Synopses & Reviews
Across much of the world there is now a standard secondary school curriculum based, with variations, on a traditional array of academic subjects. This book’s originality lies in its being the first work to tell the story of its invention, tracing this from the sixteenth century until the present day and highlighting its links, until recent times, with radical protestantism. The central focus is on British history, but international, not least American, perspectives also appear throughout. There are two more original features of the book. Its historical account is supplemented by a critical commentary on the shifting arguments given across the centuries for favouring such a curriculum. And the book concludes with a philosophically-rooted sketch of a more acceptable alternative: a curriculum based on a well-argued set of fundamental aims rather than one taking traditional school subjects as its starting point.
Synopsis
Across much of the world there is now a standard secondary school curriculum based on a traditional array of subjects. This is the first work to tell the story of its invention, from the sixteenth century until the present day. The book concludes with a sketch of an alternative: a curriculum based on a well-argued set of fundamental aims.
Synopsis
In Britain, and across the world, the traditional secondary school curriculum of discrete academic subjects has long been under fire. What are the rights and wrongs here? How far does an investigation of its origins throw light on the topic? In telling the remarkable story of its development from 1550 to our times, this book describes the shifting motivations - religious, professional, status-orientated, bureaucratic - that have accompanied its rise to world dominance. This historical account does little to allay the widespread doubts about the adequacy of this curriculum. The later parts of the book discuss these doubts from a philosophical perspective and outline a radical alternative to traditional thinking.
About the Author
John White is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy of Education at the Institute of Education University of London, UK.
Table of Contents
1550-1630 * 1630-1700 * The eighteenth century * The nineteenth century * 1900-1988 * Into the twenty-first century * Beyond the traditional curriculum