‘Yes, but if we have students think all day when will we get anything done?’: two conceptual resources to engage students in democratically dangerous teaching

Abstract

While the politics of curriculum reform occupy adults, high stakes get played out in crowded classrooms. As a component of democratic inquiry, how might teachers engage students in a study of those agendas shaping their education? What sorts of conceptual resources could help? To begin to answer these questions, I briefly review scholars who address the emergence in several countries of what Kliebard names as a ‘social efficiency’ agenda in education. I then examine two strong examples of literature in ‘authentic’ practices as a curriculum conversation contesting this agenda. While supportive of the intent of scholars concerned with authentic practices, I assert that they insufficiently address ways in which students might engage with issues shaping their experience of formal education and offer two conceptual resources with which to do so.

Keywords:

• democratic inquiry
• teacher education
• authentic education
• critical pedagogy

Notes

1. It is worth noting that Anderson’s analysis is very broad. He examines, e.g., challenges and shortcomings in the participation processes of businesses, professional staffs in schools, between staff and parents, and between special advocacy groups and communities.

2. It must be noted that Aoki does not deny that there is an art to teaching or artistry involved in effective instruction. He is concerned rather with the use of the art of teaching by teachers to foreclose further discussion about its inadequacies to describe such a complex and conflicted act.