Six GSEHD doctoral students were accompanied by Dr. Brian Casemore to the “Curriculum Camp” Conference at Louisiana State University (February 23-24). Curriculum Camp, a conference hosted by the LSU Curriculum Theory Project and Curriculum Theory Graduate Student Collaborative, showcases the work of graduate students in the broad fields of curriculum theory, curriculum studies, and education. The following GSEHD students shared their work this year:
- Amanda Baker (Ph.D. in Ed., Comparative and International Education) presented a paper (co-authored with Dr. Laura Engel), “Collaborative Cosmopolitan Capital in In-Service Teacher-Led K-12 Study Abroad Programs.” The paper is part of Amanda’s research and dissertation journey as she has worked with teachers in the DCPS Study Abroad Program since coming to GW in 2021. She spoke about collaborative cosmopolitan capital development among global educators in DCPS and presented an asset-based approach to the traditional concept of the professional learning community (PLC).
- Sam Burmester (Ph.D. in Ed., Education and Inequality) delivered a talk, “Epistemic Openness in Elementary Science Education: A Multimodal Interaction Analysis.” The talk provided an overview of the “Art of Knowing” curriculum and research project (a collaboration with Dr. Ebtissam Oraby and Dr. Arshad Ali), an elementary science curriculum rooted in non-Western and Indigenous storywork. He then modeled a novel approach to using multimodal interaction analysis as a tool for teacher development with an emphasis on “looking crookedly” at classroom interactions in order to see and honor students’ individually and culturally situated epistemic resources, stances, and negotiations.
- Carola Goldenberg (Ed.D., Curriculum and Instruction) delivered the talk, “The World Language Classroom as a Site of Exploration and Self-formation: Subjectivity in the Encounter with Difficult Knowledge.” The talk presented an innovative approach to language learning that was born out of concern for the narrow conceptualization of subjectivity in current pedagogical models of world language (WL) learning. This approach capitalizes on the provocative power of integrating difficult knowledge related to social (in)justice of the peoples inhabiting a particular language, while attending to the consequences of the difficult encounters. The new model proposes a socially committed and morally responsible approach to WL teaching and learning with the aim of facilitating human connections.
- Leslie Smith Duss (Ed.D., Curriculum and Instruction) delivered a talk, “How to Play: A Creative Enactment of ‘Negative Capability’ During Dissertation Data Collection in the Form of Collaged Playing Cards.” To represent an art-based, creative analytic process of early thematic data analysis in an interpretive study, Leslie shared collaged playing cards to make tangible the effort of working through the desire for order and predictability in research. The practice, inspired by John Keats’ concept of “negative capability,” fosters artful, associative play to inspire connections and insights, a technique largely unaccounted for in the methods literature.
- Benjamin Tellie (Ed.D., Curriculum and Instruction) delivered a talk, “Artful Reflections in Qualitative Research: Currere and Visual Art Making in the Autobiographical Interview.” During the presentation, Ben detailed his proposed dissertation research methodology. Ben is developing a currere methodology, integrating autobiographical interviewing with arts-based practices. His approach aims to explore his former art students' memories of their high school art and design curriculum experience, focusing on difficult historical topics and events.
- Catherine Wigginton Greene (Ed.D., Curriculum and Instruction) delivered a talk on her emerging research, “Does ‘Difficult’ Dialogue Have to Be So… Difficult?” For her presentation, Catherine shared reflections and observations from her nearly 20 years of work as a documentary filmmaker, novelist, and racial justice-focused dialogue facilitator, along with analysis drawn from her past three years studying curriculum theory. Her central question: Are we predetermining outcomes in learning and dialogical encounters by always framing them as “difficult”?