Chapter 10: Developing Curricular Standpoint: “Strong Objectivity” and the Politics of School Knowledge

There is a long history of struggle over the content of school curriculum (Kliebard, 2004). The roots of such struggle, both historically and contemporarily, ultimately revolve around a singular question: What knowledge is of most worth to be taught in our schools? This question, however simple it seems, carries with it a vast weight of social, cultural, and political implications, for anytime we ask it, we are also responsible for considering what counts as knowledge, how worth is determined, and who has the power to answer the question in the first place (Apple, 2000). Hence, we are never just dealing with curriculum in the abstract or disconnected form or context. Rather, any curriculum implies choices about what should and should not be learned vis-à-vis the politics of inclusion and exclusion of certain knowledge, and such choices are deeply connected to broader social and historical relations (Au & Apple, 2009) as well as the political and cultural machinations of state institutions (Carlson, 1988).