Wednesday, January 13, 2016

On Curriculum #ABEdChat

This post is inspired by the fantastic conversation generated by the #EdChat #ABEdChat on twitter tonight.

As a preface, I have never participated in an EdChat before, preferring to be a passive observer(for the most part) on Twitter.

Today we talked curriculum. In my mind, curriculum is our guiding document for all classes; this opinion has been echoed by many of the multitude of principals I've had the pleasure of working
under over the last five years.

The conversation, as I entered it, was talking about flexibility in curriculum and whether Alberta's curriculums allow for flexibility in how they are delivered. 
I agree with Chris on this and it has a lot to do with my view on 21st century teaching methods and how they tend to resonate with students and encourage learning.

There were, and always, are those who follow this with the difficulty of finding change in institutions as firmly entrenched in their ways, such as school boards.


As I see it, the problem with a curriculum that can be interpreted as static and content based is that it can change the culture of a teacher`s practice irreparably.

I am, admittedly, educated in 21st century teaching methods by training, but found them challenged by my colleagues frequently in these first five years.

"I would love to try an inquiry project, but I have all of this content to cover."

"I want to do things like blog, but I don't know how they work."

"I want to use technology, but it usually doesn't work."

If you work in a Kool-Aid factory you are bound to drink some eventually.

Now I have been fortunate in that my 5 year career has spanned four different schools as well as substitute teaching for four months. When you see that many buildings you start to appreciate that not all school cultures are made equal when it comes to innovation.


Seeing these environments has also allowed me to make up my own mind and choose to innovate and challenge myself to risk failure in all of the classes I teach.

The frustration comes in seeing it end there. This is not always the case, but when it is the feeling can be defeating enough to make you want to put your time to better use outside of teaching.

Sometimes innovation in your own room can be amplified within your school and can cause larger scale change, but often it ends at your door. What is stopping teaching from building entrepreneurial spirit, innovation and technology into the curriculum that we base our practices on? Why can traditionalist, Luddite teaching methods be defended with a document that outlines our practice?

So I pose the question, what would a truly flexible curriculum look like? Could we create something that could be used as the refuge for new teachers, like myself, to fend of the textbook hounds and traditionalist parents who we are invariably forced to interact with in our formative teaching years, and to hold up in defense of 21st century teaching techniques that work for 21st century learners?

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