Abstract:
A holistic theoretical framework is proposed for use when studying curriculum change. The framework was developed by examining studies from social policy, educational history and curriculum researchers along with case study material gleaned from tracing developments in selected social education syllabuses in NSW. Four areas were seen to be essential to investigate when positing reasons for curriculum change or when considering ways to influence future curriculum change. These areas are the social, political, cultural and economic environment, the processes associated with curriculum development, the individuals involved and the text (both the language and the format) that is produced associated with these changes. The author was most interested in examining what many would consider to be a narrow interpretation of the term curriculum ie. from the point of view of looking at the politics of what was written into syllabus documents or the preactive perspective, as Goodson would call it. However it is proposed that the overall framework could also be of value when considering the interactive perspective or how the written curriculum is interpreted and implemented in the classroom context.