This volume presents a mix of translations of classical and modern papers from the German Didaktik tradition, newly prepared essays by German scholars and practitioners writing from within the tradition, and interpretive essays by U.S. scholars. It brings this tradition, which virtually dominated German curricular thought and teacher education until the 1960s when American curriculum theory entered Germany--and which is now experiencing a renaissance--to the English-speaking world, where it has been essentially unknown. The intent is to capture in one volume the core (at least) of the tradition of Didaktik and to communicate its potential relevance to English-language curricularists and teacher educators. It introduces a theoretical tradition which, although very different in almost every respect from those we know, offers a set of approaches that suggest ways of thinking about problems of reflection on curricular and teaching praxis (the core focus of the tradition) which the editors believe are accessible to North American readers--with appropriate "translation." These ways of thinking and related praxis are very relevant to notions such as reflective teaching and the discourse on teachers as professionals. By raising the possibility that the "new" tradition of Didaktik can be highly suggestive for thinking through issues related to a number of central ideas within contemporary discourse--and for exploring the implications of these ideas for both teacher education and for a curriculum theory appropriate to these new contexts for theorizing, this book opens up a gold mine of theoretical and practical possibilities.

This volume presents a mix of translations of classical and modern papers from the German Didaktik tradition, newly prepared essays by German scholars and practitioners writing from within the tradition, and interpretive essays by U.S. scholars. It brings this tradition, which virtually dominated German curricular thought and teacher education until the 1960s when American curriculum theory entered Germany--and which is now experiencing a renaissance--to the English-speaking world, where it has been essentially unknown.
The intent is to capture in one volume the core (at least) of the tradition of Didaktik and to communicate its potential relevance to English-language curricularists and teacher educators. It introduces a theoretical tradition which, although very different in almost every respect from those we know, offers a set of approaches that suggest ways of thinking about problems of reflection on curricular and teaching praxis (the core focus of the tradition) which the editors believe are accessible to North American readers--with appropriate "translation." These ways of thinking and related praxis are very relevant to notions such as reflective teaching and the discourse on teachers as professionals. By raising the possibility that the "new" tradition of Didaktik can be highly suggestive for thinking through issues related to a number of central ideas within contemporary discourse--and for exploring the implications of these ideas for both teacher education and for a curriculum theory appropriate to these new contexts for theorizing, this book opens up a gold mine of theoretical and practical possibilities.

With the increasing interdependence and harmonization of educational systems and achievement expectations, the necessity to cooperate across national borders and differences is becoming more evident. A serious problem that has not received sufficient attention arises from different concepts of the planning and implementation of teaching. Two basic models predominate internationally: the Anglo-Saxon tradition of curriculum and the Continental European tradition of Didaktik. Didaktik and/or Curriculum presents core issues of an international dialogue aiming at a comparative analysis of both traditions as an indispensable precondition for mutual understanding and successful cooperation. Contents: Bjorg B. Gundem/Stefan Hopmann: Introduction: Didaktik Meets Curriculum--William A. Reid: Systems and Structures or Myths and Fables? A Cross-Cultural Perspective on Curriculum Content--Rudolf Kunzli: The Common Frame and the Places of Didaktik--Ian Westbury: Didaktik and Curriculum Studies--David Hamilton: Didaktik, Deliberation, Reflection (In Search of the Commonplaces)--O. L. Davis, Jr.: The Theoretic Meets the Practical: The Practical Wins-Ewald Terhart: Changing Concepts of Curriculum: From « Bildung to « Learning to « Experience Developments in (West)Germany from the 1960s to 1990--Erik Wallin: Changing Paradigms of Curriculum and/or Didaktik?--Ulf P. Lundgren: The Making of Curriculum Making: Reflections on Educational Research and the Use of Educational Research--M. Frances Klein: Approaches to Curriculum Development in the United States--Carlo Jenzer: Dealing with Change: The Making of Curriculum Making--Lars Lovlie: Paradoxes of Educational Reform: The Case of Norwayin the 1990s--Tomas Englund: Teaching as an Offer of (Discursive?) Meaning--Peter Menck: The Formation of Conscience: A Lost Topic of Didaktik--Erling Lars Dale: The Essence of Teaching--William F. Pinar/William M. Reynolds/Patrick Slattery/Peter M. Taubman: Understanding Curriculum: A Postscript for the Next Generation--Wolfgang Klafki: Characteristics of Critical-Constructive Didaktik--Stefan Hopmann/Bjorg B. Gundem: Conclusion--Didaktik Meets Curriculum: Towards a New Agenda.