This is a response to two discussions of my article 'The Weakness of "Powerful Knowledge"' featuring in 2018 in the "London Review of Education" 16 (2), the first by Johan Muller and Michael Young and the second by Jim Hordern. It also makes brief comments on pieces on powerful knowledge in the "London Review of…

This contribution to the symposium on Michael Young's article "Overcoming the crisis in curriculum theory: a knowledge based approach", supports his contention that curriculum theory has lost sight of its object--"what is taught and learned in schools", and argues that this has particularly deleterious consequences for…

This paper provides a review of "Reconstructing 'Education' through Mindful Attention: Positioning the Mind at the Center of Curriculum and Pedagogy" by Oren Ergas. The review examines the central argument of the book, namely that present educational theory and practice avoids substantial self-inquiry, paying lip service to reflective…

This semi-structured interview is an attempt to examine how an experienced scholar (Ian Westbury) of curriculum might interpret both recent developments and the current atmosphere of curriculum by paying attention to the history that has taken it to the present. During a career that spans more than five decades, Ian Westbury has established…

Heather Zimmerman and Jennifer Weible's ("Cult Stud Sci Educ," 2016) use of place-based pedagogy in high school science education honors their participants' lived experiences and the rural communities from which they come. They raise an unresolved tension in their findings: Why did the youth in their study, who clearly learned a lot…

This action research, which utilizes critical race theory's counter-storytelling, analyses a process of debunking White students' epistemology of ignorance in a history course at an urban public high school. After piloting a raced curriculum that deliberately re-centers marginalized counter-stories of students of colour, I document its…

This article is a commentary on the seven papers in this special issue of "Sex Education." A compelling theme interwoven throughout all the articles in subtle and explicit ways is the role that adults play in the lives of students, particularly in the ways in which adults impact how students enact and respond to the multiple…

What should we teach in our schools and vocational education and higher education institutions? Is theoretical knowledge still important? This book argues that providing students with access to knowledge should be the raison d'etre of education. Its premise is that access to knowledge is an issue of social justice because society uses it to…

In this article, I (1) argue for approaching processes, events-in-the-making, by means of process categories--to learn, to teach--not by means of categories that denote differences in state and (2) exemplify doing and writing research consistent with process philosophy. To understand process we must not think, research, and write them in terms of…

This analysis identifies six problems with the the popular terms "rigorous academic curriculum" and "academic rigor": they bear multiple meanings, they contain negative connotations, they are survivals from the discredited learning theory called mental discipline, they have more to do with status than substance, they refer to an over-narrow…

Teacher identity is defined in its relations, on the one hand, to curriculum and, on the other, to students: to be identified as a teacher is to be taken by the latter as a bearer of the former. In this essay, I consider some variations on theorising teacher identity within these relational terms. Beginning with the educational task of cultivating…

The paper considers T.S. Eliot's "dissociation of sensibility" thesis, considering its philosophical value and attempting to defend it against published objections. While accepting some of the criticisms, it is argued that Eliot's argument is sound to a significant extent. Eliot's account retains explanatory power with regard to an enduring…

The National Policy on Education (NPE, 1986) of India proposed the National Curriculum Framework (NCF) as a means of evolving a national system of education, recommending a core component derived from the vision of national development enshrined in the constitution. The Kerala Curriculum Framework (KCF-2007) draws upon the National Curriculum…

This paper is a reflection, on the 10th anniversary of a great work of art. After reviewing some of the global impacts of the Wachowski brothers' highly acclaimed action sci-fi film "The Matrix" (1999-2003), I present a case for the use of the film in critical theory and pedagogy and it's apparent un-interest to such theorists and pedagogues.…

The purpose of this article is to critique human resource development's (HRD) dominant philosophy, practices, and research; illustrate how they negatively affect women HRD practitioners and recipients; and recommend alternative conceptualizations of the field. This article is grounded in a critical feminist theoretical framework, draws on critical…