchy ( different sizes), feedback (communication network), synergy ( whole is greater than the sum of its parts), and interdependence (elements cannot act on their own) A system then is the integration of separate but interdependent and interacting parts into an organic whole which meant to accomplish a certain purpose or perform a specific function. Curriculum Development System is defined as an integrated, coherent and comprehensive program for continually updating and improving curriculum and instruction in a school so that it can better attain its purpose. (Show the relationship of the three important features of a system: Parts, Whole, Function.) Source: Curriculum Development System by Jesus Palma (1992) Concepts of Curriculum and Purposes of Curriculum Study (pg 3 - 12) One thing is for certain after reading this particular section and it is this; the actual definition of what precisely defines a curriculum has eluded educators and pragmatics for a very long time. Instead, what we are left with is a series of questions remaining to be answered.

1. Why engage in curriculum study? 2. What good does it do? 3. What is a curriculum? For example, is a textbook or a syllabus a curriculum? 4. What should a curriculum include? (pg 3) I can totally relate to Peters frustration and also wonder why we as educators cannot come up with an appropriate response. Posner, in trying to answer these questions, gives his own definition yet,

somehow, still remains uncommitted to actually saying A curriculum consists of blah-blah-blah. I agree that a set of standards (as guidelines and not a doctrine to be followed) are required in any profession. This does not seem to solve the problem but rather just adds to the confusion. Trying to understand the difference between curriculum study and curriculum seems to be quite a daunting task. No one among what Posner calls the curriculum cultists is able to come to agreement. Rather he supplies us with a means of deflectiona way of saying there is no correct answer based on the large number of curriculum alternatives. This reflective eclecticism seems to be at the heart of curriculum study. (pg 4) Curriculum, as argued by others then, seems to be "the students" actual rather than planned opportunities, experiences, or learnings. (pg 5) The problem here then becomes whether educators embrace the idea that curriculum is either an ends or a means (depending upon, through which end of the lens you are viewing it) or else a plan or report of actual educational events. (pg 5) Confused yet? Well, to further add to that confusion, outcomes are fully understood only in retrospect or as teaching unfolds whereas, when we focus our concept of curriculum on education plans, standards, and intended outcomes, we are taking a political stand. (pg 5) Even though Posner suggests a solution, that is, to stipulate a decision and then stick to it (pg 5), the problem is that definitions are not philosophically or politically neutral. (pg 5) On pages 6 and 9, Posner examines seven common concepts of curriculum, namely: 1. Scope and sequence (Figure 1.1 pg 7) 2. Syllabus (Figure 1.2 pg 8) 3. Content outline (Figure 1.3 pg 9) 4. Standards (Figure 1.4 pg 10) 5. Textbooks 6. Courses of study 7. Planned experiences Each of these seven definitions has different consequences in terms of accountability. (p 12) Overall, whoever is guiding the curriculum, that is the main stakeholders, then, these same stakeholders are setting their own expectations as to the delivery of that curriculum. This can be through the guise of guidelines which educators must adhere to, texts which educators must follow, or through expected outcomes of learning set in place and thus, to be reached. Posner then supports this idea further when stating that the general consensus amongst the experts is the notion of no definition of curriculum is ethically or politically neutral. (pg 12) The fact remains there are too many cooks in the kitchen trying to decide on a menu, meanwhile, there are hungry people wanting to eat.

Curriculum Purpose and Content Pg. 67 89 Overall, I would have to say this was a very enjoyable article. The main purpose is to try and give definitions to some of the terminology, in particular, education, training, aims, goals and objectives, which are tossed around within the field of education. In trying to do so, Posner exposes us, through example, to some of the more well-known people who have also tried to distinguish between the various forms of knowledge acquisition. Posner first gives us a definition of training as ....the specific situations in which people will use what they learn and education as ....the situations in which people will use what they learn. (pg 70) When it comes to curriculum, we are looking at content approaches and process approaches. In many ways, the two overlap quite often and as Posner states, ....the assumptions when formulating curricula for educational contexts is that most of the situations for which we prepare students are unpredictable. (pg 70) From a learning standpoint, knowledge of some subjects is used associatively and interpretively, whereas knowledge of other subjects is used replicatively and applicatively. The former, as explained by Posner, is education and the later is training. It is the difference between fundamental principles as one receives in education and the job-related skills one receives through training. Some of the other terms Posner tries to explain are the differences between aims, goals, and objectives. Although they are often used interchangeably, there are slight differences in the meaning. The impression I got when reading Posner, was that of a funnel with aims being at the widest part and then gradually becoming more focused with goals, and finally, the most detailed with objectives. Posner also goes on to categorize them into societal goals, administrative goals and educational goals. The chart on pg 72 does a good job of incorporating the terms and showing the relationship amongst them. In this section, the most significant statement was: as societal values have changed throughout history, the intended purpose of an education has followed suit. (pg 74) Societal goals are those which try to change society for the better, administrative goals are those which are required by an organization, and educational goals are the result of what is supposed to take place over the years and across the subject matters of schooling. (pg 76) On the other hand, the more narrowly defined are learning objectives, which can be further broken down into lesson objectives and course objectives. From learning objectives, we are them re-introduced to the likes of Bloom along with his taxonomies of learning, mainly cognitive, affective, and psychomotor, Gagnes five major categories of learning outcomes, and Ryles two types of knowledge; knowing that, which deals with subject matter and knowing how , which deals with skills, and the distinct differences between the two. Up to this point, Posner has dealt with the process of learning. In the latter part of chapter 4, he focuses on content from a behavioural psychological view, a pedagogical view, and a multicultural view (which I dont cover here). The amazing facet of this part of the reading was the fact that depending on how you

look at curriculum the way in which educators teach it will be skewed towards that view.

QUESTIONS FOR THE CLASS: 1. How important is it for educators to distinguish between education and training when it comes to curricula? 2. Is education curricula, as you deliver it, primarily content or process based?

ISSUES AND PROBLEMS OF NURSING

I think there are several key issues that are facing nursing today and they have the potential to impact nursing significantly as we move into the future. 1. Lack of common ground for educational standards to enter nursing. Most professions have a common entry-level standard that defines them as a profession. For example, in order to be a dietitan, you must possess a minimum of a bachelor's degree, same for lawyer, teacher, etc. For nursing, there is no real common entry-level and this causes a great deal of confusion to young people looking at nursing as a professional career path. In addition, other health care disciplines have increased their educational standards to meet the increasing technology available in health care, yet nursing continues to have no common thread in relationship to education for entry-level as a registered professional nurse. This issue is frustrating in that it causes great stress for nurses as they are deeply divided on entry-level themselves. Do a search on this board and you will find many hotly debated discussions on the topic. 2. Lack of respect as a professional. Many nurses will claim that they receive little respect from other health care providers, including physicians, administrators and in some cases even advanced practice nurses . As a result of this direct lack of

respect, nurses view their voice as limited in health care. Nurses today are placed in some of the most dangerous positions in relationship to providing care to patients. Nurses in some hospitals have far too many patients to safely care for. Nurses have limited voices with administrators and many nurses feel that the only way to have a voice is to join a union, which is not necesssarily the answer. 3. As health care advances and technology improves, the overall cost of health care is escalating. Nurses believe that their wages do not fairly compensate for the the service they perform. It really is a sad note on society when a famous football player earns millions of dollars, but the nurse caring for your mother and holding the security of her life is compensated less than $45,000 per year in most cases :angryfire . Decreases in benefits (decreased contributions to 401(k), elimination of retirement pensions, etc.), increasing costs of health care insurance and no loyality by employers to promote long term employment relationships all add to the lack of security that nurses have with their jobs. 4. America is increasingly becoming more litigous and nurses are being named in lawsuits. This alarming trend will only increase in the future without proper government intervention. As lawsuits increase in numbers and awards to plantiffs are outrageous, overall health care costs are going to increase. Many people looking at nursing as a viable career choice are thinking twice about the option without tort reform and reform of the current system. 5. All of the above contribute to the lack of nurses willing to work at the patient's bedside. Many studies have shown that there is really no true nursing shortage, rather, there is a direct lack of willingness for registered nurses to work in these increasly compromising situations. This adds to the shortage. Couple the shortage with an aging population and you have a true disaster in nursing on the horizon. 2008 will be the first year that the baby boomers will begin reaching retirement. Government reports predict that the overall cost on the social security system will be overwhelming, not to mention Medicare. Nurses will be on the front line dealing with aging baby boomers .... How will the profession meet the challenges that it will face? Not sure I can answer this. 6. But still, I think there is hope and I pray that as we move into the future, someone or something will engage nurses to unite and speak with one common voice for reform to health care and better standards for patient care as well as better working conditions for nurses. California began this process with mandated nurse to patient ratios. If California can initiate such reform, why can't this reform spread across the country? It can and when nurses begin to realize that they have one of the most powerful voices in the country, only then will WEas a professional body be able to demand and see change for our patients and for our working conditions. As a student in nursing, you are on the front line also and you can be part of that powerful voice. The future is not all doom and gloom for us, it can indeed be very bright and enbriched and wonderful if

we all come together and work to change our profession from a weak subservant occupation, to a profession that is strong, vocal with conviction and able to provoke change for the future.