Cultures of Curriculum

Cultures of Curriculum is meant to foster awareness, examination, and deliberation about the curricula planned for and carried out in classrooms and schools; to inspire conversations about theory and practice, as well as political, social, and moral issues; and to expand critical consciousness about individuals' approaches to curriculum and practice. Using "cultures of curriculum" as a lens, the authors reveal and critically examine the belief systems and classroom practices of six curricular orientations in contemporary American society. Readers are encouraged to give serious attention to the issues this book raises for them, and to join with their colleagues, students, and communities in considering how to create curricula with purpose and congruent practices. A framework of inquiry is presented to facilitate such reflection and to accomplish these specific goals:

* to elucidate the concept of curriculum as culture--a revealing system of implicit and explicit beliefs, values, behaviors, and customs in classrooms and schools which are deliberated within communities and other public spheres,
* to acquaint readers with patterns of curriculum thinking that have influenced the development of the concept of cultures of curriculum,
* to offer historical insight about shifting educational and social priorities that have influenced the course of curriculum in American schooling,
* to integrate moral and political discourse into recognition and discussion of curriculum,
* to encourage metaphoric thinking that enables new ways to perceive commonplace assumptions and embedded belief systems,
* to deepen awareness of dilemmas of practice inherent in curriculum work, and
* to hold up each culture of curriculum to critical inquiry of its assumptions, purposes, and claims.

This text is a vital resource for students in curriculum theory, curriculum studies, and history and philosophy of education courses, and should also enter the public discourse as readers bring its ideas and issues into their schools and communities.