Since education is both a science and an art, it is difficult for curriculum theorists to develop rules and principles which apply to both aspects. Practical uses of curriculum theory include the application of existing models to specific situations, and practitioners using their own practical experiences and relating them to curriculum models.…

Curriculum theory is defined as an integrated cluster of sets of analyses, interpretations, and understandings of curricular phenomena. Curriculum theory development processes are described and reasons for a lack of curriculum theory are presented. Four problems arising in the development of curriculum theory are examined. (JN)

Curriculum theorists should develop three classes of propositions: (1) definitional propositions, which involve the curriculum design and curriculum system; (2) normative or descriptive propositions, which involve goals in planning the curriculum and designing an evaluation scheme; and (3) predictive propositions, which involve the correlative…

Four characteristics of curriculum theory are proposed: (1) Curriculum theory focuses on content, aims, and program development in education; (2) Curriculum theory rationalizes procedures for curriculum construction; (3) Curriculum theory conceptualizes curricular phenomena; and (4) Curriculum theory attempts to explain curricular phenomena. (JN)

"Curriculum'n'instruction" is a dynamic and constructed process through which students gain access to both the social and the academic content of lessons. This article examines this process as it develops during the everyday events of the classroom and discusses the relationship between curriculum and instruction. (CB)

Two studies of curriculum are used as examples of trends in social science research. Criteria are developed for the "ideal" social science and then applied to the two studies. Curriculum theorizing is discussed as related to social science theory. Suggestions are made for the content of an adequate curriculum theory. (JN)

A proposal for curriculum criticism contains three characteristics: (1) Criticism provides a view of curricula from the perspective of the student; (2) Criticism provides an assessment from the viewpoint of the critic; and (3) Criticism reveals the common interactions of students with facets of the curricula. (JN)

The Polish experience in America is explored through three different but related topics: the Pole as immigrant; the ambivalent role of education; and attitudes toward change. (JN)

The prevailing view of educational theory is that its purpose is to be translated into practice. Theory is most practically applicable to situations which educators expect to confront at some future time. (JN)

Curriculum theory must attend to three problem areas: educational practice, ethical criteria, and content. Educational practice includes questions about predictions, explanations, and descriptions. Ethical criteria are used to clarify improvements in values. Substantive content ranges across areas of human inquiry from the humanities to natural…

Examines what kinds of alternative postsecondary education will be available in the next century to students who are accustomed to alternative schooling. Reviews the history of undergraduate educational reform and notes the momentum for change in college and university education. Similarities with current school reform are discussed. (SM)

Develops the thesis of the interrelationships of conceptions of adolescents with curricula and school organization by examining the Carnegie Council (1989) reform report on middle schools, "Turning Points: Preparing American Youth for the 21st Century." The article discusses economic and social contexts of the report, historical…

Classroom climate has often been labeled the "hidden curriculum." The positive or negative interpersonal communication between teacher and student influences student self-concept and academic performance. Teachers should be committed to the enrichment of the curriculum through the tenets of humanism and the creation of a positive classroom…

Curriculum development efforts for English instruction over the past 20 years are reviewed, and an "inside-outside" approach that uses the structure of the discipline, or its inner core, to guide curriculum development is suggested. Three principles--metaphoric thinking, writing as reconstruction of experience, and language in context--would…