Visual and poetic references to oracles are here displayed as symbolic representations of my scholarly interests.
Across time and cultures, the civic purpose of consulting oracles has been to deepen and extend collective wisdom concerning issues of social significance; to integrate intellectual, emotional, intuitive, sensory, kinesthetic, and spiritual dimensions of human understanding; and to inspire principled social action.
As such, the metaphor of 'oracle' is helpful in reflecting and refining long-term scholarly commitments to exploring and evolving the role of public education in contributing to processes of social inquiry, innovation, reform, and renewal.
I began this work by conducting Delphi studies. The research technique, named for the ancient Greek oracle, was originally conceived as an intuitive and exploratory method for soliciting expert consensus regarding technological forecasts.
I became interested in cultural futures or social systems design variations. These are structured to engage communities first in composing shared visions of desirable social futures and then in identifying feasible strategies for bringing these into existence.
I was intrigued by the methodology's demonstrated capacity to enhance collective understanding of complex issues, to build consensus across diverse opinions, and to provide opportunities for individuals to fully participate in democratic decision-making regardless of their social status.
I have used the Delphi technique to explore children's perceptions of the future, to engage young students and their teachers in evaluating specific educational innovations, and to guide an international effort to develop policy recommendations regarding global civic education.
Educational Systems Design: by Children for Children Educational Foundations, 5(3): 19-42, 1991.
Cultural Futures Delphi Methodology: co-authored with C. Poolpatarachewin and S. Pitiyanuwat, in Citizenship for the Twenty-first Century: An International Perspective on Education, J. Cogan and R. Derricott, (eds.) London: Kogan Page, 1998, 2000.
The experience of participating in these processes of social inquiry raised a number of compelling concerns leading to related research and publications including:
The Roles of Youth in Society: A Reconceptualization Educational Forum, 52(2): 113-132, 1988.
Ecology and Equity: Toward the Rational Re-enchantment of Schools and Society Educational Theory , 42(2): 147-163, 1992.
My most recent scholarship emerges from a generative interdisciplinary collaboration with Charles R. Green, a professor of political science and colleague at Macalester. Our joint publications include:
Schooling Stories: Three Paths, Two Tragedies, and a Vision, in Tales of the State, S. Schram and P. Neisser, (eds.) Rowman & Littlefield, 1997.
Conversation, Composition and Courage: Re-envisioning Technologies for Education and Democracy Educational Studies 31(1):19-32, 2000.
Listening for Democracy: Shaping Technologies to Support Progressive Politics and Pedagogy Progressive Perspectives 3 (3), 2001.
Re-envisioning Education for Global Citizenship: Pacific-Asian Education 15(2), 2003.
Education and Democracy: Encyclopedia of the Social & Cultural Foundations of Education, E. Provenzo, Jr. (ed.) Sage, forthcoming 2008.
Educational Reform: Encyclopedia of the Social & Cultural Foundations of Education, E. Provenzo, Jr. (ed.) Sage, forthcoming 2008.
Our most challenging project has been the development of a book published by Information Age Press (2006):
Re-envisioning Education & Democracy
The purpose of the book is to explore challenges and opportunities for restructuring public education to establish and sustain more broadly inclusive, deeply democratic, and effectively transformative approaches to social inquiry and civic participation. We experiment with a non-traditional format integrating three modes of expression-strategic narratives, exploratory essays, and oracular meditations. These are designed to engage the resources of social, political, ethical, and aesthetic imagination necessary to support continuing participation in civic learning and public life that narrows the gap between democratic aspirations and 'real-world' accomplishments.
