My name is Andrew Thom and I have been teaching in Boston for the last 4 years. I've spent two years in middle school teaching primarily 7th grade history and I spent two years teaching high school where I primarily taught 9th grade Civics and a 12th grade global issues/community engagement course. Before Boston I was born and raised on the east side of Michigan, about 40 minutes north of Detroit before going to Michigan State for my BA in history and social studies education. I then did my student teaching internship at a middle school teaching 8th grade US History in the Grand Rapids suburb Kentwood.
Curriculum and the development of it has always been one of the most interesting aspects of teaching and education for me. Perhaps the most interesting thing I've experience with curriculum thus far in my career is just how different that term is interpreted in different schools, districts, and states. I have mixed feelings about the idea of consistent curricula across the country because on one hand I think it is essential for educators, especially those in the humanities, to tailor what they're teaching to the population of students that they are teaching so that there is ample opportunity for students to make personal connections. On the other hand, I find it to be absolutely absurd that in some schools, students are taught things that contradict the realities of history or leave out entire aspects of how the world got to where it is today, and in that sense I do think it's important for teachers across the board in the US to have certain things that must be taught. Ultimately, having taught primarily middle school and younger high school students, what I want students to do more than anything is develop skills that will allow them to be successful in whatever field they go into. So when I think of curriculum, I think about what content is going to help me teach my students how to think critically, develop and sustain arguments/debates, and how to use empathy and research to be informed on the countless different ways people exist in our society.
Thank you for reading and I look forward to learning more about your ideas of curriculum and how they relate to my own,
Andrew Thom
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