Learning Forward: Expanding My Practice Through Inquiry, Equity, and Innovation
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Committing to Intentional Learning
As an educator, my growth depends not on the positions I hope to hold, but on the knowledge and skills I intentionally pursue. The classroom is constantly evolving. Student needs shift, technology advances, and conversations around equity and access deepen. In order to continue meeting those changes with confidence and purpose, I must commit to ongoing learning that benefits both my instruction and my students.
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Designing Culturally Sustaining Curriculum
One area I want to explore more deeply is culturally sustaining pedagogy. Specifically, how to design curriculum that not only includes diverse voices, but sustains students' cultural identities within academic spaces. While I currently incorporate global texts and perspectives, I want to better understand how curriculum can move beyond representation toward empowerment and critical engagement.
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To grow in this area, I need to deepen my understanding of:
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The theoretical foundations of culturally sustaining pedagogy
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How to evaluate curriculum for bias or gaps
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Strategies for elevating student voice in text selection and analysis
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Ways to design assessments that honor multiple ways of knowing
A key resource I plan to use is the book Culturally Sustaining Pedagogies: Teaching
and Learning for Justice in a Changing World by Django Paris and H. Samy Alim.
This text expands on culturally responsive teaching and challenges educators to
sustain linguistic and cultural pluralism, rather than assimilate students in dominant
norms. I also plan to engage with the professional learning resources available
through Learning for Justice, particularly their classroom ready frameworks and
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By studying these resources, I hope to move from good intentions to informed, research-based implementation.
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Cultivating Creativity and Original Thinking in the English Classroom
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Another area I want to intentionally develop is my understanding of how to cultivate authentic creativity in the classroom while maintaining academic rigor. In English education, creativity is sometimes confined to “fun” projects or enrichment activities. However, I want to better understand how creative thinking can function as a core cognitive skill. One that strengthens analysis, argumentation, and critical inquiry rather than distracting from them.
To grow in this area, I need to deepen my knowledge of:
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The research behind creativity as a measurable and teachable skill
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Instructional strategies that promote divergent thinking
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Structures that encourage intellectual risk-taking
I am particularly interested in exploring Creative Schools: The Grassroots Revolution
That’s Transforming Education by Ken Robinson, which challenges traditional models
of schooling that prioritize compliance over innovation. I watched Dr. Robinson's Ted
Talk, "Do Schools Kill Creativity?," and his perspective was very enlightening as I worked
on creativity based schoolwork. I saw firsthand how it benefited me, and I would like to
provide the same experience to my students. Additionally, I plan to engage with
resources from The Buck Institute for Education (PBLWorks), especially their project-
based learning frameworks that integrate creativity with rigorous academic outcomes.
By studying these perspectives and intentionally experimenting with creative structures, such as multi-genre projects, dramatic reinterpretations of texts, and student-designed inquiry questions. I hope to build a classroom culture where originality is not an occasional outcome, but an embedded expectation. My goal is to better understand how to create conditions where students feel safe to try creativity while still meeting high academic standards.
Advanced Differentiated Assessment Design​
Differentiation has long been part of my instructional philosophy, but I want to strengthen my ability to differentiate assessment in ways that maintain rigor while expanding access. Designing tasks that allow multiple pathways to demonstrate mastery (without lowering expectations) requires both creativity and research-based strategy.
In order to improve in this area, I need to:
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Study assessment models that emphasize standards-based grading
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Develop rubrics that measure transferable skills across varied formats
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Create tiered assignments that adjust complexity, not expectations
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Analyze student data to refine instructional decisions
To guide this work, I plan to revisit a text I was introduced to three years ago in a
Professional Learning Community in my school, How to Differentiate Instruction in
Academically Diverse Classrooms by Carol Ann Tomlinson, whose framework continues
to influence differentiated practice. I also plan to use professional resources from Edutopia,
particularly articles focused on assessment design and student-centered learning.
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Through deeper study and intentional experimentation, I aim to ensure that assessment becomes not just a measurement tool, but an extension of learning itself.
Moving Forward: A Commitment to Growth
These goals represent a starting point rather than a finished plan. As I continue exploring culturally sustaining curriculum, creativity in learning, and differentiated assessment design, I expect my understanding to deepen and evolve. Each of these areas encourages me to think critically about how learning environments can better support students’ curiosity, identities, and intellectual growth.
Professional growth in education is an ongoing process that requires reflection, experimentation, and a willingness to adapt. By intentionally studying these areas, I hope to develop new strategies that make learning more engaging, inclusive, and meaningful for students. Ultimately, continuing to learn about curriculum, creativity, and assessment allows me to approach teaching not simply as a profession, but as a lifelong process of inquiry and improvement.
