The questions of curriculum

Dillon, J. T.

doi:10.1080/00220270802433261

Cited by 63 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 6 publications

(9 reference statements)

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This article seeks to make a conceptual and methodological contribution to that growing corpus of literature. It takes as its starting point the premise that the questions asked of curriculum and the contexts of curricular development and implementation are fundamental to curriculum scholarship -a view held by 'mainstream' (for example, Dillon, 2009) and critical (for example, Popkewitz, 2009;Apple, 2010) curriculum theorists alike. For the former, key questions of curriculum centre on 'who, whom, what, where, when, why, how, what results' (Dillon, 2009, p. 347).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interrogating ‘Belonging’ in Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia

Sumsion

Wong

2011

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In this article, the authors interrogate the use of 'belonging' in Belonging, Being and Becoming: the Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF), Australia's first national curriculum for early childhood education and care settings and, from the authors' interrogation, possibilities are offered for thinking about and working with the EYLF in critical and transformative ways. In order to scaffold their interrogation, the authors develop a cartography of understandings of belonging drawn from diverse disciplinary and theoretical perspectives. The cartography highlights multiple, interconnected dimensions (ways of belonging) and analytical axes (dynamics and politics of belonging). The analysis indicates direct or implicit reference in the EYLF to many dimensions of belonging, but an apparent silence about the politics of belonging. The authors argue that the silences should not be interpreted as apolitical, but rather as a strategic response to political pressures shaping the EYLF's development.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Interrogating ‘Belonging’ in Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia

Sumsion

Wong

2011

Contemporary Issues in Early Childhood

134

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Firstly that only rarely is the term curriculum is used explicitly in higher education (Barnett & Coate, 2005;Dillon, 2009;Hicks, 2007) and secondly, that the concept of curriculum is contested and used in many different ways (Barnett & Coate, 2005;Dillon, 2009;Hicks, 2007;Marsh, 2004). I will now discuss the implications of these observations for understanding our experience in this project.…”

Section: Universities and Curriculummentioning

confidence: 99%

Curriculum Renewal: Barriers to Successful Curriculum Change and Suggestions for Improvement

Cooper¹

2017

JETS

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This article examines the practical difficulties encountered when a renewed curriculum is implemented in higher education. Attention has been given in the literature to the importance of coherent curriculum and approaches to curriculum design. Less attention has been paid to whether the renewed curriculum can be faithfully implemented within a given university context and how constraints to implementation change the curriculum design. Practical barriers to implementation arose from several sources. These included: how to ensure that all staff understood and supported the new approaches, in the context of a casualized academic workforce; the need for academics to find sufficient time to engage with the renewal process and complete the necessary work to implement the new curriculum, in the context of intensification of academic work; how to support academic staff to gain an understanding of curriculum design changes in a context where few staff have formally studied education; and, the tension between explicit curriculum philosophies that inform alternative curriculum designs and tacit curriculum philosophies embedded in university systems. The project used an action-learning approach and situated the learning in the context of literature on curriculum, academic work and contemporary university practices, to draw conclusions about how universities can better support successful implementation of curriculum change. The article concludes that successful realisation of curriculum change requires on-going support from management and a flexible environment to ensure that planned changes can be implemented effectively. This has implications for many university systems including, academic support, professional development, academic workloads, and university reporting systems.

show abstract

“…Therefore, content, coherence, and control are not addressed, specifically in relation to how these concepts might co-exist in ways that recognize the complex questions raised by Pinar (2011Pinar ( , 2012, Joseph (2011) and Dillon (2009). The post-structural perspectives proposed by Sellers and others reject a hierarchy or logical structure of knowledge, and of developmental norms, and the levels of control that are inscribed in many ECE policy frameworks.…”

Section: Post-structural Perspectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a result, many people-children, families, professionals, and policymakers-are involved in making, living, and experiencing curriculum. Dillon (2009) highlights the importance of asking fundamental questions about the nature, elements, milieu, aims, and practice of curriculum, and understanding the fundamental tensions in such questions. Accordingly, we raise questions about what happens when the concepts of content, control, and coherence are used to interrogate curriculum in theory and policy in ECE.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Curriculum in early childhood education: critical questions about content, coherence, and control

Wood

Hedges

2016

The Curriculum Journal

104

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A continuing struggle over curriculum in early childhood education is evident in contemporary research and debate at national and international levels. This reflects the dominant influence of developmental psychology in international discourses, and in policy frameworks that determine approaches to curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Focusing on early childhood education, we argue that this struggle generates critical questions about three significant themes within curriculum theory: content, coherence and control. We outline two positions from which these themes can be understood: Developmental and Educational Psychology and contemporary policy frameworks. We argue that within and between these positions curriculum content, coherence, and control are viewed in different and sometimes oppositional ways. Following this analysis, we propose that a focus on 'working theories' as a third position offers possibilities for addressing some of these continuing struggles, by exploring different implications for how content, coherence, and control might be understood. We conclude that asking critical questions of curriculum in early childhood education is a necessary endeavor to develop alternative theoretical frameworks for understanding the ways in which curriculum can be considered alongside pedagogy, assessment, play and learning.

show abstract

The questions of curriculum

Cited by 63 publications

References 6 publications

Interrogating ‘Belonging’ in Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia

Interrogating ‘Belonging’ in Belonging, Being and Becoming: The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia

Curriculum Renewal: Barriers to Successful Curriculum Change and Suggestions for Improvement

Curriculum in early childhood education: critical questions about content, coherence, and control

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About