Ideology Reflection

Curriculum & Instruction

Jenna-Lee Rusnak

After experiencing multiple presentations on the four Curriculum

Ideologies, I have decided that I enjoyed the learner-centered and social
reconstruction activities the most. More specifically, I enjoyed the learnercentered activity where our group had to collaborate and make decisions
about how we would manage ourselves and operations on a deserted island.
We were provided time to discuss our rationales for how we wanted to
operate and then vote on the idea we liked the best. Unfortunately, there
were struggles for the quiet people to allow their opinions to be heard.
Conversely, there was one individual who tried to dominate control over the
rest of us. Although there were disagreements at times, we managed to think
abstractly about how different types of government styles would affect our
livelihoods and survival possibilities. The reason I enjoyed the debates on
these ideas is because it made me imagine our society today and how it is
governed. I was able to take the fictitious details of the activity and apply
them to my own life and our society. Similarly, I personally enjoy social
reconstructive activities due to the abstract thought involved and applying it
to everyday life. I find debates very engaging and mind-opening. These two
ideologies both promote growth, higher order thinking and can involve group
discussion and reflection.
When focusing on each of the ideologies individually, I feel as though
the goals of each ideology can easily guide the objectives involved in the
classroom learning environment. On the other hand, this realization can be
problematic when it comes to considering students learning potential and

Ideology Reflection

Curriculum & Instruction

Jenna-Lee Rusnak

assessment validity. With the students engaged learning in mind, and with
access to new paradigm teaching resources, I believe that any of these
ideologies can incorporate more effective activities in delivering content. A
great example of this was the scholar academic group that created a digital
Jeopardy game to engage students even though the content was fact based.
I think it important to strive for effective teaching strategies that adhere to
all learning styles regardless if fact-based information is involved or not.
I have a hard time discussing an ideology that is most impactful
because I am a student who does have a unique learning style which is not
as common as the learner-centered ideology. I feel the best way I can answer
this question is that I am aware of different learning styles and ideologies,
and that they each have a time and place when they can each be impactful.
Therefore, with this in mind, I can only say that I plan to use most of these
ideologies, if not all of them to different degrees as a teacher. The reason for
this is because choosing an ideology is a depends question and I will need
to perform some trial and error with each group of students I teach each
year. My goal is to successfully reach my learning objectives and help each
student reach their full learning potential. I may not be successful all the
time, however my heart is in the right place and that is why I am currently in
the Education program attempting to reach my learning potential as well. I
will not teach as I like to be taught and I will always ask myself if my ideology
and teaching strategies assess each student properly.