The curriculum as cultures in conflict: Exploring monocultural and multicultural ideologies through the case of bilingual education

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Working Papers in Literacy, Culture, and Language Education

Volume

1

Issue

1

Publication Date

2012

First Page

88

Last Page

105

Abstract

Curriculum contentions are cultural struggles. As an illustration, we examine contention surrounding which and how languages are taught in the curriculum. We (the authors) locate this struggle within our positionalities, as a departure for our
analysis of competing ideologies surrounding language and curriculum. We use a dialogical methodology to examine tensions between monocultural and multicultural ideologies. An imaginary dialogue between us, Hirsch, and Bakhtin provides an illustration. Based upon the struggles located in the bodies of the authors and the imaginary dialogue of two cultural theorists, we conclude that a monological curriculum represents the domination of one cultural group over others rather than the pedagogical and social rationales provided by opponents of multilingual education.

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