Hickman Explication Paper 1

Explication Paper

Karch Hickman

University of Northern Colorado

Comprehensive Exam

Spring 2023
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I am truly thankful for this MAT program. I feel like I have grown a lot because of

it. I am a lot more empathetic towards my students and their needs. When reflecting on

my teaching before this MAT program I realized that I had become complacent in my

teaching. This was a disappointing realization, thankfully within the first month of the

first semester in this MAT program I had already begun to rejuvenate my educational

spirit. I found myself eager to provide the best education I could for my students. This

rejuvenation came in the form of rediscovering my answer to the question of why I am in

education. Before this program I used to believe my answer was, “I want what is best for

students”. This MAT program has helped me become more specific with my answer. My

new answer for that question is “I want to provide opportunities for student success and

growth”. Most of the impactful moments in this MAT program could be narrowed down to

providing opportunities for student success and or growth. Whether it is creating a

diverse educational experience to provide all students the opportunity to feel like they

belong or incorporating behaviorism, and constructivism into a curriculum. It all boils

down to providing opportunities for student success. No one student is identical. That’s

where I as an educator step in, it is my educational passion to make all students feel

welcome and like they belong. I want students to believe in themselves. It’s on me as a

teacher to provide an educational experience that is welcoming and supportive of all

students. This MAT program has not only woken me up to this new desire/passion. It

has also provided me with the knowledge and skills I need to accomplish it.

I came into this MAT program believing that curriculum is simply the content a

teacher teaches within a classroom. In EDF 662 (Foundations of Curriculum

Development and Instructional Practice) we were asked to create our own definition of
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curriculum. By the end of the class I feel I developed a definition that truly embodies

what curriculum truly is. My personal definition of curriculum is now: Curriculum is the

accumulation of all student experiences within education. Curriculum must fit within the

confines of state standards while still being flexible enough to meet the needs of each

individual student. My personal evolution of the concept of curriculum was an important

step in my growth as a teacher during this MAT program. My original definition of the

curriculum was so narrow minded, I was limiting the impact I could have on students.

Throughout my course work in EDF 662 I discovered what curriculum truly is. This new

understanding allows me the awareness I need to design impactful curriculums that

provide students with opportunities needed for success. Instead of just focusing on the

content I am teaching, I now focus on the entire educational experience.

I think the most successful aspect of my comprehensive portfolio is the structure

and activities within my professional development. Most of the time I have the teachers

“doing”. I feel I have learned so much from this MAT program over the past two years.

This learning would not have been possible from a traditional sit and get format. This

MAT program did a great job of putting teachers in a position to self-discover their

learning. This was accomplished through teachers “doing”. When designing my

curriculum it was important for me to attempt to mimic this self-discovery. I wanted to

use the time I was given to present this professional development to provide as many

opportunities for teachers to “do”. I believe this effort to foster moments of

self-discovery/learning is evident throughout my professional development. I first

learned of this concept when reading Connelly and Clandinin's statement of “curriculum

is something experienced in situations” (1988, p. 6). I believe the structure and activities
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that I have created for this professional development facilitate the experiences needed

for impactful learning.

If I were given the opportunity to do this professional development again I would

like to change several things to optimize my time with the staff. The first thing I would

change would be the time structure of the professional development. Ten hours was a

perfect amount of time. I wouldn’t change the amount of time, I would just spread those

hours out over additional days. Two, five hour sessions is a lot of time to attempt to

keep engagement at a high level. It’s human nature to run out of steam over an

extended period of time. Five, two hour sessions would be much more ideal. This would

allow me to break up the curriculum into smaller, more manageable sessions. I believe

this would help with engagement and retention. The other change I would make would

be to add more collaborative activities/games. It once again comes down to “doing”.

Even simple activities/games can make a lasting impact. Most of the time it’s these

activities that end up making the greatest impact. Most of the time, collaboration during

these activities end up feeling like second nature. Collaboration feeling natural, drives

home the underlying message of the importance of collaboration.

After having had the opportunity to interact with all these educational

philosophies and concepts I feel rejuvenated. I am eager to use my new found

knowledge to make an impact on the educational world. My intention is to impact as

much of the educational process as I can at FLHS. That being said, I believe this can

best be accomplished by first teaching teachers. If I can make a lasting impact on just

one of my fellow teachers at Fort Lupton High School, the number of students that will

benefit will increase exponentially. I am so thankful for the opportunity this MAT program
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has provided for me. It was such a wonderful, eye opening experience I am now

contemplating continuing my education in curriculum studies beyond this MAT program.

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References

Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1988). Teachers as curriculum planners: Narratives

of experience. New York, NY; Toronto, Ont: Teachers College Press, Teachers College.

Columbia University.