Turning Curriculum Around

The idea of the ‘Backward’ Curriculum Design Process is a new one to me, even though I’ve been in the field of teaching for several years. An article I read recently on the subject pointed out that many teachers focus on what they are teaching more than what the students are actually taking away with them. They are concerned first with things like materials and what activities the students will do rather than the learning goals. Unfortunately, this reminds me of the way I am used to planning my curriculum.

To me, music and art (at first glance) seem to revolve around activities. In teaching these, my main goal has often been merely to engage my students and help them to improve on a particular skill. This article describes much of what has gone on in traditional design to be ‘hands-on’ rather than ‘minds-on.’ I think a fair amount of my teaching has encouraged my students to actively apply their minds to what they are doing, in order to produce desired results. ‘Big ideas,’ those universal truths which are relevant across the ages, in multiple disciplines, were pleasant highlights that my students and I would happen upon along the journey. However, for most of my teaching career, I don’t think they have necessarily been the focus of my teaching.

Studies have shown that children are prone to look for reason and intentionality behind most things. I especially have noticed this attribute while teaching adolescents. Students’ questioning about the reason behind activity is a good thing, and since much of my teaching has been activity based, I have not often enough used it to my advantage. I have thought it difficult to deal with while teaching students a skill I consider to be intrinsically valuable (especially when they do not at first agree with me). However, it should be something I actively embrace and encourage. Building connections among universal truths and all of the skills I wish to teach in art is a large challenge, but one well worth pursuing. I am realizing more and more that I need to use the universal truths as scaffolding rather than ornamentation.

I am wondering if a large hurdle for me will be picking a new starting point. For example, I deem skills necessary for good representational drawing to be important. I would like to be assured that my students are taught the basic principles of this and other disciplines that fall into the category of visual arts. Focusing on the practical aspects of my discipline seems to be more challenging when I am starting with universal truths. However, his is a challenge I am definitely willing to take on, as I see that it is the universal truths that hold a curriculum together, connect it with other disciplines, and ultimately show the students that it is relevant to life.