Curriculum studies
Encyclopedia
Curriculum
studies is a field that addresses distinct and important issues related to education
. These issues tend to transcend the various areas of educational inquiry as they impact upon the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational programs. These issues tend also to be holistic and transdisciplinary, concerned with the interrelationships between various disciplines. Specific questions related to curriculum studies include the following: What should be taught in school
s? Why should it be taught? To whom should it be taught? What does it mean to be an educated person? Curriculum inquirers also investigate the relationship between curriculum theory
and educational practice and the relationship between school programs and the contours of the society
and culture
in which schools are located. There are programs in the field of curriculum studies in several Colleges of Education around the world.
Books that have been written within the field of curriculum studies are many in number. They include: The Curriculum: Perspective, Paradigm, and Possibility by William Schubert (New York: Macmillan, 1986; and Understanding Curriculum by William Pinar
, et al. (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1995).
A branch of curriculum studies that investigates how society transmits culture from generation to generation has been tagged with the term “Hidden curriculum
” even though much of what is studied is hiding in plain sight. For instance, one of the 19th Century founders of the discipline of Sociology
, Émile Durkheim
, observed that that more is taught and learned in schools than specified in the established curriculum of textbooks and teacher manuals. In Moral Education Durkheim wrote:
"In fact, there is a whole system of rules in the school that predetermine the child’s conduct. He must come to class regularly, he must arrive at a specified time and with an appropriate bearing and attitude. He must not disrupt things in class. He must have learned his lessons, done his homework, and have done so reasonably well, etc. There are, therefore, a host of obligations that the child is required to shoulder. Together they constitute the discipline of the school. It is through the practice of school discipline that we can inculcate the spirit of discipline in the child. (Durkheim, Émile (1961 [1925]). Moral Education. New York, The Free Press.p. 148)"
Phillip W. Jackson (1968) may have coined the term “hidden curriculum” in his book Life in Classrooms. He argued that primary school emphasized specific skills: learning to wait quietly, exercising restraint, trying, completing work, keeping busy, cooperating, showing allegiance to both teachers and peers, being neat and punctual, and so on (Jackson, Philip (1968). Life in Classrooms.). The structural functional Structural functionalism
sociologist Robert Dreeben (1968 On What is Learned in School) similarly concluded that the curriculum of schooling taught students to "form transient social relationships, submerge much of their personal identity, and accept the legitimacy of categorical treatment". Dreeben argued that formal schooling indirectly conveyed to students values such as independence and achievement, essential for their later membership in society.
Since then, Curriculum Studies researchers ranging across the spectrum of paradigms — from conservative structural-functionalists
, to neo-Marxists to narrative- and arts-based researchers — have examined formal curricula, experienced curricula, and hidden curricula. Progressive researchers like Paul Willis (1977, Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs), Jean Anyon (1980, "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work." Journal of Education 162), and Annette Laureau (1989.Home Advantage: Social Class, and Parental Intervention in Elementary Education) have examined the ways that hidden and overt curricula reproduce social class
position. Narrative and arts-based researchers like Thomas Barone (2001, Touching Eternity: The Enduring Outcomes of Teaching) have inquired about the long-term effects of curricula on student lives.
Critical theorists like Henry Giroux
(1983 "Theories of Reproduction and Resistance in the New Sociology of Education: A critical analysis." Harvard Educational Review 53) began to examine the roles of students and teachers in resisting curricula both official and hidden. So-called “resistance theorists” conceptualized students and teachers as active agents working to subvert, reject, or change curricula. They noted that “curriculum” was not a unified structure but incoherent conflicting and contradictory messages. Other researchers have examined the interactions between racial and ethnic cultures and the dominant curricula of the school. For instance the Anthropologist John Ogbu examined curricula established by African American
students (Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu 1986 "Black Students’ School Success: Coping with the Burden of ’Acting White.’ The Urban Review18. Critical Race Theorists Critical race theory
like Daniel Solórzano examined how racial attitudes constitute another “hidden” curriculum in teacher education programs (1997, Images and Words that Wound: Critical Race Theory and Racial Stereotyping, and Teacher Education, Teacher Education Quarterly, 24).
The interest in Curriculum Studies is thus cross disciplinary and of increasing importance to educational research
and to the philosophy of education
.
Curriculum
See also Syllabus.In formal education, a curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, offered at a school or university. As an idea, curriculum stems from the Latin word for race course, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children grow to become mature adults...
studies is a field that addresses distinct and important issues related to education
Education
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...
. These issues tend to transcend the various areas of educational inquiry as they impact upon the design, implementation, and evaluation of educational programs. These issues tend also to be holistic and transdisciplinary, concerned with the interrelationships between various disciplines. Specific questions related to curriculum studies include the following: What should be taught in school
School
A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...
s? Why should it be taught? To whom should it be taught? What does it mean to be an educated person? Curriculum inquirers also investigate the relationship between curriculum theory
Curriculum theory
Curriculum theory is the theory of the development and enactment of curriculum. Within the broad field of curriculum studies, it is both a historical analysis of curriculum and a way of viewing current educational curriculum and policy decisions...
and educational practice and the relationship between school programs and the contours of the society
Society
A society, or a human society, is a group of people related to each other through persistent relations, or a large social grouping sharing the same geographical or virtual territory, subject to the same political authority and dominant cultural expectations...
and culture
Culture
Culture is a term that has many different inter-related meanings. For example, in 1952, Alfred Kroeber and Clyde Kluckhohn compiled a list of 164 definitions of "culture" in Culture: A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions...
in which schools are located. There are programs in the field of curriculum studies in several Colleges of Education around the world.
Books that have been written within the field of curriculum studies are many in number. They include: The Curriculum: Perspective, Paradigm, and Possibility by William Schubert (New York: Macmillan, 1986; and Understanding Curriculum by William Pinar
William Pinar
William Pinar is an American educator, curriculum theorist and international studies scholar. Known for his work in the area of curriculum theory, Pinar is strongly associated with the reconceptualist movement in curriculum theory since the early 1970s...
, et al. (New York: Peter Lang Publishing, 1995).
A branch of curriculum studies that investigates how society transmits culture from generation to generation has been tagged with the term “Hidden curriculum
Hidden curriculum
Hidden curriculum, in general terms, is “some of the outcomes or by-products of schools or of non-school settings, particularly those states which are learned but not openly intended.” However, a variety of definitions have been developed based on the broad range of perspectives of those who study...
” even though much of what is studied is hiding in plain sight. For instance, one of the 19th Century founders of the discipline of Sociology
Sociology
Sociology is the study of society. It is a social science—a term with which it is sometimes synonymous—which uses various methods of empirical investigation and critical analysis to develop a body of knowledge about human social activity...
, Émile Durkheim
Émile Durkheim
David Émile Durkheim was a French sociologist. He formally established the academic discipline and, with Karl Marx and Max Weber, is commonly cited as the principal architect of modern social science and father of sociology.Much of Durkheim's work was concerned with how societies could maintain...
, observed that that more is taught and learned in schools than specified in the established curriculum of textbooks and teacher manuals. In Moral Education Durkheim wrote:
"In fact, there is a whole system of rules in the school that predetermine the child’s conduct. He must come to class regularly, he must arrive at a specified time and with an appropriate bearing and attitude. He must not disrupt things in class. He must have learned his lessons, done his homework, and have done so reasonably well, etc. There are, therefore, a host of obligations that the child is required to shoulder. Together they constitute the discipline of the school. It is through the practice of school discipline that we can inculcate the spirit of discipline in the child. (Durkheim, Émile (1961 [1925]). Moral Education. New York, The Free Press.p. 148)"
Phillip W. Jackson (1968) may have coined the term “hidden curriculum” in his book Life in Classrooms. He argued that primary school emphasized specific skills: learning to wait quietly, exercising restraint, trying, completing work, keeping busy, cooperating, showing allegiance to both teachers and peers, being neat and punctual, and so on (Jackson, Philip (1968). Life in Classrooms.). The structural functional Structural functionalism
Structural functionalism
Structural functionalism is a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions and institutions...
sociologist Robert Dreeben (1968 On What is Learned in School) similarly concluded that the curriculum of schooling taught students to "form transient social relationships, submerge much of their personal identity, and accept the legitimacy of categorical treatment". Dreeben argued that formal schooling indirectly conveyed to students values such as independence and achievement, essential for their later membership in society.
Since then, Curriculum Studies researchers ranging across the spectrum of paradigms — from conservative structural-functionalists
Structural functionalism
Structural functionalism is a broad perspective in sociology and anthropology which sets out to interpret society as a structure with interrelated parts. Functionalism addresses society as a whole in terms of the function of its constituent elements; namely norms, customs, traditions and institutions...
, to neo-Marxists to narrative- and arts-based researchers — have examined formal curricula, experienced curricula, and hidden curricula. Progressive researchers like Paul Willis (1977, Learning to Labor: How Working Class Kids Get Working Class Jobs), Jean Anyon (1980, "Social Class and the Hidden Curriculum of Work." Journal of Education 162), and Annette Laureau (1989.Home Advantage: Social Class, and Parental Intervention in Elementary Education) have examined the ways that hidden and overt curricula reproduce social class
Social class
Social classes are economic or cultural arrangements of groups in society. Class is an essential object of analysis for sociologists, political scientists, economists, anthropologists and social historians. In the social sciences, social class is often discussed in terms of 'social stratification'...
position. Narrative and arts-based researchers like Thomas Barone (2001, Touching Eternity: The Enduring Outcomes of Teaching) have inquired about the long-term effects of curricula on student lives.
Critical theorists like Henry Giroux
Henry Giroux
Henry Giroux, born September 18, 1943, in Providence, Rhode Island, is an American cultural critic. One of the founding theorists of critical pedagogy in the United States, he is best known for his pioneering work in public pedagogy, cultural studies, youth studies, higher education, media studies,...
(1983 "Theories of Reproduction and Resistance in the New Sociology of Education: A critical analysis." Harvard Educational Review 53) began to examine the roles of students and teachers in resisting curricula both official and hidden. So-called “resistance theorists” conceptualized students and teachers as active agents working to subvert, reject, or change curricula. They noted that “curriculum” was not a unified structure but incoherent conflicting and contradictory messages. Other researchers have examined the interactions between racial and ethnic cultures and the dominant curricula of the school. For instance the Anthropologist John Ogbu examined curricula established by African American
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
students (Signithia Fordham and John Ogbu 1986 "Black Students’ School Success: Coping with the Burden of ’Acting White.’ The Urban Review18. Critical Race Theorists Critical race theory
Critical race theory
Critical Race Theory is an academic discipline focused upon the intersection of race, law and power.Although no set of canonical doctrines or methodologies defines CRT, the movement is loosely unified by two common areas of inquiry...
like Daniel Solórzano examined how racial attitudes constitute another “hidden” curriculum in teacher education programs (1997, Images and Words that Wound: Critical Race Theory and Racial Stereotyping, and Teacher Education, Teacher Education Quarterly, 24).
The interest in Curriculum Studies is thus cross disciplinary and of increasing importance to educational research
Educational research
Educational research refers to a variety of methods, in which individuals evaluate different aspects of education including but not limited to: “student learning, teaching methods, teacher training, and classroom dynamics”....
and to the philosophy of education
Philosophy of education
Philosophy of education can refer to either the academic field of applied philosophy or to one of any educational philosophies that promote a specific type or vision of education, and/or which examine the definition, goals and meaning of education....
.
University programs in curriculum studies
- Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto http://www.oise.utoronto.ca/ctl/Prospective_Students/CTL_Graduate_Programs/Curriculum_Studies_and_Teacher_Development_%28CSTD%29/index.html
- University of British Columbia in Vancouver: www.ubc.ca
- University of Illinois at Chicago: http://www.uic.edu/gcat/EDCIE.shtml#e
- Monmouth University, West Long Branch, New Jersey: www.monmouth.edu
- University of Alberta in Edmonton: http://www.uofaweb.ualberta.ca/secondaryed/