Curriculum-making worlds: A narrative inquiry into children's experiences outside of school

• Author / Creator

  Pinnegar, Eliza A.

• Research on children’s curriculum-making experiences as they move from home, school, Out of School Care (OSC) and community activities is sparse. In this study, I worked from a view of curriculum as a course of life (Connelly & Clandinin, 1988; Clandinin & Connelly, 1992) in order to inquire into the curriculum-making experiences of children. The study drew on Dewey’s (1938) theory of experience with two criteria of interaction and continuity, and Schwab’s (1973) four commonplaces. The research puzzle was to learn about the curriculum-making experiences of children within home, Out of School Care (OSC), and community activities. Narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000), understood as both methodology and phenomenon, is a relational research methodology for the study of experience. I inquired into the experiences of three children in order to understand the children’s experiences of their daily moves from school to the OSC, in the OSC, in their homes and community activities. Field texts (data) included field notes taken of observations of events alongside children at the OSC, at home, and at community activities. Working within the three-dimensional narrative inquiry space (temporality, sociality, and place), I moved from field texts to co-composing narrative accounts and final research texts. I identified multiple worlds that each child experienced using Lugones’ (1987) conceptualization of worlds and world travelling. In a further analysis, I identified features of curriculum making that the children experienced in each of their worlds. Mainly, the experiences within worlds shapes the overall curriculum or life making of the child which is always changing. The commonplaces within each child’s worlds shift and influence the curriculum-making of the child. Based on the research I understand that children live out curriculum-making experiences in multiple places including the OSC, home, and other community activities. Children live out curriculum making experiences across multiple places such as the OSC, home, and other community places. More research is needed to understand the curriculum-making experiences of children in the multiple worlds they inhabit, including their moves from school to the OSC, within the OSC and in their moves to their homes and community activities.

• Subjects / Keywords

  • Out of School
  • Curriculum
  • After School
  • Narrative inquiry

• Graduation date

  Fall 2016

• Type of Item

  Thesis

• Degree

  Doctor of Philosophy

• DOI

  https://doi.org/10.7939/R3QN5ZH23

• License

  This thesis is made available by the University of Alberta Libraries with permission of the copyright owner solely for non-commercial purposes. This thesis, or any portion thereof, may not otherwise be copied or reproduced without the written consent of the copyright owner, except to the extent permitted by Canadian copyright law.