Editorial

Teresa Strong-Wilson

doi:10.70116/30654572205

Vol. 3 · Issue 3 · 2026 Oct 1, 2026 Editorial

Editorial

Teresa Strong-Wilson Corresponding McGill University teresa.strong-wilson@mcgill.ca Canada

Pages148-159 PublishedOct 1, 2026 LicenseOpen Access

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VOL 3 · ISS 3 · 2026 Special Issue: 50th anniversary of Currere View issue

Abstract

This special issue of Currere and Praxis coincides with the 2026 re-publication of William F. Pinar and Madeleine Grumet’s (2026b) Toward a Poor Curriculum (hereafter: TPC). Issued by Routledge, this fourth edition of their 1976 work, which launched the Reconceptualization in curriculum studies, marks the 50^th anniversary of that event. By 1976, Reconceptualization had already been simmering for several years. The question about the meaning of past and future to the present moment—of “why we are where we are” (Charles Taylor cited in Pinar, 2026c, p. 142)—was a curriculum question that could only be answered collectively, as a field (Pinar, 2026f, p. 6), Pinar made clear; not by one person alone—nor even by two, for Madeleine Grumet, then Pinar’s graduate student (in the early 70’s), was also mulling over how to describe “experience in the world without distorting it, to contain it without reducing it, to analyze it without atomizing it” (Grumet, 2026a, pp. 28-9). Given the times in which they were living—characterized by tendencies that remain persistent, like instrumentalization, bureaucratization, disenchantment, and disembodiment, most recently in the form of the visceral presence of AI—it entailed a return to the ground of asking how and where and with whom an educational journey begins. The answer was found in the individual; more precisely, in subjectivity. The “lengthy, systematic search of our inner experience” (Pinar, 2026d, p. 4) became the running of the course: currere. This history, well-rehearsed and alluded to here ever so briefly, draws attention to the close relationship between reconceptualization and currere; between Towards a Poor Curriculum and Currere & Praxis, a journal launched in 2023. This preamble is meant to forestall the objection: why have a special issue on currere within a journal already devoted to that subject? Important is the timing, specifically, the temporal unfolding, which provides an occasion to reflect on the interval between 1976 and 2026: currere’s timeliness then and its timeliness now, expressed here through the submissions that responded to the special issue call for papers and that were accepted for publication.

References

Atwell-Vasey, W. (1998). Nourishing Words: Bridging Private Reading and Public Teaching. State University of New York Press.
Block, A. A. (1995). Occupied reading: Critical foundations for an ecological theory. Garland Publishing.
Estefan, A., Caine, V., & Clandinin, D. J. (2016). At the intersections of narrative inquiry and professional education. Narrative Works, 6(1), 1–15.
Felski, R. (2015). The limits of critique. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226294179.001.0001
Grumet, M. R. (1988). Bitter milk: Women and teaching. The University of Massachusetts Press.
Grumet, M. R. (2026a). Existential and phenomenological foundations. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 27-42). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-3
Grumet, M. R. (2026b). Toward a poor curriculum. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 55-73). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-5
Pinar, W. F. (2001). The Gender of Racial Politics and Violence in America: Lynching, Prison Rape, and the Crisis of Masculinity. Peter Lang.
Pinar, W. F. (2009). The Worldliness of a Cosmopolitan Education: Passionate Lives in Public Service. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203878699
Pinar, W. F. (2019a). Moving Images of Eternity: George Grant’s Critique of Time, Teaching, and Technology. University of Ottawa Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780776627885
Pinar, W.F. (2019b). What Is Curriculum Theory? (3rd edition). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315625683
Pinar. W. F. (2026a). A Curriculum of Courage, Conviction, Resolve: The Subjective Necessity of Nonviolence. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003657538
Pinar, W. F. (2026b). Clickbait curriculum theory. In R. Sawyer, W. Wang, & D. Ness (Eds.), Understanding curriculum epistemicide: Possibilities and complicated conversations. Peter Lang.
Pinar, W. F. (2026c). Currere. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 142-153). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-9
Pinar, W. F. (2026d). Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Brown. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 1-4). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-1
Pinar, W. F. (2026e). Political-spiritual dimensions. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 74-91). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-6
Pinar, W. F. (2026f). Self and others. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 5-26). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-2
Pinar, W. F. (2026f). Subjective reconstruction and rehabilitation of habit. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 122-141). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-8
Pinar, W. F., & Grumet, M. R. (2026a). Preface to the 50th-year-anniversary edition. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. ix-xi). Routledge.
Pinar, W. F., & Grumet, M. R. (2026b). Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513
Pinar, W. F., Reynolds, W., Slattery, P., & Taubman, P. M. (2008). Understanding Curriculum. Peter Lang. (Originally published 1995)
Said, E. W. (2006). On late style: Music and literature against the grain. Vintage Books.

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Previous in issue Beyond skills, screens, and test scores: William Pinar and the preservation of the human subject in curriculum studies Next in issue Currere of a reader

§ 06 — Related

[1] Atwell-Vasey, W. (1998). Nourishing Words: Bridging Private Reading and Public Teaching. State University of New York Press.

[2] Block, A. A. (1995). Occupied reading: Critical foundations for an ecological theory. Garland Publishing.

[3] Estefan, A., Caine, V., & Clandinin, D. J. (2016). At the intersections of narrative inquiry and professional education. Narrative Works, 6(1), 1–15.

[4] Felski, R. (2015). The limits of critique. University of Chicago Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.7208/chicago/9780226294179.001.0001

[5] Grumet, M. R. (1988). Bitter milk: Women and teaching. The University of Massachusetts Press.

[6] Grumet, M. R. (2026a). Existential and phenomenological foundations. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 27-42). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-3

[7] Grumet, M. R. (2026b). Toward a poor curriculum. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 55-73). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-5

[8] Pinar, W. F. (2001). The Gender of Racial Politics and Violence in America: Lynching, Prison Rape, and the Crisis of Masculinity. Peter Lang.

[9] Pinar, W. F. (2009). The Worldliness of a Cosmopolitan Education: Passionate Lives in Public Service. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203878699

[10] Pinar, W. F. (2019a). Moving Images of Eternity: George Grant’s Critique of Time, Teaching, and Technology. University of Ottawa Press. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/9780776627885

[11] Pinar, W.F. (2019b). What Is Curriculum Theory? (3rd edition). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315625683

[12] Pinar. W. F. (2026a). A Curriculum of Courage, Conviction, Resolve: The Subjective Necessity of Nonviolence. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003657538

[13] Pinar, W. F. (2026b). Clickbait curriculum theory. In R. Sawyer, W. Wang, & D. Ness (Eds.), Understanding curriculum epistemicide: Possibilities and complicated conversations. Peter Lang.

[14] Pinar, W. F. (2026c). Currere. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 142-153). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-9

[15] Pinar, W. F. (2026d). Mr. Bennet and Mrs. Brown. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 1-4). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-1

[16] Pinar, W. F. (2026e). Political-spiritual dimensions. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 74-91). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-6

[17] Pinar, W. F. (2026f). Self and others. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 5-26). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-2

[18] Pinar, W. F. (2026f). Subjective reconstruction and rehabilitation of habit. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. 122-141). Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513-8

[19] Pinar, W. F., & Grumet, M. R. (2026a). Preface to the 50th-year-anniversary edition. In W. F. Pinar & M. R. Grumet, Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed (pp. ix-xi). Routledge.

[20] Pinar, W. F., & Grumet, M. R. (2026b). Toward a poor curriculum: 50th Anniversary edition, 4th ed. Routledge. DOI: https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003683513

[21] Pinar, W. F., Reynolds, W., Slattery, P., & Taubman, P. M. (2008). Understanding Curriculum. Peter Lang. (Originally published 1995)

[22] Said, E. W. (2006). On late style: Music and literature against the grain. Vintage Books.

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