Powerful knowledge, educational potential and knowledge-rich curriculum: pushing the boundaries

• Published in: Journal of curriculum studies Vol. 54; no. 5; pp. 599 - 617
• Main Author: Deng, Zongyi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Routledge 03.09.2022; Taylor & Francis Ltd
• Subjects: Bildung-centredDidaktik; Capacity Building; content; Curriculum Design; Curriculum Development; curriculum making; curriculum thinking; Educational Philosophy; educational potential; Educational Theories; Futures (of Society); Outcomes of Education; Pedagogy; Powerful knowledge; Student Development
• ISSN: 0022-0272; 1366-5839
• DOI: 10.1080/00220272.2022.2089538

Building on and going beyond Young and Muller's theory of powerful knowledge, this article seeks to articulate a model of a future-oriented, knowledge-rich curriculum by invoking David Lambert's capabilities approach and Bildung-centred Didaktik. The curriculum is knowledge rich in three respects. First, it is informed by a vision of education centrally concerned with the cultivation of human powers (understanding, capabilities, dispositions) predicated on the contribution of knowledge. Second, the construction of a school subject-in the form of curriculum frameworks, syllabuses, and guidelines-entails selecting and organizing content in terms of educational potential and its realization in classrooms. Third, classroom teaching entails unlocking the educational potential of the content of a school subject for developing human powers. The curriculum is future-oriented in the sense that it aims at the formation of autonomous and responsible individuals who can thrive and flourish in the present and future world.