Reinventing the Curriculum

Mark Priestley is Professor of Education at the University of Stirling, UK. He is a member of the Council of the British Educational Research Association.Gert Biesta is part-time Professor of Education, Brunel University London, UK, and Visiting Professor (Art Education) at ArtEZ Institute of the Arts, the Netherlands. He is editor-in-chief of Studies in Philosophy and Education.

As Priestley and Biesta note, there is currently something of a renaissance of interest in curriculum – and this volume makes a very fine contribution to that discussion. The book examines carefully but provocatively many of the features and tensions flagged in current curriculum reforms internationally – the concerns about more child-centred and active learning; the active role of the teacher; the aim to build particular types of individuals for the 21st century; the policy concerns with economics and measurement. This is an important, provocative and beautifully readable collection.

• 1. Introduction: The New Curriculum, Mark Priestley (University of Stirling, UK) and Gert Biesta (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)2. The Origins and Development of Curriculum for Excellence: Discourse, Politics and Control, Walter Humes (University of Stirling, UK)3. Capacities and the Curriculum, Gert Biesta (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg) and Mark Priestley (University of Stirling, UK)4. The Successful Learner: A progressive or an Oppressive Concept?, Jenny Reeves (University of Stirling, UK)5. Confident Individuals: The Implications of an ‘Emotional Subject’ for Curriculum Priorities and Practices, Kathryn Ecclestone (University of Sheffield, UK)6. Responsible Citizens: Citizenship Education between Social Inclusion and Democratic Politics, Gert Biesta (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg)7. Effective Contributors: Evaluating the Potential for Children and Young People’s Participation in their Own Schooling and Learning, E. Kay M. Tisdall (University of Edimburgh, UK)8. Emerging International Trends in Curriculum, Claire Sinnema (University of Auckland, New Zealand) and Graeme Aitken ((University of Auckland, New Zealand)9. Developing the Teacher – or Not?, Ian Menter (University of Oxford, UK) and Moira Hulme (University of Glasgow, UK)10. Teachers as Agents of Change: Teacher Agency and Emerging Models of Curriculum, Mark Priestley (University of Stirling, UK), Gert Biesta (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg) and Sarah Robinson (Aarhus University, Denmark)11. High Stakes Assessment and New Curricula: A Queensland Case of Competing Tensions in Curriculum Development, Bob Lingard (University of Queensland, Australia) and Glenda McGregor (Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia)12. A Curriculum for the Twenty-First Century?, Gert Biesta (University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg) and Mark Priestley (University of Stirling, UK)Index