Education Matters

Page 16

Harnessing the Energy for Curricular Change in the School of Population and Public Health Gary Poole

There is an inextricable link between curriculum and faculty development In UBC’s Faculty of Medicine, we know that curricular change is a laborintensive business. Here in the School of Population and Public Health, the work isn’t quite so sweeping, but it is nonetheless significant. As Associate Director of the School, I am quite deeply involved in our process of enhancing our curriculum and have learned a few things about the process along the way. Every department and school has a formal curriculum committee to recommend and vet curricular change. As chair of our committee, I have developed a healthy respect for the bureaucracy of curriculum change — dotting i’s and crossing t’s in ways that allow changes to move smoothly through to Senate and beyond. At the same time, this committee has its limitations. It is composed of a relatively small subset of the School’s faculty and must spend a good deal of its time working through forms and logistical details. This is important, 16

but it doesn’t allow for the kinds of creative brainstorming that effective and exciting change thrives on. To address these realities, we created the Curriculum Forum — monthly one-hour discussions of pressing curriculum topics. We talk about the nature of our required curriculum and how that needs to change as our School evolves. We talk about how we can better integrate the key elements of our curriculum — theory, methods and analytical techniques. The people who come to the Forum share ideas, concerns, and lunch. Students, staff and faculty take part. I have been very pleasantly surprised by the sustained energy people have brought to the Forum. Between 15 and 25 people coming each month. These people share a deep commitment to what and how we teach. One hour per month to put these ideas on the table for discussion and debate with like-minded colleagues appears to be something people are finding time for.

We summarize each session concisely and send these summaries out soon after each session. We also try to ensure that we identify key action items and concepts for further exploration. I believe that, without these tangible outcomes, the Forum would soon lose momentum. With this in mind, it is important to highlight such things as draft proposals for curricular change, ways in which our admissions process has been informed by Forum discussions, and the development of new program concentrations that were encouraged by Forum discussions. Curriculum proposals that were crafted with input from the Forum end up in front of our curriculum committee. I believe they come to that committee with better development and momentum. Our ongoing curriculum enhancement work can feature a constructive mix of formal committee work and informal brainstorming.


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