Keeping the most contemporary concepts is important for developing students’ knowledge and life skills. From new scientific discoveries to updated English literature, maintaining a relevant curriculum is essential to prepare students for everyday life.
Many changes occur in the English department to keep students engaged and informed. Involving a formal review cycle taking one to two years, changes must be meticulously executed and planned out. This is especially crucial for English teacher Kevin Cox and his colleagues while evaluating books they want to take in and out of circulation.
“The department has made several changes in recent years,” Cox said. There are certain books that we no longer teach for various reasons. For example, we don’t teach The Adventures of Huck Finn, but we now teach Just Mercy.”
All curriculum shifts go through a similar process. The Educational Planning Leadership Committee (EPLC) evaluates the proposal’s value and alignment with state standards. Teachers, administrators, students, parents and representatives from each department, such as school psychologist Lisa Khoury, help vote on these topics.
“We have to pilot things to figure out what best fits the kids, like several years ago, when the math department did that,” Khoury said. “So we piloted new textbooks that had come out, to figure out the best one to use. It’s all really trial and error.”
One example of a trial was executed by English teachers Elizabeth Lulis and Ericka Henk on the American Literature curriculum. Without a major change, the course now fits into themes; including advocating voices, spirituality, and understanding identity, rather than chronological order. This change, occurring post-COVID, allows for a broader range of authors and periods students can relate to in a single unit.
“We always prioritize students and their needs. So we ask what it is that our students need to succeed. It became very sluggish with the chronological approach,” Lulis said. “There weren’t a lot of connections students felt personally to some of the works that came out in the 17th century, and now it’s easier for them to relate and make those connections.”
Overall messages from all departments are to teach students how to learn, apply information, and establish their view of the world. Letting go of the old and replacing it with the new helps instructors accomplish this goal.
“For example with Just Mercy, we chose the work because it has a blend of hard facts and evidence as well as personal experience. We’re not telling students you must have this opinion or this perspective.” Cox said. “Our job is to help students think and process things logically and empathetically. So we wanted a work to assist, and Just Mercy did just that.”
Professional development, teacher collaboration, and district funding all help a shift in the curriculum run smoother. Changing the curriculum of a class or adding a course is expensive, hundreds of copies of books or pricey applications can hinder the opportunity to create newer options for students, but keeping an updated curriculum is a priority for the EPLC.
“We’re always striving in Grosse Pointe to refresh our curriculum and make sure that the materials we use are relevant, up to date, and are accurate. Sometimes materials haven’t been available online so we also try to compensate for that.” Khoury said.
