Times and Priorities Have Changed

 A little more than a year ago, I submitted a presentation proposal for a local Read to Me conference. I titled it, “Mirrors, Windows, and Sliding Glass Doors: Using Picture Books to Celebrate Diversity and Build Empathy in Young Children,” and I wrote a blog post titled “Mirrors and Windows” That conference was cancelled due to the pandemic, and since that time, I realize that we are now in a different world; so much has changed. My presentation would not be as relevant today as it could have been a scant year ago. We are dealing with a pandemic that has turned our comfortable world upside-down. Schools are just now getting back to having students back, but that doesn’t mean things have returned to normal with all the new rules and regulations in place for health and safety reasons. We learned a lot during this year of virtual or distance learning, and schools need to reexamine their priorities. Do schools realize the opportunities they have right now to change what they were doing pre-pandemic? How can we make school more meaningful for our students during these challenging times? Our world is changing rapidly and we cannot keep teaching students the way we were taught when we were in school. Memorization and regurgitation of information doesn’t work in this day and age when information is so readily available at the click of a button. Last summer when we were still unsure about the future, I wrote a blog post titled What Should Schools Be Teaching in these Turbulent Times? about how project-based learning can empower students to be engaged in the challenges facing their community. 

Today, I read a blog by A.J. Juliani titled, “Curriculum as Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Doors.” As he states, we need to do more than just expose and share multicultural literature with students. The whole curriculum needs to reflect the diversity, the history, the challenges, and the successes of the many different people who make up our communities, our states, our countries, our world. In his blog, Mr. Juliani shares that it starts with those in the community to create a curriculum with a purpose. “Every school should have a different curriculum because every school community is different,” he states. This process will take time; creating a curriculum is a work-in-progress with teachers making adjustments depending on their students, their understandings, their questions, and their evidences of learning. 

As I reflect on the project-based units our teachers created when I was a principal, I realize that due to the events of the past years, there needs to be a discussion with the school community about how we can ensure that the curriculum reflects the diversity of our world. Times have changed, and with them, priorities for schools have also changed. This past year has brought many issues to the forefront, issues which are threatening our hopes for a peaceful world. I am optimistic, though, that if schools can focus on “curriculum as windows, mirrors, and sliding doors,” our students may be better prepared to make a difference in their world.