The aim of this literature review study was to examine the historical development of the concept of curriculum theory, its reflections on curriculum development studies, and teaching-learning processes and also to attract the attention of the researchers to the area of curriculum theory which was seen to be left aside for years. The research was designed by reviewing the literature, and different theoretical perspectives on curriculum development studies in the USA which historically dominated the field since the early 1900’s and Turkey were examined. In the first phase, the explanation of the concepts of curriculum, theory, curriculum theory, the chaotic structure, and discussions in the literature regarding the terminology of these concepts were given. It was concluded that in the literature the concept of curriculum theory has been used synonymously with the concepts of curriculum beliefs, educational value orientations, curriculum ideologies, and curriculum orientations. In addition, the classification of curriculum theories, curriculum development studies in which the reflections of curriculum theories could be seen, and the studies conducted in Turkey and abroad on this subject were included in the study. Taking the limited number of studies on curriculum theories and their lack of variety into account, future studies on curriculum theory are considered to feed the intellectual background of the field and attract the attention of the researches to theories of curriculum, which will fill the gap in the literature.