Choosing Curriculum
A second comment on the first "rights" post made some good suggestions for improving the accuracy of the statements--except that when I actually tried to follow through on them, it didn't work out well.
I tried it first on the statement saying that parents of classroom-schooled students give up the right to choose curriculum. When I tried inserting "individual" in front of curriculum, I decided that even that didn't convey reality very well. Here's why I said that: I have been part of a grade school staff and a high school staff for a combined 15 years. In neither case can I ever remember any parent's input on curriculum choice. While parent input was tacitly approved, I don't believe it was usually sought or thought necessary. Electing or hiring the people who make the curriculum decisions is, of course, also providing some input, but it is, in my opinion, so minimal that to focus on it (in a description of how things are) is more confusing than helpful.
Long before I was on the high school staff, before it began, in fact, I think there might have been some patron input on choosing an individualized curriculum. I know, however, that it was part of the proposal put forth by the person who became the first principal, and I believe it was mostly a matter of accepting the package deal--having a high school with the proposed curriculum, or not having a high school. In my mind, the parental input was so small as to be nearly infinitesimal. It has been, to my knowledge, almost entirely a staff decision since then--which probably explains why we have had four different sets of Spanish language materials stored in the supplies closet during my 10-year tenure at the high school.
At the grade school where I taught, I also remember no parent input into curriculum decisions. I remember suggesting several curriculum changes myself, which were implemented. Here also it was mostly staff input, I believe.
When I was writing the "rights" post on what classroom teachers give up, I almost included "the right to choose curriculum" because of the input necessary from others before such a change can be made. However, I decided that the input from others often was so infinitesimal that it didn't bear mention there either.
I'm hoping you can see my pattern in deciding what to include on these lists. I've gone with mentioning a matter only when I believe the overwhelming truth is on the side I'm focusing on. Fair enough? I think so.
I tried it first on the statement saying that parents of classroom-schooled students give up the right to choose curriculum. When I tried inserting "individual" in front of curriculum, I decided that even that didn't convey reality very well. Here's why I said that: I have been part of a grade school staff and a high school staff for a combined 15 years. In neither case can I ever remember any parent's input on curriculum choice. While parent input was tacitly approved, I don't believe it was usually sought or thought necessary. Electing or hiring the people who make the curriculum decisions is, of course, also providing some input, but it is, in my opinion, so minimal that to focus on it (in a description of how things are) is more confusing than helpful.
Long before I was on the high school staff, before it began, in fact, I think there might have been some patron input on choosing an individualized curriculum. I know, however, that it was part of the proposal put forth by the person who became the first principal, and I believe it was mostly a matter of accepting the package deal--having a high school with the proposed curriculum, or not having a high school. In my mind, the parental input was so small as to be nearly infinitesimal. It has been, to my knowledge, almost entirely a staff decision since then--which probably explains why we have had four different sets of Spanish language materials stored in the supplies closet during my 10-year tenure at the high school.
At the grade school where I taught, I also remember no parent input into curriculum decisions. I remember suggesting several curriculum changes myself, which were implemented. Here also it was mostly staff input, I believe.
When I was writing the "rights" post on what classroom teachers give up, I almost included "the right to choose curriculum" because of the input necessary from others before such a change can be made. However, I decided that the input from others often was so infinitesimal that it didn't bear mention there either.
I'm hoping you can see my pattern in deciding what to include on these lists. I've gone with mentioning a matter only when I believe the overwhelming truth is on the side I'm focusing on. Fair enough? I think so.
posted by Mrs. I (Miriam Iwashige) at
8:03 AM
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