Andrew D. Wilkin. A Major Research Project In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Arts. McMaster University August 2010

Transcription

1 Fixing Problems Without Addressing Systemic Causes: Outside the Box Lip Service and Neoliberal-Friendly Education in the Grade 11 and 12 Ontario Interdisciplinary Curriculum By Andrew D. Wilkin A Major Research Project In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Masters of Arts McMaster University August 2010

2 There is no such thing as a neutral educational process. Education either functions as an instrument that is used to facilitate the integration of the younger generation into the logic of the present system and bring about conformity to it, or it becomes "the practice of freedom," the means by which men and women deal critically and creatively with reality and discover how to participate in the transformation of their world. (R. Shaull, Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 21) There is some sort of dark cloud enveloping present history that currently affects the different generations, albeit differently--- a heavy dark cloud that in fact is the obfuscating fatalistic ideology contained in the neoliberal discourse. It is the ideology that seeks the demise of ideology itself and the death of history, the vanishing of utopia, the annihilation of dreams. It is a fatalistic ideology that, taking a despotic approach to education, reduces it to mere training in the employment of technical dexterity or scientific knowing. (P. Freire, Pedagogy of Indignation, 102) Neoliberalism represents one such system of cruelty that is reproduced daily through a regime of common sense and that now serves as a powerful pedagogical force shaping our lives, memories, and daily experiences while attempting to erase everything critical and emancipatory about history, justice, solidarity, freedom, and the meaning of democracy... despite the devastating impact of a financial meltdown, neoliberalism s potent market-driven ideology is far from bankrupt and is still a powerful cultural and educational force to be reckoned with. How else could we explain the lack of critical discourse about the expanding number of mainstream public institutions that legitimate and normalize the values underpinning free-market fundamentalism? (H. A. Giroux, Politics After Hope: Obama and the Crisis of Youth, Race, and Democracy, 26) I believe that if we are going to over come the crises that at present assail us, we must return to ethics. (P. Freire, Pedagogy of Freedom, 117) It is imperative that we develop a new language, especially for young people, one that recognizes how individual problems are related to social concerns. Living in a real democracy means finding collective ways of dealing with the most pressing social and economic problems facing future generations, including ecological destruction, extreme poverty, economic inequality, persistent racism, and the necessity for a vibrant social state. (H. A. Giroux, Politics After Hope: Obama and the Crisis of Youth, Race, and Democracy, 27) 2

3 Introduction: Neutrality in education cannot exist. As the above quotes suggest, democratic education must actively seek to critically confront the logic of the present societal institutions or risk promoting acceptance and conformity to dominant paradigms. The nature of hegemony demands that those seeking to challenge the impact of the current dominant global order must do so through the development of critical literacy 1 which enables one to question historicity, consider how identities and values are shaped and recognize the relationship between entrenched power and human inequalities. Critical pedagogy and its defining commitment to raising critical consciousness aim to understand and challenge the gross inequalities in social stratification present in society. The requisite tools of critical analysis and evaluative questioning need to be explicitly taught through a social justice lens if education is to prepare students to be active citizens in a world with ever-evolving crises. This brings me to the purpose and goal of this project: to reveal the ideological influence of neoliberalism within the Ontario Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum, and offer ways of reinterpreting the curricular expectations to enhance critical literacy development and active student engagement. First, I will illuminate why this project is important. I will then consider the Ontario Secondary Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum as it provides a site where critical pedagogical practices could effectively achieve the stated expectations through engaging students to critically consider the contexts of stratification in today s world. Despite this potentiality, I will then highlight the many ways in which the curriculum itself holds contradictory aims, as 1 Critical literacy. The capacity for a particular type of critical thinking that involves looking beyond the literal meaning of texts to observe what is present and what is missing, in order to analyse and evaluate the text s complete meaning and the author s intent. Critical literacy goes beyond conventional critical thinking in focusing on issues related to fairness, equity, and social justice. Critically literate students adopt a critical stance, asking what view of the world the text advances and whether they find this view acceptable. Readers make sense of text using knowledge of the patterned ways in which words in a language are combined into phrases, clauses, and sentences. (Ministry of Education, Elementary Language Curriculum, 2006, p.152) 3

4 much of the language and suggested applications for the expectations combine interdisciplinarity with market-centered goals and language. From this, I will share an example of a transformative application of this curriculum to illustrate how Interdisciplinary Studies can provide opportunities for the development of critical literacies, integrating a range of disciplines while engaging issues relevant to students lives that honour their lived experiences. This culminates into a discussion of the role of empathy and respect in the classroom and the impact such an atmosphere can have on transformative growth and possibilities. These areas of exploration and analysis into the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum are made possible through the language provided by critical pedagogy. The critical pedagogical theorists Henry Giroux and Roger Simon elaborate on the importance of critical pedagogy and its focus on critical, historicized analysis and social justice in democratic education. In Schooling and the Struggle for Public Life: Democracy s Promise and Education s Challenge, Giroux describes the many layers that make up a critical pedagogical environment. Giroux advocates for educational practices that do not simply focus on informing people or giving them critical skills but he also points to the value of making choices based on ethical considerations and social concerns (Giroux, 10). However, considering that ethical ideals are themselves system-dependent, they must be interrogated to determine the underlying notions that inform what is deemed ethical. Socially just ethical systems that oppose the neoliberal mantra of free and unrestrained markets controlled by those most willing to use force, can be seen within the ideals of democratic participatory economies, movements for ecological sustainability, and in the equal social playing field advocated for at the World Social Forums (Davidson). 4

5 Simon, in his work Teaching Against the Grain, brings our attention to the power of curriculum and highlights why a socially just critical pedagogy is essential for developing a socially just ethical system:... any school curriculum and its supporting pedagogy presuppose some process within which possible visions of one s relation to a future social and material world can be organized and legitimated. Here, then, I come to the key questions. What will be the substance of this process, and how is it going to be determined? Who is going to organize for whom and how, a schooling practice in the name of what version of one s relation to a social and material future? (Simon, 9) Simon is asking extremely valid questions that point to the importance of the critical pedagogical ideals expressed by Freire and Giroux. Simon, utilizing ideas from Giroux, helps specify further what a pedagogy that entails a language of possibility must include. According to Simon, Giroux has three basic concerns for any discussion on schooling to enable a language of possibility (6): The first is to articulate a moral vision. To address the second concern, educators must specify a conceptualization that integrates issues of power, politics, and possibility, in such a way that clarifies how schools may contribute to the social imagination of particular communities. The third concern can be answered if educators develop a conception of pedagogy that considers the relation between knowing and the production of subjectivity in a way that acknowledges the complexities of both the production of identities, competencies, and desires and the possibilities for a progressive agenda for learning within schools (6). From these statements one could deduce the primary roles that social justice ethics, historicity, and a critique and dialogue of race, class and gender issues play in any curriculum within a democratic society that desires an emphasis on community and a variety of perspectives over business ethics and marketability (Min. of Ed., 4-5, 23). One of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy, Paulo Freire notes the important role that ethics play in order to help subjects navigate, and problem solve a range of global and local 5

6 crises. In an article titled The Technological Revolution and the Future of Freedom Andrew Gavin Marshall elaborates on Freire s alluded crises naming several specifically: Ecological (climate change), economic (drastically widening stratification, class warfare), democratic (political - lack of support and faith for traditional parties, rising nativist and racist sentiments), and military escalation (Marshall). However what I argue, and I believe Freire would concur, is that any guiding ethic aimed at solving global crises must be an explicitly socially just, democratic ethic as opposed to a neoliberal ethic. An explicit emphasis on social justice must be evident in the educational curriculum of all democratic societies. If the forces facilitating the crises at hand are to be subverted in the social sectors where they are strongly socialized, such as the educational system, then an explicit use of social justice-friendly language is vital to oppose such dominant paradigm influence. It is evident that the globalizing world faces many powerful crises threatening its sustainability. This requires the interrogation of dominant and divisive modes of thought, such as neoliberalism (Marshall). For the purpose of this project, and to better conceptualize the idea of neoliberalism, I am defining the timeframe (roughly from the 1970 s to the present) as a neoliberal era. I will be using the term neoliberalism as Pierre Bourdieu does in his 1998 article for Le Monde : As the dominant discourse would have it, the economic world is a pure and perfect order, implacably unrolling the logic of its predictable consequences, and prompt to repress all violations by the sanctions that it inflicts, either automatically or more unusually through the intermediary of its armed extensions, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and the policies they impose: reducing labour costs, reducing public expenditures and making work more flexible. Is the dominant discourse right? What if, in reality, this economic order were no more than the implementation of a utopia - the utopia of neoliberalism - thus converted into a political problem? One that, with the aid of the economic theory that it proclaims, succeeds in conceiving of itself as the scientific description of reality? (Bourdieu) 6

7 The important points of note in this statement are the beliefs that the economic world is a pure and perfect order, implacably unrolling the logic of its predictable consequences. This overarching neoliberal ideology illuminates the theoretical challenges of the military/market fundamentalism (the phrase armed extensions suggests the two are intertwined) and atomized individualism that is facilitating the various crises manifesting in contemporary culture. Neoliberalism provides a context with which to view and question the dominant ideology s effects on youth and education from the lens of a specific curriculum document. The aforementioned crises and subsequent social changes require new ways of studying the world beyond confined disciplinary restraints as well as new ways of preparing citizens to engage society without disturbing existing hierarchical power blocs. The market fundamentalism within the language of the 2002 Ontario Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum for grades 11 and 12 has the potential effect of further entrenching neoliberal ideology within education while adapting to certain progressive ideas. Examples of market fundamentalism within the curriculum exist amidst what appears to be the pro-market framing language, seen in words and phrases such as, future employment, marketability, business ethics and entrepreneurism (Min of Ed., 4-5). Yet the language for progressive ideas also exists in areas that include linking projects to the community and exploring issues from a variety of perspectives (4, 5). The courses contained in the curriculum document have the harmful potential of educating future citizens who will be narrowly ideologically disciplined under the illusion of unrestricted interdisciplinary thought. By this I mean that the language of marketability will frame the projects in the community ; which then could lead to global market needs overriding local social needs that may not be profitable or help open doors to future employment. The illusory function of thinking outside the rigid boxes of specific disciplines could then coincide with 7

8 possible correlates to the neoliberal cultural rhetoric of individual freedom that is actually controlled by the dictates of the market. The apparent freedom of thought brought on by the interdisciplinary curriculum in a neoliberal society could also encourage students to think that studying the various crises at hand without calling the larger economic and political system into question is just and natural. I will be using the curriculum document s definition of the word interdisciplinary as defined as: an approach to learning and knowledge that integrates and benefits from the understanding and application of the approaches of different subjects and disciplines (4). This definition raises the questions: how much difference is encouraged in this new approach? How does the larger society or community frame the possibilities for inclusive difference within an ideological state apparatus? Most importantly, does any of this coincide with enabling greater social justice in the world? My argument in this paper is to help avoid what Susan Searls Giroux describes as the commonsense assumption that everything has a place and time (Nealon & Searls Giroux, 122) and thus wrongly view the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum solely as a natural and progressive development in education. This perspective then might feel that progress is unfolding and we are at the end of history. By lacking the explicit language needed to critique the larger social structure, the document aligns itself with the neoliberal/neoconservative 2 mantra that the globalizing world of the 21st century is at the end of history. The end of history is a phrase that was coined by the political scientist Francis Fukuyama at the supposed end of the Cold War and the triumph of liberal democratic society (Hughes-Warrington, 153). Fukuyama s label as a social scientist is indicative of the biased objectivity that allows for Western 2 I think it could be argued, though maybe not in this paper, that the two neo terms overlap in areas: to utilize regional, Westphalian national elite control in the conservative case and to assert transnational global elite management in the liberal case. 8

9 Eurocentric statements such as the end of history. Encompassed in this statement is the suggestion that there is no need to radically change the structures or functions of society. The possible connotations from such an idea overlap with Freire s warning of the death of history and could imply that all major social, economic, political and environmental issues have been solved or are in the process of being solved and a liberal democratic consensus as to how to do so is in place. If the illusion of completeness is implied and hence individual enjoyment is now the only necessary pursuit, this could encourage a closing off of remembering or questioning the past and a lack of concern for how society (and one s place within it) presently functions. According to this mindset, an interrogation of the language within the educational curriculum of a western democratic society and how it may reinforce socially and environmentally exploitive ideologies such as neoliberalism, would not be needed. A belief in the end of history is a dangerous notion as it connotes closure at a time when openings are required to confront the crises at hand from multiple perspectives that are inclusive of all voices across boundaries of race, class, and gender. The interdisciplinary curriculum has the potential to enable critical pedagogies in the Ontario educational system only if certain language within it is confronted and critiqued. The curriculum functions as the basis for what students will learn, think through, and demonstrate competency in upon completion of a given course of study. The Secondary curriculum for English will inform what is taught in English courses throughout Ontario high schools. Similarly, the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum dictates the teaching and learning guidelines for grades 11 & 12 courses in Interdisciplinary Studies. Unlike subjects such as English, however, the interdisciplinary curriculum can manifest into secondary courses in one of two models: First is Model A, which offers single-credit interdisciplinary studies courses. In these courses, students combine all the expectations of the Interdisciplinary Studies course with a 9

10 relevant selection of expectations from two or more courses from the same grade or the grade immediately preceding or following (Min of Ed., 6). The second model, Model B, offers Interdisciplinary Studies packages of courses worth from two to five credits. In these packages, students combine all the expectations of the Interdisciplinary Studies course with all the expectations of two or more additional full- or half-credit courses from the same grade or the grade immediately preceding or following (7). There are several important contextual issues to note here: Model B which results in two to five credits most often looks like the Interdisciplinary Curriculum being blended with Cooperative Education and on the job experience/training (48). While this may provide students with the opportunity to develop a greater understanding of themselves and their community, it cannot be ignored that this does slide public education towards job training, which ultimately benefits neoliberal interests and a growing service sector society. In relation to the opening quote from Freire regarding technical dexterity and scientific knowing : many of the open ID 3 courses, which are structured for students not planning to attend university, tend to cater towards the technical dexterity of service sector employment while the university ID courses for students planning to pursue post secondary studies, tend to cater to intellectual expansion and system management that resembles notions of scientific knowing. In the former case, some example courses listed are: Sports and Society, Hospitality Management, Small Business Operations, Science and Community (13-21). While in the latter situation, example courses include: Archaeological Studies, Building Financial Security, Music and Society, Biotechnology, Information and Civilization, Knowledge Management and the Learning Organization (13-21). 3 ID will occasionally be used in place of interdisciplinary 10

11 Also important to note is that one need not have any credits from the Interdisciplinary Curriculum in order to graduate with an Ontario Secondary School Diploma, as this is not part of the compulsory credits needed to graduate. (hwdsb.on.ca) This suggests that the Ministry of Education s commitment to interdisciplinary inquiry is tenuous thereby calling the explicitly stated goals into question. The goals of Interdisciplinary Studies are explicitly stated in the Curriculum document: The goal of the interdisciplinary studies program in Grades 11 and 12 is to ensure that students: Build on and interconnect, in an innovative way, concepts and skills from diverse disciplines Develop the ability to analyse and evaluate complex information from a wide range of print, media, electronic, and human resources Learn to plan and work both independently and collaboratively Are able to apply established and new technologies appropriately and effectively Use inquiry and research methods from diverse disciplines to identify problems and to research solutions beyond the scope of a single discipline Develop the ability to view issues from multiple perspectives to challenge their assumptions and deepen their understanding Use higher-level critical- and creative-thinking skills to synthesize methodologies and insights from a variety of disciplines and to implement innovative solutions Apply interdisciplinary skills and knowledge to new contexts, real-world tasks, and onthe-job situations and thus develop a rich understanding of existing and potential personal and career opportunities Use interdisciplinary activities to stimulate, monitor, regulate, and evaluate their thinking processes and thus learn how to learn. (Min of Ed., 5) To help illustrate the ideological leanings of the language and layout of the curriculum, and contest the notion of the end of history while also illuminating the openings for progressive change within the interdisciplinary curriculum, I propose a three-fold approach to curricular revision: 1) asking why a critique is necessary 2) what Freire, Giroux, hooks, Kincheloe and Zinn (all of whom write from various critical pedagogical perspectives) say and what the research shows and 3) possibilities, methods of delivery and consequences. The varying crises facing contemporary neoliberal society, particularly issues of entrenched poverty, ecological crises, and 11

12 the resource wars resulting from them both are experienced largely by those marginalized through issues and categories pertaining to class, gender and race 4. The exploitive marginalization of people for the gain of corporate profit that is dominant in neoliberal society, requires democratic education and the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum to explicitly emphasize the values of critical pedagogy in order to contest the anti-human and anti-ecological ideology of neoliberalism. Critical pedagogy, as described by Freire, Giroux, hooks, Zinn and other scholars on education, focuses on social justice, historicity and a contextualization of class, gender, and race issues. For democratic educators to challenge the exploitive market fundamentalist language of the Ontario grades 11 and 12 Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum, critical pedagogy must be embraced. By not facilitating a critical pedagogical practice within the Interdisciplinary Studies courses to help counter and contextualize words such as marketability and enterprising, educators risk implicitly supporting an end of history neoliberal system administrative/management ideology that intertwines market fundamentalism with liberal democracy. 4 Please see Appendix for an example lesson plan integrating these issues 12

13 Part One: Why This Critique is Necessary Specific areas of the curriculum document align with the end of history neoliberal ethos. They include: the words and language of marketability, future employment and entrepreneurship ; the decontextualized and depoliticized terms of systems thinking and information literacy (Min. of Ed., 4-5); and lastly, the example course outlines (11-21). After I have given some contemporary context to the possible variables necessitating the shift from rigid disciplinary studies to an interdisciplinary curriculum, I will consider the most problematic areas of the curriculum that could coincide with neoliberal ideology, especially the four examples of an interdisciplinary course (4-10). It is important to note that depending on numerous social and scholastic variables any course could be approached in a multitude of ways. Two such mitigating variables could be: 1) How a teacher or class integrates and/or questions the stated social risks influencing society and education and also; 2) The political sympathies of the teacher as well as the larger school and civic community. There are numerous ways that the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum could be taught that could help to critique, reinforce, or both, an end of history neoliberal mentality within students and teachers. Given the various possibilities for curriculum delivery it is vital to note the relationship of the capitalist educational system with the larger social structure and how the two work to reinforce each other by aligning the economic ideology of neoliberalism with the literature of the educational system. This reinforcement then frames the language and the reading lens of the curriculum material. Although no educational delivery is total, it is interesting to note that progressive theorists such as Noam Chomsky and Howard Zinn gained insight from less common schooling. Chomsky attended a Deweyite school that encouraged collective work and frowned on competition (Achbar and Wintonick), while Zinn explained that many of his insights 13

14 came from his personal observations of inequality in his neighborhood and interactive conversations with well-read members of his military unit (Zinn). This is not to say that great thinkers can not arise from present educational conditions, but rather to give an example of less traditional forms of inquiry that often run counter to dominant educational standards; such as competition as opposed to co-operation in the case of Chomsky and classroom guided, hierarchically legitimized thought as opposed to knowledge through personal observation outside of the classroom in the case of Zinn. Implementing co-operative education and encouraging the discussion and critique of individual experience from life outside the classroom are important pedagogical tools, as opposed to the market values of corporate individualism and organized social compartments that enable assessment and calculation. In the curriculum, for example, the centrality of the market and the extreme individualism contained within neoliberal ideology is supported through a concern for individual future employment and marketability, while being veiled by ambiguous, though progressive ideals of community and a variety of perspectives (Min. of Ed., 4-5). This is illustrated in the curriculum's introduction The Place of the Interdisciplinary Studies in the Curriculum (3). In this section there is some recognition that the world is facing changing crises, and that students will require cross-disciplinary competencies to deal with such issues: Our world is increasingly interconnected and interdependent. Communications networks exchange information around the globe, creating new forms of collaboration and transforming the nature of work and learning. New areas of study develop to advance human knowledge and respond to the challenges of our changing world with insight and innovation. These include areas that often combine or cross subjects or disciplines, such as space science, information management systems, alternative energy technologies, and computer art and animation. Students today face an unprecedented range of social, scientific, economic, cultural, environmental, political, and technological issues. To deal with these issues, they first need competencies derived from discrete disciplines. The following are some examples... (3). 14

15 In the first example provided, the concern for developing the necessary competencies to deal with the wide range of world issues is interpreted into the practical example of cross-disciplinary studies linking business and hospitality: An interdisciplinary studies course in hospitality management would integrate studies in marketing and hospitality to help students understand the relationship among marketing practices, the local economy, and standards and innovative practices of the hospitality industry. In such a course, students might prepare a research report comparing successful and unsuccessful ventures into regional, national, and international tourist ventures, and analyze the impact of quality improvement on the financial health of a hotel organization (3). This example highlights the Ministry of Education s orientation toward perpetuating a market centered ideology under the guise of interdisciplinary inquiry aimed at dealing critically with the global issues. This thus marks the transition from a rigid disciplinary education meant to serve market interests to an integrated and interdisciplinary inquiry-based education still aimed at benefiting the neoliberal goals for society. However, the courses within the curriculum could also function to prepare students to accept the probability of any issues (23), subsequently analyze the issues and uncritically work to problem solve them or even study avenues by which to profit from such issues. This can be illustrated on page twenty-three of the document, where the first curriculum expectation listed asks students to identify the fundamental ideas and issues that characterize each of the subjects or disciplines studied and critically analyze how the ideas and issues interrelate (23). An example for how this expectation might be applied can be seen in the course on Ecotourism. The course suggests the use of geography concepts related to ways in which regional factors influence human movement and interaction, [connected with] business studies concepts related to ways in which changes in demographic characteristics influence potential tourist markets (23). Rather than focusing on ecological sustainability and environmental 15

16 concerns, the curriculum seeks to focus on the potentiality for emerging markets whereby profit can be sought. The influence of neoliberalism on the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum and the larger society has helped to create a market and military fundamentalist social, economic and political worldview that has seeped and is continuing to do so into many apparatuses of globalized society. The ideological productive force of capitalism reaffirms Althusser s notion of ideological state apparatuses (ISA s) and their role in the socialization process of subjects. Althusser s ISA s function this way: Through these apparatuses ideology functions to construct the subjectivity of individuals, and in so doing it allocates them particular roles within the capitalist system of production, therefore the children that spend the most time in school and at the higher academic levels are equipped with additional skills which suit them to fill the functions necessary to be the successful management of labourers or become senior functionaries of the state (Edgar and Sedgwick, 188). The curriculum has the apparent purpose of being able to address modern social issues without rigid disciplinary restraints, thus adjusting the apparatus to fit the flow and change of time and norms. However, it lacks any explicit critique of the exploitive nature of a society driven by marketability, militarism and extreme individualism and is therefore actually highly restrictive and ideologically narrow. Despite any possible progressive openings within the language of the curriculum, as can be seen with the words community and variety of perspectives, these opening will probably remained closed. The encompassing values of the neoliberal public sphere and the business ethic emphasis contained in many of the interdisciplinary courses, complicates the socially just application of these words. Without an explicit emphasis on historicity and a contextualization of race, class and gender issues, the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum will not help the transition 16

17 from the current neoliberal era, with its emphasis on unquestioning individualism and marketability and armed extensions, to an era of social justice, democratic iteration, egalitarian love, hope, openness to difference, social inclusivity and environmental sustainability. In order to truly progress past the institutional exploitation of capitalism and its offshoot neoliberalism, educators and students must interrogate the economic and social principles that maintain them, such as the various ideals of modernity. Anthony Giddens, in his writings on modernity, further illustrates the institutional domination of the neoliberal capitalist system:... we can see that totalitarian possibilities are contained within the institutional parameters of modernity rather than being foreclosed by them. Totalitarianism is distinct from traditional despotism, but is all the more frightening as a result. Totalitarian rule connects political, military, and ideological power in more concentrated form than as ever possible before the emergence of modern nation states (Giddens, 8). It is the pervasiveness of this subtle, if not overt, ideology that dominates the public sphere within which the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum exists. For an example of this dominance, consider the recent G-20 summit in Toronto, the espousing of market fundamentalism and the roughly one billion dollars spent on security instead of social concerns (Hilary). By favoring extreme levels security, the violation of democratic civil rights and the economic values of austerity over democratic social prosperity for an event representing 20 nations of the world, the mediated dominant public sphere ideology within Ontario, could arguably be called neoliberal. For example, the values of marketability, business ethics, and the short-term profits of security spending by the government and corporations overruled the values of democratic community and a variety of perspectives as exemplified by the protestors. Also, the emphasis on future employment could work to override a desire to partake in non-violent protest and democratic activism and therefore discourage non-violent democratic participation. 17

18 Part Two: What the Theorists Say, What the Research Shows The neoliberal management ethic of the curriculum can be seen in its use of marketability, enterprising, and business ethic language, while lacking more explicit words for social justice oriented critical pedagogical practice. This can be illustrated through three main terms and areas of focus outlined in the first few pages of the document; the terms include: 1) Inter/multi/trans disciplinary thinking; 2) Systems analysis and 3) Information literacy (Ontario Min. of Ed, 4). These terms, without a socially just historicized context, run the risk of subtly reinforcing the marketability emphasis of the curriculum by implicitly seeking a mastery of knowledge over living systems and non-living systems. This is further encouraged through the lack of any specific and explicit language for the critique of contemporary dominant ideologies or social values. For an example: I wonder if the variety of perspectives contained within Immanuel Wallerstein s world systems theory (Hughes-Warrington, 21) or various Indigenous worldviews could be incorporated into the curriculum, or if the systems analysis, given the dominant public sphere, is inclined to align itself with the student or teacher trying to understand the marketability aspects of the system and how to best pursue future employment? The curriculum exists amidst the framing language of future employment, marketability and entrepreneurism (5). Including this language amongst a neoliberal public sphere runs the risk of connoting the illusions of a natural, primary, efficient and technologically dominant capitalism. Beyond the interspersed market language within the text, ideological sympathies with the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum can also be seen in the early pages of the introduction. The frequent emphasis on the nature of work (3) seemingly aims to adapt students to neoliberal society; the important role that this curriculum will play in helping facilitate this point of 18

19 emphasis cannot be overlooked. By uncritically accepting the good intent 5 of the curriculum s authors, a critical thinker and democratic citizen runs the risk of missing how it might intersect with the end of history neoliberal public sphere espoused by Fukuyama and the totalitarian tendencies of modernity described by Giddens. The resulting conscious or unconscious acceptance of such tendencies could then lead to the even greater risk of integrating the curriculum and educational system towards the exclusionary market dictates of the permeating public sphere as opposed to the inclusive democratic demands of participatory politics and economics. There is no specific mention of any ideals for democratic citizenship or a language of critique such as, social justice, political economy, institutionalized racism or class stratification. However, for many of the example courses there is frequent use of career opportunities, business ethics, personal privacy and security (23), and marketability (4). It should be noted that there is an obvious social value in helping students plan for their future and study possible areas of employment to help students gain a better understanding of labour studies and the global economic community. It does seem, however, that the employment emphasis in Interdisciplinary Studies courses focuses on what may appeal to students as career options rather than critically examine work and issues of employment that prepare students for the challenges of the workplace. Issues of class and economy need to be part of any thorough and illuminating discussion of employment outcomes. The potential synthesization of market values with educational ones can also be illustrated with the four example courses within the curriculum (3). The very first example of a possible Interdisciplinary Studies course is titled Hospitality Management (3). Students taking 5 By good intent I am referring to the recognition of connecting education with larger social needs and the acknowledgment of the importance of work and livelihood in our society as socially valuable to consider in school 19

20 this course are expected to understand the relationship among marketing practices, the local economy, and standards and innovative practices of the hospitality industry... comparing successful and unsuccessful ventures into regional, national, and international tourist ventures (3). If this is not training for an end of history service economy where the citizens with the most power and status travel and entertain each other, as opposed to working towards reducing inequalities, I do not know what else would classify. Despite that the curriculum was released in 2002, the crises described have been percolating for many years and are by no means recent. Given that the crises are not recent, by juxtaposing this course with the plethora of crises described earlier, an extreme lack of historical context towards the roots of social and ecological exploitation is revealed and the subject role that this industry plays in the larger system is concealed. This boxing off of the social world is not what critical pedagogy and democratic education should be about. Why could a course like this not be taught in a post high school vocational college? Why is the public school curriculum being used for such obvious job training at the expense of educating democratic values, civic responsibilities and skills for critical inquiry and literacy? The second of the first four example courses involves integrating history, philosophy and science. The stated intention of the course is to develop an understanding of the human need to use information to communicate knowledge, scholarship, and values (my emphasis) in a global society (3). Considering the document s emphasis on employment and marketability and the lack of emphasis on questioning social stratification and ideologically aware critical inquiry, my question is what values are to be communicated? Are they values of the Eurocentric order contained within the Fukuyama s end of history statement? Despite this obvious neoliberal point of entry into the curriculum, there is the inclusion of potentially progressive goals such as 20

21 community involvement... and lifelong learning yet these are bundled with the language of marketability, business ethics and future employment (3, 23). These goals do not have to be mutually exclusive; I just question the type of democratic community involvement and lifelong learning that is depoliticized, lacks a critical ideological awareness and is overly concerned with business ethics as opposed to democratic ethics. Unless the progressive ideals of community involvement and life-long learning are bundled with historicity and a critical analysis of race, class and gender contexts then future employment, marketability and corporate ethics will dominate any reading of history, philosophy or science. Opening some boxes of discourse does not mean that the larger ideological boxes are opened as well, and they must be if education is to be inclusive and preparatory for democratic life over neoliberal life. The third example course is one of Biotechnology where the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum is integrated with biology and chemistry. The description of the course explains that students will investigate biotechnology developments and careers in such diverse fields as health care, agriculture, forestry and marine life... they would apply their findings to assess the impact of biotechnological products on their local community (3). This language has potentially progressive openings for a teacher who is aware of corporate crime and has some context to race, class and gender issues. However, a teacher who is herself a product of capitalist education and subject to the totalitarian public sphere of modernity, and has maybe not been given the opportunity to be exposed to critical perspectives on history or contemporary society will most likely facilitate a classroom where future employment and marketability will frame how the impact of products on the community is studied. This poses the risk of narrowly viewing issues through a biotechnology lens, deeming situations such as Coca-Cola s crimes in Columbia and the resulting assassination of labour leaders (killercoke.org) analyzed as being a 21

22 positive for the community as a result of it bringing variety and freedom of beverage choice. However, this should not mean that a progressive and critical pedagogical education would automatically eliminate the possibility of considering corporate crime; it would however help develop the critical and self-reflective skills that could then emphasize the importance of community and a variety of perspectives over marketability. The final example course given is one on Small Business Operations that would integrate studies in technological design and business entrepreneurship to enable students to address the specific needs of an identified market (4). This example appears to be the most explicit in its integration with the market. Ideas on how to be a democratic citizen or how to have a small business that is for the public good (maybe similar to a co-op?) are completely left out and so are any obligations to the local school/school community if profit is made from using school resources as capital. Students are encouraged to apply entrepreneurial and design skills either to school and community projects or to potential employment ventures (my emphasis) (4). It seems that the individualist ethos of neoliberalism and the market is being put ahead of other educational goals, such as questioning the dominant structures in life. Instead, it could appear that the reverse has taken place and the capitalist structures are working to control the democratic urges in society and this is made easier through the infiltration of market values within the education system and courses such as small business operations. The first four examples described in the introduction of the document are revealing and I feel emblematic of the pervasiveness of neoliberalism in the Ontario educational system. Whether the example is of a future service sector worker and hospitality manager, a historical 22

23 philosopher with a hyper fetish for technology searching for future employment 6, or even a small business operator looking to cash in on the most profitable emerging market, they all lead to a reinforcement of the market fundamentalism that is the backbone of neoliberal, finance capitalism. However, I do feel that with an emphasis on historical context, race, class and gender issues, the market fundamentals within the document s language could possibly be subverted. By including socially inclusive and contextual thinking students and teachers could possibly approach these courses with a focus towards social, political and economic justice. Viewing and studying a film such as The Corporation and its exposure of business concepts such as externalities, could help infuse even a small business class with a trajectory towards the public good over any private good. I have personally come across many students during my volunteer teaching, who, after having seen The Corporation, express an interest in wanting to understand larger issues. From my anecdotal experience, which also happens to coincide with some various studies I will outline later in the paper, many students, once they are provided with an understanding of how the structures of power operate (and can be influenced) along with the language needed to conceptualize and communicate on such issues, a certain desire for lifelong questioning is ignited. Examining films as text is a valid application of the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum (4); my only concern with using such films is that texts critical of market fundamentalism might be deemed inappropriate as they are superficially critiqued as problematizing potential fields of future employment within a service sector that is dependent upon existing social conditions. Any desire for becoming self-exploratory and democratically iterative is emphasized less than the importance of marketability and future employment. The problem with these two 6 This could then lead them to later becoming a member of the controversial human terrain system being deployed in American and NATO war zones where academics, often anthropologists, are deployed at the command of the military (Price) 23

24 words and their correlations to the market, at this point in history (characterized by war, economic, and environmental exploitation), is that they make it very difficult for a student or teacher to confront the crises from a social justice angle and instead encourage capitalization of the social. It then turns the terms trans/inter/multi disciplinary, systems thinking and information literacy into disembodied ideas at the control of market forces, voided of any natural living system or sentience. I fear there is a danger in this. Is the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum, minus the key terms and concepts I have recommended (historicity, analysis of race, class and gender context(s), social justice advocacy, social inclusivity), complicit in a social and economic machine that values market interests over social needs? When the introduction entails values such as increased marketability in a variety of careers (4), the curriculum document cannot help but be vulnerable, if not conducive to neoliberal infiltration. However, as the introduction concludes there is some promise amidst the horror. There is a strong encouragement for students to explore issues and problems that interest them from a variety of perspectives and develop their knowledge and skills as a result of meaningful projects, which are often lined to the community (5). Considering that one of the main mitigating variables in how this curriculum is delivered is the classroom teacher and that the teacher might not have the language for critical pedagogical practice, then the language of context and inclusion must be specific and explicit. Bourdieu and Giddens each describe the world that is framing the curriculum: if critical pedagogy is to help challenge the oppressive forces of such framing then the language needs to spread, and education within an interdisciplinary format and forum could be the opening for such voices and ideas. The overview within the introduction of the document is also encouraging for the implementation of critical pedagogical practice. For example, it is clear that it is important for 24

25 students to understand diverse perspectives (8). In addition critical and creative thinking (8) is also encouraged. Building on this potential positive trajectory, the teaching approaches then allow for and encourage the use of progressive media, critical literacy and community involvement; which on their own does not guarantee anything progressive. Although, if combined with certain terms and ideas such as: race, class and gender perspective/analysis, context and historicity, the teacher and students might be encouraged to question traditional sources of information. At the very least, it could require that these categories and their formation and reproduction be brought to the awareness of students as opposed to being outright ignored in favor of an end of history multicultural mentality that minimizes structural inequalities. This line of questioning might also be helped through seeking out other sources of information when these subject groups or perspectives are not addressed, thus also encouraging the values of difference through critical thought. This could then hopefully allow all educational participants to open up to new ways of thinking, questioning and engaging the world for the public good. Unfortunately issues regarding the importance of language, critical thought and an explicit inclusion of social justice ideals are closed down and only made more problematic when various public intellectuals advocate for a depoliticized classroom. Stanley Fish in his article Save the World on Your Own Time, claims that teachers should strive for intellectual honesty (Fish, 5). Fish using his position as a public intellectual, writing in a fairly popular publication at a time of war, ecological collapse, and extreme gaps between rich and poor, actually believes that intellectual honesty is apolitical. However practitioners of critical pedagogy such as Henry Giroux, referencing Paulo Freire, explain that Learning is always political because it is connected to the formation and acquisition of agency (Giroux). Yet, Fish insists: 25

26 ... Teachers should teach their subjects. They should not teach peace or war or freedom or obedience or diversity or uniformity or nationalism or anti-nationalism or any other agenda that might properly be taught by a political leader or a talk show host (Fish, 4). As an argument against interdisciplinary study and in favour of rigid disciplinarity, it is this type of compartmentalized thinking that stands little chance of interrogating larger social structural issues such as the political economy, especially if it is not explicitly outlined. Freire himself brings further light to Fish s biased statement, which is veiled in neutrality, No one can be in the world, with the world, and with others and maintain a posture of neutrality. I cannot be in the world decontextualized, simply observing life (Freire, 73). Both Freire and Giroux draw our attention to the importance of socially just and empathetic contextualization within education, therefore problematizing the notion that is put forth by Fish. Considering that we have seen how Giddens points to the always subtle presence of totalitarianism within modernity which has been structured around a capitalist market, and now seeing that Fish points to the desire in education not to address the negative consequences of these issues, the importance of an explicitly socially just and all inclusive language within educational materials, including the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum becomes obvious for all concerned, progressive, democratic educators. Educators must be cautious as to how to effectively address the main terms and areas of focus in the curriculum: 1) Inter/multi/trans disciplinary 2) Systems analysis and 3) Information literacy by being critically aware of the larger social forces influencing themselves, their students, the surrounding community and the larger world and cosmos. Such awareness could possibly help subvert the inferred systematized and dehumanized language of the interdisciplinary document. However, to be able to understand one s place in a larger system (or systems) and realize the entailing interdependence and interconnectivity helps a subject to avoid succumbing to what 26

27 Freire calls the tyranny of freedom (Freire, 8-9). The tyranny of freedom is a concept that arises in an individualized society where the subject is dominated by an illusory notion of individuality that from a certain quantum physical scientific perspective actually has no real individual, physical base in reality (McEvoy and Zarate). From a cosmic and quantum lens, we are never truly free, we are always dependent on each other for a variety of life needs. Therefore, interdependence is a basic feature of existence demanding democracy. Freire notes his concerns with a tyranny of freedom, where personal choice and individual desire acts as the driving force of one s actions. He asks: How can one learn democracy within a permissiveness devoid of limits, where freedom acts at will, or within an authoritarianism devoid of space where freedom is never exercised. (9) The three terms of focus in the curriculum could have the positive impact of helping a student to realize their social relation to others and the Other. However, without an explicit focus on social and environmental justice, inclusivity and critical pedagogy, I worry that the strength of the sympathetically totalitarian, capitalist public sphere will often adopt a liberal discourse that accommodates rather than liberates (Zinn, 65). To avoid this accommodation I would like to turn to some recent studies and research that shows how critical pedagogy does not accommodate exploitive forces. This research is open to difference and critical of the power that informs its findings; it highlights ways of making the curriculum more accessible, evidenced by increased student interest and success. It is a more accessible form of education because it personalizes learning as opposed to making the learning process disconnected and removed from a student s everyday reality. It also empowers the student and teacher because it shows how power and society function and how subjects are effected. As Giroux describes it, critical pedagogy: 27

28 Can never be viewed merely as a method or disinterested practice simply because it always represents, whether consciously or not, a deliberate attempt on the part of educators to influence how and what knowledge and subjectivities are produced within particular sets of social relations. As a political project, critical pedagogy illuminates the relationships among knowledge, authority and power, drawing attention to questions such as who has control over the conditions for the production of knowledge, values and skills. It raises important questions about the kind of life presented to us in the classroom and whether it enables students to be autonomous, self-determining and capable of self and social critique. Moreover, it sheds light on the ways in which knowledge, identities and authority are constructed within particular circuits of power and whether such relations neutralize or make visible the meaning and challenges facing an aspiring democracy (Giroux, 3). Three recent studies in education verify Giroux s comments and illustrate why the inclusion of social justice ideas and language is beneficial to the student. The three studies in questions are titled: What Education for What Citizenship (L.Albala-Bertrand) ; Civic Education Study (Hahn and Torney-Purta); and The Education Policy Study Project (John J. Cogan, Patricia K. Kubow and the CEPS Project Researchers from Nine Nations). All three studies indicate that students thrive when education is cross disciplinary, participatory, related to life, conducted in a non-authoritarian environment and cognizant of the challenges of social diversity... (Evans and Hundy, 130). To go back to the notion of the intent of the curriculum s authors, I feel that it is these findings as described below, which indicate the probable need for the implementation of an interdisciplinary curriculum in Ontario. However, for democratic education to flourish it must be stressed that the lens of discourse needs to be taken back further, to include an emphasis on political economy and political involvement. This notion of a democratically participatory educational system is further supported in similar studies: earlier approaches, focusing primarily on knowledge acquisition, are quite simply no longer sufficient unless linked with commitment and action: To adapt a well known maxim: it is one thing to understand the world, but the important task is to change it (129). It could rightly be argued that the findings of these studies 28

29 are opposed to the accepted dogma of a market fundamentalism and resulting militarized society 7 that is unquestioningly included in and inferred from the language of the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum. In the What Education for What Citizenship study, there are three important findings. The first is that the student must have particular understandings about democratic citizenship (130) and work to deepen that understanding (130). The second is that citizenship awareness (130) be linked to specific involvement in civic-like activities (130). Exactly what those activities might entail could lead to further engagement with issues of inequality in a neoliberal society such as social stratification and environmental degradation. If notions of being a citizen are not critiqued, Osborne warns us: citizenship was also a code word for hiding the realities of social class behind a smoke screen of national consensus (Osborne, 34). The final preliminary finding is that a student s involvement in school activities... does seem to constitute a good precursor of civic commitment (Evans and Hundy, 130). If the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum is not to promote capitalist civic virtues such as, marketability, enterprising, emerging markets and entrepreneurship, it must focus and be explicit on democratic virtues with a stronger emphasis on tools, techniques and language for democratic iteration. Such language necessary for democratic iteration that is truly inclusive of a variety of perspectives could include words and concepts such as race, class and gender, historicity, ecological sustainability and social stratification. The Civic Education Study has been in progress since 1963 and has taken place in twentyfour countries. The first of two phases (the second is currently underway) examined what students learn about their nation and their citizenship. Two of its primary findings were that 7 The military and the market are connected when one considers that many of the companies on the market are related directly or indirectly to the arms and defense industries 29

30 civic education should be cross disciplinary, participatory, interactive, related to life, conducted in a non-authoritarian environment, cognizant of the challenges of social diversity, and coconstructed by schools, parents, and the community and also that there is a widely perceived gap between the goals for democracy expressed in the curriculum and the reality presented by societies and their schools (131). Considering that the language of the market and the entailing market fundamentalism are inherently authoritarian in the hands of Anglo-American-Euro interests, how can their presence within the language of the curriculum help enable the progressive goals of this study s findings? The Education Policy Study Project was conducted in nine different countries over four years and found that eight key characteristics are required for citizens in the twenty-first century. The characteristics include the ability to work with others in a co-operative way... understand and accept cultural differences... willingness to resolve conflict in a non-violent manner... to be sensitive towards and defend human rights (131). Similar to the curriculum, although the language within this study points to progressive change and ideals, without an emphasis on social class issues, many of the exploitive and totalitarian practices of the market and neoliberalism will continue to be a dominating ideological force. For example, how does one defend human rights? Does the striving for defense and prevention of risk at certain moments override the willingness to resolve conflict through non-violence? In Teaching Community, bell hooks writes on the importance of a language of hope through education to help non-violently confront the dominant market capitalist paradigm. Through her own explicit use of language such as frequently using the terms capitalism, patriarchy and white supremacy, hooks reveals her own views towards values of social justice. Thankfully for all progressive educators, she is not shy about describing the reality as she 30

31 sees it, researches it and lives it. hooks writes why politicizing issues of that which is deemed personal is essential for a progressive and inclusive democracy, by making the personal political, many individuals have experienced major transformations in thought that have led to changing their lives: the white people who worked to become anti-racist, the men who worked to challenge sexism and patriarchy, heterosexists who begin to champion sexual freedom (hooks, 8). The author goes on to say, progressive education teaches us community (8). Our interdependence with community and our mutual, though unequal 8, exposure to numerous forms of precariousness requires that the ethics behind an interdisciplinary curriculum, or any form of educational material, be human and environmentally centered as opposed to market centered. Freire in his work, Pedagogy of Freedom, draws our attention to this contemporary conflict of ethics that exists in modernism, Globalization theory, which speaks of ethics, hides the fact that its ethics are those of the marketplace and not the universal ethics of the human person (Freire, 114), and later, I believe that if we are going to overcome the crises that at present assail us, we must return to ethics (117). Freire is clearly pointing to the necessity of ethical thinking within education and in order to address the myriad of crises brought on by neoliberalism. I would also like to add that the ethics required must be built around empathy and social justice and not be the systematized and dehumanized ethics of finance capitalism. The importance of empathy and an enviro-humanist ethic in education can be proven to be valued by students, when students participate in co-operative communities they begin to internalize the civic values that recognize and support the long-term benefits of contributing to the welfare of others, the common good, and one s own well-being (Ballagh and Sheppard, 30). 8 Unequal with regards to issues of race, class and gender. 31

32 When given the appropriate critical thinking skills students are able to understand how power and a market society works and how it can often be exploitive: When students are provided with the tools to analyze the social impacts of globalization including, for example, the intensification of economic interconnectedness, the increased migration of peoples, and the revolution in the use of information technology they often discover that both the human relationships upon which these changes are dependent and the patterns they reinforce are highly unequal (Zoric, et al., 40). All of the research I have mentioned emphasizes the importance of a personally political discourse in the classroom. The existence of the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum within the Ontario educational system is a step in a positive direction. As the described studies illustrate, there is pedagogical importance in striving towards critically aware inquiry into inter/multi/transdisciplinary format. This striving is ethically crucial in order to help facilitate empathy towards students, their daily lives and also for it to be reciprocal for teachers. If the language of the curriculum is not explicitly inclusive, then the frequent use of quotes such as, students with well-developed information studies skills and knowledge will have increased marketability in a variety of careers (Ont. Min of Ed, 4), will shift the emphasis towards the totalitarian, modern market economy. The power of this influence can be extrapolated given its dominance in the surrounding public sphere that the educational system is immersed in as highlighted by Giddens. The dominant public sphere will potentially influence various aspects of the educational ideological state apparatus, thus reinforcing Althusser s theory. The Ontario Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum exists within a capitalist, neoliberal society. Yet it still has a great deal of potential for drawing out progressive values within students, if navigated correctly. However, if it is not navigated through a critical pedagogical lens, it runs the risk of functioning as a capitalist apparatus producing little Eichmanns, as Chris Hedges warns against (Hedges). The phrase little Eichmanns may seem severe, however, 32

33 my use of it is to draw attention that while one may think they are fulfilling the obligations of their systemic role, they also always need to question how that connects to issues of exploitation. Although education cannot be a panacea, it can help develop skills, such as critical media literacy that could then give subjects the tools to navigate social issues as they arise throughout one s life. The socialized and educated neoliberal citizens might have the tendency to be disconnected from the inter-connectedness of their democratic subject position and thus work towards facilitating, magnifying and profiting from the larger neoliberal society. The influence of this exploitive mentality both within modernity and on the apparatuses of the larger social structure can be critically illuminated by interrogating the dominant paradigm logic of the magic of the market or the hidden hand that corrects the market. Giroux describes this infiltration of capitalist consumer values into traditionally non-market realms, such as education, where people are the focus, According to neoliberal economic policies, the welfare of human beings should be handed over to market forces, presupposition that empties out the very constitutive nature of politics and the crucial realm of the social (Giroux, 7). These policies have prevented the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum from being philosophically, politically, economically, critically and educationally expansive, by requiring that it entail certain marketability ideals instead of a quest to help students know thyself. It is exactly this propensity of market values being adopted ideologically into non-economic areas of society that Freire, Giroux, hooks, Zinn and the studies in student success warn against. 33

34 Part Three: Possibilities, Methods of Practice and Consequences Areas of inquiry such as critical race, class, gender histories and cultural context as well as alternative critical worldviews could by synthesized with the curriculum to help facilitate courses that personalize the political in the lives of the student and the teacher. This could help an interdisciplinary curriculum become reflexive in the sense that class projects and studies relate to the community, families and histories of the students and how these categories intersect with present realities. Making the classroom personally relevant to the students lives by interacting with the outside community through a social justice angle as opposed to a neoliberal market perspective, allows all participants an opportunity to become more socially aware of issues of social inclusion and exclusion and how that in turn can manifest in the classroom. This is why it is important for educators to be socially aware of the student realities outside of the classroom. Educators need to ask, what class, gender and race issues intersect with this student? What type of learner is the student? How can they best excel while avoiding the tyranny of freedom that is encouraged through neoliberal ideology? What language should be included or excluded from the curriculum that would help accommodate the answers to these questions? If we turn to Giroux, we can gather the importance that a language of difference plays if it is helped by exploring a historicized variety of perspectives that include the articulation of non-essentialized demographics of race, class and gender. Giroux discusses the term border pedagogy to help draw attention to the boundaries that demographics of race, class, gender and sex, experience and are often defined by. Border pedagogy respects difference and does not wish to homogenize. Most importantly, border pedagogy acknowledges how fragile identity is and the importance of multi-centric perspectives (Giroux, 34). Any language or educational environment must consider that certain students may resist learning the exploitive side of society, however, by an 34

35 educator being aware to these sensitivities they could help illustrate the hidden nature of such exploitation allowing the student to open up to new knowledge and a new way of seeing the world. Kincheloe also makes an effort to help confront issues of resistance in the progressive classroom by emphasizing a critical multiculturalism that does not essentialize. Also, Kincheloe draws attention to the hidden nature of hierarchical power that makes it difficult to convince groups from dominant power blocs that they exist which is subtly matched by cognizance of the notion that there are as many differences within groups as there are between them (Kincheloe, 128). In a material society, through a curriculum that highlights issues of material control and distribution with regards to historical context and divisions of race, class and gender, an educator can hopefully draw out the distinct disparities in difference between and within power blocs. However, as Megan Boler argues, educators must be careful with how they facilitate or help to encourage empathy amongst their students. Boler cautions us that empathy is a contested philosophical concept and one that needs interrogation (Boler, 157). The main concern is that empathy implies a full identification, with somebody else s experience that is distinctly different from sympathy, which does not self-identify with the experiences of the other (157). The concern about a false identification with the other is that it will encourage pity (158) and thus prevent any interrogation into one s own role in the operations of power and exploitation. Boler calls for a testimonial reading that encourages responsibility and also for historicized ethics (157) that enables the questioning of dominant narratives. The recognition that I am not you (171) and that I have responsibilities right now to help prevent and reduce certain forms of oppression is an important component to any educational discussion on empathy. To move past 35

36 the atomized social formations and educational practices that define neoliberalism educators must avoid and oversimplified version of self-reflection or an uncontestable invocation of experience, pedagogical strategies must push beyond the usual Western conceptions of the liberal individual (178). As much as lived personal experience can bring tremendous depth to a conversation within an educational setting, if it is not historicized, it risks falling into a solipsist perspective that is unable to connect private feelings with how they are influenced and altered through public structural realities and dominant paradigm signifiers. Possibilities for critically aware inquiry and an inclusive classroom can be also seen in the research of Daiva Stasiulis and Ali Nihat Eken. If educators are to subvert the market-friendly language of the curriculum document and realize the critically pedagogical potential of the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum, the research from both of these public intellectuals needs consideration and implementation. Building on the ideas of Freire and Giroux, in the article The Active Child Citizen, Stasiulis outlines the importance for connecting the personal to the political and why it is a successful educational practice. Yet she too worries about progressive language that veils systemic inequalities. Stasiulis states: The hegemony of neoliberalism has meant that the government s framing of poverty as child poverty has focused more on family failure and parental irresponsibility and deflected attention away from the multiple and intersecting structural causes of poverty that have deepened with economic liberalization (Stasiulis, 531). If the possibilities for an inclusive, socially just Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum is to be met, not only must the student be empowered, but the educator must also draw the connections that help empower the larger community that the classroom and school exist within. Rather than the desired outcome and course focus of the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum being increased marketability, it could instead be democratically engaged, 36

37 critically aware or something similar. The curriculum could then act as a gateway to community involvement and empowerment on behalf of a local classroom or school. The work of Stasiulis shows us that emphasizing social relationships and the factors that shape them is crucial for inclusive education - critical pedagogy - to manifest within a classroom. By using interdisciplinary studies to highlight the interconnections and interdependence between the teacher, student, family, community, larger world and cosmos, it will help to empower the student and personalize the world for them. Eken takes this a step further and emphasizes the importance of connecting the classroom to the personal, the political and local by also making the material being taught visually inviting. According to Eken s research it is crucial that lessons be similar to the forms of media that the students consume on a regular basis outside of the classroom. This method might therefore potentially enable an even greater personalization of the political and thus further a progressive educational project. Despite the fact that this media emphasis might reinforce the visual culture of the dominant paradigm, it is at the same time an acknowledgement into how the average student absorbs information in this technological, neoliberal, capitalist society. Teaching and developing techniques for students to be more socially just, critical readers of the media texts that they are exposed to outside the classroom will hopefully help them illustrate, develop and talk/work with others on how to decode media and how media shapes and informs perspective in all areas of life. Media construction inevitably entails an interdisciplinary structure. For example, making or assessing a film requires audio visual technology, possible literary or aesthetic skills, components of science, business, historical or philosophical or even spiritual context to the subject matter being viewed as well as how these factors shape the viewers and the filmmakers 37

38 themselves. This type of critical awareness could help students to enable the search for greater context and historicity in the interdisciplinary curriculum and, if combined with Stasiulis s ideas, into their own lives as well. The use of visual media, especially film and video, has proven to be highly effective towards engaging students in social justice issues that impact their personal lives. Eken, in the article and study The Third Eye, articulates the potential that studying film/video texts has on a student: students were able to analyze and detect the ideology and manipulation underpinning media texts (Eken, 226), and later, the group interviews indicated that the students film literacy helped them develop an awareness of how media texts are constructed by media industries for specific groups of audiences (227). Finally, Eken concludes with a quote from a student, It may sound weird to you but the skills I have gained by learning to read films is something like acquiring a third eye. It helps me to see what others might not see (227). Henry Giroux, in an essay titled, Pedagogies of Difference, Race, and Representation: Film as a site of Translation and Politics, also highlights for educators the power of film text: Arguing that cultural texts are inextricably related to broader social processes, critical academic multiculturalists have enhanced our understanding... By making visible the social construction of identities, left multiculturalists have performed an enormous theoretical service in opening up new ways of talking about how relations of power are deployed by the state, through the force of cultural apparatuses, and in everyday life in maintaining the stakes of the already privileged (Giroux, 84). If the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum is to be inclusive, not only must it explicitly reject the frequent references to the market it must also include opportunities for critically deconstructing film and video texts (in addition to traditional texts) in order to help facilitate greater student interest and personalized democratic and social concern. Studying a variety of texts and media 38

39 forms would truly make an interdisciplinary course interdisciplinary in its delivery as opposed to solely its outlook. Sadly, a depersonalized and decontextualized classroom faces the real world consequences of failing to cross the ultimate boundary: that of ideology. The curriculum exists within an inter-discourse management mentality that is still contained within a larger ideology that can be seen in a recent article titled The Little Eichmanns by Chris Hedges. Hedges writes that an atomized, neoliberal situation creates the technocrat who is able to move through multiple areas of expertise, These technocrats mistake the art of manipulation with knowledge... he is unable to recognize the necessary relationship between morality and power they are hedonists of power (Hedges, 1). Preparing future college and university bound students to be fit for the market with multiple skills of entrepreneurship, without an explicit emphasis on personally relevant socially just politics, could have the negative effect of falling in line with the resonance of totalitarianism within the dominant public sphere that Giddens references. To conclude this point and show that the horrors Hedges describes is not inevitable, it is interesting to note that even the high priest of capitalism Adam Smith himself agreed that society should emphasize moral sentiments and empathy for others (Curtis). The language Smith explicitly used allows for an opening towards inclusivity that has seemingly been lost on his neoliberal capitalist descendants. With this comment, it would appear that Smith might feel that an educational document existing within a dominantly neoliberal society that is already heavily in favor of a business ethic, be balanced with strong language that helps facilitate consideration for the rights of others. Such language could include the values of critical pedagogy that emphasize concern for others and knowledge of self that encourages a sense of social responsibility that is not motivated by pity but through democratic responsibility/obligation. 39

40 Conclusion If progressive educators are to uphold the values of inclusive democracy and critical pedagogy within a neoliberal ideological state apparatus, an examination into how their own workspace language contributes to, and is influenced by, the larger public sphere is essential. Through critical pedagogy and contextualizing the language used by exploitive forces in society (such as the market and the military), informed educators can implement socially just strategies as is suggested by critical pedagogical theorists and the various studies into what makes a successful student and classroom. By balancing the language of the market friendly business ethic (Min. of Ed., 23) that exists within the curriculum with social justice friendly perspectives and terms, a more progressive classroom could be facilitated. If taught through a critical pedagogical practice, the Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum could be used to deconstruct fields of inquiry currently dominated by neoliberal ideology and become transformative for stakeholders. Students and teachers could then open up and create space for a democratically legitimate variety of perspectives. Engaging a variety of different perspectives such as class, race, and gender inequities, will allow for neoliberal ideology to be called into question by students and educators. A focus on the critical pedagogical values of difference and historical and social context with regards to educational inquiry would then realize the Ontario Interdisciplinary Studies curriculum for grades eleven and twelve s potential for socially just and ideologically aware inquiry. 40

41 Appendices: 1) Unit Outline related to MRP goals on Corporations in Society (2 pages) 2) Introduction to The Corporation: Resource For Classroom Teachers (3 pages) 3) 5 Key Question & 5 Key Concepts of Media Literacy (Centre for Media Literacy) 4) Questions to promote Critical Literacy (Curriculum Services Canada, at 5) Overview of Intellectual Tools (TC2: The Critical Thinking Consortium) 41

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