State Involvement In The Inclusion Of Curriculum Contents

Content of curriculum has always been one of the cores to educationin that the threshold certain contents could be included in a curriculumand the specific contents that which are allowed to be encompassed in acertain curriculum determine, in essence, what kind of talents will beeducated. Conversely, the type of talents to be educated by a nationlargely depends upon the contents of curriculum. As such, a statenaturally and necessarily has an important role to play, in the course ofdetermining the contents of curriculum. This article tries to explore theprofound reasons behind and how a nation defines whether and what typeof contents is to be included in what curriculum. This article deals withwhether a state may confront resists by some interests group in andthrough the process of its involvement in curriculum making. The authortries to uncover the problems arising from improperly determining anddefining .contents of curriculum by a state, finds ways how a state couldrationalize its manner in performing such functions as well.This article finds that the inclusion of contents of curriculum is notmerely a technical process, however, it involves a complicated socialprocess. This article bases itself on the theory of sociology of knowledge,starting from the relation between knowledge and power of state, andthoroughly, systematically, and profoundly reviews from sociologicalperspective the rational and process of and countermeasure to the stateinvolvement in the decision of contents of curriculum. It proves it farfrom the truth that the state performs such function in an objective andneutral manner. It unveils the deep strategy behind the legalization ofstate involvement, and explains the whole process of how the state dealswith other interests group to decide curriculum contents. It furtherprovides social and curriculum suggestions as to how to cause the state torationalize its way in performing such function on the precondition ofacknowledging the necessity and legality of such function by the state.This article consists of five chapters.Chapter one Guidance.Limitlessness of knowledge sharplycontrasts with the limit of contents of curriculum, which gives rise to the process of selection of such contents. Curiosity about what knowledge tobe included, who is to perform such function as knowledge selection isthe reason why this subject is explored in this article. Thoughts ofsociology of knowledge in particular, about curriculum and society,knowledge and power, curriculum and social control, etc, along with thestudies previously accumulated, serve as the theoretical foundation of thecommencement and duration of this study.Chapter two Reason analysis: Why the government involves.A state has to consider and deal with, if not more, the following fourissues: social development, stability of its regime, exercise of power andpromotion of mainstream culture. Curriculum is the medium whichpromotes the socialization of individual, the basis of legalization ofpolitical power, micro expression of state power, and is the mainstreamplatform in which identify culture of the dominating group areexpressed and promoted. The significance of curriculum to the existenceand development of a state necessarily leads to state involvement incurriculum decision.Chapter three Process analysis: How a state involves.The selection of contents of curriculum generally goes through thefollowing steps: targeting the goal of education- promulgation ofeducation policy- setting up the standard of curriculum- textbookcompilation- textbook review. Accordingly, a state may get into suchsteps respectively by way of knowledge structuring, determining thestandard, deliberate selection of a spokesperson, serious review oftextbook. This is not only the detailed process, meanwhile, thefundamental strategy to the state involvement as well.Chapter four Struggle analysis: conflicts in the state involvement.A state may confront resists and countermeasures by other social interestsgroup in the course of its involvement in curriculum making, because theinclusion of contents of curriculum is not only the process of stateinvolvement, but the process of conflicts between numerous interestsgroup. For the state itself, the conflicts it is involved include that happensinside the dominating group, that between the dominating group and thebe-dominated group, that between political elites and academic elites, and that between dominating group and students as well. In the end,concession is the optimal strategy employed by those conflicting groups,which leads to that fact that curriculum is the result and reflection ofconflicts and concession. Nevertheless, the dominant position enjoyed bythe state in those conflicts predetermines that it will be the mainbeneficiary regardless of the challenges it may confront from time totime.Chapter five Analysis of strategy: How to rationalize the stateinvolvement.Once curriculum becomes the platform of spreading officialknowledge, it will easily bring about the lack of freedom of students interms of knowledge selection and the disappearance of local knowledge,and thus further impairs the equality of curriculum. The solution to thisdoes not lie in the entire exclusion of state power, but the employment ofa check-and-supervision mechanism, in which a variety of social factorsincluding different social organizations, entities are utilized to restrict theexercise of state power, in a bid to rationalize the state involvement. Inrespect of the detailed practice, we could find, avoid and preventimproper state involvement by paying close attention to the discourseanalysis, launching a diverse and interdependent curriculum joint entity,attaching great importance to the invisible curriculum in textbooks.