Open AccessThe Curriculum as Cultures in Conflict: Exploring Monocultural and Multicultural Ideologies through the Case of Bilingual Education
Author(s) -
Juanjuan Zhu,
Steven P. Camicia
Publication year - 2012
Publication title -
international journal of literacy, culture, and language education
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 2642-4002
DOI - 10.14434/ijlcle.v1i0.26828
Subject(s) - dialogical self , curriculum , ideology , multiculturalism , the imaginary , sociology , pedagogy , multicultural education , epistemology , psychology , political science , philosophy , politics , psychoanalysis , law
Curriculum contentions are cultural struggles. As an illustration, we examine contention surrounding which and how languages are taught in the curriculum. We (the authors) locate this struggle within our positionalities, as a departure for ouranalysis of competing ideologies surrounding language and curriculum. We use a dialogical methodology to examine tensions between monocultural and multicultural ideologies. An imaginary dialogue between us, Hirsch, and Bakhtin provides an illustration. Based upon the struggles located in the bodies of the authors and the imaginary dialogue of two cultural theorists, we conclude that a monological curriculum represents the domination of one cultural group over others rather than the pedagogical and social rationales provided by opponents of multilingual education.