Teachers are concerned with both student engagement and achievement of learning outcomes. Both are necessary, yet often considered in disconnected ways. We argue that such disconnection is a consequence of competing educational purposes, combined with an organizational framework for schooling that attempts to paste over the differences by…

Using the 'medical' framework (symptoms, diagnosis and prescription) in Schwab's the Practical 1 article, I analyze the current state of contemporary curriculum theorizing as a result of the reconceptualist movement. I argue that curriculum theorizing is in serious crisis due to the loss of the original subject of curriculum studies--practice and…

When working to connect homogeneous curricula with heterogeneous groups of pupils, teachers have to sort pupils according to the categories allowed for in the national school system. In this article, we compare German organizational differentiation, where pupils are divided into stable groups, to Norwegian pedagogical differentiation, where…

In this paper, we aim to outline what foundations can offer in terms of understanding education and educational practice, and thus for providing a basis for teachers' professional knowledge. We look critically at the struggle foundation disciplines often experience with coherence and integration in terms of both their relation to each other and to…

The "Practical 1" paper combines Schwab's abiding concern, for the nature and quality of educational experience with another abiding concern, for how we think about what we do. The Practical 1 is the first of a set of four "practical" essays. These in turn are the product of his thinking about college education and his…

What are the basic things that compose curriculum, and what are the questions that may be posed about these things? Joseph Schwab's conception of curriculum is used to introduce a scheme of questions concerning the nature, elements, and practice of curriculum. Formulations of questions by other curriculum theorists are reviewed and analysed in…

Utilizes Aristotle's three-way distinctions between theory, practice, and production to describe a balanced model of teacher reasoning. Reviews differing models of teacher reasoning that emphasize the role of contemplation and subject-matter representations. Uses the Aristotelian model to point toward a normative vision of teacher reasoning. (MJP)

Discusses changes in educational research methods over recent decades. Explores changing views of teaching and learning and what the changes mean for assessment and the content and delivery of the curriculum. Concludes that, to be effective, educational research must be relevant to education and perceived as such by educators. (SG)

Asserts that curricularists need to move away from curriculum based on objectives, and that they should embrace the notion of curriculum as social construction at the level of prescription and also at the level of process and practice. Maintains that methodological foci need to be developed which integrate studies at the preactive and interactive…

Aims to demonstrate effects of teaching practice on teachers' perspectives about teaching. Argues that there is often a mismatch between teachers' explicit beliefs about teaching and practices in which they engage. Suggests that teachers should develop an appreciation of how tensions and stresses of practice inform their beliefs about teaching.…

The curriculum field in the USA has existed in a chronic state of disarray, even crisis, for many years. This study considers whether the field's "reconceptualization" has alleviated the signs of crisis articulated some 30 years ago by Joseph Schwab. It concludes by suggesting that four issues should be examined in order to establish a vital sense…

Received conceptualizations of scientific literacy are grounded in (1) the notions of "knowledge", "concepts", and "skills" that science students have to "acquire", "appropriate", or "construct" or (2) the notion of "practices" to which they have to be "enculturated" so that they become part of a "community of practice". All such notions…

Examines how Paulo Freire's pedagogy changed, and how it affected pedagogical discourses when it was implemented by different education groups in Sweden. Explains how ideas move from one context to another using a grid-group model to analyze the text-translator, text-transformation process. Suggests theoretical systems can be used as ideological…