AN APPROACH TO CURRICULUM GRACE A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education in the University of Canterbury by Raymond M. Genet University of Canterbury 2016 _______________________ Red-winged blackbird formerly known as the Red-winged starling or Marsh blackbird from The Birds of America (1827-1828) by John James Audubon After a while she looks up and says, "What did you see?" "There was a whole flock of red-winged blackbirds. They rose up suddenly when we went by." "Oh." "I was happy to see them again. They tie things together, thoughts and such. You know?" She thinks for a while and then, with the trees behind her a deep green, she smiles. She understands a peculiar language which has nothing to do with what you are saying. A daughter. "Yes," she says. "They’re beautiful." "Watch for them," I say. "All right." From Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig (1974, p.9) TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES LIST OF TABLES ABSTRACT .............................................................................................................................. 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................... 3 Thesis Rationale and Thesis Topic ........................................................................................ 4 My Experience and Background ........................................................................................... 7 Personal Teaching Dilemma - Developing Socratic Inquiry and Problem Posing Education .................................................................................................... 8 Background to the Teaching of Consilience ........................................................................ 12 Research Questions........................................................................................................... 13 Choice of Research Design .................................................................................................. 14 Choice of School .............................................................................................................. 14 French Language Teaching in New Zealand and Consilience ............................................. 17 The New Zealand Curriculum and Assessment Context .................................................. 17 Thesis Plan ........................................................................................................................... 21 CHAPTER 2 CONSILIENCE, CONTROVERSY, COHERENCE & GRACE ..................... 24 Etymology and Historic Roots of Consilience ..................................................................... 25 E.O.Wilson’s Conceptualisation of Consilience .................................................................. 27 Criticism of E.O. Wilson’s Sociobiology and Consilience .................................................. 29 Criticisms Relating to Sociobiology ................................................................................. 30 Criticisms Relating to Wilson’s (1998) Conception of Consilience ................................ 33 Détente .............................................................................................................................. 33 Consilience as Congruence .................................................................................................. 36 Consilience and Grace .......................................................................................................... 36 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 38 CHAPTER 3 TOWARDS A THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK ............................................ 41 The Adaptive Change Cycle (ACC)..................................................................................... 42 Conservation or K-Phase .................................................................................................. 43 Release or Ω-Phase ........................................................................................................... 44 Exploitation (r) ................................................................................................................. 50 The Three Dimensions of Adaptive Change Cycle .......................................................... 51 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 57 CHAPTER 4 METHODS ........................................................................................................ 60 Education Research Ethics ................................................................................................... 62 Case Study Definition, Aims and Methodology .................................................................. 63 Case Study Participant Relationships ............................................................................... 64 Single Case Analysis ........................................................................................................ 67 The Unit of Work for School #1. ......................................................................................... 67 Communicative Language Teaching. ............................................................................... 68 Task Based Language Teaching ....................................................................................... 69 Content Based Instruction ................................................................................................ 69 Thematic Integrated Learning .......................................................................................... 72 Authenticity ...................................................................................................................... 73 The Lessons ...................................................................................................................... 80 Data Collection and Analysis ............................................................................................... 87 Supplementary Data for Triangulation ............................................................................. 90 Learning Journals ............................................................................................................. 93 Recording Devices ............................................................................................................ 93 Supplementary Sources - Ensuring Internal Reliability of Evidence ............................... 93 Interviews and Conversation Analysis ............................................................................. 94 Summary .............................................................................................................................. 96 CHAPTER 5 RESULTS .......................................................................................................... 98 Section 1: Conservation Phase (K1) - Pre-Disturbance: Extracts 1-8. ............................... 101 Extract 1 .......................................................................................................................... 101 Extract 2 .......................................................................................................................... 106 Extract 3 .......................................................................................................................... 107 Extract 4 .......................................................................................................................... 108 Extract 5 .......................................................................................................................... 109 Extract 6 .......................................................................................................................... 110 Extract 7 .......................................................................................................................... 112 Extract 8 .......................................................................................................................... 114 Section 2: Extract 9 - Collapse (K→Ω) - Student Critique of the Expert Story ................ 116 Section 3: Reorganisation (α) Continued Student Critique of the Expert Story: Extracts 10-14 .................................................................................................................... 117 Extract 10 ........................................................................................................................ 117 Extract 11 ........................................................................................................................ 118 Extract 12 ........................................................................................................................ 120 Extract 13 ........................................................................................................................ 121 Extract 14 ........................................................................................................................ 123 Section 4: Summary of Extracts 1-14 Lesson 1 – Conservation (K1), Collapse (Ω), Re-organisation (α) and Renewal (r) .................................................................................. 124 Section 5: Renewal/Growth (r) – The Creation of an Original Idea: Extracts 15-18........ 126 Extract 15 – Lesson 6 ....................................................................................................