Like many, I started out with SO many questions and worked them down to one (so far): How might we design/deepen our curriculum for educators + students in order to learn and amplify missing voices and perspectives?
This is a guiding question for me in all the areas of my work – teaching Digital Wisdom, Global Leading & Learning Diploma (GLLD), working with my colleagues as well as my research at OISE. What is the role between curriculum design and amplifying missing voices and perspectives? How do we create curriculum that is well thought out but flexible and agile, in order to invite in different ideas and perspectives at any time? A few papers I’ve really connected with during my research at OISE are listed at the bottom where they challenged my to think about this and to acknowledge that what and how students learn is tied to their lived experiences, as well as their future and their place within it. If we can further recognize and observe school as one educative force that creates us and our sense of identity, how might we better understand the intended, hidden and learned curriculum in and outside of school? (Apple, 2004; Gonzalez et al., 2001; Moll et al., 1992; Cornbleth, 1984). The hidden curriculum consists of the norms, values and dispositions required to navigate the routine and expectations of school over several years (Apple, 2004). Knowledge that is outside the western and primarily male perspective can also be hidden such as mathematical knowledge and the history of this knowledge (Gonzalez et al., 2001). The messages conveyed by the school environment are part of the implicit curriculum (Cornbleth, 1984). These areas of curriculum are included as part of a learning ecosystem.
I became convinced that finding the treasure was less important than the quest, the journey, or the curriculum that leads toward it. This curriculum is sustained by a steadfast gaze toward a life more worth living and a world more worth inhabiting. To embody such a gaze, to encourage it in others, and to find more about it from their experiences has been and continues to be the essence of education relationships I try to cultivate as a professor. (Schubert, 2009, p. 22-23)
Schubert’s (2009) metaphor of the treasure and the quest (curriculum) is an engaging perspective on what is worth knowing. By interweaving curriculum(s) and looking at our students’ place in this ever-changing world, implicit curricula presented in schools can be observed through a different lens, challenged and changed within the context of learning (Ahwee, et al., 2004).
I’m aiming to learn from my students in my classes, our GLLD students as well as my colleagues (within the school and beyond). The biggest challenge is finding not just time, but the right time for people. With ever-changing schedules and places of learning – finding the right time and place can be important. But…as my wise colleagues recently shared with me “our purpose is progress, not perfect“. Thanks to –
References:
Ahwee, S., Chiappone, L., Cuevas, P., Galloway, F., Hart, J., Lones, J., Medina, A.L., Menendez, R., Pilonieta, P., Provenzo, Jr., E.F., Shook, A.C., Stephens, P.J., Syrquin, A., & Tate, B. (2004). The hidden and null curriculums: An experiment in collective educational biography. Educational Studies, 35(1), 25-43.
Apple, M.W. (2004). The hidden curriculum and the nature of conflict. In M.W. Apple (Ed.), Ideology and Curriculum (pp. 77-97). Routledge.
Cornbleth, C. (1984). Beyond hidden curriculum? Journal of Curriculum Studies, 16(1), 29.
Gonzalez, N., Andrade, R., Civil, M., & Moll, L. (2001). Bridging funds of distributed knowledge: Creating zones of practices in mathematics. Journal of Education for Students Placed at Risk (JESPAR), 6(1-2), 115-132.
Moll, L.C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching: Using a qualitative approach to connect homes and classrooms. Theory in Practice, Qualitative Issues in Educational Research, I(2), 132-141.
@jadams Thank you for this post and for your efforts to explore this important question
“How might we design/deepen our curriculum for educators + students in order to learn and amplify missing voices and perspectives?”
One of the best resources I have found on this topic is this – https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rhHBjAEl08v2xksWAplrTrk9ATeffuY0/view?usp=sharing
It gives a really powerful framework and set of questions / lenses from which to explore and expand our planning and practice. I hope you find it as valuable as I have.
Looking forward to seeing you tomorrow!
@lbettencourt
Great – Thank you! @jmedved
Thanks for the feedback and ideas – they are great! I appreciate the resource(s)! A share back – I’ve followed Dr. Cristina Guerrero ever since I heard her speak at OISE quite a few years back – and one of Cristina’s papers I really resonated with (there are many) is the one below on “Queer(y)ing Culture through Professional Learning Communities: A Reimagining of Culturally Relevant and Responsive Pedagogy” – which asks teachers to look at culturally responsive and relevant pedagogy through a students lens rather than teacher-centric.
https://humber.academia.edu/CristinaGuerreroPhD
Looking forward to more conversations!