Where is ‘the political’ in curriculum research?

Abstract

As an overview in connection with the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Curriculum Studies (JCS), this article begins with John Dewey's notion that all educational actions carry philosophical implications. The tension between different education-research philosophies, between non-social and social education philosophies in Dewey's terms, becomes visible in an overview of articles published during the past 50 years of the JCS. Therefore, the purpose here is to explore in what different forms and in what different spaces the political takes shape in curriculum research. Policies on education always address fundamental political questions in the sense that debates on education inevitably include alternative views of good education and good society. Instead of looking for the political, it seems to be more fruitful to look for different ways of expressing the political. This, in turn, might contribute to a more nuanced debate on which political perspectives will be most productive in developing the curriculum research field. Three views on 'the political' are identified. The first is a personal, 'over-socialized' view based on personal experiences, the second is a 'social' view that focuses on social interactions and societal implications, and the third is an impersonal, 'under-socialized' view based on 'science'.

Sustainable Development in Third Level Programs: Distilling a Pathway to a True Net-Zero Education

“…The lack of a rigorous Marxist theory of the state and the international has led to discussions about what a Marxist theory of imperialism and international relations would look like [91]. A Marxist theory of the international can incorporate political concepts from mainstream theories of IR, taking into account the uneven development of capitalism at different levels [92]. Where such curriculum contents clash with the SDGs beyond decarbonization, such as SDG 17 regarding cooperation, might pose a barrier to decarbonization.…”

Inevitability of Politics in Ghana's Curriculum Development

“…Based on these broad definitions, Kasuga (2019) deduces that the power of a single person or a group to be more influential in decision-making is an aspect of politics. Political influence plays a major role, as it can rule in the decision on all of the subjects within the school curriculum when setting education objectives, developing content, teaching strategies to use for provided contents, learning materials, assessment of education outcomes and evaluation (Kasuga, 2019;Wahlström, 2018).…”

“…Various scholars and curriculum experts advocate that systemized curriculum inquiry should not conform to any form of dictate arising from the political enclave. However, Wahlström (2018) quizzes whether this view on education is possible. In his view, such a viewpoint largely relies on what one refers to as being 'political'.…”

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“…[26,27]. On the other hand, this research carried out a cross-disciplinary strategy based on science education frameworks [28] and definitions and categories from educational sociology, exploring the curriculum theory allowed to define curriculum policy as an empirical dimension to observe discursive practices [29,30]. The discourses expressed within these discursive practices refer to the link between knowledge and social interest materialized in the curriculum goals [31], and the semantics of purposes and objectives where it is possible to observe the local/global articulation and the different arenas and actors involved in the dynamic of the political decisions and functioning of the national education system [32,33].…”