Understanding curriculum as play : transdisciplinarity, spirituality, and consciousness
department or school: Education, Faculty of
department or school: Curriculum and Pedagogy (EDCP), Department of
data provider: DSpace
degree campus: UBCV
creator: Chu, Elise Linghui
issued: 2025-10-17T00:34:03Z
issued: 2025
related degree: Doctor of Philosophy - PhD
degree grantor: University of British Columbia
description: This study aims to articulate a conception of curriculum as play while envisioning a transdisciplinary stage of curriculum theorizing. It is motivated by concerns over the dominance of technoscience and persistent difficulties in communication between existential and scientific traditions within the curriculum field. Recognizing that these challenges possess both historical depth and contemporary relevance, this study demonstrates the indispensability of transdisciplinarity and spirituality for the further advancement of curriculum thinking, embodied in a conception of curriculum as play. My argument follows a threefold structure, progressing from transdisciplinarity to spirituality, and finally to play. Through an exploration of competing concepts of transdisciplinarity, I demonstrate the advantages and validity of Basarab Nicolescuâs axiomatic methodology of transdisciplinarity, which accommodates both science and spirituality. Then, to illustrate how transdisciplinarity and spirituality align and enrich one another, I draw on MahÄyÄna Buddhism as a theoretical instance, examining the ontological, epistemological, and logical dimensions of Buddhist spirituality within Nicolescuâs methodological framework. On this basis, I undertake a transdisciplinary hermeneutics of key aspects of spirituality, including the primacy of consciousness over matter, the concept of complementarity, and an understanding of human existence as play, drawing on insights from quantum physics, new biology, cognitive science, and philosophical hermeneutics. I then explore concepts and theories of play, with a focus on Donald Winnicottâs theory and its resonances with transdisciplinarity and spirituality. Building on this foundation, I conclude by presenting an understanding of curriculum as play, serving as an initial theoretical instance of the transdisciplinary stage of curriculum, which enables the restoration of spirituality in education without compromising rationality.
aggregated CHO: https://circle.library.ubc.ca/rest/handle/2429/92652
note: UNDERSTANDING CURRICULUM AS PLAY: TRANSDISCIPLINARITY, SPIRITUALITY, AND CONSCIOUSNESS by Elise Linghui Chu B.Sc., Feng Chia University, Taiwan, 1989 M.Sc., Feng Chia University, Taiwan, 1994 M.A., The University of British Columbia, 2016 A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in THE FACULTY OF GRADUATE AND POSTDOCTORAL STUDIES (Curriculum Studies) THE UNIVERSITY OF BRITISH COLUMBIA (Vancouver) October 2025 © Elise Linghui Chu, 2025 ii The following individuals certify that they have read, and recommend to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for acceptance, the dissertation entitled: Understanding Curriculum as Play: Transdisciplinarity, Spirituality, and Consciousness submitted by Elise Linghui Chu in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Curriculum Studies Examining Committee: Anne Phelan, Professor, Curriculum & Pedagogy, UBC Supervisor William Pinar, Professor, Curriculum & Pedagogy, UBC Supervisory Committee Member Claudia Eppert, Professor, Secondary Education, University of Alberta Supervisory Committee Member Samson Nashon, Head and Professor, Curriculum & Pedagogy, UBC University Examiner Samuel Rocha, Professor, Educational Studies, UBC University Examiner Molly Quinn, Professor, Curriculum Studies, Louisiana State University External Examiner iii Abstract This study aims to articulate a conception of curriculum as play while envisioning a transdisciplinary stage of curriculum theorizing. It is motivated by concerns over the dominance of technoscience and persistent difficulties in communication between existential and scientific traditions within the curriculum field. Recognizing that these challenges possess both historical depth and contemporary relevance, this study demonstrates the indispensability of transdisciplinarity and spirituality for the further advancement of curriculum thinking, embodied in a conception of curriculum as play…
has type: Thesis/Dissertation
date issued: 2025-11
is shown at: 10.14288/1.0450478
language: eng
degree discipline: Curriculum Studies
provider: Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
publisher: University of British Columbia
rights: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International
rights URI: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
scholar level: Graduate
contributor: Phelan, Anne M.
type: Text
identifier URI: http://hdl.handle.net/2429/92652