The elementary digital program for which I was hired initially started off as a wonderful experience. Everything was planned out and organized, we had a very strong team in place, and we were given opportunities to share our ideas. We were asked for our feedback and opinions. A few months in, though, things changed. No one wanted to hear our creative ideas anymore, they wanted us to just do what we were told and don’t ask about it. They were taking the advice and suggestions for the curriculum from UX (a team that had no experience in pedagogy) rather than from actual educators and subject matter experts like us. Also, promises about including social emotional learning and diversity and inclusion in the program dissipated. About five months in, leadership changed and the entire culture and environment flipped upside down. Leaders came into place that had no experience working in elementary curriculum. We went from being a very collaborative group who got deliverables done by every deadline and could self-manage our schedules independently to an authoritative atmosphere, where people were getting tracked for their behavior if they asked questions or gave opinions at meetings, and micromanaged beyond anything I had ever experienced in almost 30 years of working in education, having to document every minute worked and record every meeting for leadership to watch later. Leadership was not personable, they had no working budget for the program, they kept taking components away from the architecture rather than being innovative as ASU claims to be. Leadership continued to hire people despite their consideration of shutting down the program, which they did abruptly and with no notice to people on December 5, 2022, right before the holidays without any care of people’s financial or health benefits situation. It went from being my dream job to my most nightmarish job.
