David J. Flinders, Professor Emeritus of Curriculum Studies at Indiana University, Bloomington, received his PhD from Stanford University in 1987. His professional interests focus on curriculum theory, the cultural ecology of schooling, and qualitative research methods. Stephen J. Thornton, Professor in the Department of Curriculum, Instruction, and Learning at the University of South Florida, graduated with his PhD from Stanford University in 1985. His work focuses on curriculum change and social studies education.

"This Reader is a beginning to study, not an ending. It invites readers to think carefully and, then, to join with colleagues in the construction of decisions about real curriculum questions in real schools for real students."—O. L. Davis, Jr., Catherine Mae Parker Centennial Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, The University of Texas at Austin"…will be of interest to all who want to know why we teach what we teach in schools."—Harvard Educational Review"The Curriculum Studies Reader (2017), edited by David J. Flinders and Stephen J. Thornton, provides a suitable introductory text through primary readings of theorists such as John Dewey, Maria Montessori, and W. James Popham, among others. The editors do well in the first half of the book in grouping contrasting arguments that provide context for understanding divergent ideologies of curriculum theory." —David L. Acevedo, Educational Review

• Part I; 1. Scientific Method in Curriculum-Making, Franklin Bobbitt; 2. A Critical Consideration of the New Pedagogy in Its Relation to Modern Science, Maria Montessori; 3. My Pedagogic Creed, John Dewey ; 4. The Public School and the Immigrant Child, Jane Addams; 5. Dare the School Build a New Social Order? George S. Counts; 6. Outside Over There: My Book House Divides the World, 1919-1954 Linda S. Levstik ; Part II; 7. Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, Ralph W. Tyler; 8. Man: A Course of Study, Jerome S. Bruner; 9. Objectives, W. James Popham; 10. Educational Objectives—Help or Hindrance? Elliot W. Eisner; 11. The Daily Grind, Philip W. Jackson; 12. The Adult Literacy Process as Cultural Action for Freedom, Paulo Freire; 13. Curriculum and Consciousness, Maxine Greene; Part III; 14. The Reconceptualization of Curriculum Studies, William F. Pinar; 15. The Concept of Curriculum Potential, Miriam Ben-Peretz; 16. Implementation as Mutual Adaptation: Change in Classroom Organization, Milbrey Wallin McLaughlin; 17. Black Curriculum Orientations: A Preliminary Inquiry, William H. Watkins; 18. How Schools Shortchange Girls: Three Perspectives on Curriculum, American Association of University Women; 19. Multicultural Literacy and Curriculum Reform, James A. Banks; 20. Care and Coercion in School Reform, Nel Noddings; 21. What Does It Mean to Say a School Is Doing Well? Elliot W. Eisner; 22. Silence on Gays and Lesbians in Social Studies Curriculum, Stephen J. Thornton; Part IV; 23. Subtractive Schooling, Caring Relations, and Social Capital in the Schooling of U.S.-Mexican Youth. Angela Valenzuela; 24. High-Stakes Testing and Discursive Control: The Triple Bind for Non-Standard Student Identities, Wayne W. Au; 25. Teacher Experiences of Culture in the Curriculum, Elaine Chan; 26. The Bully Curriculum: Gender, Sexualities, and the New Authoritarian Populism in Education, Dennis Carlson; 27. Complementary Curriculum: The Work of Ecologically Minded Teachers, Christy M. Moroye; 28. Moving Beyond Fidelity Expectations: Rethinking Curriculum Reform for Controversial Topics in Post-Communist Settings, Thomas Misco; 29. "We Are the New Oppressed": Gender, Culture, and the Work of Home Schooling, Michael W. Apple; 30. Educational Reforms for Survival, Chet Bowers; 31. The future of education in a knowledge society: The radical case for a subject-based curriculum, Michael F. D. Young; 32. Identifying your skin is too dark as a put-down: Enacting whiteness as hidden curriculum through a bullying prevention programme, Rhianna Thomas; 33. Renewing the Spirit of the Liberal Arts, Nel Noddings