The Representation and Critique of Ideology in the Curriculum

Abstract

Curriculum is an important component to support the operation of school education, and it is often regarded as value-neutral in daily implementation. Instead of thinking that the curriculum is value-neutral, we should think that it is pseudo-neutral with the implication of mainstream class ideology. In the view of Michael W. Apple, the representative of American critical pedagogy, the ideology in the curriculum is mainly manifested as the homogenization of mainstream culture and value with official and legalized curriculum knowledge. The implementation of curriculum causes the loss of individuation of children’s growth, to realize the technical governance of ideology by simple and hegemonic system management. Apple’s analysis reveals a strong criticism. The main criticism points are that curriculum knowledge has obscured the difference of culture and value, curriculum implementation has shaped the submission of students and teachers, and curriculum management has ignored the complexity of systems and organizations. Although the discussion of ideology in the curriculum is one of Apple’s main topics, his overemphasis on ideology in the curriculum tends to lead to the absence of the overall picture of curriculum research and the one-sided analysis of ideology.