Mall Pedagogy
Kurt Love, Ph.D.
Central Connecticut State University
EDSC 425

*Born to Shop*
Are we born “shoppers” or is shopping a learned
behavior?
How do we “learn” to shop?
How do we “teach” shopping?

Mainstream Curriculum
What is the mainstream curriculum of the mall?
Goals?
Objectives?
Activities?

Mainstream Curriculum of the Mall
Who are the designers of the mall curriculum?
Corporations?
Advertisers?
Zoning boards?
Town Councils?
Consumers?
Westerners?

Professor Capitalism Says...
Corporations and businesses gain the largest profit
when the consumer associates pleasure with the
product.
Thus, the consumer needs to “learn” that they will
experience pleasure when they purchase the product.

“Booby” Trap

“Booby” Trap
Bikini Baristas

Professor Capitalism Says...
Fortunate for the pleasure-doling businesses, pleasure
comes in countless forms.
Major sources of pleasure are in only a few categories:
1. Sensual Pleasure (includes Sexual Pleasure)
2. Status, Power, and Privilege Pleasure
3. Monetary Pleasure (a.k.a. Spending Less Pleasure)
4. Charity Pleasure

Mainstream Mall Curriculum
What are the clear messages of the mall curriculum
for the docile consumer?
Shopping is a fun experience
Shopping is healthy and normal
Shopping is a patriotic activity
The more you shop, the better shopping is

“Hidden Curriculum” of the Mall
What are the implicit messages of the mainstream
curriculum of the mall?
Pleasures teach us to see the world in a way that where the
goal is to seek pain-free living
Pleasures are the measure of success and happiness
Pleasures are morally earned
Middle class people are moral people
The more money you spend, the better the product

Null Curriculum
What are the messages that the mainstream
curriculum of the mall does not want its
consumer/learners to know?

Null Curriculum
Pleasures sell & make lots of money for a few people
Those few people rely on the consumers to want “traditional middle class
values,” which include “keeping up with the Jones’s”
Pleasures distract us from more important issues affecting society and
ecology
Pleasures control us by keeping us distracted
Pleasures control the U.S.
Pleasures keep the “masses” at bay in times when democratic
participation is needed most
Pleasures dull critical questioning

Shop or Revolt?
Will people really be inclined to work for social,
cultural, and ecological change if they...
have a supersaturated marketplace which doles out
“pleasure” to anyone with a credit card?
Won’t people feel “good enough” with their big screen
TVs and iPods not to voluntarily put themselves
through the emotional tolls of working for justice?

Credit Card + Mall = Democratically Flaccid
Give them a credit card, and you can be sure that they
won’t seriously challenge social and ecological injustices
Then, pump them full of “love songs”

Null Curriculum
What about those pesky tags showing where the
product was made?
Zoned for Slavery
Story of Stuff

Professor Capitalism Says...
The purpose of education is to make the economy
strong
The purpose of education is to make good workers
The purpose of education is to make good consumers

What is the Mainstream
Curriculum?
Education is a moral right.
Education is a patriotic activity.
Math is the universal language.
Science is the universal process of investigation of nature.
Literature...
The Arts...
History...

Traditional Pedagogy
• Historically that which has been the content of
the traditional curricula and teaching practices
have served those in the dominant groups (i.e.
White, upper class, men).
• As a result, many educators, students, and
researchers have provided critiques determining
that many forms of discrimination are
embedded within the mainstream curricula and
teaching practices.

Purposes of Education
What are the purposes of education in the U.S.?

Purposes of Education
Different pedagogies serve different purposes:
Exposing Patriarchy Feminist Pedagogy
Exposing Power Imbalances
Exposing Human Ecojustice Pedagogy
Domination Over Nature
Critical Pedagogy
Working for
Social Justice
Maintain a Status Quo with a
Hidden Curriculum of Traditional Pedagogy
Discrimination

Hidden Curriculum of
Traditional Pedagogy
Anthropocentrism - Centering humans and
human activities in the absence of our relationship
with the Earth and all other life forms.
Eurocentrism - Europeans and those of
European descent hold the “true” definitions of
life.
Racism - The White race described as most
privileged.

Hidden Curriculum of
Traditional Pedagogy
Sexism - Male as the dominant sex, holding the
positions of power and importance.
Heterosexism - Heterosexuals as the “normal”
sexual orientation, omission of sexuality in
historical accounts, fueled by homophobia.
Naturism - Humans treating the Earth as if it is
of secondary importance compared to the needs
and desires of humans; humans are not seen as a
part of nature.

Hidden Curriculum of
Traditional Pedagogy
Corporatism/Capitalism - Uncritical views
of capitalism and corporate practices, often seen as
morally right.
Militarism - Uncritical views of military
practices, often described as morally right.
Patriotism - Uncritical views of one’s country,
often described as morally right.

Hidden Curriculum of
Traditional Pedagogy
Religionism - Promotion of Christianity and
especially Christian values, often seen as morally
right.
Classism - Discrimination against poor and
working class, often viewed as being immoral.

Hidden Curriculum in a
Teacher’s Practice
Heterosexism
Sexism Naturism
Anthropocentrism Corporatism
Eurocentrism Classism
Patriotism/
Racism
Militarism
Teaching
Practice

Religionism Militarism Anthropocentrism
Traditional Teaching
Patriotism M
L U
Classism
Sexism
Heterosexism C U
R I
Racism R Religionism Militarism Anthropocentrism
U Patriotism
C Classism
Sexism U M
L
Heterosexism
C U
Racism R I
R
U
C
Docility
Teacher does not
problematize the Students have no skills for
“hidden” disrupting injustice
curriculum with
students Students do not recognize
injustice Docility

Religionism Militarism Anthropocentrism
Traditional Teaching
Patriotism M
L U
Classism
Sexism
Heterosexism C U
R I
Racism R Religionism Militarism Anthropocentrism
U Patriotism
C Classism
Sexism U M
L
Heterosexism
C U
Racism R I
R
U
C
Docility
Christopher
Columbus was a Columbus is a neutral
great explorer who person in history
discovered the
New World Columbus was brave and
strong Docility

Learning Models &
Practice
• Learning is a change in the intellectual
structure of a person’s mind.
• Learning is a process that occurs exclusively in
the brain, specifically the cerebral cortex
(information storage) and cerebellum (motor
coordination).
• Knowledge is culturally and historically neutral

Hidden Curriculum in a
Teacher’s Practice
What did did you learnschool today, dear little boyboy mine?
What you learn in in school today, dear little of of
I learned that Washington never told a lie
mine?
I Ilearned that soldiersnot so bad
learned that war is seldom die
I learned about that great ones we have had
I learned the everybody's free
We fought in the teacher said to me
That's what Germany and in France
And that's what II learned in my chance
And someday might get school today
And that's what I Ilearned in school today
That's what learned in school
That's what I learned in school
What did you learn in school today, dear little boy of mine?
What did you learn in school today,my friends boy of
I learned that policemen are dear little
I learned thatmine? never ends
justice
II learned that our government must becrimes
learned that murderers die for their strong
Even if we make a and never wrong
It's always right mistake sometimes
And that'sleaders learned finest men
Our what I are the in school today
So we elect them againin school
That's what I learned and again
And that's what I learned in school today
That's what I learned in school

Learning Models &
Practice
• Learning is a process that occurs in a social context where
the teacher and students cause the learning. The learner
can also be the teacher.
• Learning is when the learner is exposed to diversity of
relationships and interactions and gains a more diverse
understanding.
• Learning is a process of changing one’s relationships with
her/his community, which consist of interconnections
with nature and society.
• Knowledge is not culturally and historically neutral.
Knowledge is a product of power relationships and can
reinforce hegemonic processes.

Transformational Learning
• To what extent does Kolb’s definition of transformative
learning incorporate sociocultural relationships in the
process of learning?
• From Cooley (2007, p. 306):
Kolb (1984) proposed that learning occurs when an event is followed first
by reflection and then by critical discourse, after which we modify our
actions or choose a new experience. From this,we form abstract concepts
and generalizations that we then test by starting the process over again and
again. Knowledge, then, “is created through transformation of
experience” (p. 38). The recursive nature makes it “a transformational
process” (p. 38). With regard to personal change, we are faced with an event
that forces us to make a choice. Our choices determine future events that
result in future choices. Through this process of choice–event–choice, we
create our lives.

Student Empowerment
• How are students empowered in
transformational or transformative
learning?
• Critically question social, cultural, and ecological
power imbalances
• Engage with intergenerational knowledges
• Learning is directly connected to the issues of their
community and their identities

Transformative Teaching
Reading the World
Context For
Learning
Curriculum
How is Christopher Columbus seen by
different peoples? Movement
Who benefits from Columbus seen as a
“hero?”
Towards
Who benefits from Columbus seen as a
Social Justice Columbus seen as “hero” gives legitimacy
to Europeans who used colonization,
murderer & colonizer? genocide, and slavery for hundreds of years
in the Americas.

Learning Models &
Practice
• Learning is a change in the intellectual
structure of a person’s mind.
• Learning is a process that occurs exclusively in
the brain, specifically the cerebral cortex
(information storage) and cerebellum (motor
coordination).
• Knowledge is culturally and historically neutral

Religionism Militarism Anthropocentrism
Classism
Heterosexism
Sexism
Patriotism
C U
L U
M
Traditional Teaching
R I
Racism R Religionism Militarism Anthropocentrism
U Patriotism
C Classism
Sexism U M
L
Heterosexism
C U
Racism R I
R
U
C
Docility
Scientists think in
specific ways that Science is the best way to
lead us towards understand the universe
truth about the White males are most capable of
universe doing the important scientific Docility
work

Transformative Teaching
Reading the World
Context For
Learning
Curriculum
How does science help us better
understand the universe?
Movement
How does science limit our views of nature
and ourselves?
Towards
Social Justice Science helps us understand the universe
through observation, measurement, and
mathematics. Other ways of knowing are
not included and are devalued which limits
our understanding of the universe.

Transformative Teaching
Reading the World
Context For
Learning
Curriculum
What does our understanding of the atom
tell us about nature and ourselves?
Movement
How does this view of the atom limit our
views of nature and ourselves?
Towards
Social Justice Although this view of the atom helps us in
many ways, it is not without problems in how
we objectify ourselves and nature. This view
of the atom is patriarchal in that it describes
nature as a “machine” made up of “parts.”

Transformative Teaching
Reading the World
Context For
Learning
Curriculum
How does describing nature as a collection
of systems help us better understand
nature?
Movement
How does describing nature as a collection
of systems limit our views of nature and
Towards Viewing nature as a collection of systems helps us
ourselves? Social Justice understand how nature is full of patterns and
networks of causes and effects. However, this also
tells us that nature is “lifeless” and devalued as
“objects” and not “subjects.” It is devoid of
spirituality.

Learning Models &
Practice
• Learning is a process that occurs in a social context where
the teacher and students cause the learning. The learner
can also be the teacher.
• Learning is when the learner is exposed to diversity of
relationships and interactions and gains a more diverse
understanding.
• Learning is a process of changing one’s relationships with
her/his community, which consist of interconnections
with nature and society.
• Knowledge is not culturally and historically neutral.
Knowledge is a product of power relationships and can
reinforce hegemonic processes.

Null Curriculum
• What are the pieces of the mainstream curriculum
that are meant to be silenced?
• Science and math contribute to an objectified
view of nature devoid of something greater than
ourselves.
• History (a.k.a. His Story), the Arts, World
Language, and Literature are largely biased
favoring the colonizers, and perpetually blame
the victims for the horrific conditions that they
experience on a daily basis.

Your Turn
• Write a set of 5 questions that a teacher would ask
her/his students if she/he was operating with the
following theories of learning:
• Learning is a change in the intellectual structure of a
person’s mind.
• Learning is a process that occurs exclusively in the brain,
specifically the cerebral cortex (information storage) and
cerebellum (motor coordination).
• Knowledge is culturally and historically neutral

Your Turn
• Write a set of 5 questions of a teacher who uses the
following learning theories:
• Learning is a process that occurs in a social context where the teacher
and students cause the learning. The learner can also be the teacher.
• Learning is when the learner is exposed to diversity of relationships and
interactions and gains a more diverse understanding.
• Learning is a process of changing one’s relationships with her/his
community, which consist of interconnections with nature and society.
• Knowledge is not culturally and historically neutral. Knowledge is a
product of power relationships and can reinforce hegemonic processes.