Regenerating the Curriculum

Regenerating the Curriculum traces the social and political climate which led to a rejection of piecemeal change, and examines the implications of school-based development of the whole curriculum for national projects, for in-service training, and for the management of change processes in the school. It considers the need for new professional styles for head and teacher, and the role of external change agencies, and looks at the influence on the learning process of a unified curriculum based on a selection from the culture. Finally, the political context of curriculum change is studied at national, regional and local levels along with the emergent concept of accountability and its implication for authority structures in education.

Since the ‘Great Debate’ on education was launched in 1976, the need to bring greater coherence to the secondary curriculum has been generally recognized but to be effective, a new curriculum design must be implemented, and the process of planned educational change must be understood. Regenerating the Curriculum traces the social and political climate which led to a rejection of piecemeal change, and examines the implications of school-based development of the whole curriculum for national projects, for in-service training, and for the management of change processes in the school. It considers the need for new professional styles for head and teacher, and the role of external change agencies, and looks at the influence on the learning process of a unified curriculum based on a selection from the culture. Finally, the political context of curriculum change is studied at national, regional and local levels along with the emergent concept of accountability and its implication for authority structures in education.This book sets out the possible patterns of change in schools, local authorities and national policies, and suggests a number of strategies for regenerating the curriculum in the climate of evaluation and innovation that lies ahead.