Curriculum Quotes

“Senator Collins and Speaker Bowling are two cuts or more above typical politicians. If all politicians modeled their examples, we’d have a government of the people, by the people, and for the people.”
― Shafter Bailey, James Ed Hoskins and the One-Room Schoolhouse: The Unprosecuted Crime Against Children

“For truth to tell, dancing in all its forms cannot be excluded from the curriculum of all noble education: dancing with the feet, with ideas, with words, and, need I add that one must also be able to dance with pen- that one must learn how to write”
― Friedrich Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols

“I think they assign things to students which are way over their heads, which destroy your love of reading, rather than leading you to it. I don't understand that. Gosh.”
― Charles M. Schulz, Charles M. Schulz: Conversations

“I've realised that the most diverse academic disciplines are not really incompatible but are rather harmonious.”
― Shivanshu K. Srivastava

“The ocean of knowledge is profound and the deeper you dive, the more insight you will gain from it.”
― Shivanshu K. Srivastava

“This is exactly what it means to be caught in the colonial matrix of power. It is to be constantly suffering from lack of options, and constantly finding oneself in such a position that all the choices available have already been chosen for you. As a result, you are constantly trapped and unable to think or do otherwise. You are consistently deprived of the possibility of working with other possibilities.”
― Louis Yako

“As long as oppression is present in the world, young people need pedagogy that nurtures criticality.”
― Gholdy Muhammad, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy

“Only a fool would let his enemy teach his children”
― Malcolm X

“I hope, wherever we are, we start to decolonize knowledge production through rekindling that deep and strong spark between the heart and the mind; through understanding that the path to objectivity goes through the painful corridors of subjectivity.”
― Louis Yako

“Or as one friend of mine put it, 'In the first twenty years we are given our curriculum. In the next twenty we study it.”
― Elaine N. Aron, The Highly Sensitive Person: How to Thrive When the World Overwhelms You

“Schools should make ‘common sense’ a course of study.”
― Michael Bassey Johnson, Before You Doubt Yourself: Pep Talks and other Crucial Discussions

“For me, to decolonize knowledge production does not mean to dismiss or never engage with Western knowledge. Rather, as many decolonial thinkers have repeatedly pointed out, it means that the terms of engagement must change. It means that we should not only engage with Western knowledge, but also deeply engage with knowledge from all over the world. It means that we must not use Western knowledge as a compass to measure the value of other forms of knowledge produced around the world…[T]o decolonize knowledge production is to reject and dismantle the Western hegemony of knowledge production; the Western control on what counts and what does not count as knowledge.”
― Louis Yako

“One of the most serious damages caused by the domination and hegemony of Western knowledge is that it makes you dismiss knowledge from every other part of the world – even your own – as less than or inferior. To decolonize, then, means to believe in our ability to be producers not just consumers of knowledge. In any walk of life, being just a consumer carries the danger of being deprived and impoverished as soon as the suppliers choose to block their production from you (be it knowledge, goods, mobility, and so on), which is precisely what happens when the West practices its favorite vicious game of sanctioning and cornering any country or group of people that dares to challenge its hegemony, or seek to change the rules of the game as we know it.”
― Louis Yako

“If I could summarize everything I have learned from my praxis, it is this: Every human being can and must contribute to this world. I believe that contributing to the world in meaningful ways is non-negotiable. Yet at the same time, most people never realize their dreams of making meaningful contributions. Most people I have met in most places, including in the West itself, feel unfulfilled. They feel alienated from what they love and what they do, regardless of where they are or what they do. Fulfilment seems to be reserved solely for the few privileged elites primarily interested in dominating everything under the sun, including knowledge production.”
― Louis Yako

“In the area of Middle East Studies, you can always count on getting funding if your research is about minorities being treated horribly by ‘authoritarian regimes’ that the West want to topple, women oppressed and forced to wear the hijab, masculinity and femininity, gays are oppressed, refugees (provided that they are seeking safety in the West and running from a ‘dictator’ the West wants to topple), and so on. The pattern and the intentions are clear to a vigilant observer. What all such topics have in common is not that they are not important or need attention (they are so on both counts), but that their function is to maintain the West’s colonial and racist gaze on the rest of the world, which, in turn, serves the West’s hegemony and control over others. Furthermore, the single thread that connects the topics above is that they all practically open the door for Western intervention in the region under the pretext of ‘salvaging’ this cause or that group of people.”
― Louis Yako

“While the imperial university continues to pay lip service to letting the subaltern speak, make no mistake: the subalterns have never been silent. They have always been thinking, writing, doing, and sensing. The problem has always been with the shortsightedness and racism of the colonizers and the imperial spaces where certain knowledge gets produced and promoted, while other knowledge gets silenced, mutilated, and buried under the rubble of indifference and arrogance.”
― Louis Yako

“Equating obscurity with rigor, while at the same time equating a clear and creative language with lack thereof is one of the most serious ills one faces in Western academia. Neither of these equations are accurate. They are certainly not mutually exclusive. Often feeble minds with mediocre arguments hide behind obscure and convoluted language. I am sure most readers have seen enough examples of clear writing that is profound, deep, and able to convey very complex ideas clearly. We simply must be careful not to confuse complexity with rigor and profoundness, as drunk people mistaken their foolishness for wisdom. Nor should we dismiss a clear language simply because it is conveying the point without unnecessary complexity or beating around the bush.”
― Louis Yako

“If we aim to get it right with all youth, a productive starting point is to design teaching and learning to the group (s) of students who have been marginalized the most in society and within schools. Thus, we need frameworks that have been written by people of color and designed for children of color.”
― Gholdy Muhammad, Cultivating Genius: An Equity Framework for Culturally and Historically Responsive Literacy

“Dismantling and destroying Iraqi education was not just ‘collateral damage’ from the occupation: it was part and parcel of the occupation forces’ deliberate efforts to restructure the Iraqi state, society, and identity as many testimonies in this study make clear.”
― Louis Yako, Bullets in Envelopes: Iraqi Academics in Exile

“Perhaps the greatest obstacle to systemic reform was that it required numerous stakeholders - textbook publishers, test publishers, schools of education, and so on - to change, which turned out to be an insurmountable political obstacle.”
― Diane Ravitch, The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education

“Ignoring the psychoanalytic constitution of subjectivity in its core dimensions of desire, libidinal ties, suffering, and anxiety cannot go without consequences in the formative enterprise of curriculum work”
― Fernando M. Murillo, A Lacanian Theory of Curriculum in Higher Education: The Unfinished Symptom

“I question the ethics of a teacher education curriculum predicated on learning on the job. It’s an important job. It’s an important time in the child’s development. The fact that a substantial proportion of fourth graders have already fallen behind, as indicated by the NAEP and other assessments, may be related to the fact that many of them will have had K–3 teachers who were learning on the job.”
― Mark Seidenberg, Language at the Speed of Sight

“The new Chinese curriculum-they're practicing nodding heads for the brain olympics.”
― Dipti Dhakul

“Curriculum development is a collaborative endeavour, involving teachers, administrators, parents, and other stakeholders, all working together to provide the best possible education for students.”
― Asuni LadyZeal

“A curriculum is delicate, because it leaves a lasting impact on generations of students who will carry forward the knowledge and skills they acquire.”
― Asuni LadyZeal

“The curriculum is not just about what students learn; it's about how they learn and how their learning experiences can shape their identities and aspirations.”
― Asuni LadyZeal

“Curriculum development is both an art and a science, requiring creativity, expertise, and a deep understanding of pedagogy.”
― Asuni LadyZeal

“Integrating technology into education opens doors to new opportunities, empowering students to become creators, collaborators, and critical thinkers in an ever-evolving digital landscape.”
― Asuni LadyZeal

“Educational technology integration is not just about using gadgets in the classroom; it's about preparing students for the digital age.”
― Asuni LadyZeal

“WEEK ONE: Summer Abundance

Almond-Infused Hot White Chocolate over Iced Berries
Cold English Summer Pudding
Fresh and Easy Strawberry Crème Brûlée
Peach Cobbler D'Ours with Ginger Ice Cream
Limoncello Sorbet and Wild Maine Blueberries


WEEK TWO: Simple Comforts

Classic Tarte Tatin
Warm Cherry Crisp with Vermont Maple Cream
Almond Biscotti Tiramisu
Old-Fashioned Gingerbread and Lemon Sauce
Spiced Pear and Roquefort Flan


WEEK THREE: A Multiple Chocolate Orgasm

Grand Marnière Chocolate Mousse
Torta Caprese
Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries
Profiteroles with Dark Chocolate Kahlúa Sauce
Quick Chocolate Soufflé”
― Sarah Strohmeyer, Sweet Love