Bakhtinian Thought

Bakhtinian thought contributes to curriculum studies by recognizing that voices cannot exist in isolation; rather, our utterances represent some aspect of our interactions and experiences within society throughout the duration of our lives. In this respect, classrooms represent a microcosm of society where differing voices come into contact to construct a polyphonic truth. Individuals within a modern society must work to understand and value the voices of one another as well as to comprehend the reasons for why they speak certain utterances within specific contexts.

Mikhail Bakhtin focused his work around the notion that speech and language belonged to the social domain as opposed to being constructed within the individual. Bakhtin's theories attend to the multi-voicedness of individuals, dialogicality of meaning, the centrality of language in ...