“A Fantasy of Untouchable Fullness”: Melancholia and Resistance to Educational Transformation

Abstract

Abstract. The progressive language of growth and development that informs our shared ideal of the educated subject also informs the curricular structure of schooling, in which new learning builds upon established knowledge and students'

An Ethos of Wander Time: Staying with the Trouble to Make Sense During Crises

“…During recess, when staring out the window during a lesson, on the back of an assigned worksheet, in pushing conversations “off topic,” children in schools claim schole even in the midst of chronos. As the opening vignette suggests and is argued by Stillwagon ( 2017 ) mourning too is often present but at the boundaries. Yet, while children can and do make meaning on their own on the outskirts of the school curriculum, if we believe that adults and peers provide guidance, support, and help children make meaning then it is important that we find places to join children in these endeavors (Arendt 1954 ; Furman 2019 ; Silin 1995 ).…”

“…“I went out of the schoolhouse fast/and through the garden to the woods,/and spent all summer forgetting what I'd been taught.” After listing a series of superficial learnings “two times two, and diligence and so forth,” Oliver concludes, “By fall I had healed somewhat, but was summoned back/to the chalky rooms and the desks to sit and remember” the summer beauty and meaning of the world around her. Not only does meaning and healing occur out of school but also school, for Oliver in this poem and Stillwagon ( 2017 ) is a hurt that must be recovered from.…”

“…Within this interpretation of the pause, the wandering also serves as a purging of the experience and trauma of slavery. The Israelites need to wander after the trauma of slavery and exile speaks to the need for time to dwell with a loss (Glaude 2008 ; Lussier 2021a and b ; Stillwagon 2017 ). Again, the rhythm, in this case, between the mourning and the moving forward is necessary (Glaude 2008 ).…”

“…Dwelling in the former is needed to be able to heal enough to go on. That said, mourning rarely, as James Stillwagon ( 2017 ) emphasizes, has a place in schools and this inhibits moving forward. Further, I was taught that the significance of 40 years is that it marks the passing of a generation.…”

“…For example, the drawing pad he used came from the grocery store. In fact, the act of culling through available materials led to interesting and important revelations (for another example see the discussion of found poems in Stillwagon 2017 , 64) such as the juxtaposition of Optimus Prime and the Billy Goats Gruff or Trump and Megatron. He chose content (Transformers) that resonated with his own concerns, needs, and rhythms.…”