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EFFECTIVE CURRICULUM WRITING |
With the addition of the Certified Tarot Consultant level to the Tarot Certification Board, there may be many of you who choose to write curriculum for the 22 Major Arcana cards. Having taught for twenty-five years, I have written curriculum which was empty, busy work, simply because it was required by the school or organization for which I was teaching; and I have written curriculum which has been a vital part of a class, so much so that the class practically taught itself while I sat back and learned as well. What follows are five guidelines which I have gathered over my teaching career. I wish I could say they were all original. Each one can be attributed to a number of unremembered sources. Since I believe in synchronicity and a universal subconscious's, the number of times these ideas have reappeared in my life suggests to me that they are invaluable in curriculum development and should be mentioned here.
1. Ditch the objective statement, anchor into active choices.
The old "lesson plan" style of curriculum always started with "OBJECTIVE" written at the top of the page. The idea is to write a single active sentence that sums up what you want that class to accomplish. Even though teachers are encouraged to use active verbs in this sentence, I have always found it somewhat limiting and often frustrating to try and squeeze a two hour class into one sentence. Rather than the old "objective" beginning, I always start with three or four active choices. Active choices are activities I would like the students to have at least started by the time I finish the class. For example, In my curriculum for teaching The Fool card, the old "objective" format would have read as follows:
OBJECTIVE: To have the class fully understand the meaning of The Fool card and incorporate it in their everyday life.
The alternative "active choice" method would look something like this:
By the end of the class, everyone should have an
opportunity to:
1. share personal foolish experiences.
2. watch a bit of "Midsummernight's Dream" and discuss historic and literary fools.
3. journal about their current or an upcoming fool's journey.
4. share photos taken that represent The Fool in their life.
Some may argue that I am actually skipping to the class activity portion of the curriculum. When I get to the section where I list exactly what I am going to do in the class, I go into much more detail including time allotted to the activity, materials needed and precise steps, if applicable. I just find working toward several active choices a more concrete set of goals than a single, sometimes vague, all-encompassing sentence.
2. Anticipate optional paths.
In my early years of teaching, I treated my lesson plan as if it were carved in stone and presented to be my the education gods who spoke to me through a burning blackboard. The problems I encountered were obvious. There was no room for exploration on the class's part. If discussion and exploration moved too far from my proposed activities, either the entire class was destroyed; or, if I stuck to my lesson plan, a feeling of too much structure prevailed. The solution to this dilemma was what I call tangents (as to go off on . . .).
As I am putting together the step-by-step class activity portion of the curriculum, I try to anticipate questions and activities which may arise that would move away from the main path. The idea is to be prepared with a plan for honoring the diversion and eventually getting back to the main path. For example, one of the first activities of "The Fool" class would be to talk about personal foolish journeys the students have made. Even though I was not planning on introducing the entire journey at this point, if the conversation moves in that direction, I have a plan and the resources with me to take five minutes and discuss the big picture of The Fool's Journey.
3. Even out with leftovers.
The activities I have toward the end of class are sort of like a cooling down period in aerobics, with the exception that they can be postponed to another time or dropped all together. In other words, the heart of the class material is at the heart of the class, never at the end. The end activities are optional. The reason for this is that if the class goes off on too many tangents, some activities must be dropped to accommodate the class time. It is always better to have too much material. When I began teaching, the philosophy was to have a lot of little extra generic activities in you teaching bag of tricks to resort to if you found yourself at the end of your lesson plans with 30 minutes left over. I feel more secure planning specific activities that relate to the topic being discussed that can be dropped without effecting the vital information of the class. Same theory, more positive and practical approach. An example of a "leftover" activity in The Fool class would be a discussion of contemporary fools in television and movies followed by showing sections of "Star Wars", "Princess Bride" and "Wizard of Oz".
4. Be creative.
You may feel this goes without saying. Well it doesn't. There are 2000 ways to walk through a door. We usually chose the first one that comes into mind. Likewise, there are 2000 ways to teach the qualities of The Fool card, but the easiest road (usually the most tempting route when working toward a certification, in my humble opinion) is the most obvious or one we've taken many times before. You will enjoy the process of creating a curriculum more if you draw on your creative spirit. I personally work very late at night when my logical mind is somewhat fuzzy so there is no inner voice saying "that's crazy" or "that will never work". Be outlandish. Push the envelope. If you have incorporated the previous two elements in your lesson plan, you have a safety net of extra material to fall back on if an activity just doesn't work.
5. Create transitions
A good class should have a natural build to it. Each activity should flow into the next (tangents included) or there is a very strong feeling of "that's all the news, stay tuned for the weather". If you spend a little time with transitions, your classes will create their own internal excitement and momentum. This is a very simple process borrowed from a theatrical technique for learning lines. Go through your list of activities and with a red pencil, underline a word or words which would lead to the next activity if you were to put them in the blank space in "Speaking of ___________". If you find it difficult to find words which make the transition between two activities, perhaps you need a small activity wedged in between the two difficult activities. If you find yourself underlining the same words over and over again, it is often an indication that there are too many activities stressing the same aspects of a topic and your creativity needs a boost. By following this technique, each class will start at the top of a hill and careen down it to a very satisfying and enriching finish.
I hope these five guidelines will make the
creation and utilization of your curriculum a very satisfying experience.
I have found over the years that there is one simple test for a good lesson
plan. If you can't wait to get to the class to share the lessons with
them, you've got a great lesson plan.