Chapter 14: Becoming an Educational Critic: Strap on Your Backpack

Elliot Eisner helped to redefine the curriculum field of the 1970s by applying the technique of “criticism,” which had served him well in his chosen field of Art. One of the major contributions he made to the field came with his book The Educational Imagination, with the first edition appearing in 1979. The curriculum field at the time was engaged in a massive transition with many experts in the field retiring and often being replaced instead by subject specialists rather than curriculum theorists. The decade would come to be known within the field as the time of Reconceptualization, and Elliot Eisner became one of the leading voices calling for change.