Argues that the New Right has translated economic doctrine into the language of experience and moral imperative through populist politics. Maintains that curriculum decisions are involved in political and cultural conflict as depicted by the question: Whose knowledge becomes official knowledge? Urges curriculum workers to speak for the progressive…

Focuses on constructivism and its implications for curriculum theory and practice. Warns against relying on theory, stating that no single theory can provide an adequate foundation for educational practice. States that the constructivist and situated learning movement offers a challenge for curriculum theory, practice, and research. (CMK)

Presents letters, from Joseph Schwab to the author over the period 1979-1982, that focus on liberal education, the theory practice relationship, and writing history of the English Sixth Form (grades 11 and 12). Suggests that the idea of 'orality' provides an important key to Schwab's philosophy of action. (CMK)

Reports the results of an empirical study in corporate education on the use of standards to design educational programs conducted from 1989 to 1993. Provides a conceptual framework on curriculum consistency. Examines whether the main research questions were answered and whether they can be generalized to a larger context. (CMK)

Outlines the evolution of curriculum theory and practice in Spain from the 1970s to the 1990s. Discusses changing perspectives in response to political developments and reasons for the failure of the curriculum innovations introduced by the Socialist government after 1982. Advocates developing a dialectical theory of curriculum reform. (DB)

Offers twelve lessons that can be learned by examining the ideas and practices concerning the improvement of schools. Discusses the potential and complexities of each lesson in detail and provides a summary of what can be learned from U.S. history. Includes references. (CMK)

Explains the idea and practice of general education as a manifestation of the U.S. common school ideal. Examines representative proposals for general education in order to identify the progressive conception of general education. Considers the efficacy of general education as a curriculum practice. Suggests implications for contemporary…

This paper discusses how the curriculum is shaped by the situational logic of a technology-filled classroom, and how this logic is under the influence of ideas about student--teacher interactions and "do-it-yourself learning." It analyses case material from a school using game theory. Free access in the classroom to the Internet, games,…

Provides an analysis of the aims, structure, and content of the prevocational curriculum in Great Britain. Devotes particular attention to the issue of whether the spread of the prevocational curriculum is related to higher unemployment. (JDH)

Suggests lessons and ideas about teaching and research that can be drawn from a teacher's experiences in two research projects. Considers developmental and situational dynamics in teaching. Describes how researchers' intentions and expectations frame and focus research findings. Explains how the description of teaching can become an intervention…

Posits that students' social skills and cultural orientations are forms of capital that can be converted into other forms of capital, such as educational credentials. Argues that, within educational institutions, curricular structures create pressures and constraints on such conversions of capital. Discusses this argument in the context of two…

Reviews theories regarding school knowledge, cognitive processes, and curriculum development. Contends that students are not taught theoretical concepts because of a misapplication of Piagetian Theory. Concludes that students should be encouraged to explore several perspectives of reality to understand knowledge and thinking. (CFR)

Focuses on the reproduction of knowledge in science education and how socio-scientific issues are depicted/accounted for. Reviews contemporary epistemological questions of knowledge production. Outlines the Actor Network Theory (ANT), an alternative epistemology, describing the principal tenets using examples from the nature/nurture debate.…

Explains Rom Harre's theory of identity projects. Discusses the educational implications of Harre's model, the 'social reality matrix' (individual identity is dependent on social context), for the teaching of English, foreign language, and mathematics in the lower secondary school curriculum (ages 11-16). (CMK)

Focuses on differentiation in the British upper-secondary curriculum as a means of determining "who gets what, where, and under whose control." Argues that selection by differentiation is becoming more entrenched in upper and lower-secondary education and that it has met little effective opposition. (GEA)