1. The Curriculum and the Study of the Curriculum What is the curriculum? -- The educational curriculum -- The total curriculum -- The 'hidden' curriculum -- The planned curriculum and the received curriculum -- The centrality of the teacher -- "Teacher-proofing' does not work -- The teacher's 'make or break' role -- Key aspects of Curriculum Studies -- Strategies for curriculum change and control -- Assessment, evaluation, appraisal and accountability -- The politicization of curriculum -- Curriculum planning -- What is involved in the study of the curriculum? -- A study in its own right -- Practice as well as theory -- Not an applied science -- Beyond methodology -- Conceptual analysis

2. Knowledge and the Curriculum The problematic nature of human knowledge -- Absolutist theories -- Objections to absolutism -- The politics of knowledge -- Totalitarianism - open and concealed -- Resistance to change -- Ideological dominance -- The legitimation of discourse -- The manipulation of language -- The use of metaphor -- Responses to the problem of the politics of knowledge

3. Curriculum as Content and Product Curriculum as content and education as transmission -- The philosophical case -- Education as cultural transmission -- The political selection of curriculum content -- Curriculum as product and education as instrumental -- The aims and objectives movement -- Some problems presented by this model -- The combined model -- 'mastery learning' -- The unsuitability of these models for planning which is to be genuinely educational -- Summary

4. Curriculum as Process and Development An overtly value-laden and ideological model -- The growth of this view -- Early conceptual inadequacies -- A sound theoretical base -- Curriculum as process - aims and principles -- Procedural principles -- Principles and aims -- Intrinsic aims -- Education as development -- Active and passive views of humanity -- Individual autonomy -- Education as individual experience -- The growth of competence -- Development on every front -- The social dimension of development - democratic empowerment -- Democratic imperatives -- A partnership curriculum -- Some criticisms of the developmental model -- Political objections -- Philosophical objections -- The contribution of developmental psychology -- The major merits of this model -- Curriculum ideologies and planning models - implications and conclusions -- The need for conceptual clarity -- The need for informed choices and justification

5. Curriculum Development, Change and Control National agencies for curriculum development - the work of the Schools Council -- A politically independent professional agency -- Lessons from the School Council's work -- Reconstitution and disestablishment -- The dissemination of innovation and change -- Models of dissemination -- The inadequacies of the centre-periphery approach -- Some consequent modifications -- School-based curriculum development -- Key features of these developments -- Action research and 'the teacher as researcher' -- Continuous self-evaluation -- External support -- The teacher's role continues to be central -- Changing the curriculum through centralized control -- Testing and inspection

6. Assessment, Evaluation, Appraisal and Accountability Pupil assessment -- Assessment and the curriculum -- Uses of assessment -- Purposes of assessment -- The realities of National Curriculum assessment -- Styles of assessment -- Evaluation theory -- What is curriculum evaluation? -- Developed approaches to curriculum evaluation -- The politicization of curriculum evaluation -- Evaluation and pupil assessment -- Evaluation as curriculum control -- Teacher appraisal and accountability -- Models of accountability -- Current policies and practices -- Implications for educational research -- Limitations on research -- The 'school effectiveness movement' -- Summary

7. The Politicization of the School Curriculum Direct and indirect political influences -- Competing ideologies -- The early historical context -- The 'Golden Age" -- Contradictory developments -- The challenge to teacher autonomy -- The initial ambivalence of officialdom -- The shift to direct intervention and control -- The end of the "Golden Age' -- Major landmarks in the move towards central control -- Events since 1988

8. What the Average Politician Understands about Education

9. The Flaws Endemic to Central Planning by Politicians Falling standards -- The category error of adopting a commercial planning model -- Competition rather than co-operation -- An increased emphasis on management -- Privatization -- Planning by targets -- Knee-jerk, short-term planning -- Equality and sameness -- The assimilation of knowledge -- Underachievement and self-image -- Testing and measurement -- Faith schools -- Professional collaboration -- The effects of centralized control on the development of curriculum theory and practice -- The refusal to learn from developments in curriculum theory -- The de-intellectualization of the curriculum debate -- The premises of direct intervention and control -- That the purpose of the schooling system is only to support the economy -- That the education system is deficient -- That teachers should be merely operators -- That educational planning is a scientific activity -- Conclusions

10. A Democratic and Educational Curriculum
The pressures for a national curriculum -- Before the National Curriculum -- The case for a common core to the curriculum -- The argument from the nature of knowledge -- The argument from the principle of equality -- Some problems and difficulties -- The nature of knowledge and values -- The politics of knowledge -- A 'balanced' curriculum -- A metaphor -- Planning the curriculum as a totality -- Balancing other factors -- Balance as an individual matter -- Common processes and principles -- Learning through subjects -- The need for guidelines and broad procedural principles -- Areas of experience -- Curriculum as process and education as development -- The political case for the National Curriculum -- The lack of a theoretical frame -- The underlying instrumentalism -- Its intrinsic elitism -- The National Curriculum and curriculum research and development -- Developmental psychology -- A developmentally appropriate curriculum -- Curriculum dissemination -- Assessment and evaluation -- Two underlying messages -- Implications for curriculum theory and research -- The importance of the freedom to experiment -- Maintaining the understandings and insights -- The loss of opportunities for empirical research -- Democratic imperatives -- Democracy as a moral system -- Anti-democratic ideologies -- Loss of freedom -- The key features of a democratic and educational national curriculum -- A curriculum for equality -- The role of the professional educator -- Key features -- Fundamental principles

A chronology of curriculum development and change -- Government reports and other official publications referred to in the text

"This is the Sixth Edition of a book that has been regularly revised and updated since it was first published in 1977. A.V. Kelly's now classic work focuses on the philosophical and political dimensions of curriculum, and especially on the implications for schools and societies of various forms of curriculum. The author outlines what form a curriculum should take if it is concerned to promote a genuine form of education for a genuinely democratic society. Kelly summarizes and explains the main aspects of curriculum theory, and shows how these can and should be translated into practice, in order to create an educational and democratic curriculum for all schools at all levels. The author also seeks to show that the politicization of the school curriculum has led to the establishment of policies and practices which demonstrate a failure to understand these principles of curriculum theory and practice. As a result, policies and practices have been implemented which fall short of being adequate. In view of the rapid pace of educational change imposed by various governments over the last 35 years, including New Labor, this book is now more relevant than ever." / « Il s’agit de la sixième édition d’un livre qui a été régulièrement révisé et mis à jour depuis sa première publication en 1977. Le travail maintenant classique d’A.V. Kelly se concentre sur les dimensions philosophiques et politiques des programmes d’études, et en particulier sur les implications pour les écoles et les sociétés de diverses formes de programmes d’études. L’auteur décrit la forme que devrait prendre un programme d’études s’il s’agit de promouvoir une véritable forme d’éducation pour une société véritablement démocratique. Kelly résume et explique les principaux aspects de la théorie des programmes d’études, et montre comment ceux-ci peuvent et doivent être traduits en pratique, afin de créer un programme éducatif et démocratique pour toutes les écoles à tous les niveaux. L’auteur cherche également à démontrer que la politisation du programme scolaire a mené à l’établissement de politiques et de pratiques qui démontrent un manque de compréhension de ces principes de théorie et de pratique du programme. Par conséquent, des politiques et des pratiques qui ne sont pas adéquates ont été mises en œuvre. Compte tenu du rythme rapide des changements éducatifs imposés par divers gouvernements au cours des 35 dernières années, y compris le Nouveau Travail, ce livre est maintenant plus pertinent que jamais. »