The Curriculum: Theory and Practice

Citation

Kelly, A. V. (2009). The Curriculum: Theory and Practice (6th ed.). SAGE Publications.

Chapter Summary

The sixth edition (about 336 pages) continues a book first published in 1977 and revised in 1982, 1989 and later. The foreword says that, like its predecessors, it sets out to do five things: identify the elements of a truly educational curriculum; show how such a curriculum was emerging in the 1960s and 1970s in England and Wales, the United States and elsewhere; show how political control of the curriculum in England and Wales halted that development; outline the flaws of heavy-handed central control as a warning to other governments; and suggest a system that meets the demands of public accountability while offering an education fit for a democratic society. The ten chapters follow that plan, moving from theory (Chapters 1–4) through development and assessment (5–6) to a sustained critique of politicization (7–9) and a proposal (10).

Introduction

The introduction traces the book's history edition by edition, from the optimism of 1977, when it aimed to bridge theory and practice by persuading teachers to develop a theoretical underpinning for their work, to the 1988 Education Act, the National Curriculum and Ofsted inspection. It states the two central tasks of the revision: to identify what politicization has meant for education in the full sense, and to reopen the curriculum debate it has stifled. Kelly notes that many readers work in other countries and offers the English experience as an example of what to avoid.

Chapters 1–2: The Curriculum and the Study of the Curriculum; Knowledge and the Curriculum

The opening chapters set out what is meant by curriculum and curriculum studies, then examine the place of knowledge in the curriculum.

Chapters 3–4: Curriculum as Content and Product; Curriculum as Process and Development

The theoretical core compares models of curriculum planning: curricula defined by content or by objectives and outcomes, and curricula conceived as processes of development. Chapter 5 confirms that the earlier chapters argue for choosing a suitable theoretical model and question the emphasis placed on content selection and objectives.

Chapter 5: Curriculum Development, Change and Control

Opening with Stenhouse's remark that teachers need to study their own work, the chapter reviews what was learned from national projects of the 1960s and 1970s, especially the Schools Council (planning by objectives, dissemination and its problems), models of dissemination from Schön and Havelock, the gap between theory and practice, the micro-politics of schools, school-based curriculum development, action research such as the Ford Teaching Project, and the support of outside agencies. Its conclusion is that the teacher's role is central: there can be no curriculum development without teacher development. The final sections contrast this with change through centralized control, testing and Ofsted inspection, including the effects on early years provision.

Chapter 6: Assessment, Evaluation, Appraisal and Accountability

Examines the related mechanisms by which learning, programmes and teachers are judged, which the foreword names among the aspects of curriculum that need careful thought before any planning is implemented.

Chapters 7–9: The Politicization of the School Curriculum; What the Average Politician Knows about Education; The Flaws Endemic to Central Planning by Politicians

Three chapters develop the book's critique: how the curriculum in England came under political control, what knowledge politicians bring to educational decisions, and why central planning by politicians is flawed in principle. The introduction cites the new edition's use of government statistics and UNESCO data as evidence of continuing problems in English state schooling.

Chapter 10: A Democratic and Educational Curriculum

The constructive conclusion. Chapter 5 says it argues for a national curriculum framed loosely, as guidelines rather than tight prescriptions, as a more effective route to quality in a democratic society.

Key Concepts

Introduction and Chapters 1–4: Theory

• Educational curriculum: a curriculum aimed at education in the full sense, beyond vocational and economic needs.
• Curriculum as content and product: planning that starts from what is to be transmitted or from predetermined objectives and outcomes.
• Curriculum as process and development: planning that starts from the processes of learning and the development of the learner.

Chapters 5–6: Development, change and evaluation

• Dissemination models: ways of spreading innovation, compared through Schön's and Havelock's models.
• School-based curriculum development: change led by teachers in their own schools, supported rather than directed from outside.
• Teacher as researcher: the Stenhouse tradition, taken up through action research, in which teachers study their own practice.
• Accountability: the demand that schools answer for their work, which the book wants met without sacrificing education.

Chapters 7–10: Politics and a democratic alternative

• Politicization of the curriculum: control of what is taught by government, enforced through legislation, testing and inspection.
• Central planning: prescription of the curriculum from the centre, which Kelly argues is flawed in principle.
• Democratic curriculum: a curriculum framed as guidelines that leaves room for professional judgement and suits a democratic society.

Critical Analysis

Strengths

• A clear, sustained argument. The foreword states the book's five aims plainly, and the chapters carry them through, so readers always know what is being argued and why.
• Theory linked to practice and history. The sample chapter draws on the experience of real curriculum projects, such as the Schools Council and the Ford Teaching Project, and on models of change, to support its argument that the teacher is central.
• Long view. Written by an author revising the same book since 1977, it records ideas about process curricula and school-based development that the introduction says have been largely lost from policy debate.
• Readable. A reader comment quoted by the publisher calls the writing concise and informative, but at times challenging.

Limitations

• Openly partisan. The book argues a case against political control rather than surveying positions neutrally; its tone towards politicians and Ofsted is sharp. Students should read it as an argument and test it against other views.
• Dated evidence and setting. The author concedes that recent editions rely on illustrations from earlier experimentation because little new has emerged, and the policy discussion stops at the late 2000s (New Labour and the early years foundation stage).
• Centred on England and Wales. Although intended as a warning to other systems, the detailed analysis concerns English policy.

Where It Fits in the Course

Kelly is the course's sustained argument about who should control the curriculum and why. Wesley Null's Curriculum: From Theory to Practice is a gentler, more even-handed introduction that sorts curriculum thought into five traditions; reading Null first gives a map within which Kelly's position can be placed. Ornstein and Hunkins's Curriculum: Foundations, Principles, and Issues is a broad survey of foundations, design and development, useful as a reference alongside Kelly.

Wiggins and McTighe's Understanding by Design guide is a practical planning framework that starts from desired results and evidence; comparing it with Kelly's critique of objectives-based planning is a productive exercise. For further theory, William Pinar's What Is Curriculum Theory? treats curriculum as a "complicated conversation" in the reconceptualist tradition, and The Curriculum Studies Reader edited by Flinders and Thornton lets students read original texts from the field.

How to Use This Book

Kelly writes for students of curriculum and for teachers who want a theoretical basis for their work; no previous study of curriculum theory is assumed, but readers should expect a sustained argument rather than a textbook survey.

A suggested route:

• Start with the foreword and introduction, which state the aims and history of the book.
• Core theory: Chapters 3 and 4 on content, product, process and development are essential for any curriculum course.
• For teachers and curriculum leaders: Chapter 5 on development and change, with its case for school-based development and teacher research.
• For policy and politics modules: Chapters 7–9, followed by Chapter 10 for Kelly's alternative.

Read with a critical eye: for each claim about central control, ask what evidence is offered and how a supporter of national standards would reply, and update the policy examples with current information for your own system. Pair the book with Null or Ornstein and Hunkins for balance.