Using the 'medical' framework (symptoms, diagnosis and prescription) in Schwab's (1970/2013) the Practical 1 article, I analyse the current state of contemporary curriculum theorising as a result of the re-conceptualist movement. I argue that curriculum theorising is in serious crisis due to the loss of the original subject of curriculum studiespractice and the inner work of schooling as a complex institution. Furthermore, I contend that the crisis has to do with the task of theorising being mistakenly viewed as the pursuit of 'complicated' curriculum understanding, together with an uncritical embrace of postmodernism and related discourses. Based on Schwab' the Practical and informed by the German Didaktik tradition, I propose a way forward to overcome the crisis and to revive curriculum theorising that matters in practice and in the world of schooling for the twenty-first century in terms of three propositions. First, curriculum studies is a distinct discipline/field centrally concerned with practice for the advancement of education. Second, practice and the inner work of schooling provide the essential starting point and subject matter for theorising. Third, curriculum theorising requires the use of theories in an eclectic, critical and creative manner.