Term 2 - Week 2: Curriculum as a Loope (Narrative Reflection #2)

A Jewelers Loope

Our professor, Dr. Kathryn Alexander, is a surprise to me.  We have our standard discussions with thought provoking questions. We had reading to do from textbooks, and one was, 'To be Human with Other Humans' by Susan McRae.  It is a powerful piece of narrative writing.

She also introduced, The Montillation of Traxoline. This exercised challenged the notion of learning.  Do we learn to shout out the right answer? Do we memorize the facts? Do you understand the facts?  Is is about the grade to get four out of four?  What is the relevancy of the information? How do you feel about the information?

Next we used loopes. These are 5x jewler's loops and they are little magnifying glasses.  You get to focus on one very small area. We were encouraged to bring items and natural items.  Kathryn began with us looking through the loope and observing our hand.  We were to observe and write down any analogies that came to mind. 

"Look."
"Write."
"Look again."

How did all these pieces play together?  How each activity support the developments of curricular and instructional design?

To be honest, during the activities, my mind questioned, "Is there a method here?  Why are we doing these exercises?  What is the relevancy to my education?"

I went with the flow and participated.  It was fun.  We had discussions.  I thought, "How am I going to do a reflection on a series of activities? Will I write, 'first we did A, then B, then C?'"

I spent time thinking.  I walked the dog, thinking about Saturday.  I pondered curriculum, Traxoline, writing and the loope. 

My musings has come to a few more ponderings:

1.  Curriculum is constantly changing.  Why does it change?  Is it the environment?  Is it the student? The relevancy? The  instructors?  The content?  What and who are the instigators to curriculum change?

2.  The loope allows for the narrowing of information gathering.  Then allows for interpretation in a way that makes sense to the individual using the loope.  When my eye was zoomed into the little part of my hand, I really looked.  And I wondered.  And I looked.  And I found metaphors and analogies.   And I could take my eye off the loop and look again.  I could write again.  I was able to take what I know and start bridging it to more broader information.  It was fun, inquiring and had purpose.

3.  Reading aloud slows down the reader.  It also creates the space for the listener to hear the information.  With the narrative piece, power and inflections highlighted points that I had missed when reading it in my minds eye.  Why do we only read children's stories aloud?

4.  Traxoline does not exist.  When reading the piece, I went to trying to tie the nonsense words to concrete words that have meaning.  I was looking for meaning.  I am intelligent.  I should know the answer to the quiz.  It is an exercise that puts the teacher firmly in the student's seat. 

Curriculum development is like a loope.  It's easy to get focused on one little part.  To inquire, be inquisitive and focus on one small aspect.  The challenge in curriculum development is to be able to look, write and look again and then to bridge the information to the bigger picture.  I think I need to get a few and challenge my perspective.