Definitely NOT a Straight Line

But that doesn't mean we are going around in circles either! Enjoyed reading the many comments you made in the two Moodle forums for week #1, commenting about the progressive schools you looked at and then the initial reading in HH Jacobs' Curriculum 21. Jacobs doesn't hold back and that is why I like her book so much. She lays out essential issues and ideas at every turn of the page.

Public Domain CCO

Determining what is important in curriculum development, figuring out how to devise (or revise) curriculum, and reconciling what we have as "curriculum" in schools with what we think we should have are complex issues and processes. We will study these and similar ideas from many different points of view in the next few weeks. But there is definitely not anything resembling a straight line in curriculum development. Lots of U-turns, cycling back, and covering what seems like old ground.

Having read every post and response in Moodle (at least up to this morning), here are several responses from what you all said...and several questions for further study.

1. One of the biggest inhibitors to improvement (notice I didn't say "change") in schools is the traditional model of schooling—with its class periods, bells, hall passes, separate subjects, teacher-directed instruction, reliance on testing—that virtually everyone in the U.S. in the last 100+ years has experienced. When, why, and how did what we all know as "school" become THE way that every school must be? Is there research to support the traditional structures that define most schools as we know them? Are test scores higher in traditional schools? Do students there learn more? (Because this has become the default, the fall-back model on which any type of improvement is judged.)

2. I read lots of your comments with such descriptors as—hands-on, solving real-world problems, Expeditionary Learning, place-based curriculum and teaching, service learning, global focus, and many more. Comments suggesting a different curriculum and a different way of learning than many schools currently pursue. Why is that?

3. Do we really need to talk about technology and learning as if they were/are two separate things? Is there any question that every school should have the tools needed for students to learn?

4. Comment—the schools you read about...KIPP, North Haven, King MS and Casco Bay HS and others all shared one thing in common, I believe. They all had a vision, mission, and plan for getting there. The visions and the ways of operating were different across schools, but they had decided what they were all about and they worked to that end. Not unlike what we try to do as teachers with our students in our own classrooms.

5. Form follows function. Form follows function. Form follows function! Curriculum must come first before we decide how the school will operate, yet that is the exact opposite of what schools typically do. We have a school structure that puts students into groups, sets the time for instruction, decides how the day will be sub-divided, and so on. Why do we set all of these things before we decide what we want our students to learn?

 And, one more thing...As I sat down to write this post, I just finished listening to a fascinating podcast by Amanda Ripley talking with Dan Pink about her latest book, The Smartest Kids in the World and How They Got That Way.  Ripley studied students from Finland, Poland, and South Korea, including American kids who went to each of these countries. You'll be surprised what she says about schools, learning, and the educational systems in these countries.  Since you will be doing a comparative education study of another country's educational system in a couple of weeks, this may be the first step.

Welcome to EDC 533 and a little bit about me

Welcome to EDC 533 —Dynamics of the Curriculum. I love teaching this class and I love  studying the issues, concepts, and skills of curriculum development, planning, and implementation with teachers at all levels. As I write this, most of you are looking hopefully to the end of the school year in another week to 10 days. When all you want is a quiet place to sit down with no one asking you questions, you are about to embark on a (another?) graduate course! Amazing...and welcome aboard. It is my job to make this class well worth your while and I take that responsibility very seriously.

If you want to know a little about me, skip down to last year's June 2013 post. Here is a short update for this year...

Late last August I found that a good friend and colleague would be undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments during the school year. I volunteered to be her full-time substitute for as long as she needed me and that turned out to be from the beginning of school in September to early February. What a ride it was! I was the third teacher on a two-teacher team working with 42 eighth graders in an integrated curriculum. I even tried to teach math! After 29 years I was back as a full-time middle school teacher. A terrific experience for me and I hope for the students as well. If you are interested in reading a short piece on my 8th grade teaching experience this year, click here. Of course, the best part is that my friend is doing very well and has been back in her classroom since February.

A major change at home this year was that my wife, Connie, and I became first-time grandparents to granddaughter Castine, who is now five and one half months old. Of course we are having a ball watching her grow and develop.

Finally, along with my tech-director son and two good friends/colleagues, I have started an entrepreneurial venture called BoomerTECH Adventures. We will offer four-day retreats for baby boomers who want to travel to Maine and learn something about technology while they are here. Since March I have been very busy building a website, learning about using social media, planning the curriculum, and marketing our retreats. Interesting and fun work!

Ed picking blueberries for his morning cereal