Curriculum and Aims

The revised and expanded second edition of "Curriculum and Aims" provides a broad perspective on the basic curriculum questions educators face regarding the purposes, content, design, and structure of educational programmes. After examining aims that have been proposed by classical educational thinkers and reviewing the dominant educational debate of this century between traditionalists and progressives, authors Decker F. Walker and Jonas F. Soltis deal with fundamental issues of curriculum theory and instructional practice, raising such questions as: who has the authority to make curriculum decisions?; when is a curriculum change a change for the better?; should curriculum be thought of as a set of subjects to be learned or as a set of experiences for people to have?; which perspective - student-, society- or subject-centred - best guides the design of general education in a democratic society?; what do contemporary scholars who have studied and critiqued curriculum of the past and present have to offer practicing teachers?; if we as a pluralistic society "aim" our educational programmes, how can we do so democratically, fairly, and justly?; what questions should be considered during the process of curriculum deliberation?
As in the other volumes in the "Thinking About Education Series", a final "Cases and disputes" chapter provides realistic case studies, dialogues, and open-ended questions designed to stimulate thought and discussion.