ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines many of the issues which the study of the curriculum involves and provides a basic map to the areas covered in curriculum studies, areas which contribute to answering two fundamental questions: 'What is taught?' and 'What ought to be taught in educational institutions?' In theory, the curriculum is developed from particular views of what education is. In practice, beliefs about the nature of education are mixed – more a matter of relative emphasis than complete reliance on one view to the exclusion of all others – and much a matter of tradition and history. The processes of curriculum development range from small-scale modifications of current practices to large-scale innovations in which new curricular possibilities emerge. There are two types of curriculum theory – systematic, sometimes called 'rational' or 'scientific', and naturalistic. The aim of the first is to provide 'prescriptive guidance for curricular practices. The aim of the second is to provide description, explanation, understanding and prediction.
