Artikel

Het onderwijscurriculum: een sociologische benadering

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Abstract

The school curriculum. A sociological approach - Presenting curricula as socially neutral instruments is opposed to the assumption that curricula have the intention to implement innovations in education. Nevertheless, the traditional technological perspective tends to hide the basic values, the ideologies that underpin curriculum constructions. The broader social context in which curricula are developed is merely neglected. The curriculum sociologists hand us the tools to deconstruct the ideological assumptions and to influence the opportunities for school innovation. It is the interpretative paradigma that guides the thinking of the curriculum sociologist and the influence of the sociologist of knowledge is great. The interest for the school curriculum is related to the renewed interest of the sociologist in the social determination of the production of knowledge. The ideas of M. Young and B. Bernstein are still relevant. We also have the theory of rationalities by M. Matthijssen. Rationalities are expressed in the hierarchy of knowledge. The construction of curricula is an interactive process, a process of selecting knowledge. So the curriculum becomes a social artefact, which has a context. It is negotiated by the curriculum constructors, but also the interaction between the teacher and the pupils makes the curriculum an instrument of innovation and social transformation. This is Eggleston’s restructuring perspective. We have also made the link with the theory of the American curriculum sociologists M. Apple and H. Giroux. They stress the possibility of changing people and structures.

How to Cite:

Aelterman, A., (1996) “Het onderwijscurriculum: een sociologische benadering”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 41(3), 286–310. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95241