Teaching Hope Curriculum

The short answer is yes! Although there is considerable discussion about what students learn and how they learn, educators still lack a clear understanding of the role that hope plays in a student’s education. Educators also do not understand how students integrate all of the lessons they have learned in and out of class. In my consulting practice, I speak with educators worldwide. These educators from all grade levels generally ask the same types of questions:

· What is hope, and how is it related to education?

· How does learning come together to provide hope for students?

· How can hope education be integrated into the curriculum?

· What role does hope play in providing a positive experience for students?

· Why do students feel hopeless?

The last question is a vital one for educators. One-third of the population experiences feelings of hopelessness and helplessness at some point. According to World News Today, the highest rate of feelings of helplessness is among young people. Thirty-five percent of young people between the ages of 15 and 24 admit to experiencing hopelessness and helplessness continuously or frequently. 

Before discussing hope and its integration into the curriculum, let’s briefly examine how people lose hope. Did you ever notice the fleeting nature of hope? Because hope is a feeling, it has the “come and go” nature of your other feelings. People are typically hopeful about something in the future, only to see their feelings of hope decrease as they lose motivation and face obstacles and barriers to their goals. To experience greater levels of hope, you need a process that allows you to have extended periods of hope or to incorporate hope into your lifestyle. 

Hope helps you remain committed to your goals and motivated to take action towards achieving them. Hope provides you with a reason to continue fighting and believing that your current circumstances will improve, despite the unpredictable nature of human existence. When you do not expect the future or desire to get there, hopelessness can be one explanation. But regaining hope is possible. You may believe that no matter what you do, think, or say, your situation won’t improve, so, “what’s the point?” This is hopelessness talking to you.

But hope is something you can develop and reconnect to, even in some of the most challenging situations. It may take some time and effort, but feeling hopeless doesn’t have to be a permanent state.

Things to Remember as you put together a Curriculum Committee and Plan for “Teaching Hope”

A curriculum guide helps educators delineate the philosophy, goals, objectives, learning experiences, instructional resources, and assessments that comprise the “Teaching Hope” educational program. Additionally, it represents an articulation of what students should know and be able to do and supports teachers in knowing how to achieve these goals. A curriculum guide helps educators interested in implementing the “Teaching Hope” curriculum to:

• determine a clear philosophy and set of overarching goals that guide the entire program and the decisions that affect each aspect of it. 
• establish sequences both within and between levels, ensuring a coherent and articulated progression from grade to grade.
• outline a basic framework for what to do, how to do it, when to do it, and how to know if it has been achieved.
• be flexible and encourage experimentation and innovation within an overall structure.
• promote interdisciplinary approaches and the integration of curricula when appropriate.
• identify methods of assessing the achievement of the program's goals and objectives.
• revise and improve the curriculum; and
• provide direction for attaining human, material, and financial resources to implement the program.

The formulation of your curriculum should not be viewed as the culmination of the curriculum development process, but rather as an essential step in the process of ongoing curriculum development and implementation. Thus, this guide will probably never be a finished product, cast in stone. This curriculum is: 

• consistent with what is known about child growth and development.
• based upon clear convictions about teaching and learning.
• based on research related to hope and hope education.
• representative of instructional activities to meet the needs of students with varying abilities and needs.
• articulated from kindergarten through grade 12.
• easy  to use by all educators; and
• filled with assessments, activities, and suggested resources.