9th Annual Curriculum and Pedagogy Conference
October 22-25, 2008
Decatur, GA
Call for Participation
Complicated conversations and confirmed commitments: Revitalizing education for democracy
*proposals deadline extended to June 30th, 2008!
Download the call here
The Curriculum and Pedagogy Conference is an annual gathering of diverse individuals seeking academic enrichment and professional engagement who are committed to educational reform and social change. The conference opens up spaces to advance the ideals of progressive curriculum and democratic leadership in education through dialogue and action. The conference organizers seek to bring together individuals from diverse settings, including academics, graduate students, school district administrators, PreK-12 teachers, and all other cultural workers from community groups and organizations who hope to integrate, interrogate, and develop theories and practices for educational change and social justice.
The conference fosters spaces for democratic community building, collective scholarship, and social action in an informal, collegial setting. In the spirit of visionaries such as John Dewey, Maxine Greene, George Counts, Alice Miel, and Horace Mann Bond, and others, we gather together to deepen our critical insights into the historical, political, personal, aesthetic, spiritual contexts of our work within a perspective that regards curriculum studies as integral to the fabric of everyday public life and wholly connected to the daily pedagogical practice of schools.
The 9th Annual Curriculum and Pedagogy Conference will take place on October 22 - 25, 2008 in Decatur, GA and will focus on ways in which we might speak about the need to revitalize and commit ourselves to education for democracy in complex times. How do we speak of the binaries that characterize the current practices within schools on one hand and the ideals of progressive education and democratic life, on the other? How do we encourage complicated conversations among PreK-12 practitioners, policy makers, university faculty, and community activists? How do artistic, embodied, collaborative, and other forms of inquiry offer possibilities for subverting limited curriculum structures and assessment models?
The 2008 conference in Decatur, Georgia seeks participants who want to draw upon their current experiences and intellect to garner evidence of and resources for revitalizing education for democracy. At a time when concern over standardized academic measures and a traditional, oft-narrow pedagogy threatens to consume the ideals of a progressive movement, the C & P conference continues to serve as a space for engagement and dialogue over crucial matters of curriculum in contemporary schooling within a postmodern society.
Some representative questions that reflect the conference theme are:
• How might we speak of democracy’s pedagogical possibilities in new arenas and to new audiences?
• Where have we witnessed democratic educational practices and what calls us to characterize them as such?
• How might we lead others to (re)conceptualize education for democracy, social justice and deep change?
• What is the role of curriculum theory and pedagogies in the new social movements for eco-justice and socially just global economics?
• What examples and proposals encourage and illustrate meaningful moral leadership as situated in schools, programs, and society for the advancement of democracy?
• In what ways can we challenge mainstream and narrowly-focused assessment and inquiry in the planning, evaluation and interpretation of curriculum and other processes in education?
• In what ways might the Curriculum and Pedagogy community be challenged to scholarship and agency by educational experiences among the international community and from within marginalized cultures, groups, and persons?
• How do we put to use contemporary events, social and political developments, and larger global situations within the context of current educational structures and policies?
Program Strands
Proposals ought to be submitted according to the following conference strands identified to encourage deliberate lines of inquiry:
Arts and Alternative Inquiry for Social Change:
Proposals for this strand should include visual art, performing arts, performances, fiction, personal essays, other forms of creative writing (both completed and in progress) that promote social change and address this year’s theme. Submissions of works in progress are welcome and will be shared and discussed in a workshop format. The vision for this strand is to emphasize inquiry that engages artists, educators, scholars, and community activists who practice various art media to examine social issues of democracy, equity, and community change. Alternative presentation locations can include visual art gallery format, dramatic/movement spaces, and indoor and outdoor public spaces within and around the conference location. Additionally, this strand includes a writing workshop format that serves as an experimental space to explore works in progress. This space serves for anyone, beginners and seasoned writers alike, who would like collaborative, small group input on their writing process and discussion of their work. For additional information, contact Chris Higgins at chrishiggins25@hotmail.com or Morna McDermott at mmcdermott@towson.edu. Proposals for this strand should be submitted by May 30 to: candpaber@gmail.com
Mentoring: New or inexperienced conference presenters submitting single-authored proposals/papers (e.g., graduate students, recent graduates, PK-12 teachers and administrators new to scholarly conference presentation, and any others who may just be joining us) are warmly invited to submit their proposals to the Mentoring Strand. Presentations will be made in small groups of graduate students, recent graduates, and first-time conference attendees with similar research interests or questions. Participants, joined by one or two faculty mentors and other interested conference participants will take part in focused, small-group discussions of their work. Presenters will exchange drafts of their work prior to the conference to facilitate active discussion at the conference. Proposals for the mentoring strand ought to reflect a line of inquiry compatible with one of the other strands listed here. For additional information, please contact the strand chair, Kris Sloan at kriss@stedwards.edu Proposals for this strand should be submitted by May 30 to: candpmentoring@gmail.com
Public Moral Leadership: Proposals for this strand should be grounded in the notions of moral knowledge, actions, dispositions, and beliefs in leadership. Particular attention should be paid to moral leadership as situated in schools, programs, and society for the advancement of democracy. For additional information, please contact the strand chair, Fredrika Harper at f.harper@oakcreek.K12.wi.us Proposals for this strand should be submitted by May 30 to: candppml@gmail.com
Social Action, Then and Now: Proposals for this strand should address historical and contemporary ideas and actions that can inform deliberations about democratic struggles and social change within schools and within the broader civil society. For additional information, please contact the strand chair, Proposals for this strand should be submitted by May 30 to Jennifer Snow Gerono at jennifersnow@boisestate.edu Proposals for this strand should be submitted by May 30 to: candpsatn@gmail.com
Theory in Motion: Theory often informs practice as well as practice may inform theory. Proposals for this strand should be grounded within the everyday lives of P-12 and university education in which praxis, the intersection of theory and practice, is made real. For additional information, please contact the strand chair, Jennifer Milam at jennmilam@science.tamu.edu Proposals for this strand should be submitted by May 30 to:candptheory@gmail.com
Transformative Curriculum Development: Pedagogical notions and theories are represented and enacted within classrooms in material ways. Proposals for this strand should address issues related to curricular materials or instructional models either currently in use or in design for P-12 and university settings. Historical analyses are also welcomed. For additional information about this strand contact the strand chair, Susan Mayer at shaymayer@rcn.com Proposals for this strand should be submitted by May 30 to: candptcd@gmail.com
Making Meaning of Research, Measurement and Assessment: Mainstream practices of research, measurement and assessment dominate current policies and practices in education. A curriculum wisdom paradigm challenges such narrowly constructed theories and practices by strongly regarding participants’ understanding of the world. This strand welcomes proposals that challenge mainstream or narrowly-focused assessment and inquiry in the planning, evaluation and interpretation of curriculum and other processes in education. For additional information about his strand chair, contact Patti Bullock at plb12@psu.edu Proposals for this strand should be submitted by May 30 to: candpmmrma@gmail.com
Proposal Format
Submission: Curriculum and Pedagogy scholarship is characterized by a commitment to advance the complicated conversations of curriculum studies with intellectual rigor. Proposals should be submitted electronically to the Strand Chair of the selected strand at the email address provided there by May 30, 2008. Please direct any questions to the Strand Chair at the same email address. All proposals will undergo a blind review*.
Proposal Guidelines: To ensure the integrity of review and follow up, please use the format below in the order indicated here:
1. Title of proposal
2. Indicate presentation venue:
a. Roundtable Paper (technology is not provided; presenters are welcome to bring their own laptops; wireless internet access is available on site)
b. Performance-Based/Art Exhibition (please describe the performance or
exhibition, kind of space needed, and technology requests – we will have a very limited number of laptops and projectors available)
c. Multiple Paper Session (proposal of a group of 3 or more scholarly papers; technology requests will be honored if possible but cannot be guaranteed – we will have a very limited number of laptops and projectors available)
d. Public Presentation: round tables, presentations, poster sessions, and possible symposiums to be presented in the public square on the Saturday of the conference and open to the general public (weather permitting).
3. Strand Name
4. Abstract: 30 words max, for publication in the program
5. Description: 2-3 paragraph scholarly description of proposed work including content and how it is supportive of the conference theme. Please add references.
*Include the following information in the same document, but beginning on a separate page (to ensure that proposals are organized appropriately for blind peer review):
6. Name and contact information: Include e-mail(s), phone number(s), address(es), etc. of participant(s)
7. Affiliation: Provide role/s (K-12 teacher, K-12 administrator, graduate student, university faculty, community agency, etc.) AND university, school, or organization name/s (ex: K-12 teacher, Dr. Phillips High School and doctoral student, University of Central Florida)
*Note: Roundtable sessions will be the primary venue for paper presentations. We will try our best to honor all venue requests, but scheduling limitations may require that some papers be rescheduled as roundtable paper sessions. Should this become necessary, first authors will be contacted during scheduling. While we cannot consider individual requests for scheduling presentations, we will do our best to respond to extenuating circumstances. Please indicate particular circumstances you may have regarding the scheduling of your presentation. While we will try, we cannot, however, guarantee that we will be able to accommodate all such requests.
Please honor the May 30 deadline in order to help facilitate our planning and scheduling for the conference. Thank you for your interest and participation in the Curriculum and Pedagogy Group.