Rumi and the "World of Imagination" in Curriculum and Pedagogy

• In Event: 25.086 - Sheraton Roundtable Session One - Grand Centre
  In Roundtable Session: 25.086-10 - Spirituality and Education SIG: Roundtables

Abstract

Engaging with non-European paradigms of knowledge allows for the disruption of prevailing narratives in education. In this space, the spiritual teachings of Persian intellectual poet Rumi offers reprieves by opening up possibilities for new and creative ways of thinking about complex issues, particularly in relation to curriculum development. This is where the imaginal curriculum emerges allowing learners and educators to engage in the making of new possibilities of knowledge. The imaginal curriculum is a reinvention of the learners’ subjectivities and a reflection of the beings both teachers and learners aspire to become. This curriculum, as a site for transformation inspired by Rumi’s teachings, incorporates acts of reconstruction where new stories emerge as learners and educators transition from beings to becomings.

Author

• Soudeh Oladi, University of Toronto