If You Plan Well, They Will Learn Well

I'll admit that the words curriculum planning have been somewhat an elusive term for me, since entering the field of education.  Having taken the nontraditional route into teaching, I can remember, from my first teaching assignment, being bombarded by so many acronyms and other "teacher-speak" terms that I wasn't always sure if I even knew what I was supposed to be doing half the time.  In all honesty, I'm not 100% sure what I will learn from a Curriculum Leadership P-12 graduate level course either, but I'm hopeful that when all is said and done, I will at least be able to recognize good instruction across all content areas.

In the article titled, "Thinking About the Elements of Curriculum Design," the phrase "...plan well so students can learn well" really resonated with me.  I mean, it only makes sense that if one puts in time to develop high-quality curriculum, then the results will be positive.  Yet, over the years I have seen many counterexamples to this school of thought.  From teachers whose planning consisted of making sure to have just the right amount of math packets copied each week so as not to require any amount of real teaching to teachers who plan with the end in mind and constantly reflect to make sure that students are making progress toward meaningful goals.  So, yeah...the concept is simple, but why do so many educators struggle with planning and executing quality curriculum?  Is it related to the content?  Is it related to how long an educator has been in the field?  Why does it seem as if many of the educators I've met over the years have somehow forgotten that what is best for the student is what is best?

It's obviously that there are many layers to curriculum, and perhaps therein lies the problem.  Maybe no one really knows what it truly is or what they do know is antiquated or jaded by past experiences.