English Introduction

Our Curriculum for English Language Arts education is not problem centered, but rather process centered. We view language processess--reading, writing., listening, speaking, and viewing- as the core of our discipline. Our curriculum is also transactional or meaning centered. In a transactional curriculum, the focus is on meanings constructed or interpretations developed by individuals in their transactions with texts. Reading, listening and viewing, for example, are seen as constructive processes predicated to a large extent on an individual's previous knowledge and experience and aided by the processes of writing, speaking, and dramatizing. Engaging individuals in the varied processes of making meaning is a central objective in a transactional curriculum. 

Our curriculum is also centered in reflection, meaning, that we encourage individuals to inquire beyond initial responses or first readings or first drafts and to reflect on how both their language processes (reading, writing, listening, speaking, and viewing) and their products (e.g., an interpretation they've developed) have been shaped by social factors such as race, gender, ethnic identity, and class. 

That said, our process-centered , transactional, and reflective curriculum shares much in common with problem centered teaching and learning. To illustrate the similarities, in this project we've chosen to focus on a particular problem-solving activity that we think students at all educational levels might be engaged in: an interactive cloze activity. The interactive cloze activity is meant to engage students in ways similar to problem-centered teaching and learning: students work collaboratively and in the active role of problem solver to negotiate meaning to articulate responses, and to reflect on both the processes and products of their reading, while the teacher works as an aide and coach.