Mapping Middle School Mathematics Teachers\u27 Curriculum Assemblages: A Post-Qualitative Inquiry

In my post-qualitative inquiry, I investigated four middle school mathematics teachers’ curriculum work during the COVID-19 pandemic. Curriculum has been undergoing a transformation as teachers have greater access to online resources and digital tools (Pepin et al., 2017; Webel et al., 2015). The transformation was further exacerbated by the changes forced by COVID-19 as teachers scrambled to reimagine their curriculum systems in a different context—virtual, hybrid, and concurrent. This study used a post-qualitative approach branching away from traditional linear notions of curriculum to one that is complex, dynamic, and creative. The goal was to create a space to consider curriculum differently. As such, the dissertation is structured rhizomatically to provide opportunities for the reader to wonder nomadically as lines of flight spark. I used a methodology of becoming injecting Deleuzoguattarian theory to deterritorialize conventional methodology viewing the project as an assemblage of interconnected components (e.g., lesson plan walkthroughs, schematic drawings, teacher resources, assemblage of terms, and sketchnotes). Moreover, data collection and analysis were seen as rhizomatic (Best & Kellner, 1991; Deleuze & Guattari, 1987); blurring and overlapping throughout the processes. Sketchnotes acted as an initial visualization of participants’ curriculum assemblages. Leveled writing (Markham, 2012) opened space for connections by constructing a rhizomatic structure as new concepts and ideas sprouted between previous text. I then used a cartographic approach to map participants curriculum assemblages. As I nomadically traveled across participants’ curriculum maps tracings or well-worn paths emerged from the maps. Tracings were jagged and bounced as participants used structures within their curriculum assemblages to leap between levels and across time. Participants’ reconceptualized their curriculum assemblages under the context of the learning environments created by COVID-19. While participants adjusted their curriculum assemblages by cutting, adding, translating, and reorganizing components of their curriculum assemblages, the Common Core State Standards for Mathematics remained entrenched