Publisher's Synopsis
An Inaugural Professorial Lecture Professor Young's lecture begins by arguing that the curriculum is always a contested concept which links ideas about knowledge and learning to an implicit or explicit set of educational purposes and goals for society. Following an introduction in which this approach is elaborated with particular reference to the 16-19 curriculum, Professor Young sets the context for his later analysis with a brief overview of recent policy developments in 16-19 education. From this review, three key issues are identified: the selection and organization of knowledge in the 16-19 curriculum; the future of A levels and the academic/vocational divide; and the implications of the new policy on lifelong learning for a curriculum of the future. These issues are then explored by building on a number of sociological ideas developed by the author in his book The Curriculum of the Future.
