ERIC Number: EJ1444337
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2024
Pages: 31
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0362-6784
EISSN: EISSN-1467-873X
The Nomencurriculum and the Tight Curricular Space of Name(s)
Curriculum Inquiry, v54 n1 p55-85 2024
To read this article, it is important to know that I am a transnational (but not transracial) adoptee and that my Taiwanese birth mother hoped my adoption would give me a "better" life in the United States. I present three interconnected arguments that introduce the concept of a "nomen"curriculum. The first argument is that my and others' names are infused with multiple ideologies and aspirations. Second, I contend that names are part of a lived curriculum. Lastly, I assert that names are an analytical lens that allows me to examine lived curricula that emerges from names and namings. I do so by studying my own three namings using AsianCrit and decolonial analyses as well as how each (my English given name, Cantonese given name, and Mandarin given/chosen name) represents attempts at assimilation, erasure, and reclamation, respectively. I use critical race archival analyses and rememory of documents from my own adoption case files from Taipei District Court, the Superior Court of California, and a family study of my parents--the only extant records of my namings. Through my examination of my lived and school curricula, I highlight the global contexts and power dynamics that impact students' self-knowledge and their resistance against official discourses. This article, then, elucidates the analytic possibility of a nomencurriculum, which contributes to the field of curriculum studies by considering the power of names and namings. The nomencurriculum provides a way for individuals to engage with their lived curricula within formalized educational spaces that tighten their senses of self and often reinforce state-sanctioned narratives.
Descriptors: Naming, Self Concept, Asian Americans, Global Approach, Power Structure, Decolonization, Adoption, Cultural Differences, Experience
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A