Inside a Curriculum Project

Book excerpt: Originally published in 1974. This book presents research into the planning and implementation of the Keele Integrated Studies Project. From 1969 to 1972 the work of the project team was investigated through observation, questionnaire and interview to obtain a picture of the way decisions about curriculum innovation are made and of how these decisions are executed in schools. The book is mainly the outsider's view, but the Project Director and the Assistant Director have contributed chapters and comments by members of the project team are also included. Three aspects of the curriculum project are covered: the interaction between project team, trial schools, university, local authority and Schools Council; the relations within the project team, within the trial schools, and between the curriculum innovators and the classroom teachers; and the impact of the project after the finish of the trial in the schools. The final chapters include conclusions on the process of curriculum change and on the education system in which it occurs. The problems of reconciling the different perspectives and interests of all the parties involved are examined in detail, showing that negotiation, adaptation and compromise are at the heart of curriculum change.