A Critical Pedagogy of Curriculum

asPlaceDr. Carol Fulton

University of Regina

A Convergence of Three Lenses

Curriculum

Place-Based

Education

Critical Pedagogy

Overt, explicit, or written curriculum Hidden or covert curriculum Null curriculum Societal curriculum Phantom curriculum Curriculum in Use Received curriculum Internal curriculum Electronic curriculum

Views of Curriculum

Everything is connected We shape and are shaped by the places we

inhabit We are part of nested systems; our actions in

one system have consequences in other systems

Understanding our relationship to spaces and places may help to develop an eco-consciousness

Social justice and eco-justice are inextricably linked

Some Understandings

It is time we examined curriculum within the interconnected web of social, cultural, political, and ecological contexts in which we teach and learn.

(Judson, 2006)

Examining Curriculum Through a New Lens – Critical Pedagogy and Curriculum as Place

Among the complex systems that are of interest to educators are the human individual, classroom/school collectives, communities and cultural systems

We Occupy Many Spaces and Places as Part of Complex Sustems

Biological, psychological

Social

Political

Economic

Ecological

Space refers to a physical context such as building, park, room, etc.

Spaces are dynamic and changing because of the interactions that take place there and the meanings people attribute to the spaces

Place emerges from the construct of space, as space endowed with meanings” (Judson, 2006)

“where one knows others and is known to others" (Relph (2000, p. 27).

Places represent sources of security and identity for individuals and for groups.

Place contributes to individual and collective identity formation insofar as individuals identify with places and, in turn, places reciprocally identify individuals.

(Judson, 2006)

Spaces and Places – Social Constructs

Immerses students in local heritage, culture, ecology, landscapes, opportunities, and experiences as a foundation for the study of language arts, mathematics, social studies, science, and other subjects.

Encourages teachers and students to use the schoolyard, community, public lands, and other special places as resources, turning communities into classrooms.

Is project-focused and inherently tailored by local people to local realities, place-based education is equally relevant in small towns and big cities

Is equally effective for kindergarteners and high school students.

http://www.peecworks.org/PEEC/Benefits_of_PBE-PEEC_2008_web.pdf

Place-Based Education

According to Sobel “what’s important

is that children have an opportunity to bond with the natural world, to learn to love it, before being asked to heal its wounds” (1996, p. 10).

Developing an Eco-literacy

Not as oppositional or “messianic” (Bowers, 2001) as critical pedagogy

Just as devoted to social change

Try to foster eco-literacy and have children develop a relationship with nature

Believe that introducing political perspectives at wrong time can create anxiety, fear, and hopelessness in learners that makes them less capable of taking socially or ecologically appropriate action.

Place-Based Educators

Some argue that we need both critical pedagogy and place-based education to understand how the “isms” (racism, classism, anthropocentrism, etc.) are related to dominance and power.

We need both decolonization and re-inhabitation.

Is it Enough to Bring About Transformation?

Whose interests are being served?

Who has power and privilege?

Who is left out/marginalized?

How has power, politics, history and culture shaped education?

“Place + people = politics.”—Williams (2001, p. 3)

Critical Pedagogy

[Critical] Place-based pedagogies are needed so that the education of citizens might have some direct bearing on the well-being of the social and ecological places people actually inhabit.

(Guenewald, 2003)

Critical Place-Based Pedagies

Decolonization “a metaphor for the

process of recognizing and dislodging dominant ideas, assumptions and ideologies as externally imposed” ( Smith & Katz, 1993, p. 71).

“a process of cultural and historical liberation; an act of confrontation with a dominant system of thought” (hooks, 1992, p. 1).

Re-inhabitation “learning to live-in-place in

an area that has been disrupted and injured through past exploitation” (Berg & Dassman, 1990p. 35).

“The study of place . . . has a significance in re-educating people in the art of living well where they are” (Orr, 1990p. 130)

Critical Place-Based Education – Two Goals (Eco-Justice)

Guenewald (2003, p. 9) states:

In other words, reinhabitation and decolonization depend on each other. A critical pedagogy of place aims to (a) identify, recover, and create material spaces and places that teach us how to live well in our total environments (reinhabitation); and (b) identify and change ways of thinking that injure and exploit other people and places (decolonization).

Chet Bowers (2001) suggests Eco-justice has four main focuses:(a) understanding the relationships between ecological and cultural systems, specifically, between the domination of

nature and the domination of oppressed groups;

(b) addressing environmental racism, including the geographical dimension of social injustice and environmental pollution;

(c) revitalizing the non-commodified traditions of different racial and ethnic groups and communities, especially those traditions that support ecological sustainability; and

(d) re-conceiving and adapting our lifestyles in ways that will not jeopardize the environment for future generations

What is Eco-Justice?

This is a relatively new area of research, and people have different priorities. It challenges all of us to think differently because schools have typically taught us to live in a competitive society that emphasizes economic growth at the expense of all else.

But How?

What are the places they know best?

Where do they feel safe, accepted, secure? Why?

Where do they feel insecure, helpless, marginalized? Why?

Who and what are in spaces and places that have meaning for them?

What can be done to improve a space to make it a better place?

Start From What Students Know

Foster empathy for the familiar

Move out toward exploration of the home range

Move on to social action and reinhabitation.

Sobel Suggests

Spaces and places are pedagogical, social, and political constructions that are powered and contested. Schools have a responsibility to make individuals conscious of the interplay between humans and their lived spaces and how we are all actively engaged in making the places that influence our lives. Place-making is a democratic process. (Judson, 2006)

Place-Making: A Democratic Process

But we can work within our spheres of influence.

We can build community and work collectively to bring about change.

Changes in one system can bring about changes in another.

What changes can you make within your spheres of influence?

We Can’t Focus on or Change All The Systems

School curricula have generally failed to communicate a sense of urgency regarding social, economic, or cultural issues, let alone to ever-increasing environmental degradation and global climate change.

(Nelson, 2010)

An Issue

What role should schools and the accompanying curricula have on the consideration of urgent impending social and environmental crises?

(Nelson, 2010)

A Question

As you view the film jot down notes where you were:

In agreement In disagreement Surprised Intrigued Angry Touched

Answer the following question:

In what ways did the film relate to the lecture on curriculum, place-based education, and critical theory

Suzuki Speaks

Gruenewald, D. (2003). The best of both worlds: A critical pedagogy of place. Educational Researcher, 32 (4), pp. 3–12

Judson, G. (2006). Curriculum spaces: Situating educational research, theory and practice. The Journal of Educational Thought, 40(3), pp. 229-245.

Nelson, T. (2010). Fill this in at home. Sobel, D. (1996). Beyond ecophobia: Reclaiming the heart in nature education. Great Barrington, MA: The Orion Society and The Myrin Institute.

References