K-12 Curriculum Development

Have you ever heard the saying, "Curriculum development is messy"?  There are several reasons why curriculum development is viewed as 'messy'.


 


1.  Curriculum Development is a process.  It may take 3-5 years to develop a
     quality curriculum.  Most educators want to develop a product and they get
     tired with the process of curriculum development.

2.  Curriculum Development involves multiple perspectives.  When multiple
     perspectives are involved, the process becomes 'messy'.

3.  Curriculum Development involves values.  What do we value?  What will we
     choose to eliminate from the curriculum? What values will impact K-12
     curriculum and instruction?  Since values are not neutral, curriculum
     development is not neutral.

4.  Curriculum Development requires time.  It is difficult to develop a curriculum
     document in a school district, due to the limited time available to work with
     teachers.  You can work with teachers after school, but they are tired from
     teaching students from 8-4.  You can work with teachers on an Early Release
     Day, but there are limited Early Release Days in a school year.  You can work
     with a limited number of teachers during the summer and you can develop a
     quality curriculum, but you only have the input of a limited number of teachers.
     The lack of time available to work with teachers makes curriculum development
     messy.

5.  State standards are sometimes vague.  When teachers at the same grade
     level have multiple interpretations of a single state standard, it makes
     curriculum development and horizontal curriculum alignment difficult.
     Standards-based curriculum development is messy.

Curriculum development is a challenge and some school administrators would prefer to avoid the 'mess'.  If educators avoid curriculum development because it is 'messy', then students will receive a disjointed curriculum. 

"Curriculum development is the essential function of school leadership.  Whether the role is carried out by a principal, an assistant principal for curriculum, a team leader, a department head, or by leading classroom teachers, the curriculum defines all other roles in a school" (Wiles, 2009, p.2).

References:
Wiles, J. (2009). Leading curriculum development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin
        Press.