ABSTRACT
The previous chapters have explained the context into which the school curriculum fits. The British education system does not start with a definition of the curriculum and neither does this book. To start with a definition would be equivalent to starting a mathematics lesson with the instruction ‘Learn that area equals length times breadth’ although some of the pupils had no prior understanding of the concept of area. Our education system allows mathematics teachers in individual schools to be responsible for choosing their curriculum, within certain implied limits. The choice has always been based very much on what teachers had managed to do in the classroom and what they wished to do. This practical basis is now combined with curriculum theory and the combination will be described in the following pages.
