The Nature of Conflict

Abstract

This chapter—The Nature of Conflict—places “conflict” at the core of curriculum theory and praxis. In doing so, it challenges the “consensus malaise,” produced by hegemonic traditions, that frames curriculum knowledge as neutral. The chapter unpacks how different critical theorists restructure and complexify the question formulated by Spencer—“what knowledge is of most worth?” In such context, the chapter unearths curriculum as a social construction that serves to mystify rather than illuminate reality, and how the nature of conflict is determined by the dynamics—of form and content—inherent in the ways socially valid knowledge is diffused throughout the schools.