ERIC Number: EJ1021751
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2013
Pages: 13
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0022-0272
EISSN: N/A
Knowledge, Judgement and the Curriculum: On the Past, Present and Future of the Idea of the Practical
Biesta, Gert
Journal of Curriculum Studies, v45 n5 p684-696 2013
In 1970, Joseph Schwab published the first of four papers that argued for a turn to the idea of the Practical in curriculum research and practice. In this paper, I revisit Schwab's original paper and explore the extent to which his case for the Practical is still relevant today. I first look at the past of the deliberative tradition in which Schwab's argument is located. I argue that a more precise engagement with the work of Aristotle--particularly the distinction between making/production and doing, and between knowledge of the eternal and of the variable--can strengthen Schwab's case and allow for a better understanding of the kind of knowledge and judgement needed in education. In relation to the present, I highlight three ways in which the current context has changed from when Schwab published his paper. These concern the strongly diminished space for teachers' professional judgement; the rise of a call for evidence-based education; and the shift in curriculum studies away from practical questions. To (re)connect the field of curriculum studies and research with questions about the "doing'" of curriculum is, in my view, where a deliberative approach such as the one articulated by Schwab remains highly relevant.
Descriptors: Curriculum Research, Essays, Theory Practice Relationship, Educational Theories, Educational History, Educational Trends, Futures (of Society), Curriculum Development
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Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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Authoring Institution: N/A
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