Jennifer's+Reflection

Jennifer's Reflection

As I consider the historical context of the Presidential influences on education, the memories of my educational experiences of being a student and being a teacher are entwined with the purposes of education. I am reminded that I have experienced each of these recent historical events within the boundaries of a classroom. As a student at Southside elementary school in the 1980s, I remember the first standardized test I took, ITBS; however, I do not remember having a pep rally to celebrate the anticipation of the test. However, I do recall planning a Georgia High School Graduation Test Prep pep rally as a teacher. The span of the standards era has taken me from a child who entered kindergarten at the on set of Reagan’s Excellence in Education to a teacher and Ph.D. student at the height of President Obama’s Race to the Top campaign.

As I gathered material to digitally represent the presidential legacies of the standards movement, I realized that the history of curriculum book stopped with former President Bush, and I realized that we, the current Ph.D. students in curriculum and instruction, would be the next great thinkers of the second decade of the 21st century. What will history write about us? Will we be the educators who reformed education by closing the achievement gap, or will we be the ones who write the curriculum that transcends the achievement gap? What will we add to the knowledge and scholarship of education? What do we know and have that the world needs to learn from us?

My vision for our Wiki project is for it to continue to develop as we continue to develop as thinkers of curriculum and instruction. How will we write the next chapter in the history of curriculum book? Who will study us, and why? Although, I have asked more questions than I have answered in this reflection, I truly believe that the Wiki project widened my perspective on history and its relation to curriculum and instruction. I felt empowered to study my history—the history of a teacher. During the time period where the profession of teaching is being critically examined by political groups, federal government, local government, and many stakeholders under contentious circumstances, I am inspired by our great history as professionals who have shaped and influenced the creativity of innovation in American society. I am proud to be a teacher, and I accept the great responsibility and embrace the complexity and beauty of the art of teaching.