Reconciliation through dialogical nostalgia in post-confict societies: a curriculum to intersect
Abstract
The curriculum has been proposed as a powerful means with the
potential to initiate social transformation. It reflects the dominant social,
economical and political discourses and for this reason it seems reasonable
to situate reconciliatory discourses in relation to the curriculum.
Whilst curriculum scholars mostly agree that we need to seek new directions
and ways of understanding curriculum, there is little consensus
about the direction the field should take. Two particular issues that this
article addresses are the tendency of curriculum practitioners to tackle
social issues at a symptomatic level instead of considering the roots of
the problems, and the over-emphasis on the political dimension with little
or no attention given to the ethical dimensions of the curriculum. In
an attempt to develop new ways of understanding curriculum and
enabling social change, I explore nostalgia as a way to stimulate
dialogue over competing narratives. To facilitate this exploration, I draw
on the notion of the ethical turn in the study of curriculum and the theory
of intersectionality. Examples from South Africa are used to develop
the argument. I conclude by situating the discussion in the context of
other post-conflict societies where reconciliation is needed.
URI
http://hdl.handle.net/10394/14952http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/ccom20
http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/03057925.2013.859875
Collections
- Faculty of Education [756]