Seeking "Better Alignment Between Life and Teaching" Through Gentle Changes to Curriculum in a High School English Class

• In Event: Virtual Poster Session
  In Virtual iPresentation Only: Division K - Section 08: Teachers’ Lives, Identities, and Journeys Virtual Poster Session

Abstract

For the teacher in this analysis, there had long been a balance to strike between adhering to the common elements of grade-level curriculum and teaching classes in her own way. She was trying to better connect her teaching with her beliefs and values; she was “seeking wholeness in my life and in my classroom.” She had become disenchanted with the curriculum texts because of the lack of diverse representation and the centrality of violence which she perceived as contributing to its normalization in and through English class. Rather than calling for sweeping change, which she said felt “impossible” to do safely, she used gentle, effective shifts to negotiate the tension she felt between her own values and the required curriculum

Author

• Jessica Cira Rubin, University of Waikato