The Stance of Curiosity in the Classroom.

Abstract

Relationship competencies are emphasised in The New Zealand Curriculum (Ministry of Education, 2007). Alongside this, many schools have a growing interest in citizenship education. Relationship strategies traditionally used by counsellors are included in teachers' interactional repertoire. This article presents findings about the relationship potential of "a stance of not-knowing" when it was employed by teachers for educational rather than therapeutic purposes. Examples are drawn from the results of a research project that examined how teachers might utilise various conversational moves from narrative therapy in support of their relationship practices. In spite of the paradigmatic differences between counsellors' and teachers' work, and the consequent difficulties these might pose for teachers when they try to shift between different relationship paradigms, the research participants almost unanimously embraced a stance of not-knowing. While the enthusiasm of these teachers provides an argument for the positive potential of counselling knowledge beyond therapeutic contexts, I also raise questions about the overenthusiastic transport of counselling skills into the classroom. The purpose of this article is to encourage discussion among school counsellors and teachers about their respective roles and contributions to students' learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of New Zealand Journal of Counselling is the property of New Zealand Association of Counsellors and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)