Language Arts (English) Curriculum for the Adolescent Aged Twelve to Fifteen Years

Introduction

Adolescents are strongly motivated to be social. They strive to belong to their peer group and seek recognition from others. They also look for ways they can forge links with the broader community so they can contribute to social life in a meaningful and increasingly adult way. In Australia the mode of communication through which adolescents can rehearse adult social roles in the wider community is English, alongside a variety of community languages, including the indigenous languages of Australia, in the form of spoken, written, visual and multimodal texts. The Montessori adolescent program is designed to connect students to their immediate community through activities such as community work, research and library visits, guest speakers, performance, enterprises such as market stalls and work experience. Through these activities students interact within a wide variety of social contexts, requiring them to use varieties of English, and perhaps a language other than English, as appropriate to each context.

Across all areas of the Montessori adolescent curriculum knowledge about the English language and its use is emphasised. Students build on the language study undertaken in the Montessori curriculum for six to twelve year olds. In workshops students review and consolidate their knowledge of the functions of words, the structure of clauses and sentences, word study, spelling and punctuation, as well as the study of style. This knowledge is now used to analyse texts for the author’s meaning and intent, and to enhance each student’s skills in English comprehension, expression and composition.

The study of English permeates all three domains of the curriculum: cognitive development, creative expression and preparation for adult life and contemporary culture. Across the curriculum, adolescents participate in many activities involving spoken and written language.

Spoken language activities in the domains of cognitive development and Preparation for adult life and contemporary culture might include seminars and workshops, presentations, debates, dramatic role-play and performance. Preparation for these activities also requires students to engage closely with written language. For example, to prepare for seminars, students read relevant texts closely, applying the skills of interpretive reading and analytical thinking to organise their ideas and findings for presentation to others. They then present their ideas and findings at the seminar to participants who might include peers, teachers and an expert in the field. During the seminar they also need to apply their knowledge of the social conventions that support harmonious and productive group discussions. Following the seminar discussion, students might transform their presentation into a formal written text, published on paper or in digital form, to share with a wider audience, or to use for assessment purposes.

The desire of adolescents to contribute to social justice, and their tendency to introspection and strong emotional responses, underpins how important creative expression is for this age group. At this age students need a wide range of opportunities to express strong feelings and opinions, for example, by:

• providing personal responses to a variety of texts, including plays, poems, novels and other literary texts, as well as speeches, news and opinion in the media, information texts, biography and other non-fiction texts.

• analysing and interpreting artworks, including literature, visual arts, drama, film and music, that reflect a range of cultures, places and historical periods.

In the domain of creative expression students read and respond to English literature, past and present, and the literature of other cultures and times. They prepare works of literature for performance, including poetry, prose and drama, both spoken and multimodal. They also write creatively and present their own creative works using a variety of media, including spoken and written language and multimodal presentations.

Studying the artworks, and other cultural artefacts, of different cultures across time and space also enables students to reflect critically on the value systems of those cultures as part of studies in the humanities area of the curriculum. The works studied might include spoken, written, visual and multimodal texts. To present the findings of this type of study, students might create, a dramatic monologue to re-enact the experience of a particular historical figure, or they might conduct a debate based on contrasting perspectives on the same historical events or time period, for example, from the contrasting perspectives of English-speaking missionaries and indigenous people at different times in different parts of the world.

Language is an essential tool for successful participation in the occupations of the adolescent community and for later successful participation in work and community life. Within the adolescent community there are opportunities for students to engage interpersonally with their peers, to share their aspirations and worldviews, and to talk about social issues and challenges. To participate in the occupations of the community, students must listen and speak, as well as read and write effectively using a variety of communication channels and media. They might also use communication skills to incorporate creative expression and academic research into projects undertaken as part of this curriculum area. As students apply their language and literacy skills to complete practical and community projects, they learn that language use has to be crafted thoughtfully and respectfully to achieve their goals. For example, as students compose written texts to achieve practical and community goals, they learn, through practical experience, the value of the process used to compose effective written texts, a process that includes planning, drafting, revising and editing. They will also develop reading and composition skills related to the use of computer technology, including word processing, desktop publishing, web page design, scriptwriting and multimodal authoring.

The study of language during the second sub-plane continues to be on the knowledge students need to assist them to contribute to society. In the first sub-plane, students connected to their immediate community through activities such as community work, research and library visits, guest speakers, performance, enterprises such as market stalls and work experience. Whilst this continues into the 15-18 years, there is envisaged more of a looking outward to the world alongside a possible looking inward towards a specialisation. By building in internships and accessing greater levels of specific mentoring, students are able to build on their interests and/or expertise. Within the area of the Language curriculum this can include roles specific to the subject area but also to positions where the skills of this area of learning are integral.

Involvement in Occupations provides a solid link with place-based opportunities still available. Greater emphasis is also possible on successful participation in work and community life post-school. The learning should have breadth as well as depth as the adolescent readies for a world beyond school. Preparation should be “for the unforeseen, not only for the conditions that can be anticipated by prudence and foresight. Nor should it be strictly conditioned by one rigid specialization but should develop at the same time the power of adapting quickly and easily” (Montessori 2000 [1948]: 61). With this in mind, choice from a diverse and rich range of texts and experiences should inform the learning at this stage to give “the necessary aid to human development” (Montessori 2000 [1948]: 84). Within the Language curriculum, this choice is still possible whether in the selection of texts (with regard for and fulfilment of State/local curricula), mode of expression and communication, or with a consideration of student best interests and the sequence of learning. Consideration should always be made of certification requirements and learning pathways, when navigating this choice.

This domain’s cross-curricular orientation, traverses and is embedded in all areas of the curriculum, even at this senior secondary level, and it is likely that language and literacy skills gain a wider audience and an additional complexity and responsibility. Discrete curricula hold importance but there is still a strong pull to be project-based with integration still possible. The opportunity to use and refine communication skills continues, incorporating creative expression and academic research into projects undertaken as part of their learning in this curriculum area as well as across curriculum areas.

The Aims of the Montessori English Curriculum for Adolescents from Twelve to Eighteen Years

The aims of the Montessori language curriculum for adolescents aged from twelve to eighteen years include the following:

• to develop listening skills that enable students to comprehend, take notes, respond to and participate effectively in a range of spoken exchanges and presentations, including, for example, seminars and meetings

• to develop spoken language skills to interact with others effectively in a range of contexts using levels of formality and social conventions appropriate to each context

• to develop spoken and written English language knowledge and skills for effective personal expression, for example, to communicate thoughts, feelings and beliefs effectively, clearly, fluently and creatively

• to develop spoken and written English language knowledge and skills to persuade, debate, substantiate opinions and respond to a range of different viewpoints

• to foster appreciation of the personal expression of others in spoken, written, visual and multimodal texts

• to foster appreciation of reading as an essential life skill for gaining factual information, reflecting on others’ points of view, connecting with the ideas of others and for enjoyment

• to extend reading skills to enable students to apply these skills to all areas of the curriculum, including the critical interpretation of texts, research and contribution to community activities

• to foster an appreciation of writing as a valuable and effective means of communication for personal and creative expression in literary texts, for sharing information and knowledge, for explaining and persuading and for practical tasks

• to extend writing skills to all areas of the curriculum, including personal expression, creative and literary writing, interpretive and analytical writing, and the presentation of information and research

• to develop a personal style in written work

• to use writing as an aspect of effective study skills

• to further refine the process of writing

• to allow students access to a range of texts from different times/periods, styles, genres and cultures including texts in translation, ATSI and First Nation texts, cross-cultural experiences, as well as new and emerging writers, and workplace and everyday texts and literary and non-literary texts across a range of media

• to think critically about the different interactions between text, audience and purpose

• to engage in close, detailed analysis of individual texts and make relevant connections between texts

• to research and contribute to community activities

• to interact with a range of personal and global issues represented in texts

• to understand the ways in which we construct meaning

• to consider and reflect on various interpretations and critical theories in understanding texts

• to identify and recognize the importance of the contexts in which texts are written and received

• to encourage, through the study of texts, an appreciation of the different perspectives of people from other cultures, and how these perspectives construct meaning

• to develop in students an understanding of how language, culture and context determine the ways in which meaning is constructed in texts

• to appreciate and engage in writing as a valuable and effective means of communication for personal and creative expression in literary texts, for sharing information and knowledge, for explaining and persuading and for practical tasks

• to recognise and appreciate the way in which language modes are interrelated

• to develop a confident and personal style in written work

• to construct texts confidently for a range of purposes, audiences and with various media

• to foster agency in learners through negotiated rubrics that hold rigour, challenge and meaning

• to refine skills through opportunities for service eg planning, marketing and communication, documentation, evaluations, intergenerational activities based on student interest and/or community need