Conceptualizing Curriculum Through a Critical Spatial
Abstract
Curriculum as a form of, and a means for, social justice has been central to my work as a community organizer and educator for nearly 20 years. In these uncertain political times the need to reveal and contest power is critical. Given the importance of public space in taking action for social change I am interested in working with others to (re)conceptualize curriculum through a spatial analysis.
In this session we will explore the hidden curriculum through a critical spatial analysis in order to consider new possibilities for discovering and contesting power (Soja, 2010). (Re)conceptualizing curriculum through a spatial analysis draws attention to landscapes, physical and social space, as well as the ways in which the body itself is a site of struggle over unequal power relations (van Ingen, 2004).
Guiding questions for employing a critical spatial analysis may include: What are the merits and limitations of the concept of the hidden curriculum in unmasking power? Drawing from the existing literature on “observations of hiddenness” (Margolis, 2001) what are the links between curriculum and landscapes in (re)producing social hierarchies, regulating bodies, normalizing dominant ideologies, and manufacturing consent as a function of socialization? In what ways can theorizing on landscapes support centralizing body in curriculum studies? What possibilities exist for curriculum as a form of, and means for, social and spatial justice? In what ways can conceptualizing curriculum through spatial thinking inform approaches to spatial and social justice that disrupt the hidden curriculum, reclaim space, and decolonize body?
Presentation Description
A work-in-progress, this project intends to employ a critical spatial analysis as a means of (re)conceptualizing curriculum in order to consider new possibilities for discovering and contesting power. In this session we will examine the links between the hidden curriculum of everyday life, social space, and body regulation. It is the intention of this session to explore the ways in which conceptualizing curriculum through spatial thinking may inform approaches to spatial and social justice that disrupt the hidden curriculum, reclaim space, and decolonize body.
Keywords
Curriculum theory, Critical spatial analysis, Hidden curriculum, Landscapes, Body, Power, Control, Spatial and social justice
Location
Talmadge
Publication Type and Release Option
Presentation (Open Access)
Recommended Citation
Perez, Amara H., "Conceptualizing Curriculum Through a Critical Spatial" (2016). Curriculum Studies Summer Collaborative. 8.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/cssc/2016/2016/8
Conceptualizing Curriculum Through a Critical Spatial
Talmadge
Curriculum as a form of, and a means for, social justice has been central to my work as a community organizer and educator for nearly 20 years. In these uncertain political times the need to reveal and contest power is critical. Given the importance of public space in taking action for social change I am interested in working with others to (re)conceptualize curriculum through a spatial analysis.
In this session we will explore the hidden curriculum through a critical spatial analysis in order to consider new possibilities for discovering and contesting power (Soja, 2010). (Re)conceptualizing curriculum through a spatial analysis draws attention to landscapes, physical and social space, as well as the ways in which the body itself is a site of struggle over unequal power relations (van Ingen, 2004).
Guiding questions for employing a critical spatial analysis may include: What are the merits and limitations of the concept of the hidden curriculum in unmasking power? Drawing from the existing literature on “observations of hiddenness” (Margolis, 2001) what are the links between curriculum and landscapes in (re)producing social hierarchies, regulating bodies, normalizing dominant ideologies, and manufacturing consent as a function of socialization? In what ways can theorizing on landscapes support centralizing body in curriculum studies? What possibilities exist for curriculum as a form of, and means for, social and spatial justice? In what ways can conceptualizing curriculum through spatial thinking inform approaches to spatial and social justice that disrupt the hidden curriculum, reclaim space, and decolonize body?
