‘Whose Education Is It Anyway?’

Why It Is Important That Teachers Understand and Question the Broader Contexts Shaping the Curriculum

  • Ra Davis

Abstract

Teachers need to understand the economic and global contexts that underpin the curriculum because they impact on the interpretation, definition and perception of their role. Grundy (1994) maintains that there is a “… taken for granted view of the curriculum as something that is given to, or provided for, students” (p.27). This view of curriculum fails to acknowledge the crucial, dynamic role that teachers and students bring to the active construction of knowledge. Teachers need to be prepared to understand the ideologies underpinning the curriculum that they interpret and deliver. They should be aware of the reconstruction of knowledge and the changing values that they impart through the delivery of the curriculum. The politicisation of education directly affects teachers. This new alternative concept of teaching is changing the role of teachers from professional contextualists to that of technocratic reductionists (Codd, 1998).

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Ballard, K. (2002). Toward a knowledgeable society? Set, Research Information for Teachers, 1, 28-29.

Brooking, K. (2004). Boards of trustees' selection practices of principals in New Zealand primary schools. Unpublished doctoral dissertation. Deakin University, Geelong, Australia.

Chamberlin, M. (2004). Commentary: New Zealand curriculum/ Te Anga Marautanga o Aotearoa Project: A response to Clark. Teachers and Curriculum, 7, 79-80.

Clark, J. (2004a). The Curriculum Stocktake Report: A philosophical critique. Teachers and Curriculum, 7, 73-78.

Clark, J. A. (2004b). Rigorous eclecticism: The Ministry of Education’s bizarre philosophy of the curriculum. In A-M. O’Neill, J. Clark & R. Openshaw (Eds.), Reshaping Culture, Knowledge and Learning (pp.127-140). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

Codd, J. (1998). Professional accountability and the education of teachers. Delta, 50, 2, 149-162.

Codd, J. (2003). Educational reform, accountability and the culture of distrust.

New Zealand Journal of Educational Studies, 34, 45-53.

Elley, W. B. (2004). Curriculum reform in retrospect: Was it forward or backward? In A-M. O’Neill, J. Clark & R. Openshaw (Eds.), Reshaping Culture, Knowledge and Learning (pp.91-108). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

Grundy, S. (1994). The curriculum and teaching. In E. Hatton (Ed.), Understanding Teaching, Curriculum and the Social Context of Schooling. London: Harcourt Brace.

Lee, G., Hill, D., & Lee, H. (2004). The New Zealand Curriculum Framework: Something old, something new, something borrowed, something ‘blue’.

In A-M. O’Neill, J. Clark & R. Openshaw (Eds.), Reshaping Culture, Knowledge and Learning (pp.71-90). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

Lee, H., O’Neill, A-M., & McKenzie, D. (2004). ‘To Market, To Market …’ The mirage of certainty: An outcomes-based curriculum. In A-M. O’Neill, J. Clark & R. Openshaw (Eds.), Reshaping Culture, Knowledge and Learning (pp.47-70). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

O’Neill, A-M. (with Sheila Jolley) (2004). The technology curriculum: Commercialising education for mindless consumption. In A-M. O’Neill, J. Clark & R. Openshaw (Eds.), Reshaping Culture, Knowledge and Learning (pp.25-46). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

O’Neill, A-M., Clark, J., & Openshaw, R. (2004). Mapping the field: An introduction to curriculum politics in Aotearoa/New Zealand. In A-M. O’Neill, J. Clark & R. Openshaw (Eds.), Reshaping Culture, Knowledge and Learning (pp.25-46). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

Peters, M., & Marshall, J. (2004). The politics of curriculum: Autonomous choosers and enterprise culture. In A-M. O’Neill, J. Clark & R. Openshaw (Eds.), Reshaping Culture, Knowledge and Learning (pp.109-126). Palmerston North: Dunmore Press.

Published
2023-06-30
How to Cite
Davis, R. (2023). ‘Whose Education Is It Anyway?’: Why It Is Important That Teachers Understand and Question the Broader Contexts Shaping the Curriculum. Teachers’ Work, 20(1), 109-116. https://doi.org/10.24135/teacherswork.v20i1.440
Section
Editors' Choice