Curriculum

Wesley Null is vice provost for undergraduate education at Baylor University. He also serves as professor of curriculum and foundations of education in the School of Education and the Honors College. At Baylor, Null collaborates with all deans and vice provosts to maintain a common vision for undergraduate education, oversees undergraduate curriculum for the university, supervises staff who provide academic and advising support for all undergraduates, works closely to the Office of Student Life to supervise living-learning programs, and oversees institutional accreditation for the University. Null is the author of Peerless Educator: The Life and Work of Isaac Leon Kandel (2007) and A Disciplined Progressive Educator: The Life and Career of William Chandler Bagley (2004). He is co-editor, with Diane Ravitch, of Forgotten Heroes of American Education: The Great Tradition of Teaching Teachers (2006). He has co-edited several other books as well, including Readings in American Educational Thought: From Puritanism to Progressivism (2009) and The Pursuit of Curriculum: Schooling and the Public Interest (2006). Null also has served as president of the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum and Editor of the American Educational History Journal. He lives in Woodway, Texas with his wife, Dana, and their two children, Raegan and Corbin.

• Figures and Textboxes Foreword to the Third Edition (Chara Haeussler Bohan) Foreword to the Second Edition (Jared Stallones) Foreword to the First Edition (David M. Callejo-Perez) Preface to the Third Edition Preface to the Second Edition Preface to the First Edition Supplementary Materials Acknowledgments Introduction: What Is Curriculum and Why Does It Matter? Curriculum versus Education Curriculum Questions Why Curriculum Matters What Is a Liberating Curriculum? Thesis and Structure of the Book Brief Book Overview Discussion Questions Notes PART I: CURRICULUM TRADITIONS1 Liberal Education (and Curriculum) for All Origins of a Liberal Curriculum The Christian Era and the Liberal Arts Ideal The Rise of Democracy Universal Liberal Curriculum and Deliberation John Dewey and Democratic Education Joseph Schwab’s Challenge to Curriculum The Five Commonplaces of Curriculum Why the Language of Commonplaces? Commonplace #1: Teachers Commonplace #2: Learners Commonplace #3: Subject Matter Commonplace #4: Context Commonplace #5: Curriculum Making A Map for Curriculum Makers The Horizontal Axis The Vertical Axis The Curriculum Map and the Five Curricular Traditions Discussion Questions Notes 2 Systematic Curriculum No Child Left Behind and Systematic Curriculum Curriculum Standards as a System The Rise of Common Core State Standards Background on the Systematic Curriculum Tradition John Franklin Bobbitt Werrett Wallace Charters The Free-Market System and Curriculum What about Curriculum? Systematic Curriculum and the Commonplaces Teachers Learners Subject Matter Context Curriculum Making Conclusion: Strengths and Weaknesses of Systematic Curriculum Discussion Questions Notes 3 Existentialist Curriculum Alfie Kohn and Curriculum for Personal Choice Maxine Greene and Existential Curriculum Elliot Eisner and Artistic Existentialism William F. Pinar and Curriculum Reconceptualization Some Background on Existentialist Curriculum G. Stanley Hall and Developmental Curriculum William Heard Kilpatrick and Project-Based Curriculum Existentialist Curriculum and the Commonplaces Teachers Learners Subject Matter Context Curriculum Making Conclusion: Strengths and Weaknesses of Existentialist Curriculum Discussion Questions Notes 4 Radical Curriculum Michael Apple and Radical Curriculum Official Knowledge Ideology and Curriculum Paulo Freire and Radical Curriculum Pedagogy of the Oppressed Radical Christian Curriculum Gloria Ladson-Billings, The Dreamkeepers, and Radical Curriculum Some Background on Radical Curriculum George Counts Dare the School Build a New Social Order? and Curriculum Harold Rugg and Radical Social Studies Curriculum Radical Curriculum and the Commonplaces Teachers Learners Subject Matter Context Curriculum Making Conclusion: Strengths and Weaknesses of Radical Curriculum Discussion Questions Notes 5 Pragmatic Curriculum Ted Sizer and Pragmatic Curriculum Horace Smith’s Compromised Curriculum Sizer’s Pragmatic System Harry K. Wong and Pragmatic Curriculum Background on Pragmatic Curriculum John Dewey and the Philosophical Roots of Pragmatic Curriculum Dewey in the 1890s Dewey in 1916 Dewey during the Great Depression Ralph Tyler and Pragmatic Curriculum Tyler and the Roots of Curriculum Deliberation Pragmatic Curriculum and the Commonplaces Teachers Learners Subject Matter Context Curriculum Making Conclusion: Strengths and Weaknesses of Pragmatic Curriculum Discussion Questions Notes 6 Deliberative Curriculum William A. Reid and Deliberative Curriculum Thinking about the Curriculum Reid on Curriculum and Liberal Education Ian Westbury and Deliberative Curriculum Westbury on Liberal Education Westbury on Bildung, Didaktik, and Curriculum Cheryl J. Craig and Deliberative Curriculum through Teachers Some Background on Deliberative Curriculum Joseph Schwab’s Challenge to Curriculum Schwab and Deliberation Richard McKeon: Rhetoric and Humanity in the Curriculum McKeon on Rhetoric and Curriculum McKeon on the Theory–Practice Relationship and Deliberation Deliberative Curriculum and the Commonplaces Teachers Learners Subject Matter Context Curriculum Making Conclusion: Strengths and Weaknesses of Deliberative Curriculum Discussion Questions Notes PART II: CURRICULUM PRACTICE7 What Should We Do with State Curriculum Standards? The Idea of Curriculum Standards Jesse Parker: High School U.S. History Teacher Resolving Mr. Parker’s Problems Kathy Waterman: Social Studies Department Chair Resolving Ms. Waterman’s Problems Michelle Ochoa: Fifth-Grade Teacher Resolving Ms. Ochoa’s Problems Discussion Questions 8 How Can We Reestablish a Core Curriculum at Our University? Northern State University Dr. Martin Fitzgerald Resolving Provost Fitzgerald’s Problems Lack of Faculty Support Lack of Balance between Teaching and Research Limited Resources Smithville College Resolving President Rankin’s Problems The Diversity Concern The Relevant Curriculum Argument The “Why More Religion?” Critique Discussion Questions 9 What Should We Do to Create a Better Teacher Ed Curriculum? Western State University Dean John Mason WSU: The Context President Jenice Longfellow Dr. Ronnie Lopez Provost Barry Barnett Dean Michael Leadbetter Resolving Dean Mason’s Problems Freedom Hill College President Martin Westland Dean Eugene Barker Dr. Theresa Moore, Assistant Professor Resolving President Westland’s Problems Resolving Dr. Theresa Moore’s Problems Discussion Questions Notes 10 Curriculum with Virtue: A Future for Deliberative Curriculum The Ancient Roots of Curriculum Deliberation What Is Virtue and How Does It Relate to Curriculum? Faith and Curriculum John Amos Comenius and a Liberal Curriculum for All Discussion Questions Notes Appendix A: Curriculum Dilemmas Intelligent Design vs. Evolution: Teach It or Ignore It? Curriculum Dilemma #1 Should I Talk to the Principal or Not? Curriculum Dilemma #2 Must I Teach Phonics? Curriculum Dilemma #3 Should I Confront the Principal or Ignore What I Saw? Curriculum Dilemma #4 Should I Give the Star Running Back a Break or Uphold Standards? Curriculum Dilemma #5 Should American Sign Language Count as a Foreign Language? Curriculum Dilemma #6 Should Your Department Accept Dual-Credit Courses for Transfer Credit? Curriculum Dilemma #7 References Subject Index Name Index About the Author

Wesley Null’s latest edition of Curriculum: From Theory to Practice represents a reawakening of the critically important work of curriculum development—work that largely looks to make improvements to the institution of schooling in the interest of lifting the lives of school children and strengthening the bonds of democracy. Given the manner in which the modern-day curriculum studies community has cast the idea of the normative as delimiting and hegemonic (and the proclivity that it has shown to view the institutional structure of the school as fundamentally imperialistic), it is refreshing to encounter the progressive tones of Null’s work, including the manner in which he favors the deliberative tradition of curriculum work that valorizes local voice, cautions against the promotion of universally valid interventions, and invokes the organic consideration of the teacher, the learner, and the subject matter in the creation of an educational experience.