Knowledge and the curriculum

Abstract

The article focuses on knowledge and how it relates to the school curriculum. This means that a reason (or reasons) for designating knowledge as the central dimension of the curriculum has to be provided. Two reason-giving arguments can be invoked to support this proposition. The first is to conceptualise learning as an epistemic activity, and the second is to suggest that those curriculum ideologies which marginalise knowledge are deficient or inadequate. It is then necessary to determine what this knowledge-producing activity is, and to distinguish it from those curriculum ideologies which purport to prioritise knowledge but rarely achieve their aim. The issues of how knowledge is transformed at the pedagogic and evaluative sites, and the relationship between these three sites, are also briefly addressed.

Keywords:

• knowledge
• curriculum
• pedagogy
• evaluation

Additional information

Notes on contributors

David Scott

David Scott is Professor of Curriculum, Pedagogy and Assessment at the Institute of Education, University of London. Previously, he served as the Acting Dean of Teaching and Learning; the Director of the International Institute for Education Leadership; and Professor of Educational Leadership and Learning, University of Lincoln. His recent research projects include Teacher Cadre Management in Indian Schools; Teaching and Learning in Higher Education; Assessment for Learning in Hong Kong Schools; Curriculum Structures 14–18 in Nayarit State, Mexico; and National Curriculum Standards and Structures in Mexico. His most recently published books are Researching Education; Education, Epistemology and Critical Realism; and Critical Essays on Major Curriculum Theorists.