Curriculum odyssey: Facilitating an international Olympic education project.

摘要

Traditionally, curriculum has been developed within national boundaries. Processes of globalization highlight concerns about transferring curriculum concepts and processes from one cultural context to another. In this inquiry, an international Olympic education project, based on a framework developed during an international conference in Kalavryta, Greece, offered an opportunity to facilitate the processes of cross-cultural curriculum collaboration.; The objective of the project, sponsored by the Athens Foundation for Olympic and Sport Education, was to produce an international Olympic education resource for teachers that would feature active learning experiences for children based on the values of the philosophy of Olympism. The development of the teacher's resource book was supervised by an International Steering Committee. Field tests were conducted in Australia, Brazil, China, South Africa and the United Kingdom. The results were presented during a conference to launch the resource book at Mt. Olympus, Greece in June 2000. Cross-cultural differences were observed in activities that focussed on the pursuit of individual excellence. Sport and the Olympic ideals, however, seemed to provide a context within which discussions of individual excellence could unfold.; The written inquiry is focussed on interpretation of the lived experiences of this project, and explores the question: How is it possible to responsibly facilitate cross-cultural collaboration on an international curriculum development project based on the philosophy of Olympism? Odyssey as metaphor signals the often conflicted and unpredictable nature of these experiences. Gadamer's (1989) ideas on how understanding is possible---that is through a dialectic between the past, future and present horizons of the researcher---provide the philosophical foundation for the study. A framework for organizing hermeneutic, autobiographical inquiry was adapted from the method of currere, developed by Pinar and Grumet (1976). Within this four-phase framework, narratives help to evoke the emotions and ambience of the lived experiences.; The inquiry concludes by offering insights into the role of the curriculum specialist on an international project from within the context of Schwab's (1969, 1971, 1973, 1981) concept of "the practical." It suggests that Olympism, which emphasizes concepts such as fair play, participation in physical activity and multiculturalism, may present a useful transnational context (Gough, 2000) for the performance of local knowledge, values and traditions.