What Is Curriculum Theory? STUDIES IN CURRICULUM THEORY William F. Pinar, Series Editor Pinar (cid:1) What Is Curriculum Theory? McKnight (cid:1) Schooling, The Puritan Imperative, and the Molding of an American National Identity: Education’s “Errand Into the Wilderness” Pinar (Ed.) (cid:1) International Handbook of Curriculum Research Morris (cid:1) Curriculum and the Holocaust: Competing Sites of Memory and Representation Doll (cid:1) Like Letters in Running Water: A Mythopoetics of Curriculum Joseph/Bravmann/Windschitl/Mikel/Green (cid:1) Cultures of Curriculum Westbury/Hopmann/Riquarts (Eds.) (cid:1) Teaching as a Reflective Practice: The German Didaktik Tradition Reid (cid:1) Curriculum as Institution and Practice: Essays in the Deliberative Tradition Pinar (Ed.) (cid:1) Queer Theory in Education Huebner (cid:1) The Lure of the Transcendent: Collected Essays by Dwayne E. Huebner. Edited by Vikki Hillis. Collected and Introduced by William F. Pinar jagodzinski (cid:1) Postmodern Dilemmas: Outrageous Essays in Art & Art Education jagodzinski (cid:1) Pun(k) Deconstruction: Experifigural Writings in Art & Art Education What Is Curriculum Theory? William F. Pinar Louisiana State University Copyright©2004byLawrenceErlbaumAssociates,Inc. Allrightsreserved.Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedin anyform,byphotostat,microform,retrievalsystem,oranyother means,withoutthepriorwrittenpermissionofthepublisher. LibraryofCongressCataloging-in-PublicationData Pinar,William. Whatiscurriculumtheory?/WilliamF.Pinar. p. cm.—(Studiesincurriculumtheory) Includesbibliographicalreferencesandindex. ISBN0-8058-4827-4(cloth:alk.paper)—ISBN0-8058-4828-2(pbk.:alk.paper) 1.Education—Curricula—UnitedStates. 2.Education—Politicalaspects—UnitedStates. I.Title. II.Series. LB1570.P552 2004 375'.0001—dc22 2003060375 CIP For Mary and Marla Contents Preface xi Introduction 1 PART I: THE NIGHTMARE THAT IS THE PRESENT 1 The Miseducation of the American Public 15 I ReconstructingtheSubjectiveandSocialSpheres inCurriculumandTeaching 15 II “Untimely”Concepts 18 III “TooLittleIntellectinMattersofSoul”: OntheEducationofTeachers 23 IV TheSchoolasaBusiness 27 V TheFigureoftheSchoolteacher 29 2 Autobiography: A Revolutionary Act 35 I ToRuntheCourse 35 II TheSocialandSubjectiveinAfrican-American Autobiography 40 III AnAutobiographicsofAlterity 48 IV DeferredandDisplacedAction 56 PART II: THE REGRESSIVE MOMENT: THE PAST IN THE PRESENT 3 The Primal Scene: “Mortal Educational Combat” 65 I GraciousSubmission 65 vii viii CONTENTS II TheRacialPoliticsofCurriculumReform 72 III StudentsandtheCivilRightsMovement 77 IV FreedomSchools 80 V TheGenderPoliticsofCurriculumReform 84 4 The Significance of the South 93 I Curriculum-in-Place 93 II RacialandSexedBodies 96 III “America’sNationalCrime” 98 IV WhiteTrash:ClassintheSouth 103 V WhiteLadiesandBlackWomen 106 VI ComplicatedEyes 114 VII SeparateSpheres:PrivateSpaceandthePublicDomain 118 PART III: THE PROGRESSIVE MOMENT: THE FUTURE IN THE PRESENT 5 The Evaporation of the Ego and the Subjectivity of Cyberculture 125 I Dream,Thought,Fantasy 125 II “LetThemEatData” 132 III Hypertext 135 6 “Sex Times Technology Equals the Future” 143 I Screens 143 II WhereNoManHasBeenBefore 146 III Cyberculture 151 IV IntellectualTechnologies 154 PART IV: THE ANALYTIC MOMENT: ANTI-INTELLECTUALISM AND COMPLICATED CONVERSATION 7 “Something Sound and Important”: Interdisciplinarity, Erudition, Self-Reflexivity, and Intellectuality 163 I Anti-Intellectualism 163 II IntellectualEvents 170 III ATroubledMarriage 172 IV WhatWeCanDo 179 8 “Possibly Being So”: Curriculum as Complicated Conversation 185 I ComplicatedConversation 185 CONTENTS ix II “AnUnrehearsedIntellectualAdventure” 188 III ThePoeticSelf 189 IV CurriculumasComplicatedConversation IsNot(Only)ClassroomDiscourse 192 V ModesofAddress 197 PART V: THE SYNTHETICAL MOMENT: SELF-MOBILIZATION AND SOCIAL RECONSTRUCTION 9 Reconstructing the Private and Public Spheres in Curriculum and Teaching 205 I IntotheArena 205 II BetrayalbyProfessionalOrganizations 210 III BetrayalbyGovernment 216 IV KeepingHopeAlive 222 V RecapturingtheCurriculum 226 10 The Education of the American Public 233 I “TheGreatWhiteSwitch”:TheNationGoesSouth 233 II CurriculumasSocialPsychoanalysis:Wakingup FromtheNightmareThatIsthePresent 239 III “NewModesofLife,Eroticism,andSocialRelations” 247 Appendix: Curriculum Studies Journals, Organizations, and Conferences 259 References 263 Author Index 285 Subject Index 293