If not now, when? Radical theory and systemic curriculum reform

Abstract

This paper argues that the time has arrived to begin working toward district‐wide curriculum reform based on the tenets of radical curriculum theory. It examines the extant (and highly successful) languages of critique and possibility that dominate the field, and explores the assumptions shared by most radical theorists in education in order to establish certain parameters within which we might begin to approach systemic curriculum reform in contemporary education settings. The paper also discusses certain realities in contemporary schooling through which any significant approach to radical curriculum reform must be mediated. Appropriating a language of probability, it argues that it is not likely that certain organizational patterns and established practices will be changing soon; therefore it is imperative that efforts in systemic curriculum reform recognize and work with/through/around these realities. Additionally, the paper argues that one of the weaknesses of past reform efforts has been the dearth of a theoretical base. This, however, is one of the strengths of radical curriculum thought. The task is now implementation within the existing realities of public education.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Bryan Deever

Bryan Deever is an Associate Professor in the Department of Educational Foundations and Curriculum, LB 8144, Georgia Southern University, Statesboro, GA 30460, USA. His most recent publications are in the Journal of Education, Teacher Education Quarterly and Urban Review. His research centres on equity, equality and power.