Abstract
It is generally supposed that a curriculum should engage students with worthwhile knowledge, which requires an understanding of what it means for something to be worthwhile: a substantive conception of the good. Yet a number of influential curriculum theories deny or undermine one or another aspect of the key assumption upon which a meaningful account of the good depends - that people are the agents of their own beliefs, desires and actions. This renders a significant encounter between the curriculum and substantive ethics highly problematic. In this article I explore the meeting between curriculum and human agency in four seminal curriculum theories, and offer a framework to engage the curriculum with this key concept of substantive ethics.
Original language | English |
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Pages (from-to) | 343-369 |
Number of pages | 27 |
Journal | Theory and Research in Education |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Nov 2005 |
Keywords
- curriculum
- ethics
- good life
- human agency
- worthwhile knowledge
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Education