Introduction

This book exhibits a collection of proposals for how school curriculum may be conceived, designed, and realized. These proposals are drawn from writers both past and present who have presented some particular vision of what curriculum could be like for Pre-K--12 schools and have sought to convince others to adopt their proposal for use in some actual school situation. The proposals differ from one another in a variety of ways, including in their purposes, their contents, and their perspectives, and thus pose a wealth of options for consideration by those who are planning to change their school curriculum to something new and more suitable for their particular clientele. Readers will need to weigh the appeal of various proposals presented here against criteria they have for locating an optimum model for their particular situation.

The proposals selected for inclusion in this book address the whole of the curriculum–all levels, all subjects, all age-groups; they deal with entire program change rather than with incidental changes in content, program arrangements, teaching approaches, or other limited alterations. This book is intended to be a useful resource for those responsible for making decisions in a particular school or school district or at a broader policy-making level, about what the entire curriculum should be and should include. It draws attention to the work of many thoughtful persons who have dealt with the issue of what a coherent curriculum might be like and who, in some instances, have set up actual programs based on their ideas.