Curriculum Inquiry 45卷2期

发布者:系统管理员发布时间:2015-09-11浏览次数:0

1. A call for more religious education in the secondary social studies curriculum of western Canadian provinces

Author: Patrick, Margaretta L.

Source: Curriculum Inquiry 45.2 (Mar. 2015): 154-175.

Abstract: The inclusion of religion in public education remains contentious in many countries, including Canada. As multiple religions fill the public sphere, some religious education is necessary if Canadians are to understand each other. Social studies is seen as an appropriate subject to include such education given its foci on diversity and citizenship. In this paper, I examine the degree to which the four western Canadian provinces address religious diversity in their social studies curricula. While religion is not absent from these curricula, the specific content expectations lack a sustained engagement with religious diversity. By contrast, European governments and intergovernmental organizations are considering whether religious education might facilitate peaceful coexistence in religiously plural societies. To emphasize this point, I highlight a recent European study entitled Religion in Education: A Contribution to Dialogue or a Factor of Conflict in Transforming Societies of European Countries? (REDCo). REDCo suggests there is a connection between the inclusion of some form of religious education in public education and a greater willingness of students to dialogue about important issues with people who hold a variety of religions and worldviews. Applying the relevant findings of REDCo to the western Canadian context, I conclude that the lack of religious education in social studies obstructs the implementation of a multicultural society by maintaining a secularist bias in public schools, contributing to the marginalization of religious minorities, failing to address the instrumentalization of religion and ignoring the connection between religious education and the promotion of citizenship.

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2. "You see the whole tree, not just the stump:" Religious fundamentalism, capital and public schooling

Author: Minikel-Lacocque, Julie

Source: Curriculum Inquiry 45.2 (Mar. 2015): 176-197.

Abstract: This article draws on data from a larger collective case study which focused on the transition to college for Latino/a students at a prestigious, public, predominantly White institution. Here, I focus on one student and analyze interview and field note data to examine this transition for Jasmine, a fundamentalist Christian who identifies as a Mexican-American. Specifically, I apply the notion of familial capital (Yosso, 2005, 2006), which is based on critical race theory, to Jasmine's case. Through an examination of the ways in which her fundamentalist background and her Liberal Arts College education interact, I discuss implications for the use of familial capital and call for further study of fundamentalism and public education as well as for a nuanced expansion of concept of multiculturalism.

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3. Beyond knowledge and skills: Discursive construction of civic identity in the world history classroom

Author: Myers, John P.; McBride, Chantee E.; Anderson, Michelle

Source: Curriculum Inquiry 45.2 (Mar. 2015): 198-218.

Abstract: The research presented in this article investigates the role of classroom discussions for supporting students' ongoing identity work during the study of global issues. Civic identity is theorized as a socially constructed process in which individuals become associated as a particular type of citizen created through social interactions in a given context. The findings revealed that classroom discussion focused on supporting identity work facilitated students to critique civic discourses and to negotiate global civic identities within the classroom relations of power that privilege certain positions. The findings suggest conceptualizing civic identity as a fundamentally unresolved process of navigating multiple ways of being a citizen that are ongoing and contingent. However, the students did not discard their national identities in favor of global ones. Instead, they made sense of diverse responsibilities by considering the moral implications of remaining loyal to the nation. Thus, rather than imposing citizenship as a fixed, singular narrative, we suggest that educators support the exploration of diverse moral and political ways of being citizens in the world. Although there are promising results for civic identity work, the findings were less sanguine for a commitment to civic engagement.

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4. The stories of our national past: History and heritage in a Jewish high school

Author: Zakai, Sivan

Source: Curriculum Inquiry 45.2 (Mar. 2015): 219-243.

Abstract: This paper explores the relationship between the teaching of history (the academic study of the past) and the teaching of heritage (meaningful stories tying people to a collective past). The research was conducted in a Jewish high school whose explicit mission involves teaching history through a US history course and heritage through an Israeli history course. Yet in reality, both classes, in different ways and to different effects, were engaged in a shared quest to help students understand the past and find meaning in its stories. This paper shows that history and heritage - often viewed by scholars as distinct enterprises - are neither clearly delineated nor mutually exclusive within the context of high school history education. By exploring two different attempts to navigate the murky waters of history and heritage, this paper highlights the tensions that arise when teachers aim to help students find personal and collective meaning, as well as intellectual stimulation, in their studies of the past.