According to the Levin article, politics is how the school curriculum is developed and implemented. Levin claims that politics affect public policies, and these policies are what form our education system – including the curriculum.
Policies govern just about every aspect of education—what schooling is provided, how, to whom, in what form, by whom, with what resources, and so on. The application of these terms to the curriculum is evident. Curriculum concerns what is taught—a fundamental aspect of schooling and thus of public policy. (Levin 8)
Levin continues their discussion on curriculum and talks about how curriculum changes and how that thinks to current thoughts and knowledge. When certain topics are important in politics, they are reflected in the curriculum, when politicians feel strongly about something it could be seen in the curriculum, when big companies or resources for education believe something it is implemented in the curriculum. From this viewpoint, the curriculum is a vehicle for change. For example, anti-bias education has pushed for larger inclusivity to LGBTQ+ communities, and because of that, there are known outcomes in the curriculum that aim to show the understanding of different families. For example, the grade 8 Health outcomes and indicators in the Sask. curriculum include the following:
A. Describe a variety of family structures (e.g., nuclear, mixed, childless, foster, same-sex, single parent, extended).
G. Examine the prejudices/biases that exist in the community.
H. Investigate how the differences that exist in families are respected and protected in Canadian human rights legislation.
J. Recognize, name, and challenge instances of inequity, bias, intolerance, and discrimination related to family identities, structures, roles, and responsibilities.
Something that really surprised me in this reading is how the curriculum has changed in response to politics. After reading this article, I looked at old and new versions of different curriculums, and I saw how different topics had been implemented when it became politically important. For example, the discussion and investigation into AIDS and sex education, discussions on mental illness, Indigenous peoples, gender roles, and body image. After looking at how all these things suddenly appeared in the curriculum, I realized that these topics did not just appear. These topics became part of the curriculum in response to the world around us and what we value.
After reading the Treaty Education document, I realize how real Levin’s article is, and how it relates to the implementation of Treaty Education in Saskatchewan. The Treaty Education document was dated in 2013, but a quote says, “In 2007, mandatory Treaty Education was introduced” (Saskatchewan Ministry of Education 3). What I find really interesting is how Treaty Education was introduced in a politically important time. Right after Treaty Education was introduced in 2007, Prime Minister Stephen Harper made a public apology for the Residential school system in early 2008. I think this is an important idea when thinking about the connections to the Levin article and the tension surrounding the topic of Indigenous people in Canada at that time. The curriculum update could be seen as another political act in the series of acknowledging Indigenous people. In 2007 the United Nations developed and published an article called The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in 2007 the implementation of Treaty Education in Saskatchewan was introduced, and in 2008 there was a public apology from the Prime Minister. It is clear that the curriculum change was not separate from the other political changes happening in this time period.
Levin, B. (2008). Curriculum policy and the politics of what should be learned in schools. In F. Connelly, M. He & J. Phillion (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of curriculum and instruction (pp. 7 – 24). Los Angeles, CA: Sage.Available on-line from: http://www.corwin.com/upm-data/16905_Chapter_1.pdf.
Saskatchewan Ministry of Education. Treaty Education Outcomes and Indicators, 2013, https://www.edonline.sk.ca/bbcswebdav/library/materials/english/docs/Treaty%20Education%20Outcomes%20%26%20Indicators%20-%20Feb%2021%202013.pdf
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