What does curriculum mean to me?

My theoretical knowledge and experience of curriculum creating and understanding is very limited at the moment.  For the last 12 years, I have been teaching in a field, Registered Massage Therapy schools, which is very regimented in terms of curriculum.  We are bound by the competency document that our professional College, the College of Massage Therapists of British Columbia (CMTBC)  has set out for entry to practice examinations.  All of our students must meet a specific set of criterias in order to be eligible to write the entry to practice exams which will allow them to work under the title of Registered Massage Therapists ( RMT) in British Columbia.  Schools also must prove that they teach each competencies in order to be accredited with the CMTBC, without this accreditation, students graduating from a school would not be eligible to write the entry to practice exams. 

This has lead to RMT schools “bunching” competencies in groups of similar goals or skill levels and then creating classes around this grouping.  When a teacher is assigned a class, they are given the specific set of competencies assigned to that class and number of classes/hours this must be accomplished in.  Most classes are very regimented by the time a new instructor comes along.  When I started 12 years ago as a TA, the head instructor had been teaching for close to 20 years the same 3 courses, he had his ways of teaching and proceeded to teach me the “right way” of covering the material.  Don’t get me wrong, he was an excellent instructor and I am very happy I learned from him, but it did limit creativity and new thoughts.  When I officially took over his classes, I had no experience of curriculum other than his. 

Langara college started an RMT program in 2014, and it was exciting to be part of the start of a program, have a say in how we could set the curriculum with a more productive and student learning focus.  When I received my set of competencies and a vague outline of how I was expected to organize this particular grouping, I was able, for the first time to really look at my material and decide how I could best deliver this information to the students.  I unfortunately had no references, experiences or event the imagination to create anything different from what I already knew. 

Since starting this Master’s program, I have slowly started to change some of my classes to incorporate better teaching methods and more supportive language and instruction for my students.   Already, I am investigating a very different approach to testing and exam writing for my students this semester, and planning to revamp my Septembre classes over the summer. 

I am truly enjoying the readings I have gone through so far and taking in as much as I can to instruct my future curriculum planning.  My hope is that I will find “gems” and a guiding thought to grow my teaching and bring about more critical thinking and integration of knowledge for my students.

The Rita Charron book, Narrative Medicine; Honoring the Stories of Illness, has been transforming my private practice and how I work and communicate with my patients.  I am finding my voice, allowing me to reach my patients at a deeper level than just “where is the pain?”  now I am looking more into “why is there pain?” and “what is behind this pain?”.  I have noticed a change in my patient's’ words and chatter as I treat them, and we discuss the deeper meaning of pain and discomfort.  I also am finding a renewed sense of enjoyment in my private practice since incorporating these changes, I am more satisfied with my relationship to my clients and the results I am getting through my work.

Maybe I am too hopeful or demanding of the class readings, but having no formal education in the field of education, I am really looking forward to some base knowledge to support my work as a teacher, and looking to the class readings as a door to this knowledge.