ABSTRACT
His point is that curriculum theory has developed an amnesia concerning the historical past (see Goodson and Marsh, 1996,1). On the contrary however, it is this sense of historical perspective that could make all the difference in our understanding of the curriculum, and the positioning of subjects within it. The problem is that the curriculum is generally regarded as a given, something natural and immutable. But Goodson argues that it is a social artefact, an archetype of ‘the division and fragmentation of knowledge within our societies’ (ibid., 150). By studying the history of school subjects we come to realise they are ‘the most quintessential of social and political constructions’ (ibid., 1).
