The Process of the Disciplines
An Approach to Teaching, Learning, and Evaluation
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In this book, I propose a new approach to teaching, learning and evaluation entitled The Process of the Disciplines. I have tried to present a fundamentally different approach to education than the experienced curriculum of most students in the United States today, while at the same time taking a very practical view of the implications of this approach. I have sought to connect the rigor of traditional approaches and the meaningfulness of “Progressive” approaches, by re-examining the nature, function, and forms of the academic disciplines and the function of formal education itself. Much like the pragmatic approaches of the most effective classroom teachers, this approach addresses the weaknesses of existing paradigms and draws on their strengths. This approach is based on the belief that knowledge has three central, essentially pragmatic functions: making sense of the world around us, solving problems, and expressing our understandings. The core academic disciplines of math, science, social studies, and English language arts are our most powerful mechanisms for performing these functions, and education in these areas should be approached as intellectual apprenticeships in each of these fields. In doing so, I also propose new ways of looking at both academic standards and intellectual competence.
Historically, American education has been dominated by two paradigms, what I refer to here as Traditionalists and Progressivists. Fundamentally, Progressivists believe in engaging students in the process of each discipline (emphasizing relevance and meaningfulness), while Traditionalists focus on ensuring mastery of the products of the disciplines (the facts, theories, and algorithms developed by masters in each domain), emphasizing the rigor of school experiences. Neither of these paradigms fully captures our current understandings of knowledge, of what knowledge is of most worth, of how humans learn best, and what constitutes genuine demonstrations of mastery of important knowledge sets. Each of these paradigms has serious flaws that experienced, effective teachers intuitively understand and address in their own teaching.
My proposal connects the best of both of these perspectives, ensuring student mastery of critical disciplinary competencies while they are engaged in the context of informed, disciplined inquiry. Students do not simply learn facts, skills or processes, but learn what to do with that knowledge and how to use it in their lives. They master the vital products of the disciplines while engaged in the process of the disciplines in contextual and meaningful experiences that are at the heart of each discipline. While other theorists and educational thinkers often focus independently on curriculum, instruction, or evaluation, this book addresses all three as an integrated, coherent whole: what to teach, how to teach, and how to evaluate student learning. In addition, it explores the implications for policy issues, teacher education issues, and a range of other related concerns regarding the implementation of the approach.
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About the Book
In The Process of the Disciplines, award-winning teacher and curriculum designer Dr. Chris Cuozzo presents an innovative, yet commonsensical approach to thinking about the goals of education, our methods of instruction, and our forms of assessment. Dr. Cuozzo suggests that a well-educated person is one who is able to bring useful knowledge created by others to bear in making sense of the world, solving problems, and expressing his/her understandings. An effective education both meaningfully engages students in the process of the disciplines and ensures that they have genuine mastery of the critical competencies that constitute the products of the disciplines. Filled with real-life examples from his varied experiences as an educator, this book provides new perspectives on the core functions of school.
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“This book brings clarity to the art of teaching and learning….Chris Cuozzo provides a refreshing new perspective on why we teach, what we teach, and how we teach it….Finally, a book that redefines what it means to effectively educate all children in our public school system”
– Bridget Doyle, Director of Academic Programs,
DC Public Charter School Association
“The education world – to the great detriment of so many of our children – has long been divided into opposing camps. Chris Cuozzo’s work is one of the precious few by a practicing K-12 educator that attempts to bridge this divide; for this reason alone it is worth reading.”
– David Liben, Co-Founder and Principal of the Family Academy, Harlem, NY;
Co-Director of the Vermont Strategic Reading Initiative
“…an excellent resource for instructors, administrators, and school board members who are committed to supporting an educational environment that produces effective citizens of the 21st century… an affirmation for all educators committed to mastery instruction and mastery learning in this age of standardized-based, test-driven school systems.”
– Mary Morris, Winner of the 1997 Loudoun County Principal of the Year Award and
1997 Washington Post Distinguished Educational Leadership Award
About the Author
Christopher Cuozzo holds a B.A. in English and a MA.Ed. in English Education from the College of William and Mary and a Ph.D. in Curriculum and Instruction from the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education. Over the course of a varied career in education, he has taught grades 5-12 in suburban public schools, urban public charter schools, and independent schools, as well as working as a school administrator, curriculum consultant, and teacher educator. Dr. Cuozzo has been the recipient of a Champion of Exceptional Children Award from the Council for Exceptional Children, co-designer of The Young Lepidopterists Project, and founding Director of Studies of Hyde Leadership Public Charter School in Washington, D.C. He currently teaches high school English at Highland School in Warrenton, Virginia and is an Adjunct Professor of Education at the American University in Washington, D.C.
Dr. Cuozzo lives in Leesburg, Virginia with his wife and two daughters. He can be reached for questions or discussion about this book at cuz5212@aol.com.