Critical Curriculm Inquiry

In the Education Studies Department at Guilford College, our teacher/learners:

Comprehend how their experiences in the Education Studies Program align with the Five Academic Principles of the College and maintain a critical perspective. (Critical Curriculum Inquiry).

Teacher/learners are encouraged to align their experiences in The Education Studies Program with the mission and philosophy of Guilford College. In reflecting upon the Guilford curriculum, they are asked to examine how their understanding of the Habits of Mind intersect with the College's Academic Principles: innovative student learning; fostering creative and critical thinking; promoting cultural/global understanding; values and the ethical dimensions of knowledge; and practical application: vocation and service to the community. 1Of particular interest to this Habit of Mind is how teacher education applies to vocation and service to the larger community, especially in terms of what we refer to as critical curriculum inquiry.

According to Freire, the work of critical/ethical curriculum inquiry is naming, reflecting and acting in order to make the world more just, equitable and humane. Education for conscientization, or what we call critical/ethical inquiry, is a necessary condition for developing on the path to freedom, epistemological curiosity and the capacity to take social responsibility for changing oppressive conditions (Freire, 1998/2000). One aim of The Education Studies Program is to facilitate the development of the skills, knowledge and propensity for critical/ethical curriculum inquiry so that teacher/learners will base their pedagogical decisions on making the world more just, equitable and humane.

1. Discovery

2. Guided Exploration

3. Independent Application

Teacher/learners are aware of Guilford College's Academic Principles and can describe them in their own terms. They respond to questions about values, beliefs, and assumptions in teaching/learning. They ground their responses in personal experience and socio/historical knowledge. They acknowledge and understand that there are policies in schools and curricula which are oppressive, unjust, or inhumane.

Teacher/learners consider how their lesson plans support Guilford College's Academic Principles. When examining educational policy and school curricula, they ask questions and seek knowledge grounded in political, historical, and social knowledge. With assistance and prompting from faculty, mentors, and peers, they are able to create strategies to counteract oppressive beliefs, values, and assumptions in their personal work/life.

Teacher/learners provide rationales for their lesson plans that support Guilford College's Five Academic Principles. They analyze educational policy and school curricula in ways that enable them to cope with mandates and resist oppression. They make pedagogical decisions to transform elements of social, intellectual, and personal oppression constructively and creatively. Preservice teachers enact their pedagogical and curricular decisions.

1. See descriptions of the Five Academic Principles following the Habits of Mind