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.