Chapter 1: Living in Interesting Times: Toward a Curriculum of Meaning in a Time of Fear

“May you live in interesting times,” goes the saying, attributed to the Chinese, although the provenance is unproven. It is widely understood to be a curse, for which a loose translation could be: “May you experience disorder and trouble in your life.” In this essay I raise the issue of the “interesting times” in which we live, a time of great unrest and human agony amid the beauty and serenity that can be found. What am I referring to? The current climate includes the carceral state, Black men dying at the hands of police officers; mass migration and refugees fleeing the East; and religious fanaticism. Amid all of this exist our public schools in which the curriculum is important and not only reflects who we are by embodying and reflecting our values, it shows who we hope to become. What role do we as curriculum and teaching leaders play in bringing peace and understanding to our interesting times? It is something I attempt to reflect on and map out in what follows.