Curriculum "Construction": Multicultural Interrogations and Reflections

• In Event: 43.080 - Sheraton Roundtable Six - Osgoode Ballroom
  In Roundtable Session: 43.080-6 - Differing Differences: Transnational Curriculum Spaces and Inquiries in Post-Truth Times

Abstract

Objective: The objetive of this study is to analyze how inter/multicultural approaches may provide foundations for curriculum policies and practices geared towards the challenges of stereotypes and the valuing of diversity. I here discuss multiple interpretations of inter/multiculturalismo and their varied translations. I do so within the context of partnerships between a Brazilian federal university and three Rio de Janeiro municipal educational authorities; these aim toward collectively building multicultural curricular guidelines focused on guiding curriculum development in Brazilian schools.

Perspective/Theoretical framework: I employ the argument that a critical, postcolonial multicultural perspective in curriculum and in teacher continuing education (Banks, 2004; Canen, 2009; Ivenicki, 2015; Ivenicki & Xavier, 2015; Warren & Canen, 2012) may have a positive impact in shaping new outlooks and avenues to combat prejudices and transform schools into more inclusive, plural, and equity-oriented sites. As posited by Ng, Eddy and Bloemroad (2015), multi/interculturalism has strengths, inasmuch as it fosters encounters with “identity,” promotes cultural tolerance, and assists with the incorporation of cultural minorities. Also, as argued by Bhabha (2015), the concept of hybridity is at the core of postcolonial perspectives. It refers to the empowerment of “in-between” forms of identification that may be asymmetrical and contradictory, by envisioning forms of agency in political power. As suggested by Macedo (2006), in such a perspective, the aim of curriculum should be that of creating hybrid spaces and times in such a way that the so-called globalised cultures can be wary of perceiving themselves as definite and complete. This is one means of supporting marginalized cultures and local identities as spearheading the work toward curriculum transformation.

Methods, techniques/modes of inquiry: I analyze data from multiple case studies, relative to partnerships between the University and three educational municipal authorities in Brazil that focus on creating multicultural curricular guidelines for the Brazilian schools in these Rio de Janeiro municipalities.

Data sources and evidences: I employ content analysis of the curricular documents that were produced as a result of the actions undertaken. As well, I analyze and interpret data gathered from interviews and workshops carried out with the educational actors involved throughout the process.

Results/conclusions: The results show that the processes of collectively discussing and building multicultural curricular guidelines are multicultural experiences in continuing teacher education. These interactions envolve generative negotiations among educational actors from the university and those from schools. The study suggests those situated experiences can be relevant comparatively, in that they show limits and potentials of postcolonial multiculturalism in curriculum development within the contexts of an increasingly multicultural world, in which movements of migration in global proportions have called for new ways of educating for respect and the valuing of diversity.

Author

• Ana Ivenicki, Federal University of Rio De Janeiro