Theorys Curriculum

The Second Edition of Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns by Michael Stephen Schiro presents a clear, unbiased, and rigorous description of the major curriculum philosophies that have influenced educators and schooling over the last century. The author analyzes four educational visions—Scholar Academic, Social Efficiency, Learner Centered, and Social Reconstruction—to enable readers to reflect on their own educational beliefs and more productively interact with educators who might hold different beliefs.

This book crosses the divide between theoreticians and practitioners by demonstrating how curriculum theories and models are applied in classrooms today. It ties together broad educational theories such as progressivism, essentialism, perennialism, etc.; curriculum models, characterized as learner-centered, society-centered or knowledge-centered; and exemplars of curriculum theories and models, such as Reggio Emilia, Core Knowledge, the International Baccalaureate, etc.

This primer for teachers (prospective and practicing) asks readers to question the historical present and their relation to it, and in so doing, to construct their own understandings of what it means to teach, to study, to become "educated" in the present moment. Curriculum theory is the scholarly effort – inspired by theory in the humanities, arts and interpretive social sciences – to understand the curriculum, defined here as "complicated conversation." Rather than the formulation of objectives to be evaluated by (especially standardized) tests, curriculum is communication informed by academic knowledge, and it is characterized by educational experience. Pinar recasts school reform as school deform in which educational institutions devolve into cram schools preparing for standardized exams, and traces the history of this catastrophe starting in 1950s. Changes in the Second Edition: Introduces Pinar’s formulation of allegories-of-the-present — a concept in which subjectivity, history, and society become articulated through the teacher’s participation in the complicated conversation that is the curriculum; features a new chapter on Weimar Germany (as an allegory of the present); includes new chapters on the future, and on the promises and risks of technology.

Curriculum: From Theory to Practice introduces readers to curriculum theory and how it relates to classroom practice. Wesley Null provides a unique organization of the curriculum field into five traditions: systematic, existential, radical, pragmatic, and deliberative. He discusses the philosophical foundations of curriculum as well as historical and contemporary figures who have shaped each curriculum tradition. Additionally, after a chapter on each of the five perspectives, Null presents case studies that describe realistic and specific curriculum problems that commonly arise within elementary schools, middle schools, high schools, and universities. Scholars and practitioners alike are given opportunities to practice resolving curriculum problems through deliberation. Each case study focuses on a critical issue such as the implementation of state curriculum standards, the attempt to reform core curriculum within universities, and the complex practice of curriculum making.

′This book will be of interest to educational practitioners, and many other professionals concerned with the education and development of the young′ - ESCalate `A very well-respected book [and a] Curriculum classic...[which offers] balance to current official publications...One of its strengths is the coherent argument that runs throughout. It is very much a product of the wide knowledge and experience of the author.′ - Jenny Houssart, Senior Lecturer, Department of Learning, Curriculum & Communication, Institute of Education, University of London, UK Praise for previous editions: `I use this book as an essential course text for a module on curriculum theory. It is an excellent text for the whole course′ `Vic Kelly′s writing is always concise and informative, but also at times challenging′ `A most comprehensive text that takes the reader beyond content/balance issues values, beliefs and assumptions on the curriculum′ This is the sixth edition of a book that has been regularly revised and updated since it was first published in the mid-1970s. A V Kelly′s now classic work focuses on the philosophical and political dimensions of curriculum, and especially on the implications for schools and societies of various forms of curriculum. The book outlines what form a curriculum should take if it is concerned to promote a genuine form of education for a genuinely democratic society. Kelly summarises and explains the main aspects of curriculum theory, and shows how these can and should be translated into practice, in order to create an educational and democratic curriculum for all schools at all levels. The book also seeks to show that the politicization of the school curriculum has led to the establishment of policies and practices which demonstrate a failure to understand these principles of curriculum theory and practice. As a result, policies and practices have been implemented which fall short of being adequate. In view of the rapid pace of educational change imposed by various governments over the last 35 years, including New Labour, this book is more relevant than ever.

Towards a Just Curriculum Theory: The Epistemicide responds to a need for ‘alternative ways of thinking about alternatively’ about education and curriculum. It challenges the functionalism of both dominant and specific counter-dominant education and curriculum perspectives and in so doing suggests an Itinerant Curriculum Theory (ICT) as a new path for the field. The volume brings challenges critical educators to decolonize and to deterritorialize, providing scholars and educators a more nuanced analysis. By offering strategies to achieve a just curriculum theory, and by positioning curriculum theory to establish social and cognitive justice, this book aims to educate a more just and democratic society. With contributions from leading scholars across the field education, this volume argues that to deny the existence of any epistemological form beyond the Western mode can be a form of social fascism, which leads to an uncritical reading of history. Together, the essays offer and encourage a more deliberative, democratic engagement that seeks to contextualize and bring to life diverse epistemologies, value-sets, disciplines, theories, concepts, and experiences in education and beyond.

"A one-of-a-kind resource written for teachers and administrators who want to sucessfully restructure and enhance school curriculum."--Back cover.

Around the world, curriculum – hard sciences, social sciences and the humanities – has been dominated and legitimated by prevailing Western Eurocentric Anglophone discourses and practices. Drawing from and within a complex range of epistemological perspectives from the Middle East, Africa, Southern Europe, and Latin America, this volume presents a critical analysis of what the author, influenced by the work of Sousa Santos, coins curriculum epistemicides, a form of Western imperialism used to suppress and eliminate the creation of rival, alternative knowledges in developing countries. This exertion of power denies an education that allows for diverse epistemologies, disciplines, theories, concepts, and experiences. The author outlines the struggle for social justice within the field of curriculum, as well as a basis for introducing an Itinerant Curriculum Theory, highlighting the potential of this new approach for future pedagogical and political praxis.