CHAPTER ONE: Introduction: Understanding Curriculum, Currere, and the Jamaican School
Context
Understanding curriculum
Currere and its theoretical underpinnings
The Jamaican school context and the role of colonisation in Currere
The role of teachers in education in post-colonial Jamaica
The research methodology for exploring teachers lived curriculum experiences
CHAPTER TWO: How schools shape teachers’ Currere
Ana’s Currere: There is a light at the end of the tunnel
Something to think about
Dence’s Currere: Reality trumps perception
Something to think about
Angeli’s Currere: How schooling shaped my view of teachers and curriculum
Something to think about
CHAPTER THREE: The affective dimension of teaching
D’s Currere: Teaching as therapy—In helping others you help yourself
Something to think about
Ain’s Currere: Teaching with compassion
Something to think about
Laisah’s Currere: Going beyond boundaries to fulfil delayed dreams
Something to think about
CHAPTER FOUR: Currere, teacher professional development and decolonising intentions
Teacher professional development: A new perspective
Decolonising the Curriculum in a context of sociocultural diversities
A brief look at Miss Sherese; An example of a decolonising intent
Reflective questions
Carmel Roofe is Senior Lecturer in Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education, at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.
“This book is timely and relevant as it positions teachers’ knowledge as critical to their experiences. This critical knowledge is demonstrated in their stories as they navigate their journey as teachers. The book captures how important it is for teachers to be reflective at each phase of their experience. I am captivated by the lived experiences of the teachers and how they theorize these experiences. The Jamaican context is framed by colonization and within that, teachers must create their own spaces. The stories in the book depict a space of the past and present and how they interrelate. Teachers’ stories represent a riveting account of how their own experience is pivotal to shaping their practice. An absolutely eye-opening account of positioning teachers as the first person, insider and knower of their practice. I encourage all teachers to read this exciting book as it provides powerful insights of what teaching looks like in the Jamaican context.”
—Hope Mayne, University of Technology, Jamaica
This book offers first-person narratives of teachers’ curriculum encounters. The reflections of teachers are presented using Pinar’s Method of Currere as a tool for undertaking deep analysis of teachers’ curriculum encounters. The Method of Currere allows teachers to embody curriculum in all its forms, allowing for reflection on encounters in the formal, informal, hidden curriculum and beyond. The book aims to provide readers with a broad understanding of curriculum as the lived experience encapsulating the educational, personal, and professional life of the teacher. In this way teachers are able to trace and make sense of the development of their knowledge and make changes that lead to the continuous offering of quality education. The book will be of interest to students, scholars and practitioners involved in curriculum studies, teacher education/training, teaching, and general education.
Carmel Roofe is Senior Lecturer in Curriculum and Instruction in the School of Education, at The University of the West Indies, Mona, Jamaica.