Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction
Main Points
As a community-based mentor, concept-based curriculum and instruction, referred to as CBCI throughout the post, has allowed me to think about how I can ensure that the youth I interact with daily are continuing to think critically and making connections with their work inside the classroom to their interactions outside of the classroom. One of my many initiatives is to provide the tools and resources to students and families, showing that secondary education is possible to complete.CBCI will allow me to explore the “Oh! The Places You’ll Go Past Year 12” unit with high school students to keep them on track and facilitate the best pathway to their future. Within the what is next process, I could explore concentrations on the importance of academics, extracurriculars, ACT/SAT, scholarship searching, geographic location, and so many other things. CBCI focuses on the assessment of understanding. Their assessment could be developing a college research diagram that could be done after attending a college fair. Since I work indirectly with students, CBCI has encouraged me to get creative in thinking of ways to get students thinking about life after high school as early as 9th grade. I want to encourage interdisciplinary CBCI by working alongside their current teachers to discover ways I could help navigate what is happening in the classroom but from an outside perspective.
The Meaning of CBCI
CBCI stands for Concept-Based Curriculum and Instruction. CBCI is working to encourage the classroom and teachers to approach learning from a broader perspective. CBCI encourages a classroom that allows students to be critical thinkers, creative, passionate, and engaged. By using CBCI, the classroom is going away from the typical learning, memorization, and showing knowledge. It allows students to put into practice what they are learning continuously. They are questioning what they are learning and exploring across disciplines. CBCI encourages the use of a Unit Plan that allows educators to design a web focusing on generalizations, interdisciplinary or intradisciplinary concepts, and thought-provoking assessments. As we are progressing through a new generation who are curious, educators need to find ways to keep this new generation engaged with learning, and CBCI is the tool to facilitate a new classroom.
Community Unit Plan Development Process
Unit Name: Oh, The Places You’ll Go Past Year 12
Conceptual Lens
- Values
- Change/Transformations
- Perspective/Creativity
Unit Overview: Have you decided what your plans are after graduation? During this time, students will have the opportunity to explore various career paths. Students will embark on hands-on experiences and real-life scenarios in differing career paths. Students will provide others with research on career paths that could interest them in the future.
Major Challenges: The challenges that I could possibly face are finding ways to implement different pathways and finding opportunities to explore these options without the students and myself feeling overwhelmed. Students can choose from plenty of options when deciding what is next. I want to provide these plans, but I do not want students to feel overwhelmed by the options. Staying organized and creative will be the goal when further developing this unit plan!
CBCI and TCE Threshold Concepts
TCE Threshold Concept #1: Both teachers and students have empowerment.
- CBCI aims to allow students to be critical of what is being taught in the classroom. Students are given more autonomy in the classroom because they are given the space to express themselves about their learning. CBCI pushes for students to speak up and be more engaged in the classroom. Students and teachers can work together to come up with topics to explore in the classroom. Teachers can facilitate after-school programs, allowing students to come in and express their concerns and opinions on how the classroom operates. Teachers can then use these words to develop the CBCI unit plan further. In the community, students can come together to think about ways to make changes to some of the issues they notice in their communities. Teachers can help students complete these initiatives and even include their lived experiences in their learning as well.
TCE Threshold Concept #2: Curriculum is more than standards, textbooks, or courses of study
- CBCI is working to move away from the traditional classroom approach. For years, teachers have been using state standards and textbooks to prepare students to memorize the information needed to pass end-of-year examinations. With CBCI in place, educators can incorporate many generalizations that students can use to think critically about a subject. CBCI encourages the use of standards but focuses more on finding creative ways to teach and assess a student’s knowledge. Learning through CBCI encourages facts, concepts, and skills to be taught in ways that students will use daily through various platforms and interactions. Learning will continue inside and outside the classroom, and using those same platforms in the classroom to show relationships between the classroom and student interests is important.
Hello!
I feel as an educator we often focus in on standards and what has to be taught from our curriculum. However, this should not be the case because we should be focused on how to prepare our students for real-world scenarios at whatever stage of life they are in. I like when you mentioned that CBCI encourages teachers to approach teaching with a broader perspective because this gives students the opportunity to make connections in multiple context areas.
I cannot wait to read about your CBCI unit on deciding what to do after graduation. I remember in High School the pressure of what career path I wanted to take because I kept thinking that I’m 18 years old how do I know what I choose is best for me. I originally wanted to be a child psychiatrist, but obviously that changed my Freshman year in college when I took a gen ed class that was focused on education. One thing I wish my HS would have done is to give students the opportunity to observe various career paths we were interested in. Maybe you could incorporate that into your plan? I know some schools have many connections with various community members/organizations and may be willing to accept students to observe different career interests.
Here is a blog about choosing a career path.
General Career Path: https://www.futurelearn.com/info/blog/how-to-choose-a-career
Hi JT!
Your unit plan sounds awesome. I love love love the fact that you, likewise to CBCI, are thinking into the future and working on concepts that will prepare your students for life outside of secondary education. Many students graduate without a plan for life after high school and even those who do go to trade school or college still aren’t always 100% sure of their desired career paths. When I read of your unit plan idea, I knew I had to comment because of how I approach this same concept in my job at the Boys and Girls Club of West Chester/Liberty (BGCWCL).
Being that we are a part of a generation and society where technology is a necessity, my job has taken heed to this and instead feel its best to meet students where they are rather than preach against the presence of phones, tablets, video games, etc. in the classroom. BGCWCL has partnered with a company called, “Transfer” where we were supplied with VR headsets that allow the kids to explore a world of skills and interest needed not only for everyday life but that also give insight into various career paths and fields. In these virtual reality scenarios, the kids are taught and guided, step-by-step, on how to drive a car to how to perform surgery. They are given instructions and “how to” methods so that the kids can navigate through these tasks while also learning in the process. The pictures and environments within these scenarios are so realistic too that it gives the students a valid sense of how the world of medicine, cosmetology, sports, education and more actually are. Granted, I know that buying VR headsets with these capabilities may be a bit of a budget stretch but whether or not this idea of one similar to it is possible, I believe these would be great assets/activities for you to use in your unit. Engagement and interest in these technologies would be a bit hit and would more than likely make your students feel less like they are learning and more like they are having fun.
Another idea I had, that we also do at BGCWCL, is have speakers come in who are professionals or have had experience within the occupations the students are curious about. We’ve had everyone from Navy recruiters to fashion designers come and speak to the students which not only allows them to hear of the ins-and-outs of the field but also allows them to ask questions and gain insight from a primary source in real time.
The variety of resources from technological interaction to face-to face conversation will give the students a well-rounded understanding of all of the careers they have to choose from and may inspire them to do something they never thought they would or could!
Here is a blog that could give you some inspiration for how to go about your unit! https://admissions.blog/a-definitive-guide-to-career-mapping-for-high-school-students/
Hi JT!
I love your perspective of CBCI and how you are able to apply it in secondary education. This goes to show that CBCI can be used beyond year 12 in school!
I absolutely love your unit plan idea – including hands on experiences and real life scenarios for students to figure out what career route they want to go! I would have loved this guidance after graduating from high school. I wasn’t totally sure what I wanted to do and ended up going into nursing school. A year later I switched into early childhood education. Although I believe this all happened for a reason, it would have been nice to have saved a year of college and known from the start what I wanted to do. Your unit plan idea will be so helpful for teens/young adults!
Something that might help narrow down career paths would be having students take a career aptitude test at the beginning of the process. This might help to relieve some stress and give both you and the student ideas on what to provide for experiences and real-life scenarios.
Hi there,
I enjoyed reading your post! I love that you are a community-based mentor and believe that your role is so critical! Your unit plan is so unique and important. I know that high schoolers continue to struggle with figuring out their future plans, just as I did growing up, and creating a unit around reflection and growth is imperative before students graduate. I love that you are working alongside current teachers. I have a couple of ideas that might be helpful for you in creating your unit plan. I thought- a career fair might be a cool idea as a community event after school. Students wouldn’t be interviewing for the careers but they can just walk around to different booths (people in the community) that hold different jobs such as nursing, teaching, engineering, military, etc. It would be a cool way to bring community members in and then students can come up to that booth to learn more about that job. The community members could maybe even give out their email addresses so students can contact them if they have any more questions. This is just an idea, but I thought of it as I was reading your post so I wanted to share it! You have a very impactful unit happening- I can’t wait to hear more about your final result!
Hi,
Great blog post!
Here is a blog about why CBCI is an approach we should shift toward! I found it to be a great read! https://professionallearninginternational.com/why-moving-to-a-concept-based-inquiry-approach-just-makes-sense/
You are in such an awesome role to implement a unit/plan for those who are beginning their career search. I feel like a career survey would be a great start for your subjects to complete in order to get a head start on their interest before offering too many options that could be overwhelming, like you mentioned.
Hi! I really liked how you framed your perspective from a community-based mentor perspective. Helping students plan for the future using such a well-known book I think can really demystify the process and start with a positive outlook on their planning. I can relate to the thought of seeing the process as overwhelming! It seems like planning a CBCI unit has so many steps and considerations. I also like how you think about ensuring that the student’s do not feel overwhelmed by options. In intervention, we call it offering “controlled choice” so I think you can help by offering some controlled choice options in each step to help them plan and consider their future without overwhelming them.