After a weekend of rich discussions for our first set of classes this semester, I was left with a lot to reflect on. Coming from a non-teacher background, a lot of these concepts were new to me. We discussed topics such as narrative inquiry and lived curriculum, discussed interesting articles on the history of curriculum, and delved into a discussion of what curriculum means to us. We explored questions such as: What is curriculum? How does one go about establishing curriculum? What does curriculum look like and how is it carried out? We also discussed forces or tensions in our own professional fields and came up with examples of “saber-tooth” myths in our fields.
To get us going, we participated in a reflective exercise of mind mapping of our beliefs around teaching and learning. I found this exercise be a very useful and thought provoking. When describing the “significator self” and the “authentic self”, I noticed them to be quite similar for me and that I was instinctively leaning towards similar descriptive words. When Kathryn prompted us to write “Who am I?”, I started writing about myself and who I am as a person and then when she prompted us further, redirected to write about myself professionally. During our discussion, it emerged that most people had a distinct “significator self “versus their “authentic self”. To me, I feel like they are quite connected and I feel I bring in a lot of my personality into my professional work. As a dietitian, working with patients and clients around a sensitive subject such as food, I feel that this makes the experience more authentic. In “walking the talk”, I embody the principles and habits I would like to convey to those who I am working with. For the “significator self”, I wrote: I am a dietitian with a deep desire to instigate behaviour change and help people improve their quality of life and their relationship with food. I am a foodie who likes to laugh and travel and transfer my appreciation for the beauty and power of food to people. For my authentic self, some of the things I wrote were: I am a daughter, girlfriend, friend, foodie; I am optimistic, friendly, loving, empathetic, constantly curious, and sometimes impatient.
Of course, there are challenges and questions that arise for every professional/educator in their field. Some of the questions arising for me and what I would like to research more is what is the most effective way to instigate behaviour change through nutrition education? How do you get people to listen and actually hear what you are saying and implement changes?
I am fortunate enough to be starting a new position which directly aligns with some of my hopes and goals as well as aligning more with our HEAL program. Through, community health I will have access to more resources and be able to continue explorations in the workplace and look for opportunities for nutrition education programming. It will also allow me to network with individuals with similar interests and goals. I will directly be involved in program, or let’s even call it curriculum, development. So stay tuned for more updates :)
Now, onto the concept of curriculum. There seems to be many varying definitions of curriculum and a rich historical background to the development of curriculum theory over the years. According to Wikipedia, “In formal education, a curriculum is the planned interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials, resources, and processes for evaluating the attainment of educational objectives.” As an idea, curriculum came from the Latin word which means a race or the course of a race (which in turn derives from the verb "currere" meaning to run/to proceed). A progressive view of curriculum is defined as the total learning experiences of the individual. I like the term learning experiences, since to me it does not suggest mere memorizing to satisfy requirements, but a broader approach to a topic that demonstrates understanding and encompasses a practical approach. This definition is anchored in John Dewey's definition of experience and education. He believed that reflective thinking is a means that unifies curricular elements. “Thought is not derived from action but tested by application". Therefore this leads us directly to our class discussion of lived curriculum and narrative inquiry. Personally, I feel that practical learning always yields better results that solely theoretical learning (even though some theory is necessary to set the foundations).
Kieran Egan states that “Curriculum is the study of any and all educational phenomena. It may draw on any external discipline for methodological help but does not allow the methodology to determine inquiry.” Coming from a non traditional teaching background, I feel l that my view of curriculum may be a little more relaxed and open than that of others. Without a doubt, curriculum has to set foundations and convey a particular message and it appears that teachers in the classroom are bound to a much more rigid set of curriculum. However, in nutrition education, the sky is the limit in terms of carrying out curriculum and conveying the message you want. Keeping in mind who your audience is vital in this situation, so that you can best understand their needs and tailor your approach. Nutrition education can be carried out in one-on-one sessions, small or large group presentations and workshops, as well as through the development of resources and programming, to name some examples. I feel that nutrition educators are able to embody a much more lived curriculum. “Lived curriculum requires educators to think outside or beyond the rules and procedures while practicing creative thinking, care, compassion, and critical consciousness” (Latta and Kim).
