The curriculum in its structural and interactional dimensions: Basil Bernstein’s perspective
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.5212/PraxEduc.v.14n2.001Abstract
The article is both theoretical and empirical and makes a sociological reflection of the curriculum organization and development. Basil Bernstein’s model of pedagogic discourse (1990, 2000) and his theorization on forms and structures of knowledge (1999) constitute the central theoretical reference. From a theoretical perspective, and on the basis of the pedagogic discourse, the article describes the relationships between the curriculum and other pedagogic texts and contexts and refers the processes of transformation (recontextualizations) that may occur when the curriculum moves to other levels of the educational system, also pointing out reasons that may originate those transformations. On the basis of the theorization of knowledge structures, the relationship between production and reproduction of knowledge is discussed so that a reflection can be made on the relation that should exist between those structures and the several disciplines of the curriculum. Highlights of the curriculum are inserted in the article in order to concretize, through explicitness and/or exemplification, the various aspects that withstand the theorization. From an empirical point of view, the article provides some of the procedures that have been followed in curricula analyses made by the ESSA Group (Sociological Studies of the Classroom), at various schooling levels and focused on science education. Some examples of results obtained are given. Finally the article makes some reflections on the contribution of Bernstein’s theory for curriculum analysis, with a particular emphasis on questions of educational policy, related to the sociological meaning of curriculum (de)centralization and flexibility in the context of a centralized curriculum.
Keywords: Curriculum development. Science education. Model of pedagogic discourse. Knowledge structures.
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