Knowledge, Learning and the Curriculum of the Future1

Abstract This article is concerned with the application of sociological analysis to the development of a 16‐19 curriculum of the future. It begins by clarifying the concept of the curriculum with particular reference to the 16‐19 phase of education. It then presents a brief analysis of recent developments in 16‐19 education in England and Wales and highlights the issues that these developments have raised. The final section of the paper draws on a sociological approach to knowledge and learning to suggest how these issues might be addressed by curriculum policy makers. The article concludes by proposing a model of the 16‐19 curriculum of the future based on the idea of ‘connective specialisation’.