Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book addresses the curriculum-theoretical implications of recent developments in literacy studies. It provides a forum for scholarship from what are often two quite distinct enterprises: that is, literacy scholarship and curriculum scholarship. The book focuses on the relationship between curriculum and literacy, and hence between literacy studies and curriculum theorizing, within an overarching conceptual framework whose informing thesis is that language, 'Writing' and the symbolic order are crucial considerations for understanding curriculum and schooling. It traces the development of the curriculum concept itself and, relatedly, the invention of the 'textbook' and the formal syllabus document and indicate the significance of the codification of language practices in the production of manuals and dictionaries and the controls exerted over popular literacy initiatives.