Classroom Curriculum

 George Newell and Ruth Ann Holt’s article on “Autonomy and Obligation in the Teaching of Literature: Teachers’ Classroom Curriculum and Departmental Consensus” was eye-opening to say the least. The pressures that Martha feels about teaching her AP classes along with the English department dissension would not make for a very conducive work environment.  I was surprised that the administration allowed the teachers to separate into three subgroups: “one represented a commitment to interdisciplinary curriculum in line with the principles of the school’s reform agenda; another group rallied around the more recently developed core curriculum . . ., and a third group seemed to have removed itself from the issues dividing the department—‘Just let me teach my classes and be left alone for awhile’” (27). I am assuming that there is at least a basic outline of goals each group has to incorporate in their curriculum to be compliant with their state’s standards, but that is not made very clear since one of the groups is devoted to the core curriculum.

My questions have the teachers in the class experienced similar dilemmas in their departments? Do they feel the same pressures as Martha does? How do you work within the ever changing system of theory for educating our youth?