Tara

Troy

A Personal Curriculum Platform Philosophy

The Aims of Education:
When one can look past the multi-billion dollar industry of education, beyond the latest
textbooks, technology, buildings and staffing, and that person can see an individual child, not a
classroom, or district or state, they can see the true aim of education. At that point you can see that
one child, and see that the purpose of all that money and time and effort is to make an individual who
can function appropriately and effectively in our world. John Dewey writes, To Prepare him for the
future life means to give him command of himself; it means so to train him that he will have the full and
ready use of all his capacities; that his eye and ear and hand may be tools ready to command, that his
judgment may be capable of grasping the conditions under which it has to work, and the executive
forces to be trained to act economically and efficiently.
While the aim of education is to prepare the student for later holistic success, the actual
direction of each students preparation will be, and should be, uniquely individualized. Nel Noddings
wrote, By trying so hard to pretend that all children are equal in all things, we destroy the very
possibility of promoting their real, unique talents. I believe this aim is a huge honor for one to have
and a true duty to serve correctly. For the actual aim to hit the bulls eye or individual student, as
teachers we need to look at the education of each student rather than spreading knowledge over the
classroom as a farmer might irrigate crops. We need to take each learners needs into account in order
to facilitate the best plan for academic and social growth towards their ultimate goal of responsible
citizenship.
The Nature of the Learner and Learning:
When we see that one child, that one individual, then we can see the true nature of the learner
and the process of learning. I truly believe that learning needs to be a social activity in which the
teacher AND students flow between roles the roles of instructor, presenter, expert, experimenter and
explorer. I believe students need to have a vested interest in their own learning and by creating
classrooms that provide them the opportunity to take ownership of their education is essential. John
Dewey puts it beautifully when he says, The progress is not in the succession of studies but in the
development of new attitudes towards, and new interests in, experience.
Although looking at the unique learning styles and intricacies of each student is essential to well
educate our future adults, it is also with a great sense of gentleness that we need to take each student
strengths and weaknesses. Jonathon Kozal talks of this balance when he writes, The greatest fear I
have in talking with a boy or girl as sensitive as Elio or Stephanie is of an unintended intellectual
invasiveness, of entering not just the room to which I was invited but the next room too, and feeling
suddenly that I have stepped into a place where I do not belong and maybe dont deserve to be.
In middle school art class, my teacher looked at my strengths, which happened to be art. As an
awkward 8th grader, I quietly loved to create sculptures from clay that I would squash down to a ball
before anyone would notice or pencil drawings that I would tuck away in books. I was talented and she
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November 30, 2014

Tara Troy

noticed. However without probably intending to, she went where she wasnt invited and made a big
deal of my artwork. My weakness was being in the spotlight and abruptly I was there. In retrospect,
had the transition to wow, class look at this been slower and gentler, I think a different outcome might
have happened. My reaction was to feel intruded upon and my effort and connection in that class, to
that teacher, from that point forward was minimal at best. Learning is such a beautiful balance of
respect, honesty, vulnerability and hope. We have a huge responsibility when we have been entrusted
with a classroom of learners.

Essence of Teaching:
I couldnt tell you what great teaching strategies my 7th grade pre algebra teacher used, but it
took one conversation after I had been caught chewing gum in class for him to be forever remembered.
He told me that he was trying to get me ready for the real world someday and as he put it, no one
wants to hire someone gnawing on a chunk of gum. To this day, when I see a cashier, or store clerk or
sometimes even a fellow teacher gnawing on a chunk of gum, I want to share my wise math teachers
advise. He could have written me up for my minor code infraction but he knew there was that living
spirit that he wanted to lift up not tear down.

As much as wed like to think the really cool way we taught long division is why these kids think
about us decades later, we know its instead due to the importance and respect we give them. Its the
little moments where we listen, just listen. Kozal reminds us that We think we know the way theyre
heading in the conversation, and we get impatient, like a traveler who wants to cut the travel time.
We want to get there quicker. It does speed up the pace of things, but it can also change the
destination. I have a student who is 24 and living on her own. She calls quite often even though she
graduated years ago just to have me listen. Sometimes she even will say, You dont need to say
anything, I just need to talk. Just listening is one of the hardest jobs in teaching, we get the least
training in it, but its truly one of the most important things as teachers, parents, or as a member of
society that we can do.

The Purpose of the Curriculum:
Relevant and useful curriculum is crucial in all schools. According to, What is 21st Century
Education, it is the hope that Schools can be transformed into places where all students, rich, middle
class and poor, receive compelling, interesting education. Regardless of race, socioeconomic status,
gender, etc, we need to create and maintain the highest expectation for students throughout their
career in our schools. Like a torch passed from teacher to teacher, we each need to carefully handle
each students future as to never belittle the importance of each flame or worse, to extinguish it all
together.

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November 30, 2014

Tara Troy

The curriculum needs to flow seamlessly across all learning styles in order to catch every student
in his or her most familiar area yet tenderly help them to explore areas uncomfortable to them. It is
again the 21st Century Education belief that, The curriculum is not textbook-driven or fragmented, but
is thematic, project-based and integrated. Skills and content are not taught as an end in
themselvesKnowledge is not memorization of facts and figures, but is constructed through research
and application and connected to previous knowledge, personal experience, interests, talents and
passions.
While there may never be answer to whether or not theres any sound in the forest when a tree
falls if no one is around to hear it, we do know that when curriculum is not distributed in a way that is
useful, interesting and tied to realistic applications, truly no one will hear it. I dont think Im alone in
taking many experiences with curriculum as a student myself into account in my own teaching career,
both good and bad. I know that when I felt the curriculum was irrelevant, I tuned out or quickly lost
interest. Similarly, when related back to my life, it quickly became memorable. One class in particular
was an Anatomy and Physiology Class at Lincoln Southeast High School. While not at all scientifically
inclined, I felt myself studying hard, paying attention closer and anticipating the next unit through our
teachers unique way of connecting the curriculum with our lives we cooked! When we studied the
brain system for example, we made cow brains and scrambled eggs.

The Image of the Teacher:

My husband teases me that as a teacher Im, a pillar of the community. He snickers when I
say a bad word when my daughter runs over my heel with the cart at Wal-Mart. He knows I try not to
cuss. He gives me a hard time when in meetings and church, I look alert and interested. He knows I try
not to give the impression Im bored. He imitates my cheerful conversation when we get back to the car
after running into a student at the mall. He knows that even if Im mad at him, Ill be polite and nice to a
student and their family. He gives me a hard time, but I know he admires that I take my role as a
teacher and a role model in the community seriously.
Although to my immediate family and circle of friends, Im Tara, to a much larger group of kids,
parents, colleagues, other professionals, I am seen as the teacher. As a teacher, I never know which of
the interactions I have with these different populations will be significant. Speaking of Mr. Rogers, Kozal
writes, He asked the children many questions. He asked the mothers and grandmothers questions too.
He also gave them time to answer. I never thought about prescriptive overconfidence while he was
here. I thought of someone walking in the woods and being careful not to step on anything that lives. I
try to remember how precious theses extra moments are when Im walking to my car at the end of the
day and the secretary hands me a missed message from a parent or when a student meanders close to
your desk in the hopes that you offer a few minutes just to talk.

I know Im in a role that goes far beyond the school day. Its a huge responsibility and honor. I
believe that John Dewey puts it best when he says that he believes, every teacher should realize the

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Tara Troy

dignity of his calling; that he is a social servant set apart for the maintenance of proper social order and
the securing of the right social growth.
The Preferred School:
John Dewey writes, I believe that in the ideal school we have the reconciliation of the individualistic
and the institutional ideals. I think hes absolutely correct that there needs to be a balance between
the ideals of those above us in government that seem to need validation that we are in fact doing our
job and the ideals of those of us in the trenches with that specific student whos needs or curiosities or
questions keeps us up at night.
To me:

A preferred school would be actually preferred by students and parents and students and
parents as valued clients would be treated as such.

A preferred school would integrate various learning styles into each lesson.

A preferred school would be one where teachers have the freedom to be creative and
innovative in their attempts to motivate and educate. It would be where the passions for
teaching are welcomed to be viewed and questioned and appraised by administrators,
colleagues and parents.

A preferred school is one where the teachers lounge is not a refuge away from students but a
place to reenergize and collectively brainstorm.

I think overall, Paulo Freire states it best he compares a preferred school model to banking
education. He says, Whereas banking education anesthetizes and inhibits creative power, problem-
posing education involves a constant unveiling of reality. The former attempts to maintain the
submersion of consciousness; the latter strives for the emergence of consciousness and critical
intervention in reality. The reality is that each student is our future and how they interact with the
future is not only a determinate of our immediate success but our own future happiness, security and
well being as part of society in general.

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November 30, 2014

Tara Troy

Source: Campbell, Duane. 2000. Choosing Democracy: A Practical Guide to Multicultural Education.
Online article at http://www.dsausa.org/antiracism/editorials/editorials.html.
Source: Dewey, John. 1897. My Pedagogic Creed. The School Journal 54 (January 16): 77-80
Source: Freire, Paulo. 1970. The Banking Model of Education. Pedagogy of the Oppressed, Chap. 2.
New York: Continuum.
Source: Kozal, Jonathon. 2000. Ordinary Resurrections: Children in the Years of Hope Chap 9.
Source: Noddings, Nel. 1997. A Morally Defensible Mission for Schools in the 21st Century. In
Transforming Public Education: A New Course for Americas Future, edited by Evan Clinchy, 27-37. New
York: Teachers College Press.
Source: What is 21st Century Education?
http://www.21stcenturyschools.com/What_is_21st_Century_Education.html

Critical Issues

November 30, 2014