Curriculum Policy and the Politics of what Should be Learned in Schools

Abstract

T he content of school curriculum has always been the subject of controversy and considerable public attention in countries we have studied. This chapter examines the political dynamics around the construction of official school curriculum-that is, curriculum developed by governments or other sanctioned authorities for standard use in schools across a state, province, or country. The first part of the chapter provides a context for the discussion by describing the scope and nature of political discussion and decision making in government. The chapter then uses a framework based on the work of Young, Levin, and Wallin (2007) to examine the factors and processes that affect curriculum decisions. Examples drawn from the author's experience and the literature are used to illustrate these dynamics. The chapter concludes with an extended example.

Forty years of Finnish pre‐school education: the development of curricula between 1972 and 2000

“…These contextual factors were mirrored in the curriculum documents. Kliebard (1992) and others (Deng 2010;Goodson 1995;Westbury 2008) point out that written curriculum documents are selections of cultural elements in societies and are, thus, political texts including power aspects (Levin 2008). This was evident in our study.…”

“…Likewise with compulsory education, political, social, cultural and economic interests, and the history of society and early years education, constitute the socio-cultural context in which early years curricula are formulated (Levin 2008). Curriculum documents mirror these contextual factors and provide images, metaphors, and narratives of what can happen in early childhood education (Westbury 2008).…”

The Recovery of Students’ Autonomy for Future Curriculum; Aesthetics of Conflicts

“…However, the national curriculum or state curriculum that advocate elitism has used the curriculum as a mean of oppressing education agents such as students for satisfying their desires (e.g. Levin, 2008;Westbury, 2008). Indeed, does the curriculum exist for students?…”

Implementation of a body image program as a twisty country lane

“…Curriculum is a fundamental organizer of schooling (Levin, 2008a). Today, many health curriculum policies across Canada present health as the outcome of the students' individual choices.…”