Pinar (1975) wrote The Method of Currere, a method that allows us to explore what we have conceptualized through time, the complex relation between the temporal and conceptual, thus we can discover our self, its evolution and education (p. 19). After reading, The Method of Currere (Pinar,1975) reflect on the stages and discuss what you think the process will let you discover.
The Method of Currere is a life autobiography that also involves the reflection of it. I’m hoping to discover what situations that occurred in my life have influenced my decision to become a teacher, and how the present might determine the road that I’ll follow after graduation. I also wish to be able to determine whether or not the negative situations in my life have had a positive effect on my emotional growth and answer the “what if” question that most of us ponder upon.
ReplyDeleteThe method of currere leads the reader to self examine their life and the decisions that have lead them where they are now. The regressive stage consist of looking back to the momemts in where the choices were made. Personally, i see how my chocie to study English and secondary education was influenced in leaving my home in New york to venture out and study in Puerto Rico. I see how that one decision has become an essential part in my biographical timeline and has been responsible of many other events that have made the process multidimentional. The progressive stage is the point in which you decide where to go next. It is a time on reflecting on your future and what needs to be done in the present in order to pursue future plans. The following phase is to analyze the past woven with the present. It is looking at your life with a critical eye and determining how that has effected you. The final phase includes putting together, and looking at the present as it is and whether or not your present work is reflecting your experience. These stages create self awareness and help the reader conceptualize their life experiences.
ReplyDeleteThe Method of Currere is about discovering who we are and reflecting on the situations and decisions made in the past that make us who we are today as future educators. There are four steps in this method: regressive, progressive, analytical, and synthetical. The regressive step consists of returning to the past and thinking about the decisions made back then. We think about our education in schools, what we learned from our teachers, and personally when I graduated from high school I was focused on being a math teacher. I started in Cora but was thinking about transferring to the Colegio in Mayaguez. I chose to stay in Cora and continue with being an English teacher since it was another thing I liked and I do not regret it. I like the University, the professors, and the college’s environment. It was also my mom’s alma mater so I can say I am proud to be where I am today. The second step is the progressive; in this step we reflect on where we are now, what are we planning to do in our future but this is affected by what we are doing in our present in order to achieve our future plans. The third step is the analytical. In this stage we reflect on where we visualize ourselves now, we think about our present but intertwining it with the past and the future. We should reflect on how the future exists in the past, the past in the future, and the present in both (past and future). The last step, the synthetical is about putting it all together and visualizing the present as it is now and the relation to the self and its evolution in education. We also reflect on how our experiences may or may have not defined our present. This method helps to look at our lives in a linear way. We make a timeline of our life experiences to analyze and synthesize who we are today.
ReplyDeleteThis method is a self evaluation process. Each step allows us to determine if our previous experiences have something to do with how we do things in the present. We are formed by past, present and the future that we desire, each time influences with each other. I would like to be able to realize what decisions that I have made are the answer of what I am now and what I would like to do in the future. Either way I am glad that those decisions bring me here and made me visualize as a future English teacher.
ReplyDelete"The Methods of "Currere"" is a recall of all life changing experiences. After reading this article by Pinar, I can relate to that everything in life happens for a purpose. Life is about making firm decisions and choices that will affect who you are and your love one's. We hope these choices are for the better. That is why we must believe that the choices we make are for the better good. In the "Method of "Currere,"" the first step is the regressive one. This is where one goes back in time, "returns to the past" ("The Method of "Currere,""p.21). Here one must reflect on the choices made. The following stage is the progressive where you sit down and review what are your plans for the future. This stage helps you clarify what are your options for the future, leaving doubt out of it. The analytical stage is where you apply the photos of the past and relate them to the present. The woven present must be regarded to the past, present, and future and one must see their complex, multi-dimensional interrelations. The last stage is the snythetical where your realize who you really are and how your life choices and educational background form the person your are today. This progress will help me discover why I became a teacher. It will help me analyze the unconscious steps I took that formed me into the student I am today and my choice for becoming a teacher.
ReplyDeleteThe purpose of Currere's Method is to help us discover who we are and to reflect on the reasons and situations that influenced us to be where we are now and to think about our experiences in life that encouraged us to become educators. It also helps us to reflect on our past , understand our present and visualize our future. The Method of Currere's provides us four steps that will helps us in our auto-evaluation. These steps are; regressive, progressive, analytical, and synthetical.
ReplyDeleteStep 1. Regressive. This step encourage us to auto-evaluate ourselves according to our educational experiences that molded us to become the person we are today. This reflection helps us to understand how the past affected us and guided us through our educational development.
Step 2. Progressive. This steps guides us to view how our future might be according to our intellectual interest. The author makes us reflect on our plans and actions that will help us achieve our goals. In addition, this stage also helps us predict our future outcomes based on the decisions we make in our present.
Step 3. Analytical. This step encourage us to view and analyze our present as educators , how do we see us professionally, and how we feel about everything we have achieved at the moment.
Step 3. Synthetical. In this last step we consider how our past, present, and future has affected us our lives. In this stage we can see where life has taken us, where we are now, and where it is going to take us academically and as professional educators.
Reflecting on all these stages will encourage us to become effective and reflective educators.
Personally I have never been asked to reflect on the experiences and situations that influenced me to become an educator. I barely thought that reflecting on the past might open my views of how I got to where I am today. I am looking forward to encounter those significant episodes in my life that encouraged me to become an English educator.
I believe that the Method of Currere is about taking a step back, reflecting, and evaluating decisions and moments in life that have influenced a person into becoming the person that I am. The regressive is intended for looking back into the past; finding what decisions or events left a mark into my life. The progressive is about thinking of the step ahead; reflecting upon what do I envision for myself. The analytical is about taking the past and the future, and making sense of how they influenced the present, in an objective way. The synthetical seeks to unite the pieces of the present, past and future into one clear picture of the person that I am at this moment. It is the sum of experiences that had lead to the construction of the person that exists at that moment in time. This process will without a doubt, serve as an eye opener.
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