Curriculum Controversies

Christa Boske

César Chávez, the late labor leader and social activist, reminded educators of the implications of misguided teaching, resulting in the destruction of society, cultures, and surroundings. The severity of conditions within the U.S. public educational system should alert everyone to the need for change. Unfortunately, the severity of such conditions is not a new phenomenon. The United States has a profound history of creating and maintaining political and social structures that keep cultural minorities marginalized. Poststructuralists, such as Jacques Derrida and Michel Foucault, identify schools as the cornerstone for upholding hegemonic values and traditions within society. To deconstruct hegemonic values in schools, educators should reconsider their civic responsibility to further examine the impact of discounting the voices and lived experiences of traditionally underserved children and families in schools. And those efforts on the part of many educators have led to salient curricular reforms. Consider the meaning derived from the term ...

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