Perhaps not since Ralph Tyler's (1949) Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction has a book communicated the field as completely as Understanding Curriculum. From historical discourses to breaking developments in feminist, poststructuralist, and racial theory, including chapters on political theory, phenomenology, aesthetics, theology, international developments, and a lengthy chapter on institutional concerns, the American curriculum field is here. It will be an indispensable textbook for undergraduate and graduate courses alike.

Thie fourth edition provides not only a solid grounding in the subject but also covers the latest trends and issues affecting the field.

This book examines issues of identity and difference, both theoretically and as represented in curriculum materials. Here debates over the cultural character of the curriculum are characterized as debates over the American national identity. The editors argue that historically, cultural conservatives have failed to appreciate that the United States is, in a fundamental and central way, an African and African-American place. European Americans are, in a cultural sense, also black, and the failure to teach sequestered suburban (usually Caucasian) students about their (cultural) African and African-American heritage perpetuates their delusion regarding their deeper identities. A curriculum which reflects the non-synchronous identity of Americans is sketched in the last section. Such a curriculum involves not only the inclusion of African and African-American content, but interracial intellectual marriage as well. Contributors to this book include Peter Taubman, Susan Edgerton, Beverly Gordon, Alma Young, Wendy Luttrell, Cameron McCarthy, Patricia Collins, Roger Collins, Brenda Hatfield, Marianne H. Whatley, and Joe L. Kincheloe.

The book discusses the complex nature of understanding and what it means to teach for understanding. The processes and strategies that can support teaching for understanding are then exemplified in the context of different areas of the primary / elementary (4-11 years) school curriculum.

Includes abstracts of magazine articles and "Book reviews".