“Applebee's central point, the need to teach 'knowledge in context,' is absolutely crucial for the hopes of any reformed curriculum. His experience and knowledge give his voice an authority that makes many of the current proposals on both the left and right seem shallow by comparison.”—Gerald Graff, University of Chicago

The central theme of Curricular Conversations is this: Play is the thing that brings aesthetic curricular complications near educators and their students, making the lived consequences very vivid, tangible, and possible. Viewing curriculum as genuine inquiry into what is worth knowing, rather than simply a curricular document, this book explores the significances instilled and nurtured through aesthetic play. Each chapter delves into the space a given artwork reveals. The artworks act as points of departure and/or generative vehicles, foregrounding the roles and possibilities of play within curricular conversations. Looking at relevant educational issues, traditions, and theorists through an illuminating lens, this book speaks to curriculum theorists and arts educators everywhere.

“Applebee's central point, the need to teach 'knowledge in context,' is absolutely crucial for the hopes of any reformed curriculum. His experience and knowledge give his voice an authority that makes many of the current proposals on both the left and right seem shallow by comparison.”—Gerald Graff, University of Chicago

Schools need to have purchase on the curriculum: why they teach the subjects beyond preparation for examinations, what they are intending to achieve with the curriculum, how well it is planned and enacted in classrooms and how they know whether it’s doing what it’s supposed to. Fundamental to this understanding are the conversations between subject leaders and their line managers. However, there is sometimes a mismatch between the subject specialisms of senior leaders and those they line manage. If I don’t know the terrain and the importance of a particular subject, how can I talk intelligently with colleagues who are specialists? This book sets out to offer some tentative answers to these questions. Each of the national curriculum subjects is discussed with a subject leader and provides an insight into what they view as the importance of the subject, how they go about ensuring that knowledge, understanding and skills are developed over time, how they talk about the quality of the schemes in their departments and what they would welcome from senior leaders by way of support. We have chosen this way of opening up the potentially difficult terrain of expertise on one side and relative lack of expertise on the other, by providing these case studies. They are suggested as prompts rather than the last word. Informed debate is, after all, the fuel of curriculum development. And why Huh? Well, 'Huh?' may be John's first response when he walks into a Year 8 German class but, in fact, we chose 'Huh' as the title of our book as he is the Egyptian god of endlessness. As Claire Hill so eloquently comments in her chapter, “Curriculum development is an ongoing process; it’s not going to be finished, ever.” And we believe that 'Huh' captures a healthy and expansive way of considering curriculum conversations.

Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue is the journal of the American Association of Teaching and Curriculum (AATC). An important historical event in the development of organizations dealing with the scholarly field of teaching and curriculum was the founding of the AATC on October 1, 1993. The members of the AATC believed that the time was long overdue to recognize teaching and curriculum as a basic field of scholarly study, to constitute a national learned society for the scholarly field of teaching and curriculum (teaching is the more inclusive concept; curriculum is an integral part of teaching-the "what to teach" aspect). Since it's founding AATC has produced scholarship in teaching and curriculum and serves the general public through its conferences, journals, and the interaction of its members. The purpose of the organization was originally defined in Article 1, Section 2 of the AATC Constitution: "To promote the scholarly study of teaching and curriculum; all analytical and interpretive approaches that are appropriate for the scholarly study of teaching and curriculum shall be encouraged." Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue seeks to fulfill that mission.

Because literacy is never politically neutral, it is our hope that readers of this text will understand the significance of creating learning environments that emphasize the relationship between power and literacy. This book focuses attention on what can happen when teachers and students are empowered as they collaborate towards a common goal. Designed to balance theory and praxis, this book provides opportunities for teachers to begin conceiving of and building integrated literacy curricula that prioritizes the lived experiences and insights of their students, rather than emphasizes decontextualized lists of facts to be memorized or skills to be obtained. This book speaks to the needs of teacher candidates and practicing teachers who wish to engage more openly and fully with the current landscape of diverse learners, biased educational practices, and inequitable learning opportunities. The objective is to provide a means by which hopeful educators can begin to face the challenges of diverse classrooms in order to promote social justice and equity literacy by reimagining and reshaping both policy and practice.

Presents an illustrated case for the importance of dialogue and its role in developing non-passive interactive learning.