Abstract—In an educational environment dominated by technological instrumentalization and standardized assessment, mathematics education faces the dual challenges of cognitive alienation and a loss of humanity. This article, drawing on Peter Appelbaum's "Children's Literature and Adult Teachers: Reading and Writing Curriculum Theory", explores how to reconstruct mathematics education's critical and creative nature through the metaphorical power of children's literature. Appelbaum's three core concepts of "weirding", "poaching", and "dark matter pedagogy" offer innovative approaches to resisting technological hegemony. "Weirding" activates students' cognitive revolution by deconstructing linear narratives; "poaching" transforms students into knowledge snipers; and "dark matter pedagogy" considers unquantifiable traumatic memories and cultural silences. Using qualitative content analysis, this study systematically examines the practical application of these theories in mathematics education, revealing how literary metaphors bridge abstract curriculum theory and classroom practice. The study found that Appelbaum's framework successfully transforms digital platforms from tools of capitalist discipline into experimental fields for critical pedagogy. Its interdisciplinary nature (melding jazz improvisation, mathematics, and dystopian literature) injects humanistic vitality into STEM education. However, implementing this approach requires teachers to be able to translate literary narratives into mathematical cognitive strategies and to be wary of the risks of "subversion for its own sake". This study provides important insights for reconstructing the humanistic dimension of mathematics education in the technological age. It points the way toward developing future support resources such as "metaphor toolkits" for teachers. 
 

Keywords—critical pedagogy, mathematics education, curriculum theory, technology resistance, interdisciplinary learning 

Cite: Jun Zhang, "Children's Book as a Blueprint for Critical Curriculum Design," International Journal of Learning and Teaching, Vol. 11, No. 6, pp. 381-385, 2025.

Copyright © 2025 by the authors. This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited (CC BY 4.0).