Arguing that curriculum research can be organized and prioritized according to reasonable criteria, this article defines "curriculum practice" and "curriculum research," explains how they relate to each other, and reviews current work in curriculum research. Curriculum research is hampered by lack of longitudinal studies and the separation of…

Examined are the ongoing and proposed approaches to curriculum research. Individual research approaches are classified according to six general foci that explicate the characteristics of each curriculum research approach and identify the variants, limitations, and references of each approach. (SI)

The curriculum is not a training ground for economic productivity. Curriculum should interact fully with students' world and encourage students' theoretical understanding of their social, emotional, and intellectual encounters. (10 references) (MLF)

Treating curriculum out of context is mostly responsible for the disappointments of curriculum theory in practice. Decontextualization has conceptually separated curriculum from its design and use; operationally, curriculum is separated from its structural and sociocultural contexts. The alternative--curriculum in context--can inform research,…

Relates how historical developments initiated the curriculum reform movement, which caused curriculum studies to become vulnerable to reconceptualization. Traces the movement from Sputnik in 1957 through reconceptualists' opposition to the mainstream field in the 1970s. The opposition has now become the field itself, which is characterized by…

Curriculum theorists must raise their own institutions' level of consciousness about fundamental principles in the curriculum development process. Curriculum researchers must align themselves with curriculum decision makers in other institutions and curriculum inquiries must study actors, actions, and the consequences of actions in natural…

Careful work in comparing, analyzing, and critiquing the positions and communications put forth by various professional curriculum organizations would be valuable to the curriculum research community. Provides an example: "Principles for Australian Curriculum Reform," prepared by the Australian Curriculum Studies Association (ACSA). (MLF)

Describes the purposes and approach of a global organization of scholars interested in curriculum and instruction research. The research mission facilitates collaboration on cross-cultural investigations of educational systems and problems and the exchange of professional knowledge within a multicultural world community. Discusses current projects…

This article reviews aspects of the work of Lawrence Stenhouse in curriculum development and research, identifying and summarizing his core ideas: curriculum development as social and political action, the importance of case studies for involving teachers in research, and teaching as an art. (TE)

Action research is a rigorous, systematic approach to clearly defining problems and specifying plans of action to improve curriculum. This paper examines the evolution of curriculum action research as a scientific enterprise, discusses key concepts of action research, and presents a practical model of the action-research process. (TE)