Experiencing Dialogical Spaces: Decentralized Approaches to Curriculum
Abstract:
This paper addresses decentralization as it has been explored in curriculum theory - exploring concepts of emergent learning, open dialogue between teacher and students, and the discovering of meaning through a non-linear process of critical inquiry. Advantages and disadvantages to decentralized curriculum are discussed, arguing for the implementation of dialogical practices that alter the traditional power dynamics within the classroom. Dewey wrote about the importance of an interactive and democratic relationship between teacher and student. Complexity thinking states that learning is not a cause and effect relationship between teacher and student but rather one part of a complex system in which knowledge emerges through discourse. The space between the participants, and the dialogue that occurs in this space, is what creates the emergence of knowledge and meaning. Educators should not only embrace methods that create the emergence of knowledge/meaning, human subjectivity must also emerge in the classroom to prevent planned enculturation; individual identity must be maintained. Educators should distinguish between different levels of power and understand when power cuts off human communication and when power enables development, particularly within group discussions and when the objective is an aesthetic experience. Throughout this paper, connections are continually made between decentralized approaches to curriculum and aesthetic education. The last section describes the aesthetic experience that can occur in decentralized forms of art education - the non-linear nature of the ongoing dialogue that occurs both in creating art and in critical inquiry. Finally, networked learning through the internet is discussed and an appeal is made for more research into the dialogical relations that occur in cyberspace.
