I was recently reading 4 Essential Studies: Beliefs and Practices to Reclaim Student Agency by Penny Kittle and Kelly Gallagher. These two are pretty much considered superheroes in the realm of education. They have multiple books to their names, and are highly sought after for professional development. I was disappointed that I missed Kelly when he came to North Dakota to NDCTE conference a couple of years ago, but I wasn’t thrilled with this book.
I wanted to love this book. I have multiple other books by these authors. I have spend literacy hundreds of dollars combined on all the titles. But this one seemed too political. They must have expected this critique because at the end of the book they mention that all curriculum is political. And that made me wonder, is it? Should it be? When did it become political?
I remember being in school, discussing controversial topics, and never knowing where my teachers stood. I really feel that this is why so many claim teachers are indoctrinating students. But maybe that is just me. I don’t know. Is curriculum political?
Read, Write, Teach: North Dakota 