Curriculum, Syllabus Design and Equity: A Primer and Model

Curriculum scholars and teachers working for social justice and equity have been caught up in acrimonious and polarizing political debates over content, ideology, and disciplinary knowledge. At the forefront in cutting through these debates and addressing the practical questions of the technical form of the syllabus, this volume advances a unified, principled approach to the design of syllabus documents that aims for high quality/high equity educational outcomes. It introduces and unpacks definitions of curriculum, syllabus, the school subject, and informed professionalism ; presents principles of design that are key to equitable teaching and learning; discusses a range of approaches; and offers clear and practical guidelines for writing curriculum documents and designing official syllabi and professional development programs at system and school levels. Examples from the US, Canada, Europe and Asia are included. The editors and contributors, all leading international scholars, stress throughout the need for syllabus design that enhances local curriculum development capacity and teachers’ professional responses to specific community and student contexts.