This paper explores the intersection of curriculum studies/curriculum history/curriculum theory through the study of systems of reason that order reflection and action. Words about "learning", "empowerment", "problem-solving", "self-realization", "community", and so on, are not merely there in order that educators should "grasp" some reality to…

Delineates two traditional assumptions of educational research: (1) social progress is tied to an evolutionary conception of change and (2) inquiry must identify actors as causal agents who create or suppress change. Argues that both assumptions are grounded in the effects of power and modernity and are complicit in social regulation. (MJP)

Examines the social and cultural conditions in which U.S. art education was constructed, considering the social interests that underlay its formation. Traces curriculum theory from around 1870 to the present. States that the history of curriculum involves a story of social transformation, political interests, and economic agendas. (GEA)

Paradigmatic assumptions and practices of Soviet pedagogical research are considered. How the social and philosophical commitments of dialectical materialism guide the conduct of research is discussed, and research approaches to pedagogical problems are examined. (RM)