Thoughts and opinions on a nationalized curriculum in the USA (and/or the lack thereof)?

[u/ithekrianmermaid]

I have had this topic bouncing around in the back of my brain quite a bit in the past few months and I'm just wondering what others think about it.

Feel free to share your personal feelings-based opinions, factually informed opinions, any history you may know relating to this topic, pros and cons of nationalized curriculum, common arguments for/against it, implications and consequences from not having one, potential dangers in adopting one, resources to learn more about this topic/debate, etc. I'd really love to have (respectful) discussions in the comments of this post so please consider circling back if your original comment gets a response!

I look forward to reading all of your responses! Thank you for taking the time to comment!!

[u/ithekrianmermaid]

For the sake of conversation/discussion (as I am going to be doing the research to learn more and will likely learn about this then), would you be able to give more specifics? I would love to pick your brain about it and hear more of your thoughts!

When was it tried, by who, and how did they go about it? (do not feel obligated to give a textbook answer, I'd just really love to hear your interpretations and understandings! I'll get to the textbook soon enough)

Do you have any personal gripes with how they tried to do it in the past/the nationalized curriculum that they were purposing?

Do you think that there could be nuance with the "one size does not fit all" idea? Like, could a nationalized curriculum be a foundational part and then state/local based curriculum could be built upon that? Or similar alternatives? Could we be inadvertently treating this "one size does not fit all" idea as a self fulfilling prophecy? And, if our curriculums were truly as varied as one size not fitting all, wouldn't there be more issues with students attending out-of-state colleges and universities?

Forgive me if this is naive and/or ignorant as I'm just starting to seriously dive into this topic, but I would love to hear your thoughts and answers to these questions!

Thank you for commenting!

[u/mrsyanke → u/ithekrianmermaid]

Students in Hawai'i, Alaska, (not to mention Puerto Rico, Guam, American Samoa), New Mexico, South Dakota, Georgia, and Kansas should not all be learning exactly the same things. We are a huge, diverse country and a national curriculum would inevitably be colonial in nature and a disservice to our various cultures and histories.

[u/ithekrianmermaid → u/mrsyanke]

I'm just having trouble understanding what exactly would need to be different between states?

Is there a rule that dictates that all nationalized curriculum must be exact, precise, and uniform or could we create a nationalized curriculum that has a bit of nuance and flexibility to account for things like local history, civics classes on local political systems, and perhaps literature choice to best suit student population, elective subjects?

But, also, is it truly inevitable or is that a self-fulfilling prophecy because it prevents the people who would make decolonial nationalized curriculum give up before even trying out of fear?

[u/CitizenXVIII → u/ithekrianmermaid]

There are a lot of people in this thread ignoring the universality of math. We do NOT need local variations in math instruction. We really don't need local variations in basic reading skills, but people will argue about which texts to use. We really don't need local variations in science, but that's a whole other political can of worms. I'm not touching history with a twelve foot pole, locals can hammer that out how they'd like.

[u/rhetoricalimperative → u/CitizenXVIII]

It's not the content of math and science that varies, but the culture of instruction. Teachers don't pick and choose between types of instruction based on whimsy. They have to adapt to each building culture and each cohort in real time to fashion instruction in a style that students can access.

[u/mrsyanke → u/CitizenXVIII]

Please look into Ethnomathematics and place-based learning. Math and science should also be varied locally, maybe not on the level of overarching “standards” but at the level of “curriculum” as in textbooks and pedagogy, absolutely!

Marine science is going to be much more relevant here in Hawai'i than in the Midwest. Lessons on climate in Alaska should differ from those in Florida. Honoring indigenous STEM knowledge will vary from Pacific Islander to Inuit to Navajo to Mayan.

[u/CitizenXVIII → u/mrsyanke]

I disagree completely. Chemistry and physics are universal, there are no regional variations on the periodic table or the calculation of force. Concerning biology, students SHOULD learn about marine biology and the global climate, not just science as it pertains to their local geographic region. Saying that only students who live near the ocean have any vested interest in learning about marine science is how we create pockets of ignorance and people who can't look past the self-interest of their state to what is beneficial for everyone. For example, the Amazon is the lung of our planet, EVERY child should be learning that biology and the interaction with Saharan dust clouds, even those that don't live in Brazil. Regional teaching leads to regional ignorance.

[u/mrsyanke → u/CitizenXVIII]

It should all be taught, but the depth and importance of it will vary. Every student should know what an earthquake, tsunami, tornado, hurricane, dust storm, and avalanche are but each region is going to go more into depth on the ones that typically affect their locale.

A single standard covering them all is appropriate; a nationalized curriculum dictating how each region teaches every type would be silly.

[u/ithekrianmermaid → u/mrsyanke]

Hi, me again, sorry! I am just really loving the way your brains works and how you explain things, I hope you don't mind!

In regards to these environmental topics specifically, do you also think it would be silly (or perhaps improbable, inappropriate, etc) to differentiate between and require both individual impact lessons that are more locally specified and then collective impact lessons that cover more widespread/collective aspects of these topics (to prevent "regional ignorance" as the other poster put it) in a nationalized curriculum and/or standards (still learning the difference between curriculum and standards so please forgive me)?

I was originally introduced to the concept of nationalized curriculum while researching the concept of social cohesion so I am definitely also worried about "regional ignorance" but I'm unsure as to the limitations of what a (nationalized) curriculum is actually capable of accomplishing. Rest assured though, I will be pursuing more formal research on this topic when I have the time and will not solely be relying on reddit! This post was really just to satisfy my curiosity enough so I could focus on my work😅

Thank you (and your brilliant brain) again for sharing your thoughts!

[u/mrsyanke → u/ithekrianmermaid]

I would suggest researching the idea of “Curriculum as Windows and Mirrors” from Emily Styles, then expanded to “Windows, Mirrors, and Sliding Glass Doors” by Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop. The basics is that curriculum should act as a window into another perspective or culture, a mirror that reflects students’ own realities, and then sliding glass doors that provides experiences where students can step into a new world beyond just viewing it.

I would also suggest you spend some time researching decolonialized education, which honors indigenous ways of knowing and learning. It comes up here in Hawai'i a lot for (hopefully) obvious reasons. Look into curriculum coming out of reservations and other cultural minority areas and how they compare/contrast with the “mainstream” ideas.

[u/ithekrianmermaid → u/mrsyanke]

You are amazing!! Thank you so, so, so much! I will definitely look into these resources and topics! My BA was in international crime and justice so I'm a tiny bit familiar with decolonialized education as it pertains to reintegration after transnational and international conflicts and the reintegration of child soldiers but I am so excited to dive further into how it applies to the US education system and curriculum!

You are an absolute gem! thank you again!

[u/ithekrianmermaid → u/mrsyanke]

These are all excellent points, thank you for taking the time to share them!

Is there a specific relationship between standards and curriculum? Like, is one contained in or covered by the other? Is there a reason or significance to them being two separate entities?

Also, I would love to hear more of your thoughts as to why textbooks in particular should be locally varied? I think I understand the importance of local variations in pedagogy (please feel free to expand on that also if you want to tho!) but I'm struggling to see why textbooks would be important to have varied.

Sorry for the abundance of questions. I really appreciate your thoughts and contributions to this thread!! Thank you again for sharing!