 |
 |
 |
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
||
 |
 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
|
|
 |
|
||||||
 |
|
||||||
 |
 |
|
|||||
 |
|
||||||
 |
|
||||||
GLOSSARY INQUIRY: CURRICULUM
Complexivists reconceptualize curriculum as a fluid, interactive and unpredictable process oriented towards the expansion of the space of the possible knowing/acting at both individual and collective levels.
Traditional, rationalist notions of curriculum emphasize linearity, control, learner passivity and knowledge-transmission. Seen in the light of the dynamic, self-organizing and adaptive nature of learners espoused by complexivists, such traditional notions become not only unrealistic but even stifling or suppressing. A complex notion of curriculum aims to nurture these dynamic learning processes and set enabling constraints that prompt learners to engage with subject matter—but it never purports to predict or control learning.
The conventional understanding of education and curriculum as preparing students for their role as adult workers and/or citizens is also problematized by complexity. This is because knowledge cannot be simply transmitted to students and because education and learning are part of the world—by intervening in the lives of learners, teachers help change the very world they are supposed to be preparing students for.
See related terms: Adaptation, Self-Organization, Learning, Theories of Learning, Culture.
