Designing, developing, implementing and evaluating
curriculum is a time consuming, necessary process for all schools. At small
schools, not part of large districts, the burden falls firmly on the laps of
teachers already busily addressing teaching and learning in their classrooms. Still,
the job must be done. A few years
ago I lead a Language Arts curriculum review committee during its design stage.
This was the first time I lead a curriculum design team but
had participated in various teams before.
None of these had been completely successful and I was determined to
make this project different. I
quickly held a meeting with the teachers and administration to discuss the
rationale for the project. I
explained the curriculum development cycle, the need for the process and the
goals of the current committee. I
asked for teachers from all grade levels to join the team at that time and
filled the committee with interested teachers who would be directly affected by
the project’s outcomes. The
following week we held our first meeting where I shared our objectives and
agenda items for the remainder of the year. The only constraint I shared at that time was that of
time. We needed to have the
document completed by the end of the school year.
We began our work enthusiastically but it wasn’t long before
we realized that this would not be an easy project. In the end, we completed the Language Arts curriculum
including grade level benchmarks, program philosophy, essential questions and
enduring understandings and summative assessments. However, we were not entirely proud of our results. What could we have done
differently? We followed the
plan. Everyone was on board. We had the support of the
administration.
We did not understand the constraints of the project and how
they would negatively impact the outcomes. The project plan I developed was not
feasible and it took me too long to make the required changes. I find some comfort in the knowledge
that this is described as a common mistake. “Even when project managers do their best to assess
feasibility and develop detailed plans, many find out that they cant achieve
what they thought could be done” (Portny, Mantel, Meredith, Shafer, Sutton,
Kramer, 2008, p. 106).
Specifically, the job of unpacking the standards is extremely time
consuming but an essential step in the early stages. This took 3 times as long as I had initially planned and the
job was rushed which affected the quality of the work. I tried to adjust the schedule to fix
the problem, but here emerged a problem I had not counted on (naïve, I know),
the constraint of budget. Although
I enjoyed the support of the administration, fixing the schedule would entail
coverage for teachers that was not a part of the budget.
The project was completed, but it was rushed and over
budget. The assessments were weak
and had to be revamped the following year. Although the process was a great
learning experience for all, not just in the area of project management, but
also in improving teaching and learning Language Arts at our school, the
deliverables were weak. This is so
primarily because I as the project manager did not “[anticipate] and [plan] for
risks and uncertainties” (p. 107).
Lessons learned:
1. Do not skimp on the planning stage
2. Ensure that your feasibility study
is complete and accurate
3. Include all team members in the
development of schedules and responsibilities
4. Hold everyone accountable for their
performance, including yourself.
5. Use ‘intelligent flexibility’
keeping to your outcome goals, but remaining flexible with the process.
**
Communicate, communicate, communicate!
References:
Greer, M. (2010). The project
management minimalist: Just enough PM to rock your projects! (Laureate
custom ed.). Baltimore: Laureate Education, Inc.
Portny, S. E.,
Mantel, S. J., Meredith, J. R., Shafer, S. M., Sutton, M. M., & Kramer, B.
E. (2008). Project management: Planning,
scheduling, and controlling projects. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons,
Inc.
Stolovich, H. (2012). Project Management and
Instructional Design. Retrieved on January 5, 2012 from https://class.waldenu.edu/webapps/portal/frameset.jsp?tab_tab_group_id=_2_1&url=%2Fwebapps%2Fblackboard%2Fexecute%2Flauncher%3Ftype%3DCourse%26id%3D_2097260_1%26url%3D
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