Interview Case Study: Why teachers adapt or disregard provided curriculum
This summer, the MissionWired team interviewed a junior high principal who is also an influencer and author of a book about personalizing education. The conversation cut a window into the thinking of educators and leaders who resist provided curriculum materials.
As an early-career kindergarten teacher, she noticed the wide range of student reading skills and noted that a sequenced lesson progression provided in her school’s curriculum would fail to meet all students’ needs. She pursued professional learning to develop her own teaching approach, which she then disseminated more widely as a coach and now as a school leader.
Interview takeaways:
- Rejecting curriculum isn’t the same as rejecting rigor or standards, and some educators are pursuing professional learning to serve students beyond the curriculum.
- The influence of a motivated professional can expand during that educator’s career to prompt more teachers to look beyond the provided curriculum.