Understanding the School Curriculum ― Theory, Politics and Principles

At a time of numerous policy initiatives and rapid social change, there is a need for curriculum designers and theorists to question the nature and function of school curricula and the purposes of formal public education. Comparing the English National Curriculum with curriculum developments around the globe, Alex Moore draws on a range of educational, philosophical and sociological theories to address the question ‘What is a curriculum for?’ In considering different answers to this fundamental question he explores a range of topical curriculum issues and debates, including:

• the impact of globalization and digital technologies on teaching, learning and curriculum;
• arguments for and against common core curricula and state control of the curriculum;
• the positive and negative impact of free market ideologies on public education;
• the implications of uncertainty and rapid change for curriculum development;
• the naturalisation or ‘hiddenness of choice’ in school curricula;
• the tensions in school curricula between the sometimes competing, sometimes collaborative agendas of neo-liberalism and neo-conservatism;
• the possibility of a school curriculum that is not shaped and monitored by dominant interests but that has as its founding principles the promotion of responsibility, responsiveness, a love of learning, and a sense of wonder and respect for the natural and social world.

The School Curriculum will support all students following undergraduate and Masters courses in curriculum, public policy and education-related subjects, as well as training and practicing teachers who wish to combine a deeper understanding of major curriculum issues with a critical understanding of the ways in which ideologies impact on formal state education, and to consider ways of producing school curricula that are appropriate to the times we live in.

Alex Moore is Emeritus Professor at the Institute of Education University of London, where he previously held positions as Senior Lecturer and Reader in Curriculum Studies, Professor of Education, Head of School, and Head of Department. Previous posts in a long career in public education include Assistant Director of Curriculum at North Westminster Community School (1984-88), and Head of the PGCE Secondary and MA in Education Programmes at Goldsmiths University of London (1996-2000). The author is an acknowledged expert, nationally and internationally, in the field of Curriculum Studies, having given keynotes, seminars, conference presentations and guest lectures in the discipline in England, China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Australia and America.