This text provides a comprehensive treatment of curriculum theory and is organized around the concept of Reconceptualization from the institutionalized aim of improving practice incrementally to the goal of understanding curriculum practice and experience from a variety of perspectives. After an introductory chapter, Chapter 2 reviews the history of curriculum in the United States from 1828 through 1927. Chapter 3 continues the review through 1969 and ends with discussion of the rise of Reconceptualization. Chapter 4 reviews the 1970s and developments in Humanism, and the continued reconceptualization of curriculum. Chapters 5-14 report the major discourses of the 1980s and 1990s with chapter 5 discussing curriculum as a political text; chapter 6, examining curriculum as racial text; and the role of gender in curriculum addressed in chapter 7. Chapter 8 summarizes the critique of mainstream social science and hermeneutics, and concludes with a commentary on Poststructuralism. Chapter 9 considers curriculum as poststructural, deconstructed, postmodern text and chapter 10 looks at curriculum as autobiographical/biographical text. Chapters 11 and 12 consider curriculum as aesthetic and theological text. Chapter 13 discusses curriculum as institutional text; chapter 14 discusses curriculum as international text; and chapter 15 is a postscript for future directions. (Contains over 3000 references). (JLS)