Curriculum Work and Social Justice Leadership in a Post-Reconceptualist Era: Attaining Critical Consciousness and Learning to Become

This book combines concepts such as bifocality, currere, and conscientização to challenge systems of privilege and oppression in education and promote a paradigmatic shift toward social justice education, lived curriculum, and emancipatory pedagogy. It encourages curriculum theorists, educational leaders, and policymakers to critically analyze their agency, relational encounters, and position as changemakers in unjust social realities.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 182 pages
Publication date: 29 January 2024
Publisher: Taylor & Francis Ltd

This book is a powerful and urgent exploration of the systems of privilege and oppression within education, combining concepts such as bifocality, currere, and conscientização to shed light on the role of dialogical and autobiographical reflection in dismantling neoliberal and colonial logics at the theoretical, policy, and practical levels. The author skillfully weaves together methods and concepts from curriculum, social studies, and the arts, offering insightful perspectives on identity formation, social position, and social transformation. By purposefully connecting these diverse fields, Jales Coutinho provides a valuable opportunity for curricularists to critically evaluate the connections between their lives and their work within and across mutually-constitutive discursive and material contexts. The text challenges curricularists to critically analyze their agency, relational encounters, and position as changemakers within unjust social realities.

Focusing on the intersection of curriculum theory with educational policy and leadership, the book calls for a mutual becoming conscious to illustrate how this can lead to a paradigmatic shift toward social justice education, lived curriculum, and emancipatory pedagogy. With the potential to shape and advance a long-standing curriculum conversation for curriculum theorists, educational leaders, and policymakers, the text poses crucial questions about the contours and dimensions of our work in schools, research institutions, and policy circles. It prompts us to engage in the complex and nuanced conversation of curriculum work in a post-reconceptualist era, recognizing the importance of challenging dominant narratives and promoting transformative change.

In conclusion, Jales Coutinho's book is a groundbreaking contribution to the field of curriculum studies, offering a rich and nuanced understanding of the complex dynamics of privilege and oppression within education. Through its innovative approach, the text provides valuable insights for curricularists, educational leaders, and policymakers, challenging them to critically examine their practices and promote a more just and equitable education system.

Weight: 453g
Dimension: 229 x 152 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781032037127