Currere encourages educators and learners to undertake an autobiographical examination of themselves. Pinar suggests that the term currere, the infinitive form of curriculum, implies the framework for the autobiographical reflection on educational experiences that ultimately shape individual's self-understanding in our democratic society. In relation to curriculum Pinar states, "The method of currere reconceptualized curriculum from course objectives to complicated conversation with oneself (as a 'private' intellectual), an ongoing project of self-understanding in which one becomes mobilized for engaged pedagogical action—as a private-and-public intellectual – with others in the social reconstruction of the public sphere".

1. AL NAHRAIN UNI.
COLLAGE OF ENG.
DEAPARTMENT OF ARCH. ENG.
CURRERE
AS A METHODE OF TEACHING
BY:
HUSSEIN AZHER
SUPPERVISED BY LECTURAL ASSISTANCE:
Dr. NAWFAL J.R.
1st
STAGE 2017/18

2. 2
Content
The method...............................................................3
The framework..........................................................3
Step one ...............................................................4
Step two ............................................................... 4
Step three ............................................................ 4
Step four .............................................................. 5
Impact.......................................................................5
3S Understanding......................................................6
Subject matter.......................................................7
Self-learning..........................................................7
Social learning.......................................................8
References................................................................9

3. 3
The method
Currere encourages educators and learners to undertake an
autobiographical examination of themselves.
Pinar suggests that the term currere, the infinitive form
of curriculum, implies the framework for the autobiographical
reflection on educational experiences that ultimately shape
individual's self-understanding in our democratic society. In
relation to curriculum Pinar states, "The method of currere
reconceptualized curriculum from course objectives to
complicated conversation with oneself (as a 'private'
intellectual), an ongoing project of self-understanding in
which one becomes mobilized for engaged pedagogical
action—as a private-and-public intellectual – with others in
the social reconstruction of the public sphere".
The framework
Pinar proposes a framework for the method of currere
requiring those involved in education to reflect upon their life
experiences thus far. The framework includes four steps or
benchmarks to be followed. The steps are: the regressive,
the progressive, the analytical, and the synthetic. Pinar uses
the four steps as a framework to reflect on curriculum theory
and public education. The framework's purpose is as follows,
"This four step process includes retelling the story of one's
educational experiences, imagining future possibilities for
self-understanding and educational practice; analysis of the
relationships between past, present and future life history
and practice; and new ways of thinking about education".

4. 4
Step one:
The regressive step encourages learner/educators to
remember particular educational experiences and how the
past experiences have guided them in the development of
their own personal attitude or beliefs about education. This
allows them to understand how the past has not only
affected them, but the people surrounding them. Pinar says
one's past is "shared, each in his or her own way, by us all.
"They may remember past experiences and how they
overcame struggles as a young person in society". John
Dewey describes experience through trial and error. He
states, "We simply do something, and when it fails, we do
something else, and keep on trying till we hit upon
something which works, and then we adopt that method as a
rule of thumb measure in subsequent procedure".
Step two:
The progressive step offers an opportunity to think about the
future.
Step three:
The analytical step involves analyzing the here and now and
creates a subjective space of freedom from the present.
Students and teachers may see the moments of right here
and now as a "historical moment in which we lived, in which
others have lived, and in which our descendants will
someday live".

5. 5
Step four:
The final step is the synthetic step which involves analyzing
the present in light of the knowledge and understanding
gained from steps 1, 2, and 3. Many educators may use the
first three steps to visualize and analyze their journey of
becoming an educator. When they ultimately begin affecting
others' lives and working with curriculum, educators find
themselves in the synthetic stage of becoming. "One utilizes
insights from past, present and future to create transformed
educational environments".
Impact
James G. Henderson and Rosie Gornik use currere in
Transformative Curriculum Leadership as they present
educators a particular type of curriculum judgment. They use
a paradigm called curriculum wisdom problem solving while
envisioning curriculum as a journey. Just as Pinar presents
our process of becoming a journey, Henderson and Gornik
use currere throughout their writing with the purpose of
allowing the reader insights into firsthand accounts of
educators' experiences. They work closely with teaching
for 3S Understanding—"referring to the integration of Subject
matter understanding with democratic Self and Social
understanding and undertaking a personal journey of
understanding". Within Transformative Curriculum
Leadership we find Gornik's deep self-understanding in
regard to 3S Understanding through her currere. She
presents the reader with various autobiographical narratives
and vignettes written to inspire the reader to delve into their
own currere and examine their own self-understanding.
Henderson and Gornik (2007) say they incorporate the
currere method in their book because they "acknowledge

6. 6
that educators who choose to facilitate their students'
personalized journeys of understanding cannot do so without
undertaking a similar journey of understanding". Educators
have many responsibilities including presenting their
students with opportunities or ideas of how to become active
members in today's democratic society. The purpose of the
book is to encourage the reader to become a "connoisseur"
of democratic education with an understanding of
educational growth in societies with democratic values
3S Understanding
is a curriculum structure that was created by James G.
Henderson. 3S Understanding is a mixture of three components
that can be diagrammed as a triangle. The three Ss are Subject
Matter, Self-learning, and Social Learning.
Henderson and Gornik’s Reflective Teaching: Professional
Artistry Through Inquiry examines 3S understanding and
teaching for democratic living. It goes in depth about subject
learning, self-learning, and social learning. Henderson writes the
book with the ideas and also presents several real life examples.
It goes through teacher reflection and how teachers should be
constantly refining their practice.
The manual on 3S Understanding and how to apply it to a
curriculum is Transformative Curriculum Leadership by
Henderson. It will be one of the most important documents in the
study. Henderson outlines what 3S Understanding is, what it is
based on, and how to implement it. The author discusses how to
design and plan lessons, how to teach the lessons, evaluation of
the lessons, and organization. Henderson even goes on to
discuss how the community and school can get involved and
help expand and support this form of curriculum.

7. 7
Subject matter
The subject is the base curriculum and standards that are used
by the school, state, and nation. They are inherent in every
curriculum but James Henderson goes further in describing what
he sees as subject. He says, “Teaching for democratic living
requires the use of thinking-centered, performance-based
activities".Teaching subject matter is important but it needs to
focus on student thinking and assessment. Henderson gives
many forms of performance-based learning: Collaborative
learning, peer teaching, project-based learning, understanding
performances, infusion of critical and creative thinking, and
authentic problems that have real-world significance. Henderson
also discusses the importance of constructivist learning and how
drawing from past experiences and applying it to the present is
important. The students will gain more meaning from the material
if it has some meaning to them.
Self-learning
The second S is for Self-Learning and it represents the students’
view of themselves as lifelong learners. It is important for
students to see themselves as constantly learning from others
and from themselves. Everything that a student experiences,
every person that they talk to, and everything they do impacts
their beliefs and knowledge. If a teacher can help a student to
realize that then they can help the student to grow to be active
participants in a democratic society. Henderson also talks
about social-emotional growth and how it can be accomplished
by fostering, “caring and supportive learning environments that
invite active student participation in classroom and school
management activities”. It is important for students to make good
choices and to know how to express emotion.

8. 8
Social learning
The third S stands for Social Learning which gives the student
understanding of their society. It helps them think about
“equity, diversity, and civility issues”. Equity has to do with
the equality of people and the ideas of fair and just. Henderson
suggests that stereotypes are squashed at an early age and that
grading should encourage all students. Diversity should
celebrate human differences and diversity should be seen as
something good. Civility focuses on the right to have different
opinions and to listen to everyone’s opinion even if it is different.

9. 9
References
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Currere
Pinar, William Frederick (1975). "The method of
currere" (PDF). American Educational Research Association.
Pinar, William (2004). What is curriculum theory?.
Routledge.
Dewey, John (1916 repub. 2011). Democracy and
Education: An Introduction to the Philosophy of Education.
p. 99.
Kissel-Ito, Cindy (May 2008). "The name assigned to the
document by the author. This field may also contain sub-
titles, series names, and report numbers. "Currere" as
Transformative Story Telling in Religious
Education" (PDF). Religious Education. Routledge.
Henderson, James George; Gornik, Rosemary
(2007). Transformative curriculum leadership. Pearson
Merrill/Prentice Hall.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3S_Understanding
Henderson, J.G. (2001). Reflective teaching: Professional
artistry through inquiry (3rd Ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Merrill Prentice Hall.