The Future of the Curriculum ─ School Knowledge in the Digital Age

Although ideas about digital media and learning have become an important area foreducational research, little attention has been given to the practical and conceptual implicationsfor the school curriculum. In this book, Ben Williamson examines a series of contemporary curriculuminnovations in the United States, Great Britain, and Australia that reflect the social andtechnological changes of the digital age. Arguing that the curriculum is always both forward- andrearward-looking, Williamson considers how each of these innovations represents a certain way ofunderstanding the past while also promoting a particular vision of the future.

Thecurriculum initiatives are all examples of what Williamson calls "centrifugal schooling,"expressing a vision of education and learning that is decentered, distributed, and dispersed,emphasizing networks and connections. In centrifugal schooling, a curriculum is actively assembledand improvised from a heterogeneous mix of people, groups, coalitions, and institutional structures.Participants in curriculum design and planning include local governments, corporations, foundations,charities, and nongovernmental organizations.

Among the curriculum innovationsWilliamson examines are High Tech High, a charter school network in San Diego that integratestechnical and academic education; Opening Minds, a "competence-based" curriculum used in200 British secondary schools; and Quest to Learn, a "high school for digital kids" in NewYork City (with a sister school in Chicago). He also describes two major partnerships: thePartnership for 21st Century Skills, which advocates for "21st century readiness" forAmerican students; and the Whole Education Alliance in Britain, a network of "thirdsector" educational organizations.

Ben Williamson is a Lecturer in the School of Education at the University of Stirling, United Kingdom.