~September, 2022 Mary Pettit, NBCT, Ed.D

Dear Readers,

Recently, we completed an assignment for a course titled, “Curriculum Theories: Best Practices” that provided an opportunity to experience and create our own Currere. This highly personal and reflective process resulted in an extremely empowering and impactful view of how our past educational experiences shaped the pedagogical decisions we make in present times. Since the completion of this assignment we have been excited to share our Currere’s with you. We would like to invite you to engage in this process as we believe that it is an invaluable way to evaluate “your why”, drive your pedagogical decisions, and empower others to do the same. After a brief historical background on this theory, we posted the links to our Currere. Please leave comments and questions if you feel empowered to do so! Thank you for taking the time to read and engage with us.

Mary

Currere encourages educators and learners to undertake an autobiographical examination of themselves.

Pinar suggests that the term currere, the infinitive form of curriculum, implies the framework for the autobiographical reflection on educational experiences that ultimately shape an individual’s self-understanding in our democratic society. In relation to curriculum Pinar states,

The method of currere reconceptualized curriculum from course objectives to complicated conversation with oneself (as a ‘private’ intellectual), an ongoing project of self-understanding in which one becomes mobilized for engaged pedagogical action — as a private-and-public intellectual – with others in the social reconstruction of the public sphere.

Pinar (1975)

Despite research indicating the damaging effects of teaching practices that treat education like business, serving “only to teach children that knowledge is something to conquer and possess” (Kress & Lake, 2013), the cyclical nature of education reform continues. Moore et al. (2017) stated that we can not begin to imagine or understand the cultural perspectives of others if we can not grapple with the perspectives that drive our own educational beliefs and practices.

Mary Pettit, NBCT, Ed.D