Review
[Rasheed]... provide[s] a conceptual and philosophical framework for looking behind the screen of the teleological givens within instrumental curriculum and to explore the possibilities of a curriculum of action... This framework, which is an existentialist perspective, implores educators to look past the givens associated with neoliberalist concepts of education that are said to produce degrees of passive compliance to the possibilities associated with a curriculum which fosters critical spirit? a spiritwhich, once deployed, seeks possibility, hope and change. If you are interested in freedom and emancipation, and how it relates to curriculum within our teaching institutions, Rasheed provides an easy to read, yet conceptually grounded journey...This book is particularly useful for beginning educators in the sense that it will prompt them to examine the platform upon which they make their day-to-day curriculum and teaching decisions. It is also useful for experienced educators whose reading of the textwill cast them into a space where they can re-explore that which influenced them to be(come) educators in the first place. (Mark Tyler
International Journal Of Pedagogies and Learning )
Shaireen Rasheed's engaging book carries forward the existentialist tradition in educational thinking into our new century. Proceeding from the work of Maxine Greene, the leading representative of this tradition, Rasheed introduces us to this work via an examination of its philosophical roots and its affinities with Freire's critical pedagogy. She then extends Greene's thinking into the field of curriculum theory, developing out of its implications a language that emphasizes a curriculum's humanizing possibilities. Anyone interested in how education's humanistic values may be defended with the help of existentialist arguments will be likely to find much of interest in Rasheed's discussion. (René V. Arcilla )
The book provides exercises for educators and their students to help them understand how various influences – political, social and economic – affect the way they teach and learn. With this knowledge, regardless of the regimented curriculum and testing, they still can have the freedom to think for themselves and to come to their own conclusions. (
Long Island University Magazine )
Shaireen Rasheed explores the richness of Sartre's "freedom in action" as that notion is developed philosophically and pedagogically in the work of Maxine Greene. Drawing upon Greene's contributions to curriculum discourse, the works of selected curriculum theorists, and personal practice, Rasheed provides justification for an "existential curriculum of possibility," affirming education for freedom in a pluralistic world where the quest for democracy, dignity, and diversity can be encouraged. This creative, inspiring integration of existentialism and curriculum theory translates a challenging philosophy into a compelling call to educational action. (Linda O'Neill )
[Rasheed]... provide[s] a conceptual and philosophical framework for looking behind the screen of the teleological givens within instrumental curriculum and to explore the possibilities of a curriculum of action... This framework, which is an existentialist perspective, implores educators to look past the givens associated with neoliberalist concepts of education that are said to produce degrees of passive compliance to the possibilities associated with a curriculum which fosters critical spirit— a spirit which, once deployed, seeks possibility, hope and change. If you are interested in freedom and emancipation, and how it relates to curriculum within our teaching institutions, Rasheed provides an easy to read, yet conceptually grounded journey...This book is particularly useful for beginning educators in the sense that it will prompt them to examine the platform upon which they make their day-to-day curriculum and teaching decisions. It is also useful for experienced educators whose reading of the text will cast them into a space where they can re-explore that which influenced them to be(come) educators in the first place. (Mark Tyler
International Journal Of Pedagogies and Learning )
About the Author
Shaireen Rasheed (Ph.D., Columbia University) is an Associate Professor in Philosophical Foundations of Education at C.W. Post Campus of Long Island University.
