Combining curriculum studies and cultural studies as a move toward the concrete in postqualitative research

ABSTRACT

This paper posits a move “toward the concrete” as a specific combination of curriculum studies and Cultural Studies, placing it squarely within the frames of postqualitative research (Lather & St. Pierre, 2013; St. Pierre, 2011, 2013b, 2014). In addition to examining the theoretical legacies of the aforementioned fields, this paper focuses on four areas, posited by Helfenbein (2003), in which Cultural Studies can inform postqualitative educational research: materialism, (anti)antiessentialism, social constructivism, and radical contextuality. In doing so, this paper contends that for researchers, a sound theoretical base is needed if one is to engage in postqualitative research and offers toward the concrete as one such possibility.

Notes

1. Such a conversation is illustrated by the themes of the last few iterations of The Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice, long since associated with the reconceptualization.

2. It should also be noted that others (Apple, 1990; Westbury, 1999) dismiss these disagreements and distinctions as unimportant and retreads of ground previously covered.

3. Cultural Studies is capitalized throughout this piece to reference the field most often associated with the Birmingham School (see Hall, 1996a).

4. It should be acknowledged that the heritage of Cultural Studies should not be confined to its supposed British origins and the possibility of other cultural heritages exist (Wright & Maton, 2004).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gabriel Huddleston

Gabriel Huddleston, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor and Co-Director of Curriculum Studies at Texas Christian University. His work in curriculum studies utilizes a Cultural Studies theoretical framework within qualitative research to examine intersections between schools and society. His other research interests include popular culture, spatial theory, new materialism, and postcolonial studies. Gabriel currently serves as the Managing Editor of the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, Section One Co-Chair of Division B of AERA, and the Program Chair of the AERA SIG, Critical Issues in Curriculum and Cultural Studies. Recent articles and chapters have appeared in Pro-Posições (2018 with Robert J. Helfenbein), Deterritorializing/Reterritorializing: Critical Geographies of Educational Reform (2017), and The Review of Education, Pedagogy, and Cultural Studies (2016).