Reading Specialist Reports
Reading Specialist Reports
How reports look
- Most suggest objectives rather than list them outright.
- They outline the understanding of the subject field and state ways it can be used for education.
How to use them
- Read the reports carefully and in detail.
- Draw inferences about the objectives the statements imply.
Two types of suggestion
- The broad function a particular subject can serve.
- The contribution a subject can make to other large functions not primarily its own.
A developer who turns to specialist reports expecting a ready-made list of objectives will be disappointed. The reports rarely work that way. Knowing how they are written, and how to read them, is what turns them into a usable source.
How specialist reports look, and how to read them
Most specialist reports do not list objectives directly. Instead, they suggest objectives. They tend to outline the understanding of the subject field itself and then state the ways that field can be used for education. The objectives are implied in the discussion rather than spelled out as a tidy set.
This means the reading takes effort. To make use of these reports, a developer has to read them carefully and in detail, then draw inferences from the statements about the objectives they imply. The work is interpretive, much like reading data about learners or contemporary life: the source points, and the developer infers.
Read it carefully and draw inferences about the objectives it implies
Reports suggest rather than list objectives. They outline the subject field and ways to use it for education, leaving the developer to infer the objectives from the discussion.
The two types of suggestion
The suggestions drawn from specialist reports fall into two types, and telling them apart sharpens what a developer takes from each report.
- The broad function of a particular subject. This is what the subject itself can do, the contribution it makes within its own domain. For a language subject, this might be developing effective communication; for science, contributing to health.
- The contribution to other large functions. This is what a subject can offer to purposes that are not primarily its own. Science, for instance, can contribute to social and economic functions that are not strictly scientific.
The first type asks what the subject is for; the second asks what else the subject can help with. Both yield objectives, and the next two articles work through each, using English and science as worked examples.
| Type | The question it answers |
|---|---|
| Broad function | What can this subject do in its own right? |
| Wider contribution | What can this subject offer beyond its own domain? |
The broad function of the subject, and its contribution to other large functions
The first is what the subject does in its own domain. The second is what it can offer to purposes beyond itself. Both yield objectives a developer can infer.
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