Curriculum making as social practice: complex webs of enactment

Abstract

First paragraph: This special issue brings together papers that individually and collectively illustrate the complexities which emerge when curriculum is ‘made’; complexities which themselves stem from the social embeddedness of both curriculum as a concept and the social actors involved in such makings. The papers all have their genesis in presentations given at the 3rd European Conference on Curriculum Studies, held over two days at the University of Stirling in June 2017. The papers were later submitted and peer reviewed by a wide range of reviewers whom we would like to thank for their contribution to the special issue through their thoughtful critique. The papers, and the conference, are representative of a much needed renaissance in curriculum studies, at least in Europe, with the recent formation of the European Association for Curriculum Studies, and where the European Educational Research Association Network 3 Curriculum Innovation has greatly enhanced its profile and membership in recent years. This renaissance follows an extended period since the 1980s, often termed a crisis in curriculum (e.g. Wheelahan, 2010).