ABSTRACT
There is no agreed definition of curriculum development because there is no absolute agreement about the concepts of 'curriculum' or 'development'. A commonsense meaning, however, is that curriculum development is a process undertaken to change the existing curriculum, including aims, content, pedagogy and evaluation, for the better. Curriculum planning has been a dominant concern in curriculum theory with three models of curriculum design emerging, viz planning by objectives, or rational curriculum planning, process models, and cultural analysis models. Priorities for change in line with national policies are encouraged through Educational Support Grants and specific grants from the DES. Political reasons are more difficult to define, but refer to policy-making processes in central or local government, in which particular curriculum developments are identified as priorities and sometimes become embodied in legislation. Professional changes occur through teachers' commitment to reflecting upon their curriculum practice and the needs of their pupils, and judging that their practice could be improved.
