Transformative Curriculum Leadership

In the words of Caroline Pryor (2002):

Simply put,
Jefferson viewed democracy as a verb.  Democracy, he would infer, is informed action, waiting within the experience of each citizen for acknowledgement and empowerment (West 1991; Schleifer 1991).  This information may mean we need to revisit a long forgotten theme – that in colonial
America, citizens were expected to act in dual roles: communal (helping one another) yet independent (entrepreneurial).  In order to accomplish both tasks in a knowledgeable manner, the colonial citizen required some experience as a citizen leader as well as a citizen determinant of one’s income.

Pryor, C.  (2002).  The mission of the scholar: research and practice.  (Wolfe & Pryor, Eds.). 
New York:  Lang.

Just wondering what you mean when you say “democratic self,” particularly the word ‘democratic’.

Thanks!

If you are feeling that your teaching has become mechanical and technical as a result of an over-emphasis on having students pass tests, this exchange of ideas will interest you.  In this forum, we have a place to discuss how to help students pass the tests while engaging in meaningful, relevant, and authentic experiences that build a love of learning for a lifetime.  I invite you ask questions and to share your ideas so that we will deepen our understanding, enable and sustain the enactment of a curriculum decision-making cycle that emphasizes a balance of deep subject matter understanding, coupled with democratic self and social understanding.

-Rosemary Gornik