Have you ever returned to school in September and discovered that your
school had issued new computers? Or found it was offering new courses? The
people who arrange for these changes are called curriculum directors. Their
job requires a variety of skills and knowledge.
Bruce Beairsto is an associate superintendent. (That's the same thing
as a curriculum director.) He is responsible for the learning services department.
With a master's degree in physics and a teacher's certificate, Beairsto
began his career as a high school science teacher.
Then he got a master's degree in curriculum development. After teaching
science for a few years, Beairsto took training to learn computers. They were
being introduced in the school system.
"I converted the janitor's cupboard into a computer lab. We had one
Apple computer," he says. "I worked my way up to associate superintendent."
The most memorable part of Beairsto's career was the development of
the learning services department. "That was where I began to learn how to
interact with people in a collaborative way. I had to work with primary teachers,
and they look at the world differently than I do. I had to learn different
ways of working with people in the field. You don't learn these things
at university. It's a very emotional process."
There is no such thing as a typical day. Beairsto finds that much of his
time is spent dealing with crises. "Maybe someone phones in a bomb scare.
Maybe a parent shows up spitting mad about something. Maybe a teacher is accused
of sexual assault. These things happen regularly, and you have to stop what
you are doing and handle them," he explains.
"Forget everything they teach in those time management courses! Then there
are phone calls, mail, e-mail and meetings. The actual planning and coordination
gets done on evenings and weekends. This is not a 9-to-5 job."
If you are interested in this career, you must be very flexible. "If you
are the sort of person who wants to bring things to closure, you must get
over that. I often have eight to 10 things that are partially completed,"
he says.
"If you're working on something and a crisis happens, you can't
say, 'I'll call you back.' You have to get right on it. You
must be very responsible and you must develop excellent people skills. People
are usually very emotional -- frightened, upset, angry. I have to listen,
be empathetic, creative."
"People skills are very important," agrees Susan Barkman. She is a professor
of curriculum development at Purdue University. "I work with curriculum design
teams to design and evaluate curriculum for use by youth in the 4-H clubs.
It can be stressful. When you have a team, you have to get them working together
so you get a product that everybody is satisfied with."
4-H offers a wide range of subjects -- everything from animals to aerodynamics
to health education. "I have always been interested in youth education. I
really enjoy doing printed pieces to help kids learn things," explains Barkman.
Barkman starts out doing focus groups to determine what kids want in the
curriculum. Then she sits down with a team to develop the scope and sequence
of the content.
"Then I look after the writing of the curriculum. Also, we evaluate the
curriculum through the process and after the process. We give the activities
to kids and get them to review them while we are designing the curriculum."
Barkman really wants her curriculum to work for the kids. "We 'test
pilot' the curriculum with a group of kids and make sure it teaches what
we set out to teach. Then when the evaluations are in, and any changes are
made, the curriculum is adapted by 4-H groups across North America."
After many years in the field, Barkman still finds the occupation interesting
and rewarding. "It's fun to see curriculum that you develop being used
all over the U.S. and Canada. It's rewarding to know that something you
helped develop is being used by a lot of people."
Barkman also finds that the work allows her to use many skills. "Another
part that is fun is that once you have written the copy, you can be really
creative with page layout and graphics. It's exciting to see that all
come together."
Barkman suggests that you check out some of the businesses that use curriculum
developers. "It's a fun field to work in. There is everything from print
media to CD-ROM programs to educational software and web-based learning. And
there is flexibility. You could do curriculum writing part time from home.
Telecommute if you want to."
Wayne Brabender is the learning resources coordinator in the Wisconsin
4-H office. He says technology is increasingly important. "I advise anyone
to get a good understanding of technology -- computers, graphics, desktop
publishing, web design, the Internet. These things are an important
part of the job these days."
Brabender has a master's degree in journalism. He was attracted to
curriculum coordination because of the variety and flexibility. "No two days
are the same. I find that my journalism background gave me a broad base of
knowledge that is very useful to this career."
In a typical day, Brabender often combines writing and editing with management
functions. These functions include planning, organizing and accounting. He
finds that he must also be something of an entrepreneur. He has to come up
with new ways of marketing and creating material that will work for both kids
and 4-H leaders.
The highlight of Brabender's career happened following a change in
procedure. At one time, Wisconsin's 4-H curriculum was developed locally.
A few years ago, a change took place so curriculum would be developed by many
groups. One of Brabender's first tasks was to develop a curriculum for
a theater arts program.
"I had no background in theater arts. I had to consult with many people
and learn many things before I could create the materials. The end result
was very good. I have a manual that I am proud of. I have had to do this type
of thing several times since, but this was the first."
The stressful part is meeting deadlines. "We're part of a big curriculum
effort now to create national curriculum. Now there is this effort to create
exciting new curriculum and to have it revised every five years. It involves
people from many states. It's a huge effort and you do it on top of your
daily management tasks."
Niels Hartvig-Nielsen is the program director for a computer training institute.
"Our program manager is the person that is responsible for implementing curriculum,"
he says.
"Together, we go through the research process. We travel to shows and talk
to people in the industry to nail down what their needs are going to be. Then
we decide how we should set our curriculum. In short, we determine the needs
together and he implements them."
On a typical day, the program manager meets with teachers, hires new teachers
when necessary and determines materials, resources and facilities.
"He also meets with our industry liaison officer. That's a person
whose job is to meet with the people who hire our students," explains Hartvig-Nielsen.
"And of course he would deal with any problems occurring with the students.
That includes determining sudden extra needs that weren't in our budget,
or dealing with software bugs or hardware problems that arise when you are
dealing with computers.
"It's not a 9-to-5 type of job. There's lots of evening and weekend
work. There is travel to many trade shows and conferences."
Hartvig-Nielsen's program manager is responsible for managing student
services. That means looking after library acquisitions, holding extracurricular
events and bringing in specialists to deal with certain issues.
"Our employers are telling us that they don't want students with bad
attitudes who blame other people for their own failings. They want graduates
with people skills. Our program manager is bringing in a specialist to work
with students around that topic. It's a unique aspect of the program
manager's job here," says Hartvig-Nielsen.
When Hartvig-Nielsen hires a program manager, he looks for someone with
technical savvy. "He or she makes buying recommendations about millions of
dollars worth of technology. They have to understand the field and the industry
really well," he says.
"The rewarding part comes when you determine a need, develop a program
and then get good results in terms of enrollment and placement. It's
great to develop a successful product that works for the people that buy it."
And the stressful part? "The low part is where you work your buns off to
service somebody, and then in the end they have nothing good to say about
you but blame you for their own failures."
If you want to be a program manager for a computer school, Hartvig-Nielsen
suggests that you first be a student of what they are teaching. "I want someone
that can direct, inspire and motivate people -- because that's what you
have to do with staff and students."
In terms of educational requirements, he says, "I would probably want a
degree in education or communication, but in the end, it's not about
a degree or a lesson plan. It's about good quality people who care about
the people that they are delivering the product to."