Curriculum Development in the Postmodern Era

by Patrick Slattery

Shelf wear with creasing to cover. Writing marks, mostly underlining, throughout book.

Genres: Education, Reference, School

328 pages, Paperback

First published February 1, 1995

Reviews

[Eliezer Sneiderman]

I think this is a must read for educators. Slattery has an encyclopedic knowledge of the field. His citations alone provide a foundation for further scholarship and exploration.

The importance of a proleptic eschatology resonated with me. There are futuristic and apocalyptic eschatologies that are worried about some far off end time or heavenly reward. These are disconnected with the present. Then there are present focused theories that call into question the reality of a different existence. The myopia of these ideologies limit their usefulness. Proleptic eschatology, embraces a future redemption, but realizes that all times are connected on the quantum level.

As Donal Schon says, "Reality is messy" - color outside the lines.

[Ann]

Slattery does several things well in this text. First, he gives a nice grounding in postmodern theory. It comes across as accessible and doesn't get bogged down in citations as many postmodern texts do. He also makes clear the ways in which postmodern through has relevance for the study and implementation of curriculum. There is a fair bit of autobiography here, and the story of curriculum development over the end of the 20th Century is quite focused on Slattery's own experience--but that's postmodern and not unexpected. Haven't found much wanting yet, though I'm only half-way through it.

[Sharon Bruwer]

I simply have great difficulty in connecting with academic reading contexts where the author's voice is reminiscent of the classroom environments of my youth-( with the teacher droning on and on and me being completely incapable of becoming engaged).Slattery's work though,hums with lived experience used judiciously,deliciously-enough to enable a real connection with the text but not so much as to become irritatingly irrelevant and merely anecdotal.

[M]

This book could have been so much more readable if the author had simply chosen to utilize section headings and titles. This book was like one gigantic run-on sentence. Great ideas. Could have been condensed greatly.

[Alicia Weaver]

This was a very challenging read. But I did get some good information out of it and it validates a lot about my thinking on education.

[Jennifer]

Read for a grad school class