Cognition, co-emergence, curriculum

This paper describes a theory of curriculum co-emergence by which the various components of curriculum action (e.g. students, teachers, texts and processes) are understood to exist in a dynamic and mutually specifying relationship. Drawn from studies in biology, ecology, cognition, phenomenology and contemporary philosophical hermeneutics, this theory of co-emergence is used to analyse two classroom interactions: an elementary school lesson on fractions and a secondary school unit on the topic of anti-racism. Through these examples, the co-emergent and intertwining natures of knowledge (individual and collective) and identity (individual and collective) are explored. The paper concludes with a discussion of how a conception of curriculum as a co-emergent phenomenon can help us to overcome the unhelpful dichotomies that tend to be enacted in both child- and subject-centred pedagogies.