The Saber-Tooth Curriculum

PART 1

For me, the Saber-Tooth Curriculum still exists until now because our educational
system teaches students on how to do particular tasks on their own and we let them do the
things which can help them to exercise their minds as well as their skills. The field of
education is an ever-changing plain of opportunity. Since the inception of education there
have been different ideas of what should be taught in schools. The Saber -Tooth Curriculum
holds that education started with fish-grabbing, horse-clubbing, and tiger- scaring long
before reading, writing, and arithmetic. After these original three subjects were established,
it became difficult to change the curriculum. The curriculum that was being described on the
article actually conveys a message in a form of the premise “we should teach them on how
to catch a fish using their hands rather than using a net.” In which it implies that we
teacher’s/future teachers, we must teach the young on how to manipulate their cognitions,
we should let them think and we should let them do things on their own rather than spoiling
them with all their needs and covets. Training implies the act of imparting a special skill or
behavior to a person, which is commonly offered to employees of operational level.
Education, is a process of systematic learning something in an institution that develops a
sense of judgment and reasoning in employees. And also training is undertaken in the
hopes of gaining a specific skill. Generally, this skill will make you more employable.
While education is undertaken in the hopes of furthering your individual knowledge and
developing your intellect. A curriculum should be timeless it means that our education
system should fit with the needs of the time and serve a purpose. Ultimately, these
curricular decisions should be made by our society to fit our needs, rather than by individual
teachers, school buildings, or districts.

For me, it is essential that education not only focus on what is learned but how to
learn it. In the "Saber-Tooth Curriculum," New-Fist was an educated man because he was
skilled at fish-grabbing, horse-clubbing, and tiger-scaring. However, if he had survived to
see the ice age, those skills would have been useless if he did not know how construct new
knowledge based on old concepts. In today's world, "fish-grabbing, horse-clubbing, and
tiger-scaring" can be compared to the classic "reading, writing, and arithmetic." While they
are important skills, students must be aware of how to apply these skills to future
endeavors. For example, if a student were in my situation about Obama's health care plan,
it is important that we (teachers) have taught them to be attentive listeners, effective
questioners, evaluative of others' opinions for bias, as well as intelligent internet users.
These skills will not only help them to find out about Obama's plan, but will help them to
find out about other things as well. Memorizing Obama's plan can only be used in an
isolated setting. Teaching them how to get the information and what to do with it can serve
a larger purpose in the present and the future.
 The Saber-Tooth Curriculum

PART 2
 

The field of education is an ever-changing plain of opportunity.  Since the inception

of education there have been different ideas of what should be taught in schools.  The
Saber-Tooth Curriculum holds that education started with fish-grabbing, horse-clubbing,
and tiger-scaring long before reading, writing, and arithmetic.  After these original three
subjects were established, it became difficult to change the curriculum. In synopsis, a cave-
dwelling society refuses to alter its school curricula despite an impending ice age which
completely redefines the skills required in the workplace. This story highlights how schools
still teach swathes of irrelevant knowledge (too much math, too much chemistry) and
neglect the useful skills to the detriment of everyone (reading, writing, health, religion, and
more). In the beginning, there was humanity; and humanity needed a way to maneuver in
the world that they lived. This is a world fraught with danger and a world that didn’t have
structure. There were great dangers at every corner, and because there wasn’t any
structure on how to deal with these dangers, they had no way to stay ahead of the
evolutionary curve. At least, this is the story that was first presented in Harold Raymond
Wayne Benjamin book, “The Saber-Tooth Curriculum.” The story begins with a drink. Well,
actually, a few drinks, but nevertheless it begins with a recent student meeting his college
professor at a vacation spot at the “longest bar in the world,” in Tijuana. The discussion
concerning the beginning of the story of mankind and how they could use a curriculum to
teach others about the dangers of the world and to use this curriculum in order to survive.
Throughout this book, there are individuals that rise to create the curriculum of survival.

Curriculum change should reflect the common goals of society. Our society, like that
in the "Saber-Tooth Curriculum," is constantly changing, so education should too. However,
how "change" is viewed and defined should be taken into account very carefully in order to
be successful. Often, people think that change should be immediate, a "quick fix," and be
completely different or opposite from what took place before. This is not necessarily true.
Change, in schools especially, should be gradual, carefully monitored for effectiveness, and
may slowly yield results. It also may take pieces of the old and combine it with the new.
Curriculum should be a blend of skills and content knowledge. Those in the "Saber-Tooth
Curriculum" admitted that the old skills they needed to survive would always be at the root
of the new things they taught. Curriculum change should do the same. It should teach
content knowledge, however, to be truly effective, to prepare students to be functional
members of society, curriculum must involve linking the past to the present and the future.
By arming students with content knowledge only, schools will produce adults who can spit
out facts and figures- useful, if life were a game show. On the other hand, life is much more
than just a question and answer competition. In order to prepare students for life, schools
must teach students the skills to take the content knowledge and apply it to become useful
citizens of the world. I think that teachers should do their best (without appearing biased)
to encourage students to take what they've learned in school each day and try to think
about how they can use that knowledge to make their world a better place to live. In other
words, we should encourage students to be what Daniel Pink says to be a "society of
creators and empathizers, of pattern recognizers and meaning makers."
 It is essential for education to be based on the important skills needed by society for
the present and the future. In the article, the New-Fist school was developed to meet the
needs of the society and its culture. As a result, the children were taught fish-grabbing,
horse-clubbing and tiger scaring. When the ice age came along these subjects were no
longer needed. The village then had to find ways to survive because they could no longer
catch fish with their bare hands, the stupid woolly horses evolved and moved away, and the
tigers became ill due to the dampness. Although there were experts in this field, these
people were no longer needed. The circumstances of the community changed and so did
their needs. The village needed new thinkers so that the entire community could survive the
new ice age. As a result, the thinkers thought of new ways to catch a fish, how to create
traps to catch antelope, and how to catch bears using traps. Education evolves to suit the
needs of society. It is our responsibility to change with the times and to have an open-mind
when analyzing the changes necessary for our village’s survival. Teaching for the future
gives us a step above the starvation New-Fist’s village faced.
 An Overview of China’s Curriculum

China has the largest education system in the world. With almost 260 million
students and over 15 million teachers in about 514 000 schools (National Bureau of
Statistics of China, 2014), Education is state-run, with little involvement of private providers
in the school sector, and increasingly decentralized. County-level governments have primary
responsibility of the governing and delivery of school education. In recent years, the
Ministry of Education has shifted from direct control to macro-level monitoring of the
education system. It steers education reform via laws, plans, budget allocation, information
services, policy guidance and administrative means. Basic education in China includes pre-
school education (usually three years), primary education (six years, usually starting at the
age of six) and secondary education (six years). Secondary education has two routes:
academic secondary education and specialized/vocational/technical secondary education.
Academic secondary education consists of junior (three years) and senior middle schools
(three years). Junior middle school graduates wishing to continue their education take a
locally administered entrance exam, on the basis of which they will have the option of i )
continuing in an academic senior middle school; or ii) entering a vocational middle school
(or leave school at this point) to receive two to four years of training. Senior middle school
graduates wishing to go to universities must take National Higher Education Entrance Exam
(Gao Kao). According to the Chinese Ministry of Education, in June 2015, 9.42 million
students took the exam. Higher education is further divided into two categories: 1)
universities that offer four-year or five-year undergraduate degrees to award academic
degree qualifications; and 2) colleges that offer three-year diploma or certificate courses on
both academic and vocational subjects.  Postgraduate and doctoral programmed are only
offered at universities. The adult education ranges from primary education to higher
education. For example, adult primary education includes Workers’ Primary Schools,
Peasants’ Primary Schools in an effort to raise literacy level in remote areas; adult
secondary education includes specialized secondary schools for adults; and adult higher
education includes traditional radio/TV universities (now online), most of which offer
certificates/diplomas but a few offer regular undergraduate degrees. The academic year is
divided into two terms for all the educational institutions: February to mid-July (six weeks’
summer vocation) and September to mid/Late-January (four weeks’ winter vocation).
There are no half-terms. Most schools start from early morning (about 7:30am) to early
evening (about 6pm) with 2 hours’ lunch break. Many schools have evening self-study
classes running from 7pm-9pm so students can finish their homework and prepare for
endless tests. If schools do not run self-study evening classes, students still have to do their
homework at home, usually up to 10pm. On average, a primary school pupils spend about
seven to eight hours at school whilst a secondary school student spends about twelve to
fourteen hours at school if including lunch time and evening classes. Due to
fierce competitiveness to get into good universities, the pressure to do well for Gao Kao is
intense.  Many schools hold extra morning classes in science and math for three
to four hours on Saturdays. If schools do not have Saturday morning classes, most parents
would send their children to expensive cramming school at weekends or organize one-to-
one private tuition for their children over the weekend.

For me, The first thing anyone should know about education in China and the thing
that defines it and sets the tone for many other characteristics is definitely the University
entrance exam, called “gaokao”. The results of this test determine not only which university
students may go to and which major they can choose, but also their prospects for future
employment, salary and marriage options. The pressure to do well on this exam is immense
as it determines someone’s future to a very big extent. Even with certain reforms and
simplification of the test, introduced by the government lately, it is still a challenging test,
taken within 2 days, in math, Chinese, foreign language and a few chosen subjects. Those
who come from big, developed cities mainly believe that it is overwhelming and
unnecessary, while people who come from poorer provinces and countryside believe that it
is the only thing that gives them a fair chance to improve their lives and rise above poverty.
Be as it may, the system is in place and the whole education, from early ages onward must
dance to its music. To succeed in it, one would need to study hard, be disciplined, follow the
teachers’ guidance and get as much support as possible from the parents and
additional classes. In terms of work ethics, it is not wrong to say that Chinese students
study hard, put in a lot of effort, do their homework conscientiously and genuinely care
about their learning. Chinese students spend majority of their time learning, be it school
(from morning until the afternoon, or even evening for those preparing for “gaokao”), doing
homework (one of the countries with the biggest amount of homework in the world), or
attending additional lessons like piano, violin, Latin, swimming or something else. All of this
starts as early as kindergarten where children often take additional ballet or kungfu classes
in school and continue to other classes after school and on weekends. If you ask any parent,
teacher or student, they will all tell you that there’s too much stress in education. The cases
of depression, anxiety and even suicide because of it, are unfortunately quite common.
Parents expect their children to excel, nothing less than the best is acceptable and they will
make sure their children get help and support (and pressure) to get there. It is widely
known that Chinese students excel in math. The teachers corrected all the homework and
often analyzed mistakes. Chinese curriculum covers fewer topics, but they go much deeper
and cover different angles while pushing every student to master the material and commit it
to deep memory, at which point knowledge becomes intuitive and solving tasks becomes
faster and easier.

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China in 1949, education has been
valued for the improvement of Chinese society rather than as a basic human right. Although
the fundamental purpose or function of education has not changed, there have been some
structural changes. Qualified personnel have been trained, and school conditions have
improved. Education reform has progressed steadily—the nine-year compulsory education
program has been implemented, primary education is becoming universal, and technical and
vocational education has developed. Higher education also has developed quickly.
Enrollments have increased, and a comprehensive system featuring a variety of disciplines
is in place. Education for adults and minorities has been funded, and international exchange
and studying abroad opportunities are also available. Most types of educational reforms in
China since the 1980s have led to decentralization and the granting of semi-autonomy to
lower administrative levels. In addition, college education has become a prerequisite for
official bureaucratic positions. However, much remains to be done in order to provide
education to most Chinese citizens. Overall, education is insufficiently and unevenly
developed. The discrepancy in the quality of education between rural areas and urban areas
is overwhelming. There are no reliable sources of rural school financing. Investment in
education also is inadequate. Furthermore, the educational system and its management
mechanism cannot meet the needs of the continual restructuring of the economy, politics,
science, and technology. These problems are caused by variable combinations of politics,
economics, and professional assumptions about how to develop modern education in China.
As the economy expands and the reform deepens, serious efforts must be made to solve
these educational problems.
 Developing a Curriculum for the Transition Program of Special Learners in
the Philippines

The Republic of the Philippines recognizes the right of every citizen to receive quality
education. As stated in Article 13 Section 11 of the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, the
state “shall protect and promote the rights of citizens to quality education at all levels and
shall take appropriate steps to make such education available to all”. Further, it shall
“provide adult citizens, disabled and out of school youth with training in civics, vocational
efficiency and other skills.” For this purpose, the State shall “create a functional basic
education system that will develop productive and responsible citizens equipped with the
essential competencies, skills and values for both life-long learning and employment.”
Article 3 of Presidential Decree (PD) 603 established the right of children to an education
“commensurate with their abilities and for the development of their skills for the
improvement of their capacity for service to themselves and their fellowmen.” Republic Act
(RA) 7277, known as “Magna Carta for Disabled Persons”, underscored the State’s duty to
disabled persons, the scope of which includes the delivery of adequate access to quality
education and sufficient opportunities to develop their skills. These commitments of the
state are accomplished through the Department of Education (DepEd), which is mandated
to ensure that every Filipino learner with special education needs, regardless of age, and
socio-economic status will have access to quality educational programs that will ensure his
or her holistic development to become a functionally literate citizen. The Transition Program
aims to help special learners become functional in spite of their disabilities. It aims to make
them enjoy their daily lives, and empower them to become more useful and productive
citizens. This program is not just a set of activities; it is an educational equity package that
includes curriculum and policies that will support the education of special learners. The
transition program is designed for special learners that are intellectually disabled and those
that are physically handicapped. It is designed to meet their special needs and respond to
their specific interests. It is like a care package that will empower the leaners in their
transition from home to school, or from post-elementary or post-secondary to the world of
work. In the transition program, the learners will also enjoy an education that will enable
them to become functional in their everyday lives. In the Philippines, the transition
program was already part of the special education program of the Department of Education;
however, it was focused only on adult learners with special needs. Transition program was
viewed as a coordinated set of activities for a student designed within an outcome-oriented
process that promotes movement from school to out-of-school activities. The transition
program aims to realize the aim of the K to 12 basic education program of producing
holistically developed and functionally literate Filipino learners in the context of special
education. This qualifies it as an organic part of the K to12 curriculum by providing both
academic and extra-curricular support systems to all special learners. it is necessary that
the proposed curriculum development model for the transition program in the Philippines
should reflect these principles. The curriculum development model for the Transition
Program Curriculum should follow a logical process that describes the necessary tasks that
teachers and administrators can follow. The curriculum development processes should be
closely aligned with how the Department of Education develops various curricula.
 There were several issues and problems encountered by SPED Teachers and school
officials on the implementation of the transition program.  Limited facilities and resources 
Lack of concrete policies and directions for the transition programs  Few approved teaching
items for special education teachers  Limited curricular program offerings  Limited
understanding of parents on the nature of the transition program Limited instructional
materials and resources  Limited training for special education teachers on the transition
program  Lack of assessment tools  No provision for teaching assistants or shadow
teacher. The school officials and teachers should observe that the existing transition
curriculum is somehow overlapping with the existing Special Education Curriculum
implemented in different SPED schools and centers in the country. The program should
expand its existing academic and pre-vocational programs to include interests-based and
needs-based programs. It is also necessary to develop instructional materials and
assessment tools for the program. This will guide the teachers and administrators in
effectively implementing the curriculum. A curriculum policy should also be developed to
help the administrators and teachers manage and carry out the transition program because
curriculum policy will guide administrators and teachers to effectively implement the
transition program. The current transition program is also limited to adult learners. With the
implementation of the K-12 Education Program, the teachers and supervisors should
express their desire to expand the program from early-childhood to adulthood. This will
ensure that all learners with special education needs, regardless of age, will have access to
any transition program offered in different schools. Expanding the coverage of the transition
program will also allow more programs and learning areas to be offered to the learners
based on their needs and interests.

The story of the Transition Program for Special Learners begins with a strong
conviction and commitment that all human beings are entitled to quality education. This
paper attempted to systematize the process for developing a transition program curriculum
by creating a model for curriculum development. The model is dynamic and linear. It
presented various curriculum activities and development of possible support systems that
are important in the development and implementation of any type of transition program
curriculum. Curriculum development in the field of special education is quite different. The
nature and needs of special learner’s demand that the process should be flexible for any
possible curriculum change, revision, and variation. The process of curriculum development
does not stop with identifying programs and developing standards and competencies; it
includes the process of developing curriculum materials and instructional resources. It also
demands that part of the curriculum development process is the creation of curriculum
policies and ensuring support structures for the implementation of the curriculum. The
curriculum framework for the proposed Transition Program Curriculum includes five learning
areas: (1) Livelihood, (2) Academic, (3) Enrichment, (4) Prevocational, and (5) Care. All
these learning areas are designed to help and prepare Filipino learners with special
education needs to be capable of engaging in entrepreneurship, pursuing further studies, or
living functional lives. This framework can be used for the planning and development of
special education curricula for the K to 12 basic education programs in the Philippines.