Cultural Standards: What Knowledge Counts?

In April, I traveled to Chicago to present our curriculum paper at the American Educational Research Association. This is the paper that Jill, Megan, and I wrote on centering the margins in psychology education. The best thing about conferences is meeting educators from around the world who are doing social justice work. At AERA, which is the largest educational research conference and brings educators from all over the world, I met some very wonderful educators from Aotearoa/New Zealand. We exchanged papers and continued our dialogue over email. Huia Tomlins-Jahnke is a Professor at Massey University in the School of Maori and Mulitcultural Education. I asked Huia if it would be okay with her if I posted some of her writing as a way of continuing our dialogue on the blog and she said yes. Here are some of Huia’s thoughts on cultural standards in education:

“Invariably standards are about knowledge which bring to bear those critical questions regarding what knowledge counts, how knowledge should be organised (the curriculum) and/or packaged (as textbooks) for transmission? Transmission is concerned with pedagogy, with learning, with the curriculum and its construction. Which raises further questions regarding how learning will be facilitated and by whom? What criteria are necessary in pre-service selection and training of teachers? What are the implications of this for Colleges of Education and other pre-service providers? What do teachers need to know in order to ensure successful outcomes for Maori children? Schools serve to act as key agents of cultural and ideological hegemony and of selective traditions. The cultural capital that is enshrined in the schools habitus operates to reward and fail students in accordance with the cultural capital they bring (Bourdieu, 1999).”

from "The Development of Cultural Standards in Education: What are the Issues?" By Huia Tomlins-Jahnke, Te Uru Maraurau, School of Maori and Multicultural Education, Massey University, 23 August 2006

Curriculum transformation is perhaps the most central and urgent project educators have before us. Battles over curriculum are about who gets to say what is important to know and in what ways this will be taught. So, whether you read Huey's take on textbook priorities in The Boondocks or take a look at the painting "American Progress" the issue is there for all to see. The textbook is not just a book; it is The Book of Knowledge and textbooks are also Technologies of Knowledge. As Huia writes, textbooks are how knowledge is packaged for transmission.

In 2008, AERA will be in New York City which should also be a lot of fun.