Term of Award
Fall 2023
Degree Name
Doctor of Education in Curriculum Studies (Ed.D.)
Document Type and Release Option
Dissertation (open access)
Copyright Statement / License for Reuse
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Department
Department of Curriculum, Foundations, and Reading
Committee Chair
Ming Fang He
Committee Member 1
Robert Lake
Committee Member 2
Peggy Shannon-Baker
Committee Member 3
William Schubert
Abstract
Pushing beyond traditional inquiry methods, this dissertation is crafted as a collection of speculative essays (Schubert, 1991) that critique neoliberal infiltration in education. Using Schwab’s (1973) four commonplaces, I envision an alternative curriculum of wonder, imagination, and empowerment. Inviting alternatives for meaning-making (Barone & Eisner, 2012; Shannon-Baker, 2021), I incorporate collage (Gerstenblatt, 2013) and palimpsest (Shannon-Baker, 2021). My work builds upon a wide array of literature, such as democratic education (Apple, 1979/2019, 1990, 2006, 2014; Biesta, 2006, 2007, 2010/2016; Dewey, 1897, 1902, 1916; Freire, 1970/2018; Giroux, 2008/2016a, 2016b), experiential learning (Dewey, 1938; Freire, 1970/2018), imagination (Dewey, 1934a, 1934b; Eisner, 1979/2002, 1998, 2004; Freire, 1970/2018; Greene, 1995/2000, 1997a, 2001; Lake, 2013, 2015), critical pedagogy (Apple, 1979/2019, 1993/2014, 2006; Freire, 1970/ 2018; Giroux, 2008/2016a; hooks, 1994/2020, 2003), and anti-neoliberalism in education (Apple, 2000, 2006, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2018; Au, 2009; Chomsky, 1999, 2000, 2021; Giroux, 2004/2017, 2008/2016a, 2016b, 2018; Saltman, 2000, 2012/2016; Taubman, 2009). I interrogate the neoliberal iteration of standardization as miseducation, how ideology maintains an inequitable status quo (Apple, 1979/2019, 1993/2014; Freire, 1970/2018, 2005; Giroux, 2008/2016a; Gramsci, 1988/2000), and commodification (Freire, 1970/2018; Giroux, 2004/2017; Saltman, 2000, 2012/2016; Taubman, 2009). I argue that a critical stance (Giroux, 2004/2017; Horkheimer, 1968/2002) can disrupt neoliberal ideology. Twelve meanings emerge: (1) To critique standardization, it is necessary to understand education and neoliberalism historically, politically, socially, culturally, and ideologically. (2) Echoing market values, neoliberalism commodifies everything and everyone. (3) Neoliberalism has influenced education decisions. (4) Neoliberal values have infiltrated education via market metaphors within reforms. (5) Linked with profitability, standardization is considered “best practices” for education. (6) Standardization as a culture of conformity and “cult of efficiency” commodifies students. (7) Questions disrupt ideology. (8) Education is political. (9) Resistance is encouraged in milieus where human values are privileged over market values. (10) Opposing technicality, subject matter emerges from/is connected to learners. (11) Engaging in “creative insubordination” (He, 2023; Schubert, 2023; Schultz, 2023; Taliaferro Baszille, 2023) and teaching “against the grain” (Ayers, 2004; Giroux, 2001), teachers make pedagogical choices for/against particular contexts. (12) Learners are empowered thinkers/knowers/doers.
Recommended Citation
Cramsey, Andrea L., "Toward a Curriculum of Wonder, Imagination, and Empowerment: Critiques on Neoliberal Infiltration in Education" (2023). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2655.
https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/2655
Research Data and Supplementary Material
No
