What does curation typically look like?
Content curation begins with an intense love of the content. Think of gallery curators.
They get giddy over the seemingly random (and yet almost impossible to replicate)
approach of Jackson Pollock. However, they can engage in a two-hour discussion on
the relationship between kitsch art and postmodern philosophy.
While there is an overlap with criticism, curators are more likely to geek out on the
subject in a way that is explanatory instead of evaluative. This is often combined with
a desire to make a work accessible to the public. On some level, both curators and
critics are the gatekeepers of information (I know, I know, I mentioned earlier that the
gatekeepers are gone). However, while critics are the ones shutting the gates, curators
are often the ones who open the gates and convincing people to come inside.
If all of that seems too abstract, here are a few things that are a part of the curation
process:
Searching for Content: The best curators are the ones who can find content that
not everyone notices. This is what makes Maria Popova of Brain Pickings so
amazing. She has this way of finding content that people are missing, looking in
places we’ve overlooked.
Geeking Out on Content: The best curators are able to collect and consume
great content. It’s not mindless consumption. It is mindful and relaxed but also
sharp and analytical. One of the things I’ve noticed about great curators is that
they scribble notes all over the margins of books and yet they feel the complete
freedom to skim and skip when necessary. They know how to find the
information that actually matters.
Organizing Content: Curation often involves placing content into categories or
themes. Often, students will try and figure out the “right” way to organize the
information, because schools typically teach students an external organizational
system. However, this sense of classification is deeply personal and should
mirror the way that students think. It’s a chance to engage in tagging and
categorizing in a way that feels meaningful to the students.
Making Connections: The best curators are able to find connections between
seemingly opposite artists, ideas, or disciplines in ways that make you think,
“Man, I never considered that before.”
Finding Trends: This aspect of curation is a little more analytical. Sometimes it
even involves picking apart data or crunching numbers. It’s the idea of looking
at information across several spaces and finding specific trends. This is often
where someone arrives at a different, counterintuitive conclusion.
Adding a Unique Lens: Curators rarely write in-depth explanations of the
content. There’s typically a certain clarity and brevity in the commentary they
add. When done well, a curator almost seems invisible, moving along the
snippets of content. And yet, over time, you begin to appreciate the subtle
personality and voice of a curator. If the critic and commentator sometimes falls
victim to shouting their opinions, the curator is gently whispering a relevant idea
to a distracted culture.
Sharing the Content: Content curation has the end goal of getting great content
into the hands of a larger audience. It is deliberately others-centered, even when
the curator is introspective. Sometimes, the goal is to provide a set of practical
information into the hands of readers. Others are more about offering something
intriguing, even if it’s not inherently practical.
Five Ways to Get Started with Content
Curation
1. Model content curation. Notice that few students walk into class with curation
skills. We live in a consumer culture that values speed and amusement over
slower, deliberate thought that is needed in curation. It’s not surprising then, that
teachers often need to model the curation process.
2. Let students geek out. Curators are natural geeks. They get excited about ideas
and topics within their domain. They engage in research in a way that feels like
an adventure. If we want students to engage in content curation, we need to let
them geek out. Tap into their prior knowledge and let them run with it.
3. Spend more time on it. Content curation takes time. Take a look at any master
curator and you’ll see this commitment to time. There’s no way around it. If you
want to see students curate, you have to carve out specific time for it.
4. Begin earlier. Traditionally, teachers wait until the end of the year to have
students do research. It’s usually part of a multi-week project. If you begin at the
beginning of the year, they will slowly learn the art of curation as the year
progresses.
5. Let students own the process. They should choose the topics, the questions,
and the sources they find interesting. This could connect to research, silent
reading, blogging, or Genius Hour. It’s also important to let students choose the
platform. Curation can happen in a journal or a notebook if they want to keep it
private. Or it could happen in a blog, in a podcast, or in a video series. In some
cases, visual curation sites like Pinterest can work for students who want to
organize things in a spatial manner.
