A Zen Journey in the Living Map of Curriculum

Abstract

This paper will first analyze the rhetoric of the dead map of curriculum and its relation to the ideology of control in education, then explore the alternative of a Zen journey in the living map of curriculum. As the practice of Zen meditation focuses on the reflection of daily routines to see alternatives and possibilities, it echoes Maxine Greene’s view of imagination by uncoupling from the ordinary: a power element in provoking the not yet openings in the living map of curriculum. Furthermore, the spiritual power of Zen calls us to play the stringless lute of curriculum to get a new key beyond in the living map of curriculum. Finally this paper touches on the challenge or danger of this living map under the “ecstasy of communication” in a postmodern age.