Author Description

The first edition of Key Concepts for Understanding Curriculum, published in 1992, proved an invaluable guide to all involved in curriculum matters, In order to take account of recent changes in the field, this new edition has been totally revised and extended to include new material and is now published in two volumes. As before they comprise the latest trends and issues written in Marsh's clear and accessible style and as a consequence are an important source of material for an international readership at every level. Each of the 44 concepts is examined in a chapter of 10-15 pages, succinctly describing its major features, controversies, strengths and weaknesses. At the end of each chapter, in common with the first edition, there are a number of follow-up questions designed to challenge the reader to reflect further on specific issues raised. Volume 1, Perspectives, is largely an introductory text dealing with students' and teachers' experience of the curriculum. The 19 concepts include the learning environment; the hidden curriculum; student learning outcomes; examinations and testing; teacher empowerment; teacher appraisal; teacher competencies; teachers as researchers; and national goals and standards. In Volume 2, Planning, Management and Ideology, the 27 concepts include curriculum frameworks; curriculum integration; profiles, records of achievement and portfolios; planning models; decentralised and school-based curriculum development; leadership and the school principal; performance indicators and effective schools; self-managing schools; feminist pedagogy; and postmodernism and the curriculum. Together the two volumes offer, through their concise and systematic presentation of material, a clear and sure foundation for the understanding of curriculum. Book jacket.