Curriculum

Stakeholders

            This curriculum situation is unique in that outdoor spaces become the classroom.  Field trips are often conducted for a single day, but for this project the outdoor experience can expand over several days, perhaps weeks.  The standards addressed through this project are great and are not limited to just social studies.  This project is a true integration of multiple disciplines including science, mathematics, English language arts, and physical education.  The project has been designed to provide ample leeway for the teacher to select which activities will work best for the learners and how much additional background information must be built for the project to have the greatest effect.  The focal and unique point of this project is the use of a public park that is accessible.

             For this particular curriculum situation there are both major and minor stakeholders.  Connelly and Clandinin (1988) suggested asking questions about the level of accountability the curriculum creator has to each of the different stakeholder individuals and groups (p. 132).  The stakeholders in this instance has a negative connotation, but for this project that utilizes outdoor public places, the anticipated stakeholder relationship is positive. 

               The major stakeholders in this curriculum situation are the teachers, students, and school officials.  This experience based project, that provides an opportunity for students to leave the school grounds and explore another site, can be stressful for the teacher who must plan for this activity with all the legal forms and permissions; but the anticipated gain in student understand of place and region through experience far outweigh the additional work that is required.  Students are also stakeholders for this project and must be aware of their responsibilities during the outdoor portion of the project.  Depending on the age of the students, pre-discussion about traffic, chaperone, and stranger protocol may be necessary.  The students’ health is also a concern with exposure to outside elements and possible medication necessities.  The building and district administrators are responsible for insuring that student needs of protection and food are met.  These major stakeholders should come to a common understanding of their roles and expectations in such a program that may be very different from the type of lessons that had been previously used in the classroom.

               The other stakeholders have responsibilities that are standards, material, and consequently experience based.  The parents have a stake in the program by understanding the educational implications of place-based curriculum.  The district curriculum departments and the entity that holds the standards being addressed have a stake in the program to insure that the activities are educative and not just activities to entertain.  The government entity, in this case the state department of Natural Resources, has a stake as they are ultimately responsible for securing financing and maintenance of the public space.   Additional minor stakeholders are those that maintain volunteer organizations that can provide historical, cultural, and scientific background information that can be shared with students for this project. 

               This project takes advantage of a public resource that is also considered a community resource.  In that sense, it is a community project that fortifies the geography standards that are explicitly outlined for the teacher in the unit plan and the implicit consequences that will develop, such as a sense of pride in community.