Curriculum : Athena versus the machine

Explores the educational value of a curriculum rooted in the pursuit of wisdom, and advocates the enshrinement of such a curriculum as the central concern of an academic institution. Rather than being seen as a data-driven machine, a school should be seen as an organic entity, with the central idea being to free the child to be his or her own person so that he or she can join in the ancient and continuing conversation: `What is it to be human?' For this to occur, teachers need to be liberated from policy-led prescription in order to design curricula which bring the subjects being studied, rather than the blind pursuit of measurable outcomes, to the foreground of the school's teaching and learning agenda. Curriculum shows them how. By emphasising the quality of a curriculum over and above other concerns, Martin Robinson examines what can be done in order to allow a true liberal arts education, and the owl of Minerva, to fly. Suitable for teachers, school leaders and policy makers.