Teoria do currículo: O que é e por que é importante

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the importance of curriculum theory and its specialists in the current debate on school curriculum. After a short account on the evolution of the field of curriculum studies, we delve into the critique and normative aspects of the curriculum theory, suggesting that these two objectives have been separated, much to the demise of both of them. Next, when defending education as a practical and specialized activity, we suggest that the curriculum theory unite both aspects and regard the curriculum as a form of specialized knowledge. Lastly, we postulate that curriculum theorists concentrate their efforts on the development of curriculum that not just reproduce learning opportunities, but rather broaden them.