Whatever happened to curriculum theory?

Abstract

First paragraph: While much attention in the UK has been given to questions of teaching and learning in the last decade, not least through the Teaching and Learning Research Programme, less has been given to questions of curriculum. While curriculum theory has seen significant developments in parts of continental Europe and North America, in the UK there has been a relative silence. This is despite major innovations in curriculum, such as, for instance, the Curriculum for Excellence in Scotland. In January 2011, Pedagogy, Culture & Society, in conjunction with the Laboratory for Educational Theory, University of Stirling, UK, held a one-day seminar on the theme of 'Whatever happened to curriculum theory?' Speakers from the UK, continental Europe and North America explored some of the differing trajectories of curriculum theory, and their origins, and the effects of such differences for educational research and practice.