Creating the [Insert Name Here] Methodology

In this chapter, the author uses a first-person narrative to describe her dissertation journey as she shifted from deductively hunting for the “right” methodology in order to follow an inductive process as she developed the “Melissa Methodology” of value-creative dialogue inspired by Ikeda's philosophical perspectives and practice. She illustrates one way that non-Western ways of knowing, being, and doing might inform curriculum studies student researchers. In addition, she highlights the importance of having supportive advisors and colleagues who pose and answer questions that push one's thoughts in new directions. Finally, she discusses implications for doctoral students based on her observations as an instructor of doctoral research methods courses. By sharing her journey, she hopes to provide an example of how doctoral students can be guided by their pursuit of what is worth knowing in creating their own research methodology.

SoTL and Social Justice

SoTL provides a foundation for democratizing the teacher-student relationship through its fertile ground for establishing more equalitarian roles among teachers and students. This chapter draws attention to the overlap between the values and essential characteristics of SoTL and the field of curriculum studies, which serves to study and examine social dynamics through curriculum inquiry. Through an exploration of forms of inquiry and research that unites curriculum studies (with its emphasis on transgressive education) and SoTL (with a focus on engagement of teachers and learners as educational community), this chapter highlights how research that dovetails SoTL and curriculum studies can provide powerful opportunity for emphasizing social justice.

Writing Histories of the Present

Historical research in the area of curriculum studies has tended to hew quite closely to traditional understandings of history as a matter of individuals, events, and causes and effects. Foucauldian discourse analysis (FDA) offers an alternative perspective on the past and present, one that sees history as erratic, discontinuous, and the result of operations of power and knowledge that exceed the level of the individual. This chapter begins with a brief overview of some of the theoretical underpinnings of FDA which make it unique among research methodologies in the field of educational research. The chapter then goes on to explore the types of questions that an FDA might pursue, the methodological tasks of FDA (including “archaeology” and “genealogy”), and closes with a discussion of two examples of FDA in curriculum studies.

“Gratitude to Old Teachers”: Leaning into Learning Legacies

Amongst a group of poet-scholar friends, all of us students of the American poet Robert Bly, often speak of our “gratitude to old teachers,” the title from one of Bly’s (1999) poems. We cherish a meditative awareness of deeply rooted presences holding us up, buoying us as we stride across “Water that once could take no human weight” that now “holds up our feet / And goes on ahead of us ….” What is this mystery? Through the love and support of “old teachers,” we are held, led, and supported, into an unknown future that, without their guidance, we might never have reached. Many of Bly’s students (myself included) refer to how meeting him “changed” or even “saved” their lives. Similarly, I could say this of meeting and studying with Canadian curriculum scholar and poet Carl Leggo. Practicing gratitude to old teachers fosters vital pedagogic engagement and personal connection in a world often fraught with isolation and despair. Reflecting on how these poetic influences have inspired and guided my own personal and professional life, this essay ruminates on grateful legacies within literary and curriculum studies, and beyond. Keywords: gratitude, curriculum studies, mentorship, poetry, poetic inquiry

The (In)Efficient Curriculum: An Overview of How Canadian Education Has Historically Failed to Welcome Black Refugee Students

For at least a century, educators have sought to define what education should look like, its purposes, content and approach, and how it could be delivered in the most efficient way. However, when looking at some of the most pre-eminent approaches in the history of curriculum studies, it is possible to observe how each of those “efficient” methods have not been able to welcome the uniqueness of Black refugee students. Despite claims of “diversity celebration”, when educators do not challenge and resist White structures and assumptions, even the most “efficient” curriculum falls short of being responsive to the Other, serving, rather, as another disguise to racism, which has long structured Canadian education. I argue that rather than an efficient ready-made set of rules, education must be conceptualized as an act of unconditional openness to the unknown Other, however uncomfortable and “inefficient” that may sound.

Pathophysiology teaching reform during the COVID-19 pandemic

The Coronavirus Disease 2019 pandemic has changed the way most people live and work, including the way in which students undertake study. To protect students during the pandemic, most schools in China adopted a study-at-home model. Under these circumstances, the pathophysiology teaching team at Tongji University considered how to reform teaching methods to minimize the impact of the pandemic on students’ curriculum studies. This article describes our teaching reforms in detail, notably a combination of online education resources, online discussion courses, and a WeChat study group. We compared the effects of the reformed and traditional teaching approaches, including student performance and student evaluation of the reformed teaching methods. Analysis showed that although students were generally worried about the impact of the pandemic on their curriculum studies, their overall performance was not affected by the reformed teaching methods. Of interest, compared with traditional teaching, the proportion of students with higher final test scores (≥90 points) actually increased. The revised teaching methods promoted the learning of some students externally and internally and enhanced their enthusiasm for medical study and their academic performance. These approaches could be applied as a reference for future course arrangements after the pandemic.