Procedures of Power and Curriculum Change: Foucault and the Quest for Possibilities in Science Education

by David W. Blades, James F. Brisson (Designed by), Shirley R. Steinberg (Editor), Joe L. Kincheloe (Editor)

Overview

Is curriculum change possible? Procedures of Power and Curriculum Change provides a provocative new response to this question. Through a case study of a recent major attempt to change high school science, this work reveals the continuing barrenness of modernistic explanations of curriculum change. Revisiting this case study in the light of Foucault's concept of power suggests that curriculum change is not an issue of correct technique but a journey of being. An imaginative weaving of narratives, metaphors and allegory invites readers to join this journey by entering into a postmodern conversation about the possibilities for curriculum change.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780820433257
Publisher:	Lang, Peter Publishing, Incorporated
Publication date:	12/01/1997
Series:	Counterpoints Series: Studies in the Postmodern Theory of Education , #35
Pages:	290
Product dimensions:	6.30(w) x 9.06(h) x 0.62(d)

About the Author

The Author: David W. Blades is Associate Professor at the University of Alberta. He received his Ph.D. in Secondary Education from the University of Alberta. His paper on power and curriculum change was awarded a Tetuso Aoki Award in 1993 by JCT: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Curriculum Studies. A Killam Scholar and award-winning teacher, he has published and presented widely on the topics of curriculum change and science education.

Editorial Reviews

«David Blades, in 'Procedures of Power and Curriculum Change', has captured the complexity and ambiguity of curriculum decision making in senior school science in a fascinating and illuminative way.» (Peter Fensham, Monash University, Australia)
«David Blades has made a significant contribution to our understanding of the politics of curriculum change. Using Foucault's concept of power, he points out the way power circulated through an abortive effort to change a provincial secondary school science curriculum. Rather than despairing of possibilities for meaningful change, Dr. Blades employs an imaginative text to narrate new possibilities for teachers, students, and policy makers. This is groundbreaking work.» (Terry Carson, University of Alberta, Canada)

From the Publisher

Takes a case study of a recent major attempt to change high school science to accuse modernistic explanations of curriculum change of barrenness. Then looks at the same case through the lens of Foucault's concept of power and suggests that curriculum change is not a matter of correct technique but of a journey of being. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

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