Designing the new Pedagogical Curriculum has been a lengthy process. The document was prepared by Rooftop’s pedagogues who took a course in this – in consultation with the rest of the pedagogical staff, who discussed the content during their annual pedagogic weekend. Most of the content of the document has been prepared according to a template for the pedagogical curriculum published by the Ministry of Children and Youth.
The design of Rooftop’s values, along with the Pedagogical Curriculum, has been a lengthy, ingenious process. Rooftop opened in April 2019, and for several months there were neither many children nor staff. Some of the early team members of Rooftop were not employed for long, as it was a balancing act to put together the perfect team – a team that could support Rooftop’s children. The former members of staff provided us with experiences and ideas, and each time our team evolved, we learned more and more about ourselves, and our values sharpened and refined.
When Rooftop had not even existed for a year, the global crisis – Coronavirus happened and a new institution, with a new staff, and many new children, had to come together to handle the situation as best as possible, and find a sense of community, and a desire to learn as much as possible from the situation. During the lockdown period, the wording of Rooftop’s foundation – The Pedagogical Curriculum – began in earnest, with colleagues calling each other and writing on the document together, at a distance. It was pointed out that it was not just straightforward to formulate and clarify all our ideas, as we were a new and enthusiastic staff from different countries, cultural backgrounds, pedagogical experiences and life experiences – and through this, perception and experiences with pedagogy.
The curriculum got its start during the lockdown, and became a long-term project where the staff continuously talked, learned from each other, shared ideas, discussed different forms of pedagogical theory, and together reached a common understanding of the pedagogy we want to bring our children. Several times we stopped, tested our theories, and found further understanding. Likewise, we demonstrated our knowledge to each other, and conducted experiments across colleagues from all departments of the institution.
Through the long saga, we learnt from each other, about each other, and found our place as an institution. At the same time, we also learned that a talk about pedagogy, perception of children, and the will to improve, would never end. That is why today we agree that even though we have come a long way, with the Curriculum, our values, and the work of our institution, we will never be finished – because if you declare yourself finished, you will stop learning.
This is a dynamic and continuous process.
ROOFTOP’S PEDAGOGICAL CURRICULUM 2021-22
Happy reading.
