| Synopsis: |
The International Handbook of Curriculum Research is the first collection of reports on scholarly developments and school curriculum initiatives worldwide. Thirty-four essays on 28 nations, framed by four introductory chapters, provide a panoromic and, for several nations (on which there are multiple essays), an in-depth view of the state of curriculum studies globally. As a whole this comprehensive, precedent-setting volume contributes significantly to the internationalization of curriculum studies and the formation of a worldwide field. Curriculum studies straddles the divide between contemporary social science and the humanities. Research in the field is sometimes quantitative, often qualitative, sometimes arts-based, sometimes informed by humanities fields, such as philosophy, literary theory, and cultural studies. It is influenced as well by social science fields, such as psychology, political and social theory, and by interdisciplinary fields, such as women's and gender studies and post-colonial studies.The use of the term "research" in the title is intended to emphasize, despite its paradigmatic differences, the field's relative unity in the project of understanding--a term that includes both theoretical and practical interests and initiatives. The International Handbook of Curriculum Research will serve usefully as the main text in courses devoted exclusively to internationalization and globalization in curriculum studies, and as a supplemental text in general curriculum courses. For prospective and practicing teachers in the United States and elsewhere, it will contextualize national school reform efforts. As a library, personal, and pedagogical resource, this Handbook is an indispensable volume for curriculum studies scholars and students around the world. |