The Common Curriculum

Book excerpt: Originally published in 1978. This book presents how the potential of the comprehensive school could be realized by bringing unity and coherence to its curriculum and organization. Among the subjects considered are value judgments and curriculum design; faculties and the organization of learning; subjects and options; the sixth form; and the timetable as an enabling device. This book goes beyond the prevalent considerations of the time to examine the relationship between educational theory and practice, and the underlying issues of how a rationale of curriculum may be determined and the involvement of teachers in school-focused curriculum development. An appendix considers the curriculum and timetable structure of Sheredes School in Hertfordshire, a new comprehensive school set up in 1969.