Has Your Textbook Become Your Curriculum?

The first experience many new teachers have with curriculum for the course they are to teach is to be handed a textbook and a teacher's guide and little other direction. Consequently the impression that you should follow the book and present all the chapters in the book in the order they are arranged leads you to develop a course that is textbook driven. While this may be a “safe” way to teach your first year as you test your content knowledge as you present it to your students, you will find many things about the textbook you don't like and will begin to adjust the way you approach the curriculum. You may question whether the intellectual pursuits associated with science can be experienced by students going chapter to chapter in a textbook.