Curriculum and lived experience. Tensions lived by teachers in the process of curriculum making

CURRICULUM AND LIVED EXPERIENCE: NARRATIVE INQUIRY ON TENSIONS LIVED BY TEACHERS IN THE PROCESS OF CURRICULUM MAKING 1 Diego Ma ín Alonso Nie es Blanco Ga cía THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK This pape is pa o a la ge esea ch p ojec (EDU2016-77576-P) linked wi h Spanish and Eu opean conce ns abou cu iculum and educa i e ela ionships. The Eu opean s a egic amewo k Educa ion and T aining 2020 unde lines ha cu iculum e o m plays a e y impo an ole in mode nising he educa ion sys em. Fo his eason, o e he pas decade he e ha e been signi ican cu icula e o ms, bo h a na ional and Eu opean le el, wi h he pu pose o imp o ing educa ion and oca ional aining (CEDEFOP, 2012) Bu , wha is cu iculum? Wha is i pu pose? How can i help o imp o e educa ion? Ra ely he e is a coincidence be ween he planned cu iculum, wha is expec ed o lea n by s uden s and wha hey eally lea n in hei expe ience a school. Then we could use and a end o wo di e en ideas o which may become he o igin o ensions in eaching p ac ice: cu icula plan and li ed cu iculum. Fo ou esea ch, we ake he no ion “cu icula plan” as a symbolic objec (S enhouse, 1987) ha ga he s he ideas o all s akeholde s ha a e in e es ed, o di e en easons, on gi ing hei opinion abou wha mus be included in he class oom (Olson, 2000). Cu icula plan is amed in a adi ional cu icula pe spec i e, which akes i as cou se o s udies, namely, as objec i es and con en s ha a e expec ed o be acqui ed by s uden s a he end o a school pe iod. Gi en ha expe ience (li ed cu iculum) p ecedes any kind o lea ning, aking educa ion me ely in e ms o ins umen al applica ion se s limi s on he au onomy and g ow h o s uden s, since hey a e seen as an “objec i e objec ” sepa a e om hei con ex and expe ience (Van Manen, 2003). In o de o answe o he eali y o li ed cu iculum, Clandinin & Connelly (1992) c ea ed he concep “cu iculum making”, which unde s and ha cu iculum is expe ience, which is li ed in a pa icula si ua ion and ela ionally (Dewey, 1997; Schwab, 2013), so i is cons uc ed and econs uc ed na a i ely h ough he expe ience (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988). When cu iculum is unde s ood as a plan o cou se o s udies, i is o go en ha is he educa i e ela ionship wha o igins and p omo es he cons uc ion o knowledge and, hence, makes lea ning possible. On his way eache s a e li ing a con inuous ension 1 Pape p esen a ion a ECER17 – he Eu opean Con e ence on Educa ional Resea ch, o ganized by he Eu opean Educa ional Resea ch Associa ion, celeb a ed in Copenhagen in Augus 2017. be ween wo di e en oices: he equi emen s o cu icula p og ams and hei expe ience in he class oom wi h s uden s. F om his conce n a ise he esea ch ques ions: Wha ensions do exis be ween cu icula plan and li ed expe ience a school? How can eache s ackle ensions when cu icula plan con lic s wi h he li e o he class oom? Consequen ly, in o de o answe o hese ques ions we o mula e he esea ch p oposal: del e in o ensions li ed by eache s be ween cu icula plan and li ed expe ience. This knowledge ies o open new lines o hough which can help o li e ensions in a ui ul way (Con e as, 2016), ins ead o o igina e con lic s and disag eemen s wi h educa ional p ac ice. We alk in e ms o ensions because i allows us o e lec he eeling ha eache s li e when hey ind hemsel es in he middle o opposing o ces (Be y, 2007): on one hand a e he objec i es and con en s o he cu icula plan and, on he o he hand, he necessi y o a ending o he pa icula li e o he class oom. Tensions can be li ed in wo di e en ways: ei he as a disag eemen be ween opposing o ces o as an impe us mo ing o ask and explo e new ways o cons uc ing he educa i e ela ionship, i means, in a ui ul way (Con e as, 2016). We do no y o sol e o emo e ensions because ambi alences a e in insic o eaching p o ession. Ra he , he goal mus be o ecognize hem and manage he si ua ion. METHDO AND METHODOLOGY This pape is pa o a na a i e inqui y made in a High School in Málaga (Spain). Na a i e inqui y (Clandinin, Pusho , & O , 2007) pays a en ion o e e y singula li e as cons uc ed in ela ion wi h o he people, in a pa icula si ua ion and space, so i is ocused on li es jus as hey a e li ed and old. In o he wo ds, we do no y o look o gene alizable knowledge o absolu e u hs, bu ou in en ion is o ge he sense o expe iences and imagine possible al e na i es (Clandinin, 2013) on he landscape o ensions ha eache s li e. A main ques ion guides us in he esea ch: Wha ensions do eache s li e in he p ocess o cu iculum making? In o de o y o del e in o his conce n we ha e wo ked wi h Juan, a compu e science eache . We could de ine him as a eache who akes ca e o his ela ionship wi h s uden s, gi es classes keeping in mind s uden s´ li es and shows a e lec i e a i ude owa ds his own eaching p ac ice. The pu pose ha leads us o wo k wi h him is hinking om his expe ience and his s o y (Blanco, Molina, & López, 2015), del ing in o he unde s anding o eache p o ession and i s complexi ies. Fieldwo k s a ed in Sep embe 2016, we a e ga he ing in o ma ion weekly by eco ding in e iews and class oom obse a ion (Sie a & Blanco, 2015; Van Manen, 2003). This pape is ocused on a speci ic momen o he schola yea in which he educa ional inspec ion asked he educa ional eam o he high school o make a signi ican change in hei class oom planning, acco ding o he new Spanish educa ional legisla ion. Though he ela ionship wi h cu icula plan is cons an , he sho ime pe iod ha eache s had and he i ulence o he demands made ha ensions (which no mally a e calmed) inc eased and we e li ed wi h a highe powe . Fo his eason, we concen a e he pape on his expe ience, in o de o o e si ua ions in which ensions be ween cu icula plan and li ed cu iculum a e palpable. RESULTS Teache s´ p o essional landscape (Clandinin & Connelly, 1995) is ull o oices ha y o say wha is impo an o do by eache s a school. Beyond he need o iden i y hese s akeholde s (Gimeno, 1988), wha is eally impo an is unde s anding hei ela ion wi h eache s´ cu icula si ua ion, gi en ha hey do no wo k in isola ion bu in a complex and dynamic ela ionship wi h he communi y (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988). In o de o hink abou ensions li ed by eache s in his angled landscape, we ha e loca ed hem in ou di e en dimensions: - Needs: cu icula plan is made unde he assump ion ha e e y agen in ol ed knows s uden s’ needs and i is designed wi h he pu pose o co e ing hese in e ed needs. Howe e , when eache s come in o he class oom, s uden s can exp ess needs ha may be di e en (Noddings, 2005) and migh con lic wi h he in e ed ones. - Language: eache is loca ed be ween wo di e en languages (Bá cena, La osa, & Mèlich, 2006). On one side, cu icula plan p omo es a echnical language, wi h a ocabula y ha ex ols planning, objec i es and e alua ion o esul s. On he o he hand, eache s mus manage a language o expe ience, wi h a pedagogical ocabula y and ocused on educa ional p ac ice. - Time: cu icula plan es ablishes con en s ha eache s mus achie e in a p ede ined ime pe iod. These imes a e o en ixed ollowing echnical and adminis a i e c i e ia, wha gene a es s ess and ushes o achie e p ede e mined objec i es. - Unce ain y: while eache s ollow he de ailed sequence o con en s and objec i es ixed on he cu icula plan, hey ha e o manage wi h ension ha a ises when hei eali y does no i wi h he p ede ined p og am. The way in which ensions a e sol ed will depend on he eedom ha eache s ha e a ending o he singula i y o hei class oom and using he p og am as a oadmap and no as a s ic p o ocol o ollow. REFERENCIAS Bá cena, F., La osa, J., & Mèlich, J. C. (2006). Pensa la educación desde la expe iencia. Re is a Po uguesa de Pedagogia, (40-1), 233-259. Be y, A. (2007). Reconcep ualizing Teache Educa o Knowledge as Tensions: Explo ing he ension be ween aluing and econs uc ing expe ience. S udying Teache Educa ion, 3(2), 117-134. h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/17425960701656510 Blanco, N., Molina, M. D., & López, A. (2015). Ap ende de la escuela pa a da ida a la uni e sidad. Re is a in e uni e si a ia de o mación del p o eso ado, (82), 61-76. CEDEFOP. (2012). Cu iculum e o m in Eu ope he impac o lea ning ou comes. Luxembou g: Publica ions O ice o he Eu opean Union. Recupe ado a pa i de h p://www.cede op.eu opa.eu/EN/Files/5529_en.pd Clandinin, D. J. (2013). Engaging in na a i e inqui y. Walnu C eek, Cali o nia: Le Coas P ess, Inc. Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1992). Teache as cu iculum make . En P. W. Jackson (Ed.), Handbook o esea ch on cu iculum: a p ojec o he Ame ican Educa ional Resea ch Associa ion (pp. 363-401). New Yo k: MacMillan. Clandinin, D. J., & Connelly, F. M. (1995). Teache s’ P o essional Knowledge Landscapes: Teache S o ies S o ies o Teache s School S o ies S o ies o Schools. Educa ional Resea che , 25(3), 24-30. h ps://doi.o g/10.3102/0013189X025003024 Clandinin, D. J., Pusho , D., & O , A. M. (2007). Na iga ing Si es o Na a i e Inqui y. Jou nal o Teache Educa ion, 58(1), 21-35. h ps://doi.o g/10.1177/0022487106296218 Connelly, F. M., & Clandinin, D. J. (1988). Teache s as Cu iculum Planne s. Na a i es o Expe ience. New Yo k: Teache s College P ess. Con e as, J. (Ed.). (2016). Tensiones uc í e as: explo ando el sabe pedagógico en la o mación del p o eso ado : una mi ada desde la expe iencia. Ba celona: Oc aed o. Dewey, J. (1997). Expe ience and educa ion (1s Touchs one ed). New Yo k: Touchs one. Gimeno, J. (1988). El cu iculum: una e lexión sob e la p ác ica. Mad id: Ediciones Mo a a. Noddings, N. (2005). Iden i ying and esponding o needs in educa ion. Camb idge Jou nal o Educa ion, 35(2), 147-159. h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/03057640500146757 Olson, M. R. (2000). Cu iculum as a Mul is o ied P ocess. Canadian Jou nal o Educa ion / Re ue canadienne de l’éduca ion, 25(3), 169-187. h ps://doi.o g/10.2307/1585952 Schwab, J. J. (2013). The p ac ical: a language o cu iculum. Jou nal o Cu iculum S udies, 45(5), 591-621. h ps://doi.o g/10.1080/00220272.2013.809152 Sie a, J. E., & Blanco, N. (2015). El ap endizaje de la escucha en la in ese igación educa i a. Inédi o. S enhouse, L. (1987). La in es igación como base de la enseñanza. Mad id: Mo a a. Van Manen, M. (2003). In es igación educa i a y expe iencia i ida: ciencia humana pa a una pedagogía de la acción y la sensibilidad. Ba celona: Idea Books.