Who framed the curriculum? An historical investigation
Not offered in 1997
Lecturer-in-charge to be advised
12 points
* 3 hours per week
* Clayton
Objectives Upon successful completion of this subject students should understand some of the major changes which have taken place in the primary and secondary curriculum since 1850; the forces at work, both in schools and in society at large, which have led to these changes; the justifications offered to explain educational change; the reasons for resistance to change in curriculum and teaching. Students should also have the skills to analyse and interpret historical documents; place particular educational changes in an historical context; discern the historical basis of some present-day problems; develop new curriculum and teaching strategies with an awareness of what has been tried in the past. Students should also have developed attitudes and values in an awareness that forces outside the schools, for example, governments, business groups, religious societies and unions, can deeply affect the day-to-day work of teaching and curriculum development; a realisation that changes can be made to school practices, but that those making them are not always in control of what they do or propose to do.
Synopsis This subject will be concerned with the curriculum of Victorian primary and secondary schools from the 1850s to the present. It will focus on how curriculum has changed, both in the fields of study put before students, and the contents of the fields. It will look at the methods by which curriculum has been interpreted (eg through textbooks, school readers) and will examine curriculum changes that have taken place in an effort to understand what caused them to be successful. It will also be concerned with studying unsuccessful efforts at curriculum change and will look historically at public examinations (for example, the VCE, LAPS and their predecessors) as agents and opponents of curriculum change. Curriculum developments will be related to social, political and economic as well as educational forces.
Assessment Review (1500 words): 15%
* Class presentation: 10%
*
Essay (5000 words): 75%
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