Curriculum scholars and teachers working for social justice and equity have been caught up in acrimonious and polarizing political debates over content, ideology, and disciplinary knowledge. At the forefront in cutting through these debates and addressing the practical questions of the "technical form" of the syllabus, this volume advances a unified, principled approach to the design of syllabus documents that aims for high quality/high equity educational outcomes. It introduces and unpacks definitions of curriculum, syllabus, the school subject, and "informed professionalism"; presents principles of design that are key to equitable teaching and learning; discusses a range of approaches; and offers clear and practical guidelines for writing curriculum documents and designing official syllabi and professional development programs at system and school levels. Examples from the US, Canada, Europe and Asia are included. The editors and contributors, all leading international scholars, stress throughout the need for syllabus design that enhances local curriculum development capacity and teachers professional responses to specific community and student contexts.

Preface 1. Introduction: The practical problem of curriculum making Allan Luke 2. Curriculum Design, Equity and the Technical Form of the Curriculum Allan Luke, Annette Woods & Katie Weir 3. School subjects and academic disciplines: The differences Zongyi Deng 4. Curriculum policy guidelines: Context, structures and functions F. Michael Connelly & Gerry Connelly 5. The technological solution to reading education: A century of frustration Patrick Shannon 6. Sustaining teacher professionalism in the context of standards referenced assessment reform Val Klenowski 7. Social justice visions and curriculum realities in the early years of education Susan Grieshaber 8. Curricular Conversations: Literacy teaching and learning in the middle years Donna E. Alvermann & James Marshall 9. Improving secondary schools Ben Levin 10. Generalizing curriculum policy across boarders: Crossing boundaries Allan Luke