Edmund C. Short - Böcker

This book presents an overview of seventeen forms of inquiry used in curriculum research in education. Conventional disciplinary forms of inquiry, such as philosophical, historical, and scientific, are described, as well as more recently acknowledged forms such as ethnographic, aesthetic, narrative, phenomenological, and hermeneutic. Interdisciplinary forms such as theoretical, normative, critical, deliberative, and action research are also included. These forms of inquiry are distinguished from one another in terms of purposes, types of research questions addressed, and the processes and logic of procedure employed in arriving at knowledge claims.

Provides a new conceptualization of curriculum and of curriculum planning that is clearer, more functional, more adequate than those previously available.Curriculum planning can be conceptualized in various ways, and curriculum planners necessarily must adopt a particular approach in order to facilitate their thinking and decision-making. However, the history of curriculum planning suggests that existing conceptualizations are sometimes confusing, imprecise, or not as helpful as they might be. There is a need for a new conceptualization that overcomes the limitations of these earlier conceptions. Through conceptual analysis and concept development, the author presents curriculum planning as a form of educational practice distinct from other practices such as teaching, administration, and policy making. Short's "grammar of curriculum practice" describes a set of key concepts and the meaningful relationships among them that define the essential elements of curriculum and of curriculum planning.

Provides a new conceptualization of curriculum and of curriculum planning that is clearer, more functional, more adequate than those previously available.Curriculum planning can be conceptualized in various ways, and curriculum planners necessarily must adopt a particular approach in order to facilitate their thinking and decision-making. However, the history of curriculum planning suggests that existing conceptualizations are sometimes confusing, imprecise, or not as helpful as they might be. There is a need for a new conceptualization that overcomes the limitations of these earlier conceptions. Through conceptual analysis and concept development, the author presents curriculum planning as a form of educational practice distinct from other practices such as teaching, administration, and policy making. Short's "grammar of curriculum practice" describes a set of key concepts and the meaningful relationships among them that define the essential elements of curriculum and of curriculum planning.

This book exhibits a collection of proposals for how school curriculum may be conceived, designed, and realized. These proposals are drawn from writers both past and present who have presented some particular vision of what curriculum could be like for Pre-K--12 schools and have sought to convince others to adopt their proposal for use in some actual school situation. The proposals differ from one another in a variety of ways, including in their purposes, their contents, and their perspectives, and thus pose a wealth of options for consideration by those who are planning to change their school curriculum to something new and more suitable for their particular clientele. Readers will need to weigh the appeal of various proposals presented here against criteria they have for locating an optimum model for their particular situation. The proposals selected for inclusion in this book address the whole of the curriculum–all levels, all subjects, all age-groups; they deal with entire program change rather than with incidental changes in content, program arrangements, teaching approaches, or other limited alterations. This book is intended to be a useful resource for those responsible for making decisions in a particular school or school district or at a broader policy-making level, about what the entire curriculum should be and should include. It draws attention to the work of many thoughtful persons who have dealt with the issue of what a coherent curriculum might be like and who, in some instances, have set up actual programs based on their ideas.