Disrupting the Status Quo: Curriculum and Equity
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Culturally Responsive Teaching. Social Emotional Learning. Restorative Justice Practices.
These different initiatives are designed to address deeply entrenched inequities in our education system, and they are laudable and important efforts.
Yet, one of the greatest repositories of educational injustice exists so close that we often do not recognize it as problematic: curriculum. The basic Latin translation for curriculum is “the course to be run” (McTigue & Willis, 2019). Too often, the “course run” by our students, especially our students of color, is one that maintains the status quo through an emphasis on standards and skills with little to no connections to students’ lived experiences.
“High Quality Curriculum as a Transformation Tool for Equity”(Hartle & Riley, 2021) argues that “[c]urriculum is the heart of the solution to educational inequities because it is a container for so much that happens during each school day.” A transformative curriculum contains content designed to engage students in “texts, topics, and tasks” that integrate and contextualize social emotional learning. It also lends itself to culturally responsive teaching practices by structuring content around the following lenses:
“Mirrors” - Students see their lives and cultures reflected and affirmed in the texts and topics studied.
“ Windows” - Students build empathy and respect through subject matter about people from different backgrounds. Students also make connections from the past to the present.
“Doors” - Students meaningfully engage in the problems impacting their community and are inspired to work for change.
As is the case with the adoption of any curriculum and curricular resources, the professional learning of teachers is paramount to its success.
We invite you to read the full article, as the authors provide helpful information about open educational resources to support equitable and transformational curriculum development.
Hartl, S., & Riley, C. (2021, April 25). High-quality curriculum as a transformation tool for equity. Retrieved March 31, 2021, from http://www.ascd.org/ascd-express/vol16/num14/high-quality-curriculum-as-a-transformation-tool-for-equity.aspx?