ABSTRACT
Basil Bernstein developed the pedagogic device to explain the relation between macro- and micro-societal conditions of reproduction and the potential interruptive powers that are intrinsic to the grammar of education. The chapter examines the rationale and the limitation of the idea of scripted lesson plans as a tool of teacher development. It argues that specifying what and how to teach is a way in which recontextualisers try to stabilise the transformation of specialised discourses into a preferred pedagogical text. The chapter explains that what is involved in transmitting evaluative criteria, and shows that the specialisation of teaching lies in moving from 'elaboration' to 'condensation'. Evaluative criteria are the stock of knowledge which distinguishes teaching as specialised conceptual work. This specialisation is considered to be more guided when the modalities of curriculum and pedagogy are more visible to teachers, when, for example, curricula specify selection, sequence and assessment.
