Curriculum negotiation: the relevance of Boomer's approach to the curriculum as a process, integrating student voice and developing democratic citizenship

Bron, J., Bovill, C. and Veugelers, W. (2016) Curriculum negotiation: the relevance of Boomer's approach to the curriculum as a process, integrating student voice and developing democratic citizenship. Curriculum Perspectives, 36(1), pp. 15-27.

Abstract

When students are involved in curriculum design they offer unique perspectives that improve the quality and relevance of the curriculum. The processes involved in negotiating their curriculum give school and university students possibilities to practice, experience and develop the abilities to participate as citizens of a democratic society. Enabling students to have a role in curriculum design requires that the curriculum is regarded as a process instead of a predetermined, externally established product. Treating the curriculum as a process supports teachers to co-create the curriculum together with students based on broad principles or aims, but with greater freedom for students to negotiate the content and methods of learning. In the 1980s the concept of curriculum negotiation was developed by the Australian curriculum specialist Garth Boomer and colleagues. We explore Boomer's ideas about curriculum negotiation and how his approach can: 1) enable students to become meaningful agents in curriculum design; 2) integrate student voice into the curriculum, and foster a more democratic educational environment; and 3) develop specific citizenship skills and graduate attributes. We demonstrate the potential application of Boomer’s curriculum negotiation approach to current school and university settings and make comparisons with other related democratic citizenship education and curriculum approaches.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Bovill, Dr Catherine
• Authors: Bron, J., Bovill, C., and Veugelers, W.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Education > Social Justice Place and Lifelong Education; University Services > Learning and Teaching Services Division
• Journal Name: Curriculum Perspectives
• Publisher: Australian Curriculum Studies Association Inc.
• ISSN: 0159-7868
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2016 The Author
• First Published: First published in Curriculum Perspectives 36(1): 15-27
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced with the permission of the Publisher