ERIC Number: EJ989081
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2012
Pages: 10
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0883-0355
EISSN: N/A
Towards an Area-Based Curriculum? Creating Space for the City in Schools
Facer, Keri; Thomas, Louise
International Journal of Educational Research, v55 p16-25 2012
This paper uses Fraser's (1999) concept of social justice as comprising both redistribution and recognition as a frame to interrogate two "Area-Based Curriculum" projects running since 2008 in Manchester and Peterborough schools. It argues that historic concerns about working with "the local" in cross-curricular activities has originated in a concern that such activities will fail to "redistribute" powerful educational goods. This paper asks, however, whether such projects are also able to realise the goal that is frequently claimed for such projects, of recognising the diverse knowledge of students and their communities. Drawing on interviews, fieldnotes and observations across 8 schools, the paper argues that dominant geographical imaginations of the local area, social networks and material resources such as transport infrastructure, militate against the city being used within such projects as a resource for recognition. It argues also that the growth of a new "educational enhancement sector" is beginning to mediate between schools and cities, producing the city in a form that is "fit for" educational consumption. If area-based approaches are to achieve their goal of recognition, they need to be informed from the outset by theoretical frames that recognise knowledge as multiple, embedded and contextual.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Social Justice, Educational Change, Social Networks, Urban Schools, Local Issues, Educational Theories, School Community Relationship, Educational Strategies, Curriculum Development, Educational Environment, Educational Policy, Policy Analysis, Curriculum Implementation, Place Based Education, Program Descriptions, Interviews, Observation
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: Elementary Secondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: United Kingdom
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A