A discussion between Apple and Slattery re: conservative modernization and postmodern curriculum development:
Apple: Mr. Slattery, I am very glad that you are here today in order to discuss all of these major problems that I incessantly uncover in my book. As you may have noticed, I am in desperate need of some probable solutions to my rants and would appreciate any insight you may have. The main item on my agenda is conservative modernization and more specifically, how it has infiltrated our curriculum.
Slattery: Well, Mr. Apple, as I have thumbed through your masterpiece of a text, I think you are most concerned about the political agendas that are gaining more and more steam in the world of education.
Apple: Why, yes! The right is seeking to realize its goal of creating schools and curriculum that are engines of economic growth and models for efficiency in the workplace. The hegemonic right continues to exercise its white, anglo-saxon, protestant power over the masses in this country. It has resorted to one of its favorite pillars, Christian morality, in which the past has been appraised and will be resurrected in schools and curriculum across the country. Fervent patriotism is running rampant through the right's traditional curriculum content, only further ostracizing and ignoring most of the groups that compose the American populous. And lastly, Mr. Slattery, and I know I sometimes have the tendency to be long-winded, the No Child Left Behind Act is in fact crippling our children, leaving our educational system further behind than you can imagine. Not only does it continue an established tradition of the conservative production of discourse that incorporates progressive language, while simultaneously advancing the key elements of the neoliberal and neoconservative agendas, it is biased against minority and immigrant students, and.....
Slattery: Thank you, I think I get the picture. As I see it, we should be looking at curriculum and how we can reform it in order to promote success among ALL students, without tying ourselves down to common standards for every child, every state, etc. and without adhering to one single definition of success, failure, and good teaching. I believe that the intimate experiences of the students need to be brought into the curriculum and the standards so what they learn is directly connected to something useful in their lives. I like to reference this process of connecting our lives with curriculum as the process of currere. As educators, it will help us understand our teaching experiences through considering our past, and ultimately through the past, we understand what our educational experiences are and what curriculum is as well. Using this autobiographical means with ourselves and our students to create curriculum will provide a much more meaningful educational experience.
Apple: Well, the right and its conservative modernization ultimately have control of what curriculum looks like, so how what will be the process of convincing them that you are correct look like? Do you think you could pull that off?
Slattery: If only we weren't in education and actually had some money.
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