There is a strong connection between knowledge and the curriculum but I believe that education should not be bonded to those two terms because it encompasses so much more than either of those terms possibly could. The problem is that education is too broad to be that closely connected with knowledge and curriculum. Education does have certain connections to both knowledge and curriculum and they are all connected but the thought that they can all encompass each other does not fit with my view of education. Knowledge and especially official knowledge as mentioned by Apple is what is used to dictate curriculum. With curriculum being dictated by official knowledge it speaks to the issues that the current education system is facing. This is the most prominent way that the three concepts are connected. Education is vital in allowing students to grow and although it is designed through the curriculum to pass down official knowledge it can allow them the chance to explore and expand their own knowledge. Education allows students to decide what it is that they want to learn and where they want that knowledge they gain to take them. Learning the official knowledge and following the curriculum should be a secondary goal to helping students to enjoy learning and discover what they want to learn. To summarize the connection, the three concepts work together building upon one another to create the building blocks for true learning, using each concept to support the last and build upon the next.

As a teacher I believe that the connections between the three concepts is crucial and is something that should be kept in mind the entire time you are teaching. Knowledge to start with can affect your class in many ways, the knowledge you students bring into the class as well as the official knowledge that is expected to be covered is a large part of teaching. Student’s knowledge coming into the class can affect how they respond to what is being taught and is one of the most important things that I had to consider when teaching. The official knowledge that is imposed upon teachers’ forms the curriculum they should be teaching and helps them develop their own personal pedagogical creed. I personally have been shaped by the pedagogy I developed while learning official knowledge during my time at the University of British Columbia. The use of the curriculum to demonstrate what is important to government in education is also very enlightening as a social studies teacher because it allows me to see what type of education the government is interested in. It also allows me to realize what type of citizen they want to create because of what topics are emphasized in the curriculum, this is typically shown through the text books used to promote the curriculum according to Apple. These concepts have both tied in to how I interact with education and what parts of education are most important to me. Because the use of Official Knowledge and Government ideology have impacted the curriculum to such a great extent as shown here I am much more concerned as a teacher about ensuring that my students are interested in social studies and that they can take some useful skills out of the class. Topics such as current events or the ability to read critically are more important to me and are the focus of my teaching because I want to ensure that my students are able to continue learning without my scaffolding once they’re done in my class. Overall I believe the three concepts work together but I am not convinced that it is in our best interest to try and make them closer related than they already are.

Works Cited

Apple, M. (2000): Cultural Politics and the Text, in Official Knowledge, New York; Routledge. (46)