Following Dewey’s (1997) and Schwab’s (2013) ideas, Clandinin & Connelly (1992) developed
their notion of teacher as curriculum maker, it means, the “teacher not so much as a maker of
curriculum but as a part of it and to imagine a place for contexts, culture (Dewey´s notion of
interaction), and temporality (both past and future contained in Dewey´s notion of continuity)”
(p.365). In this way, teachers are not seen as implementers of curricular plans but as part of the
curriculum making process. In other words, they understand that students create their
curriculum in their experience at school when they interact with teachers and the environment.
Therefore, the educational relationship creates the framework where learning can take place
and students can build knowledge (Atkinson, 2015); it means, relationships generate meeting
places that allow the making and reshaping of curriculum.
If teaching takes place in the relationship, it means recognition (and acceptance) of the other
person, of the otherness. It supposes trying to come into relation with the other, and it implies
also acceptance of the uncertainty that otherness has. Therefore, education Is not about the
implementation of an education programme in order to achieve (pre)determined results. It is
not about intervention on students, but it is an experience of relationship where each one
constructs their own story (Molina, Blanco & Arbiol, 2016).
In short, curriculum is made through experiences that are lived in relation and, therefore, we
could say that education is an act of relationship (Piussi, 2006). In this way, education does not
require that teachers have the most appropriate knowledge and programme for every situation;
the educational experience is unpredictable and ineffable, we cannot anticipate or face it
completely (Van Manen, 2015). Thus, teaching requires becoming aware of how we build
relationships and how we see the other person (Contreras, 2002).Universidad de Málaga. Campus de Excelencia Internacional Andalucía Tech
