Sponsored Projects and Initiatives

The Curriculum Theory Project is comprised of internationally recognized scholars from different disciplinary backgrounds whose primary goals are to research the role education plays in a democratic society, participate in the future of curriculum theory nationally and internationally, enhance the graduate program of curriculum and instruction, and carry forward the College and University mission to be a leader in educational thought.

Curriculum theory endeavors to understand educational practice within a broad social and cultural framework. While subject matter specializations tend to focus on teaching strategies within single disciplines, curriculum theory aspires to understand the overall educational significance of what counts as knowledge, and what knowledge is most valued, by whom, at what time, and for what purposes. It, therefore, emphasizes interdisciplinary themes and relations among curriculum, the individual, and society. Education is defined broadly to include formal schooling and the ways in which learning, both nationally and globally, takes place through museums, media, libraries, archives, the arts, and other social organizations.

Reflective

Teaching & Inquiry

CTP programs draw upon critical, psychoanalytic, postmodern theories, teacher research, and reflective practice in order to understand the complex ways in which individuals learn. Faculty examine complexity, creativity, cognition, and feminist and literacy theories. Partnerships with school systems and universities lead to understanding in the design of professional development schools, development of teacher leaders and active citizen students, and the creation of new curricular models to enhance learning. With special emphasis on reflective practice, effective professionalism, and inquiring pedagogy, studentsengage in field experiences that anticipate reciprocity, initiate change, and rethink current practices.

The Internationalization of Curriculum	Culture & Gender Studies	Global/Social Responsibility
The Curriculum Theory Project fosters dialogues about democratic, moral, and aesthetic values worldwide. The International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies (IAACS) grew from the two international curriculum theory conferences held at LSU in 1999 and 2000. The Shanghai (2003) and Tampere (2006) conferences, and the future one in Pretoria (2009) carry on this tradition.	Cultural and gender studies scholarship examines the intersections of culture, gender, learning and education. Issues related to history, memory work, media, popular culture, race, gender, autobiography, spirituality, social thought, political thought, and globalism shape understandings of curriculum. In collaboration with museums, hospitals, libraries, community agencies, correctional facilities, and university organizations, the CTP strives for impact through community outreach programs that promote real word learning for social justice. These programs include service-learning, oral history, and French education projects and initiatives.	Examines the roles education plays in shaping social values. Primary areas of research include ethics, human rights, democratic education, diversity, and multiculturalism. Research generated by the CTP project has provided the basis for numerous projects that seek to develop exchanges globally through international lecture programs, organizations, and conferences; and design outreach programs to develop lifelong and community based education sites.