ORCID
- Hordern, Jim: 0000-0002-2933-7593
Abstract
AbstractThis paper interrogates the concept of recontextualisation and discusses its relevance for understandings of the knowledge required for teaching subjects. While various distinctive approaches to recontextualisation can be identified, this analysis primarily draws on the work of Bernstein, with recontextualisation discussed in the broader context of work on the sociology of educational knowledge. It is argued that Bernstein's approach to recontextualisation can be usefully extended by absorbing insights derived from recent work conceptualising expertise and practice, through a reconsideration of disciplinarity, and by reflecting on historical studies of the transformation of specialised practical knowledge. It is suggested that recontextualisation can help us better understand (i) the structure of subjects and their relationship to disciplines and (ii) the relationship between knowledge and ‘content’ in the process of curriculum making. Recontextualisation is nevertheless problematic without an acknowledgement of the role of teachers in shaping and enacting recontextualisation principles and navigating recontextualisation rules.
DOI
10.1002/curj.110
Publication Date
2021-11-01
Publication Title
The Curriculum Journal
Volume
32
Issue
4
ISSN
0958-5176
Organisational Unit
Institute of Education
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 International License.
First Page
592
Last Page
606
Recommended Citation
Hordern, J. (2021) 'Recontextualisation and the teaching of subjects', The Curriculum Journal, 32(4), pp. 592-606. Available at: https://doi.org/10.1002/curj.110
