ABSTRACT
The chapter begins by discussing why the curriculum has become a contested area and noting three problems: the politicisation of education, the debasing of the concept of knowledge and low estimate of children's capacities. Instead, the curriculum should nurture the foundational values of concern for truth, fairness, compassion and beauty. Three difficulties concerning the notion of a core curriculum are then outlined before a lengthy discussion, firstly, on the need to guard against a disjointed curriculum and, secondly, on the problem of seeking to resolve priorities in the curriculum. Three subject-areas are considered in particular: mathematics, history and music. An important section follows on the distinction between indoctrination and education. The chapter notes two crucial points for offering a broad and balanced curriculum for all: a truly holistic attitude with openness to the whole range of human knowledge, on the one hand, and the importance of relating to the needs and interests of the learner, on the other. The chapter ends by recommending a personalised curriculum which embraces all that is required for a broadly based, all-inclusive education.
