Phoenix or Sisyphus: Curriculum Studies After Schwab1

In an essay published in 1969, Schwab argued that the field of curriculum was in a moribund state in that it was unable by its back-then present principles and methods to do curriculum work. Schwab also discussed that curricular energies had to be turned to practical rather than theoretical so that the field could do its function. Schwab’s arguments have met numerous in-favor and counter arguments in the field since they were subject of studies of various scholars. Especially reconceptualists, opponents of a curricular movement, have occupied a significant space in the curriculum scholarship. In the present article, the author aimed at examining the significance of Schwab’s arguments in the present age of curriculum studies especially within the American context. The primary argument of the author was that the field was not moribund, yet there were talks of a crisis in the field. The author, moreover, discussed that it was essential to revitalize the relation of the field to schools and schooling as Schwab formulated it by emphasizing a practical conception of the field in order to overcome the crisis talks in the field.