Curriculum has traditionally been regarded as a rather technical matter best left to disciplinary specialists, educationalists, textbook writers and designers of assessment tests and examinations. More recently, however, the debate on curriculum has gradually moved beyond the technical realm to become also a subject of policy discussion on what education is needed and for what type of society, involving decision-makers, educators, organized interest groups and a variety of local and international institutions and stakeholders. One of the challenges for the curriculum seems then to lie in being able to come up with convincing responses given the explosion of interests, expectations and needs looming over it, often chaotically, admitting the dual nature -- political and technical -- of decisions about the why, what, where and how of education. This paper highlights four emerging traits of a possible reconceptualizing of the curriculum. First, the perception that the curriculum articulates the educational and development aims and purposes put forward by society and the pupils' personal learning and development needs (UNESCO-IBE 2015). Secondly, there is the vision of the curriculum as the product of a process of social dialogue and collective construction implying a diversity of stakeholders and based on a comprehensive approach to the education system. The third trait concerns the intention that the curriculum should help to support and legitimize educational policies as a cross-cutting dimension and essential ingredient of a systemic vision. The fourth point is the expectation that, as a form of guidance for renewed teaching practices, the curriculum may be able to promote the effective democratization of learning opportunities and stimulate the gradual transformation of the teacher's role. The working paper contains a bibliography.