ABSTRACT
A good deal of contemporary writing on curriculum theory is very nearly unreadable, even by those who are well versed in educationese. Of all the contextual variables which the curriculum-maker has to reckon with, none is more vitally important than the state of the nation: this, more than anything else, sets limits to what can be done. The language of educational discourse is a cross-breed of many terminologies, abstruse in its idioms, intricate in its conventions, and lacking in expressiveness when it comes to plain speaking. The unscrupulous manipulation of modern youth by pop culture profiteers provides a never-failing excuse for indignation on the part of educational do-gooders. The distinctions between the two usages run parallel to the dual classification of people as middle class and working class, highbrow and lowbrow, well educated and partly educated which everyone recognizes.
