Seeing Through the Sandstorm

Envisioning a Future through Critical Friendship and alongside the Present

Abstract

Exploring the well-known allegory of the jar filled with rocks and sand, we found it lacking when put to task against our own life situations. We were able to determine what our own golf balls, marbles, and sand represented in our own lives, but neither could explain why our jars were continually being filled with sand. We wondered what part of life this parable was missing that related to our own situations, and this flaw in the parable became part of the impetus for our exploration through the progressive section of the currere process. Having already navigated the churning, though insightful, waters of the regressive step together, we were prepared for the next leg of our metacognitive journey, determining our answers to Pinar’s call to consider our vision of the future. Having a better understanding of where we had been, we were ready to question what we envisioned for our futures. As teacher educators, we asked ourselves, “where are we going, what is important to us, and how can a continued collaborative conversation help us to elucidate a clearer vision of purpose for ourselves and our work?”