A Small Breakthrough in Curriculum Mapping

Not sure how many schools out there are curriculum mapping these days. Mapping is the process of collecting and analyzing a schools operational curriculum. Quite often, this is done electronically using a tool such as Rubicon Atlas or Curriculum Mapper, both software, web based products that allow teachers to input what they teach, how they teach it and how they assess as students understanding of a topic or skill set.

Needless to say we have been engaged in this process in one shape or another for several years now and in many ways we continued to struggle with helping faculty embrace the potential of mapping. Many were rightfully confused, unsure of why were doing this, didn’t understand what purpose it served and generally saw it as another “add on”. This summer, a team of went to a set of workshops at Rubicon Atlas in Portland, Orgeon. Many of you out there in the blogosphere may be thinking, “Yea, so what? you went to a workshop?” What was different was that a “team” of us went, not 2 or 3 people, but 7. What was different was we planned together as a group what we thought was the most meaningful and worthwhile approach to working with the entire faculty during our pre-sessional meetings. What was different was that we were willing to recognize that we had made some mistakes and readjusted accordingly. And most importantly, what was different was that we work with faculty in small groups, each of us playing an important role in facilitating the discussion.

Lastly, we invited faculty to unwind and share a cold drink after the formal meetings were over to continue the conversation, visit and catch up with one another and generally unwind after a day work. Uncertain of how this would play out, we took a chance and found that people stuck around, chatted about mapping, discussed pedagogy, laughed about their summer experiences and connected as a community. A real learning community. Some of us took risks, one member of my team put himself out there by using his old map as an example of what not to do, and that took some guts. But what stood out was the authenticity and sincerity with which faculty engaged. One colleague in particular commented that for the first time, he was excited about mapping and that it was clear to him because we approached the process differently than we had in the previous three years.

It is not easy to admit that you have made mistakes. It is even more humbling to recognize that not every decision you make has the desired effect and that in fact, the opposite could result, you could lose people rather than empower them. For a moment, I had to step back and ask myself if I was imagining a room full of teachers, talking and laughing on the first day of school? And the kicker was, curriculum mapping was what got them there.