Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Questions and discussion about the most appropriate goals for and organization of educational experiences in communication drive the area of curriculum studies. Curriculum studies are projects that examine the content, structure, and organization of communication curricula. These projects have focused on each level of educational endeavor from the elementary school classroom to the graduate seminar at a research university. Perhaps because formal degree programs in communication are rare outside of US universities, most of the work reviewed in the area of curriculum studies has been done by US scholars focusing on US curriculum issues. Work reviewed in the area of curriculum studies includes both conceptual essays and empirical explorations. Examinations of communication curricula have been targeted toward professional communication educators and administrators seeking to understand better ways to argue for and guide communication instruction. While a great deal has been studied and written about the nature of communication curricula, very little consensus exists ( Morreale & Backlund 2002 ). Because the nature of communication phenomena is so complex and sometimes elusive, and because the discipline has evolved as an interdisciplinary amalgamation, widespread agreement as to the content and organization of communication curricula is difficult to find. A large body of work has ... log in or subscribe to read full text