Curriculum Design and Teaching

This chapter highlights the underlying complexities of the concept of “curriculum” in recent decades and the different definitions given to the concept in curriculum studies by scholars of education in general and ISATT members in particular. After describing the fuzziness of the curriculum concept and seeking to resolve fragmentation through returning to its value and avoiding misunderstandings, this work briefly addresses the “curriculum design” concept and presents some recent developments in ISATT research – “curriculum making” and “vertical curriculum” – that reevaluate the role of teachers. The outcomes of the such investigations converge around teachers’ roles as “curriculum makers” and not as mere “implementers”; specifically, they allow explorations of teacher’s “best-loved self,” through narratives and metaphors to reaffirm principles – such as decision-making and collegiality – which are necessary for teachers’ practices and teaching and teacher education research.