A Fiction of Fragmented Falsehoods: Curriculum of Unwanted Roads Traveled
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Georgia Southern University Digital Commons@Georgia Southern Electronic Theses and Dissertations Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of Fall 2019 A Fiction of Fragmented Falsehoods: Curriculum of Unwanted Roads Traveled Katherine Wyatt Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd Part of the Curriculum and Social Inquiry Commons, Fiction Commons, and the Fine Arts Commons Recommended Citation Wyatt, Katherine, "A Fiction of Fragmented Falsehoods: Curriculum of Unwanted Roads Traveled" (2019). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 2014. https://digitalcommons.georgiasouthern.edu/etd/2014 This dissertation (open access) is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Studies, Jack N. Averitt College of at Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons@Georgia Southern. For more information, please contact [email protected]. A FICTION OF FRAGMENTED FALSEHOODS: CURRICULUM UNWANTED ROADS TRAVELED by KATHERINE WYATT (Under the Direction of John Weaver) ABSTRACT This is an inquiry centered on lived ‘otherness’ in different social experiences. Fiction and illustrations are both creative outlets that provide opportunities of curriculum growth by offering the viewer realistic portrayals dealing with truth and factors that make us fundamentally human. “Fiction elicits an interpretation of the world by being itself a worldlike object for interpretation” (Dillard, 1988, p. 155). This study uses fiction and illustrations as vehicles of communication to provide an awareness regarding social issues in everyday lived experiences, exposing the reader to the social, cultural and historical realities persistently impeding the shared constructs of human experiences. Structuring around theoretical works of fiction inquiry (Chandler, 2007, Dillard, 1988, Iser, 1993, Leland, 1988, Nussbaum, 1995, 2001, 2010), critical theory (Freire, 2004, 2016, 2017, Horkheimer, 1991, 2002, Marcuse, 1991, 2009), arts-based research (Barone & Eisner, 2012, Knowles & Cole, 2008), imagination (Dewey, 2005, Eisner, 1991, 2002, Greene, 1978, 2000, 2001), and the big curriculum (Schubert, 1981, 2006), I wrote fiction short stories and paired them with hand-drawn illustrations. The study exposes the notion of experience that inquires critique of modern society in correlation with social evolution, while highlighting social issues and social order, human rights and circumstances in society. The artwork sheds light on the harsh realities that encompass such social issues as racism, homelessness, bullying, abuse, animal rights and veteran PTSD/suicide , while serving as a lens to those ‘othered’ individuals’ and/or groups’ voices. Works of fiction may indeed, through their recasting of the empirical particulars of the world, achieve extraordinary power to disturb and disrupt the familiar and commonplace, to question and interrogate that which seems to have already been answered conclusively, and to redirect the convention regarding important social issues. (Barone & Eisner, 2012, p. 101) It is an enlightening periscope of identifying another’s lived experiences that will provide a new perspective when understanding and interpreting human experiences, while giving an opportunity to see the world through another’s lens; as well as identifying and questioning the binaries humans and society create in daily experiences and fostering open discussion dialogues regarding these sensitive social issue topics and difference. INDEX WORDS: Fiction, Empathy, Illustrations, Otherness, Human experience, Social issues, Imagination, Social norms and standards, Inequalities A FICTION OF FRAGMENTED FALSEHOODS: CURRICULUM UNWANTED ROADS TRAVELED by KATHERINE WYATT B.F.A, Valdosta State University, 2003 M.Ed, University of Phoenix, 2006 Ed.S, Georgia College, 2013 A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Georgia Southern University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF EDUCATION STATESBORO, GEORGIA © 2019 KATHERINE WYATT All Rights Reserved 1 A FICTION OF FRAGMENTED FALSEHOODS: CURRICULUM UNWANTED ROADS TRAVELED by KATHERINE WYATT Major Professor: John Weaver Committee: Ming Fang He Robert Lake William Schubert Electronic Version Approved: December 2019 2 DEDICATION To my family, who continually offered their love and support through this creative journey. My father, Gordon—who taught me to reach for the stars because I could accomplish whatever I dreamed. My mother, Sandra—who taught me to drive with a purpose and work hard for what I want. My brother, Andrew—who taught me to laugh, to not settle, and when knocked down, get back up and keep walking. My aunt, Debbie—who taught me to treasure my talents and use them as a positive force. 3 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to Dr. John Weaver for his guidance and support, while pushing me to think creatively and write beyond my expected highest capabilities. Your belief and encouragement steered me in a direction where I could stay true to myself. Thank you for the direction and helping me find a voice I am proud to share. I would like to thank my committee members, Dr. Ming Fang He, Dr. Robert Lake, and Dr. William Schubert for your insights and suggestions that allowed me to grow as a writer, a student, and a person. I appreciate the continual encouragement that forged a sense of self- confidence within me and in my writing. To everyone who allowed me to have a conversation with you, thank you for sharing your stories and your vulnerabilities. Your generosity and willingness to share your lived experiences allowed me to break through barriers of difference, of un-relatability, in order to learn, to understand, to share. 4 TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS………………………………………………………………………...3 PROLOGUE………………………………………………………………………………………6 A Walking…………………………………………………………………………7 Different Directions, Different Strides—Different Ideas…………………………9 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………….12 Fiction and Illustration Inquiry…………………………………………...14 Theoretical Framework…………………………………………………..21 Significance, Limitations and Concerns………………………………….23 Fragments of the Real World……………………………………………..25 2 THE VOICE……………………………………………………………………...31 3 THE ONES WHO DON’T COME HOME………………………………………56 4 THE TALK………………………………………………………………………79 5 GRAFFITI ON THE BATHROOM STALL……………………………………100 6 LIFE’S LYRICS………………………………………………………………...120 7 ABSTRACTION AND SIMULATION OF SOCIAL EXPERIENCE…………143 Differenced by Language (Animals)……………...…………………….145 Differenced by Mentality (War)……………..………………………….147 Differenced by Color (Race)……………………………………………150 5 Differenced by Power (Humans Create Weakness)……..………….......153 Differenced by Hardship (Culture & Poverty)……………………..……156 Differenced by Being: Changing Perspectives………………….………157 Differenced by Reality: Out of Mind: Feeling Something………...…….161 Differenced by Experience: Empathy Shoes……………………………163 REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………………166 6 PROLOGUE There is so much world with such little time to travel—to experience, to learn of difference. A Fiction of Fragmented Falsehoods: Curriculum of Unwanted Roads Traveled is a synthesis of fiction short stories and illustrations addressing lived ‘otherness’ in different social experiences, exposing readers to a curriculum that shapes human beings and cultures—a curriculum that extends beyond the everyday educational settings. There is a much larger curriculum of life beyond what is learned within the social setting of a school environment—so many realms impacting one’s life and individualized growth and learning. So many domains that affect learning, learning that occurs and extends beyond the classroom. “Such powerful dimensions as the character of the students’ homes, families, communities, and peers play a profound role in their evolving conception of the world, how it works, and their relation to it” (Schubert, 1981, p. 185). It is these dimensions that help shape our experiences. An essential part of learning and personal growth occurs outside of the classroom experiences—this learning is spontaneous; it is action within the moment and it is affected greatly by these powerful dimensions. These experiences are the curriculum that shapes us—that influences the formation of our identity, our role in society. Through experiencing—through the social process—we develop the capacity to learn. We encounter, are forced to engage with difference, adversity, culture and unknown, all of which impart knowledge. Our gaze must not only include schools, but all aspects of society that shape our outlooks, identities and actions. I call this configuration of shapers the BIG CURRICULUM, and argue that it is neglected and in need of an antidote. (Schubert, 2006, p. 100) 7 It is the BIG CURRICULUM that defines us as a human being—these experiences mold us, inspire us, and teach us. You cannot truly understand something until it happens to you, whether directly or indirectly. It cannot be taught. Learning happens in experience. It happens through interactions, through differences—through trial and error. Exposing one to the larger curriculum of culture and life, fiction short stories and illustrations have a pivotal role in providing a path enabling the reader to walk in another’s lived experiences. Fiction is an important vehicle to teach us about the bigger curriculum of life, whether similar or different from our own realities— or our own experiences.