This Moment is the Curriculum: Equity, Inclusion, and Collectivist Critical Curriculum Mapping for Study Abroad Programs in the COVID-19 Era

TY - JOUR

T1 - This Moment is the Curriculum

T2 - Equity, Inclusion, and Collectivist Critical Curriculum Mapping for Study Abroad Programs in the COVID-19 Era

AU - Ohito, Esther O.

AU - Lyiscott, Jamila

AU - Green, Keisha L.

AU - Wilcox, Susan E.

N1 - Funding Information: The author(s) disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by the U.S. Department of Education Office of Postsecondary Education’s Fulbright-Hays Group Projects Abroad Program (grant number P021A190028) and the University of Massachusetts Amherst’s Center of Racial Justice and Youth Engaged Research. Publisher Copyright: © The Authors 2020.

PY - 2021/3

Y1 - 2021/3

N2 - Background: This article explores critical curriculum mapping in experiential education through immersive travel or Study Abroad Programs (SAPs). Purpose: The tetrad of authors theorizes then models the practice of criticality in curriculum mapping for SAPs. Methodology/Approach: Using Black feminist thought as a theoretical moor and dialogue and reflexive narrative as methods, authors present a curriculum mapping framework that is berthed to collective knowledge of how Black women in the African diaspora make meaning of lived experience to survive a perpetually precarious world. Findings/Conclusions: The framework exemplifies an epistemological alternative to dominant individualistic Euro/American approaches to curriculum mapping. Such approaches privilege predictability and linearity, contributing to the low participation of collectivist-oriented Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students in SAPs. Implications: A collectivist critical orientation to curriculum mapping may, therefore, be useful for (a) epistemologically diversifying curricular responsiveness (with implications for teaching and learning in the unpredictable chaos of the current COVID-19 moment) and (b) addressing enduring issues of equity and inclusion in SAPs.

AB - Background: This article explores critical curriculum mapping in experiential education through immersive travel or Study Abroad Programs (SAPs). Purpose: The tetrad of authors theorizes then models the practice of criticality in curriculum mapping for SAPs. Methodology/Approach: Using Black feminist thought as a theoretical moor and dialogue and reflexive narrative as methods, authors present a curriculum mapping framework that is berthed to collective knowledge of how Black women in the African diaspora make meaning of lived experience to survive a perpetually precarious world. Findings/Conclusions: The framework exemplifies an epistemological alternative to dominant individualistic Euro/American approaches to curriculum mapping. Such approaches privilege predictability and linearity, contributing to the low participation of collectivist-oriented Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) students in SAPs. Implications: A collectivist critical orientation to curriculum mapping may, therefore, be useful for (a) epistemologically diversifying curricular responsiveness (with implications for teaching and learning in the unpredictable chaos of the current COVID-19 moment) and (b) addressing enduring issues of equity and inclusion in SAPs.

KW - critical theories

KW - cultural diversity

KW - curriculum development

KW - minority/underrepresented groups

KW - study abroad

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U2 - https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825920979652

DO - https://doi.org/10.1177/1053825920979652

M3 - Article

SN - 1053-8259

VL - 44

SP - 10

EP - 30

JO - Journal of Experiential Education

JF - Journal of Experiential Education

IS - 1

ER -