Drawing from the Well
Water is life; likewise, the life of a community is sustained as the experiences, expertise, and knowledge of one generation are passed down to the next. The Drawing from the Well curriculum was developed and implemented with students in northern New Mexico over 20 years ago (Goldberg et al., 2003). The curriculum has been re-imagined for teachers to flexibly facilitate community-based learning for any grade level and any content areas, ensuring the interests of the students guide the learning. The primary goal of the curriculum is to drive student learning founded in place-based cultural, historical, linguistic, and/or environmental beliefs, values, and traditions.
Maintaining the heart of the original curriculum, the 2025 version of Drawing from the Well provides students with ample opportunity to develop individualized projects of inquiry that connect them with their peers, families, and community members and leaders. The relationships students develop over time create personal pathways for them to value the depth of knowledge and expertise available to them in their own community, strengthening their identities and building their capacity to carry on their lineage of values, beliefs, and traditions.
Though the curriculum will continue to evolve over the next year or two, revised lessons for the Drawing from the Well curriculum will be available on the CESDP website in March 2025, and Dr. Tamara Kumbalek will share the lessons at Future Focused Education’s 2025 EdUprising Conference on March 7. To ensure the best possible curriculum is available for our diverse communities, we encourage educators, schools, and communities to review the lessons, join us at EdUprising, share your feedback, and partner with us to pilot the program in your classrooms in the upcoming academic year. Program pilots will have a voice in improving the curriculum from current perspectives in the learning community. Feel free to contact us for more information!
Goldberg, J., Brendan, M., Gonzales, C., &Sturtevant, S. (2003). Drawing from the well:
Connecting schools to community curriculum guide. Center for the Education and Study of Diverse Populations (CESDP). https://cesdp.nmhu.edu/index.php/drawing-from-the-well/
Can’t wait to visit with you again next month!