‘Here’s a knocking indeed!’ says the Porter in Shakespeare’s Scottish play (Act II, Scene 3) and immediately puts himself into role in order to deal with the demands of such an early call after a late night of drinking and carousal: ‘If a man were porter of hellgate...’. But what roles does the porter of curriculumgate take on in order to deal with drama’s persistent demands for entry? Ah, that depends upon the temperature of the times. We, who have been knocking for what seems to be a very long time, know well that when evaluation and measurement criteriaare demanded as evidence of drama’s ef cacy, an examiner stands as gatekeeper. When the educational landscape is in danger of overcrowding, we meet a territorial governor. And how often has the courtesan turned out to be only a tease because the arts are, for a brief moment, in the spotlight for their abilities to foster outofthebox thinkers? In this text, we meet these ‘commissionaires’ and many more. The gatekeeping roles and what they represent are so familiar that they have become cliches ´ to us. We know them by their arguments, ripostes, dismissals, their brief encouragement and lack of followup. And we know that behind each one (however rmly they think they keep the keys) is a nancial and political master whose power controls the curriculum building and everything in it.
‘Here’s a knocking indeed!’ says the Porter in Shakespeare’s Scottish play (Act II, Scene 3) and immediately puts himself into role in order to deal with the demands of such an early call after a late night of drinking and carousal: ‘If a man were porter of hellgate...’. But what roles does the porter of curriculumgate take on in order to deal with drama’s persistent demands for entry? Ah, that depends upon the temperature of the times. We, who have been knocking for what seems to be a very long time, know well that when evaluation and measurement criteriaare demanded as evidence of drama’s ef cacy, an examiner stands as gatekeeper. When the educational landscape is in danger of overcrowding, we meet a territorial governor. And how often has the courtesan turned out to be only a tease because the arts are, for a brief moment, in the spotlight for their abilities to foster outofthebox thinkers? In this text, we meet these ‘commissionaires’ and many more. The gatekeeping roles and what they represent are so familiar that they have become cliches ´ to us. We know them by their arguments, ripostes, dismissals, their brief encouragement and lack of followup. And we know that behind each one (however rmly they think they keep the keys) is a nancial and political master whose power controls the curriculum building and everything in it.
Barnes & Noble is the world’s largest retail bookseller and a leading retailer of content, digital media and educational products. Our Nook Digital business offers a lineup of NOOK® tablets and e-Readers and an expansive collection of digital reading content through the NOOK Store®. Barnes & Noble’s mission is to operate the best omni-channel specialty retail business in America, helping both our customers and booksellers reach their aspirations, while being a credit to the communities we serve.
