Curriculum
Discussion of Curriculum - Monika Gosin
Lesson Format
The curriculum consists of 10 lessons designed to be taught in 40-45 minutes each. Each lesson includes a lesson outline, an activity sheet with instructions, student worksheets for use in class and as homework, and notes to the teacher. The lessons are designed to promote interaction among the students as well as between the students and the teacher, so that the students are involved in their own learning. Enjoyable activities are included to illustrate the skills and allow students to practice the R.E.A.L (Refuse, Explain, Avoid, and Leave) resistance strategies. The students' performance on the homework worksheets allows teachers to assess how well they are grasping the skills and knowledge taught in class.
The lessons include a variety of teaching modalities aimed at encouraging student participation such as group work, role-plays, pair discussion, and games. Overheads, in-class worksheets, and Spanish materials are provided. Each lesson includes a homework assignment and, starting with lesson two, a review of the previous lesson's concepts. Lesson one provides an introduction to the Keepin'it R.E.A.L. program and includes an overview video highlighting the project and the video production. Lesson 10 provides a thorough review of the program and reminds students of the life skills and resistance strategies learned. Taken as a whole, the produced curriculum is a culturally specific, practical, and innovative approach to teaching drug resistance strategies to 7th grade students.
Videos
Five videos are used in the curriculum. The video accompanying lesson one is an introduction to the curriculum and is designed to get students excited about the program and to profile the local high school students who created the four videos which focus on the R.E.A.L strategies. It is believed that the creativity of the high school students will make the messages in the videos more relevant to and readily accepted by the middle school students. The videos also give the students the opportunity to see enactments of successful drug resistance by youth who are similar to them in age and ethnicity.
Spanish Translation
All of the in-class worksheets, homework sheets and overhead materials accompanying the lessons were translated into Spanish. The necessity of providing Spanish language materials for use in the classroom was supported by data from the teacher's focus group. In the focus groups, teachers explained that many of their students' first language are Spanish and many students have low levels of English proficiency. Teachers expressed a great need for bilingual materials making their Spanish monolingual students feel more a part of the class and the program.
Ethnic Cultural Norms Centered Approach
In an attempt to avoid stereotypical portrayals of ethnicity, the keepin' it R.E.A.L. curriculum takes an approach centered on the cultural norms of the targeted ethnic groups. Although different ethnic groups produce unique cultural artifacts, to advance the stereotype that for instance, all Latinos are Catholic, have "colorful" taste in clothing and d?cor, and listen to a particular type of music, takes away from the complexity of ethnicity and ethnic identity. Thus, the keepin' it R.E.A.L. curriculum relies on norms that have been identified and commonly cited in specialized literature as predominant (although not necessarily universal) in Latino, European American, and African American culture.
The ethnic cultural norms relate to group interaction and conceptualizations of respect, family, and other relationships. Since these norms dictate how one should deal with others, it is our assertion that affirming these relational and communication norms can help students resist drugs in a manner they are more accustomed to. For example, Pilot data have demonstrated that Latinos are more likely to use the Explain resistance strategy rather than Refuse. Explain confirms cultural norms regarding the importance of dealing with others in a respectful non-confrontational manner rather than Refuse, which is much more direct and often seen as disrespectful behavior in Latino culture.
The ethnic cultural norms for the three different modalities were embedded into the framework of the lessons so teachers could effectively teach the curriculum even if they were unfamiliar with the norms and concerns of a particular ethnic group. The resistance skills learning objectives for each lesson were worded in a manner that incorporated specific norms supporting the learning of the skill. For example, in lesson #1 Latino, the objective is for the student to:
- Recognize that what he or she does effects his or her community, group, and family, and
- Differentiate between simple preference and "wise choice" - a choice that is honorable and can be respected.
In the non-Latino lesson #1, the objectives are for the student to:
- Recognize that what he or she does may have favorable or unfavorable consequences on his or her future goals, and
- Differentiate between simple preference and "wise choice" - a choice that helps the student to achieve his or her personal goals.
Here we can see that in the Latino lesson, the student is instructed to consider his or her actions in the light of how persons who are important to the student would respond. This demonstrates the Latino norm of family orientation. The Non-Latino objectives place more emphasis on individualism, where the consideration in making a choice is the student's own goals. This affirms the non-Latino norm of goal orientation. Thus, the objectives of lesson one are framed within two different cultural orientations, with both lessons seeking to teach the same skill of recognizing the consequences of choices and differentiating between simple preference and "wise choice." Since the objectives guide the lesson, the incorporation of culture-specific norms into the objectives serves to orient the whole lesson to take on a specific cultural bent. Additionally, examples used within the lessons were consistent with the cultural norms and the videos supporting the lessons used situational portrayals relevant to the targeted ethnic groups.
Influencing Normative Behavior and Motivation
The keepin' it R.E.A.L. curriculum aims at influencing normative behavior by allowing students to think about what motivates their behavior and how others view their behavior. The program also has a component that works at dispelling the idea that drug use is the norm for adolescents. Since norms are derived within cultural contexts, the curriculum takes advantage of the cultural norms for each modality, which promote motivation for resisting drugs. Emphasizing the way members of the child's peer group or family may respond to them if they use drugs may allow children to see that it is "cool" to say no. This is displayed in the curriculum through scenarios, the lesson objectives, and more prominently in the videos.
Another aspect of normative behavior that is addressed in the keepin' it R.E.A.L. curriculum is decision making. One of the lessons focuses entirely on risk taking and how to make decisions by considering the consequences of risk taking. This lesson includes activities that allow students to test their knowledge about drugs and norms of drug use. This component of the curriculum focuses on equipping students with the skills necessary to enact good decisions.