The Domains and Curriculum Theory
The Domains and Curriculum Theory
The eight domains
- Theory.
- History.
- Development.
- Design.
- Implementation.
- Evaluation.
- Change.
- Inquiry.
Curriculum theory
- The act of clarifying meaning and use of language, of theorizing and reflecting.
- Drawn from philosophies: pragmatism, idealism, realism, existentialism, phenomenology, scholasticism, critical theory.
Two kinds of theory
- Prescriptive: what is worthwhile to know, and how its worth is justified.
- Descriptive: how reality can be modeled to explain, predict, and control curricular activity.
Curriculum studies looks like one field but works as eight. Each one is a separate line of work with its own questions, and together they cover everything from the ideas behind a curriculum to the research that checks whether it worked. Knowing the eight as a set makes the rest of this guide easier to place: nearly every later topic lives inside one of them.
The eight domains are theory, history, development, design, implementation, evaluation, change, and inquiry. Theory comes first, because it sits behind all the others.
What curriculum theory is
Theory is the first domain because it sits behind all the others. Curriculum theory is the act of clarifying the meaning and use of language, the work of theorizing and reflecting on what curriculum is and ought to be. Before anyone can build or judge a curriculum, the ideas and terms have to be made clear, and that clarifying is what theory does.
Theory does not appear from nowhere. It is drawn from the major philosophies, including pragmatism, idealism, realism, existentialism, phenomenology, scholasticism, and critical theory. Each of these offers a different account of what is real and what is worth knowing, and each one feeds a different way of thinking about curriculum. The philosophical foundations covered later in this guide are where these ideas get worked out in detail.
The work of clarifying meaning and reflecting on curriculum
It theorizes about what curriculum is and ought to be, drawing on philosophies such as pragmatism, idealism, realism, and existentialism. It is the thinking that sits behind every other domain.
Prescriptive and descriptive theory
Curriculum theory comes in two kinds, and they ask different questions.
Prescriptive theory is about worth. It asks what is worthwhile to know, how we know it is worthwhile, and how that worth can be justified. It is concerned with what ought to be in the curriculum and why. Prescriptive theory takes a position and defends it.
Descriptive theory is about reality. It asks how reality can be modeled so that we can see its important features. Once reality is modeled well, the payoff is practical: we can explain what is happening, predict what will happen, and control curricular activity and behaviour. Descriptive theory does not say what ought to be; it tries to capture what is, accurately enough to act on.
The two are not rivals so much as a pair. A field needs both a sense of what is worth doing and an accurate picture of what is actually going on.
| Kind of theory | Central question | What it produces |
|---|---|---|
| Prescriptive | What is worthwhile, and why? | A justified view of what ought to be taught |
| Descriptive | How can reality be modeled? | The power to explain, predict, and control |
Prescriptive asks what ought to be; descriptive asks what is
Prescriptive theory argues what is worthwhile and justifies it. Descriptive theory models reality so curricular activity can be explained, predicted, and controlled. A field needs both.
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