Rethinking Curriculum Studies (RLE Edu B)

This book reappraises the British and American experience in curriculum studies, the curious way in which it has been dominated by certain ideas and introduces the reader to alternative ways of perceiving, defining and approaching its problems. It provides a radical critique of the whole area, presenting both Marxist and phenomenological perspectives on the current dilemmas that teachers face. The book argues that in order to understand the problems teachers face in coping with the curriculum, we must look at the situation from the point of view of the individual rather than prescribing a norm for all teachers. The dynamic relationship between the individual and the collective and the teacher and the state is one of the fundamental issues in solving the present problems in curriculum studies. The book focuses on this central problem and suggests a variety of ways in which new solutions may be found.

List of Abbreviations. Part 1: Introduction. Introduction – Theory and Practice and the Reconceptualisation of Curriculum Studies – William Pinar and Madeleine Grumet. Part 2: Critical Reappraisal. Introduction – 2. Curriculum Studies: A Critique of some recent British Orthodoxies – Geoff Whitty – 3. Radical Education: The Pedagogical Subtext – Maureen Clark and David Davies. Part 3: New Directions. Introduction – 4. Restitution and Reconstruction of Educational Experience: An Autobiographical Method for Curriculum Theory – Madeleine Grumet – 5. Social Structure, Ideology and Curriculum – Michael Apple – 6. The Deliberative Approach to the Study of the Curriculum and its Relation to Critical Pluralism – William Reid. Part 4: Curriculum Practice. Introduction – 7. Getting Involved with Curriculum Research: A Personal History – Rob Walker – 8. Practice and Theory – Mike Golby – 9. Curriculum Politics and Emancipation – Martin Lawn and Len Barton.Notes on Contribution – Author Index – Subject Index