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Currere and Praxis
e‑ISSN 3065-4572 Open Access · CC BY 4.0
Vol. 3 · Issue 3 · 2026 Oct 1, 2026 Special Issue: 50th Anniversary of Currere

Beyond skills, screens, and test scores: William Pinar and the preservation of the human subject in curriculum studies

JC
Joyce Ann Chastine Corresponding Georgia Southern University jc58075@georgiasouthern.edu United States
Pages163-175 PublishedOct 1, 2026 LicenseOpen Access
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VOL 3 · ISS 3 · 2026 Special Issue: 50th anniversary of Currere View issue

Abstract

This paper examines the scholarship of William F. Pinar, arguing that an ethical refusal to reduce people to instruments, data, or outcomes unifies his work across five decades. Through close analysis of currere, the reconceptualization of curriculum studies, Understanding Curriculum, curriculum as complicated conversation, A Curriculum of Courage, Conviction, and Resolve, and his recent critique of clickbait curriculum theory, the paper demonstrates that Pinar’s central contribution is the preservation of the human subject within educational thought and practice. Drawing on Pinar’s published scholarship and personal correspondence, the paper situates his work against the pressures of technologization, political constraint, and the degradation of academic discourse. The author grounds theoretical claims in thirty-two years of classroom experience in a public high school in Georgia, arguing that Pinar’s framework remains urgently relevant to teachers and students navigating environments that reduce education to skills, screens, and test scores.

Keywords

#curriculum theory #currere #reconceptualization #technoligization #human subject

References

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Copyright (c) 2026 Joyce Ann Chastine

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