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

"How do I pick a theme that all my students can get involved in?" "Teaching with themes doesn't work. I can never get the kids beyond the level of skills work." "I have ESL students who understand content areas conceptually in their native language, but find it hard to express their ideas in English. If I could help them put it all together, they'll be more successful." If this sounds familiar to you, you'll welcome this concise and helpful book on the "whys" and "hows" of building and implementing a thematically unified curriculum. The twenty-nine themes outlined in Curricular Conversations cover all sorts of interests and subject matters. These themes are not presented as prepackaged activity sets but in a framework with outlines of strategies and techniques. By combining the theory and application of teaching with themes, Curricular Conversations: helps teachers and students to move beyond skills and facts to higher-level thinking processes; demonstrates how the themes work in real life; shows teachers and students how to generate their own thematic units; includes a bibliography of more than 1,000 children's books in English and Spanish and from various cultural backgrounds; gives teachers support material in an appendix full of sample forms and charts for organizing and managing class discussions and investigations. The key word here is "conversations." The authors feel that all students-whatever their abilities, languages, or literacy levels may be-should be able to join in and be engaged by the conversations about so many interesting things that a theme holds.

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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.

This collection of essays from the most prominent scholars in the field of curriculum studies paint an intellectually rich palette of the present state of curriculum research across the countries and continents when the traditionally prevailed national imaginaries give increasingly way to transnational, international, and postnational impulses.

Curriculum and Teaching Dialogue is a peer-reviewed journal sponsored by the American Association for Teaching and Curriculum. The purpose of the journal is to promote the scholarly study of teaching and curriculum. The aim is to provide readers with knowledge and strategies of teaching and curriculum that can be used in educational settings. The journal is published annually in two volumes and includes traditional research papers, conceptual essays, as well as research outtakes and book reviews. Publication in CTD is always free to authors. Information about the journal is located on the AATC website and can be found on the Journal tab at http://aatchome.org/about-ctd-journal/.

There’s plenty to do when planning the curriculum in primary schools. If it feels daunting, then one of the most helpful things is to talk to other people about how they have developed the curriculum for their particular subject or key stage. This is what John Tomsett and Mary Myatt have done. After the secondary ‘Huh: Curriculum conversations between subject and senior leaders’ was published, they were flooded with requests to produce a primary version. They enlisted the help of renowned primary specialists, Rachel Higginson, Lekha Sharma and Emma Turner to have conversations with primary teachers and key stage co-ordinators who are doing great curriculum development work. Each chapter provides insights into the importance of individual subjects and the unique contribution each makes to pupils’ cognitive and personal development. The subject chapters discuss the steps colleagues take to ensure that there is a coherent thread across the year groups, as the discrete subjects deliver, collectively, the primary curriculum. These conversations show how the craft of creating a rich, challenging curriculum for every subject is not a quick fix. This is a nuanced piece of work, and there are many ways of approaching it. Each chapter also contains links to subject associations and helpful resources. Primary Huh has been written for subject leaders and key stage co-ordinators; it has also been written for senior leaders, as they prepare to have supportive conversations with their colleagues who are responsible for curriculum development. Primary Huh is offered as a prompt rather than the last word. Informed debate is, as they say, the fuel of curriculum development. And why have John and Mary called it ‘Huh’? Well, John discovered that Huh is the Egyptian god of endlessness, creativity, fertility and regeneration, and they thought that was a pretty good metaphor for their work on the curriculum!

CONTENTS: The President' Message, Alan W. Garrett. The Editor's Notes: Pressures, Problems, and Possibilities in the World of Teaching, Research, Service, and Learning, Barbara Slater Stern. PART I. On the State of Curriculum Studies: A Personal Practical Inquiry, Michael Connelly with Shijing Xu. Narratives of Teaching and Learning: A Tribute to our Teacher, Elaine Chan and Vicki Ross. The Temporal Experience of Curriculum, Candace Schlein. Intergenerational Stories: A Narrative Inquiry Into an Immigrant Child's Life in Canada, Guming Zhao. Excavating Teacher Knowledge in Reforming School Contexts: A Collaborative Approach, Cheryl Craig. One Teacher's Practice in a Kenyan Classroom: Overcoming Barriers to Teaching HIV/AIDS Curriculum, Bosire Mwebi. Classrooms in Transition: Visions and Voices-Teachers in Lahore, Pakistan, Peggy Schimmoeller. New and Veteran Teachers' Perspectives About Delivering Multicultural Education, Timothy Thomas. Curriculum Wars Regarding Islam: Dissent in the Academy, James Moore. Self-Alienation: The Language of Discontent, William White.An Effective Form of Violence: Hegemonic Masculine Identity Performances in the Institutional Context of School, Mark Malaby. PART II. John Dewey and a Curriculum of Moral Knowledge, David Hansen. David Hansen: Influences at Multiple Levels of Teaching, Learning and Service, Blake Bickham, Jim Garrison, Susan McDonough, Janice Ozga, and Michelle Ward. The Angle of Incidence of Progressivism in Rural Science Education, William Veal. No Child Left Behind-A Critical Anaylsis: A Nation at Greater Risk, Charles Ellis. The Beast in the Matrix, Madeleine Grumet. Dealing with Shifting Expectations in a College of Education: Standing on a Moving Ship, Lynne Bailey, Adam Harbaugh, Kimberly Hartman, Tina Heafner, Charles Hutchison, Teresa Petty, and Lan Quach. The Hidden Hypocrisy of University Faculty Regarding On-Line Instruction, Kathie Good and Kathy Peca. Defining and Examining Technology Intelligence: Cultivating Beginning Teachers', Steven L. Purcell and Diane M. Wilcox. Virtual Literature Circles, Carol Klages, Shana Pate and Peter A. Conforti, Jr. Transforming Discussions From Collegiate to Collegial, Paul Michalec and Hilary Burg.BOOK REVIEW: Chaos, Complexity, Curriculum, and Culture: A Conversation, Angel Kymes. Reviewer Acknowledgments. Call for Manuscripts. About the Authors.