ERIC Number: EJ812372
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2008-Sep
Pages: 16
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0958-5176
EISSN: N/A
Curriculum and Assessment for the Knowledge Society: Interrogating Experiences in the Republic of Ireland and Queensland, Australia
Looney, Anne; Klenowski, Val
Curriculum Journal, v19 n3 p177-192 Sep 2008
The "knowledge society" has become a central discourse within educational reform. This article posits that the impact of the knowledge society discourse on curriculum and assessment has led to the emergence of what the authors term a new-form/re-form curriculum, and it asks whether what is transacting in contemporary movements in curriculum is less the reform of curriculum and more the emergence of a new-form/re-form curriculum. What is emerging is well beyond the discussions of outcomes and curriculum alignment that characterised much curriculum reform effort in the late 1990s. In this new-form/re-form curriculum "content" is displaced by "skills" and "knowledge acquisition" by "learning". Curriculum coverage is replaced by learner engagement. In this context, assessment also begins to take on new-form/re-form. Assessment now engages and promotes learning as process rather than as product. Two cases--the Republic of Ireland and Queensland, Australia--are analysed and compared to illustrate this shift in the conceptualisation of curriculum and assessment. Consideration is given to the possibility that this new-form/re-form curriculum represents a settlement in the contestation associated with learning outcomes and their perceived technical rationality and market focus. The paper concludes that the new-form/re-form curriculum is emerging in locations as diverse as Ireland and Queensland. (Contains 2 figures, 2 tables, and 1 note.)
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Educational Change, Curriculum Development, Curriculum Implementation, Educational Policy, Learner Engagement, Curriculum Based Assessment
Routledge. Available from: Taylor & Francis, Ltd. 325 Chestnut Street Suite 800, Philadelphia, PA 19106. Tel: 800-354-1420; Fax: 215-625-2940; Web site: http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Australia; Ireland
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A