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Sabrina Zatarain
NancyLee Bergey & Gillian Maimon
EDUC555 Advanced Field Seminar (Elementary & Secondary Education)
13 January 2018

Integrative Curriculum: Context

As my integrative curriculum topic, I have selected to teach second grade students at

Andrew Jackson School about community service or civic engagement. That is, how can we

become community helpers and effect positive change within our community? Although I still

know very little about the students thus far, community is a concept that ties all of us together.

The students share a teacher. They share a school. They share a neighborhood, etc., all of which

can be categorized into communities.

During my short time with these students I have tangibly noticed two things. First, for

most, if not all of the day, students are seated as they complete written work. While some

students may genuinely enjoy the topics that are addressed, for most of them, the subject matter

is not interesting and the work is an undesired chore. Students have yet to see the practical

implications of the material that they study because they have not had the opportunity to take

action through creative outlets in order to make what they read and write a reality. The second is

that these students have engaged with considerable literature concerning important historical

figures that have enacted great change within society, such as Martin Luther King Jr. and

Abraham Lincoln. They recognize that the service and action of these leaders is important and

has positively altered society. However, they do not realize the vast implications that their own

actions can have on others. That is, I think it is important that students realize that change is

practical and that small acts of kindness are the route to impacting large-scale change within the

community and beyond.

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My ultimate goal in selecting this topic is to culminate in a practical community service

project that students can implement within their community. Not only does this topic have a

multitude of directions in which to go in terms of instruction, but it could have powerful

implications within a community (of mainly minority populations) that is generally underserved

and under-resourced. I would like students to be able to pinpoint an issue they observe in the

community––whether that may be in the neighborhood or in the school itself––look for solutions

and methods by which this issue can be resolved, and ultimately take action. Effecting change

can be challenging, but I want students to see that it can be done and that they have the ability to

make a positive impact within their community and beyond. In the words of the venerable Martin

Luther King Jr., “Everyone can be great, because everyone can serve.”