The literature of the curriculum field may be divided into theoretical writings and reports of practical activities in curriculum development, evaluation, implementation or dissemination. Whereas the literature abounds with theoretical writings, it can be more difficult to locate reports of practical curriculum work, possibly because such specific instances could appear of limited general interest to journal editors. But, used in conjunction with theoretical curriculum literature, reports of practical curriculum activities provide an invaluable source of insight to students of curriculum and to others embarking on curriculum work.
On the Australian scene, the lack of readily available accounts of Australian curriculum initiatives often leads curriculum workers and students to consult more accessible reports of curriculum work conducted overseas, especially in the US and UK. But, given the differences in context between Australia and other countries, it is highly desirable that some of the important Australian empirical work in curriculum be distilled and made readily accessible to interested audiences. Consequently, the decision of the West Australian Social Science Education Consortium to sponsor a book series entitled Australian Case Studies in Curriculum is timely, insightful and important.
The West Australian Social Science Education Consortium is sponsored jointly by the Faculty of Education and the School of Social Sciences at Curtin University of Technology in Perth. Previously the Consortium has been involved mainly in a variety of curriculum development and evaluation activities in social science at the primary and secondary school levels. The Consortium's current sponsorship of the Australian Case Studies in Curriculum Series represents an expansion of its activities to allow the expertise, experience and resources built up over the years to be used to provide help in a significant way to curriculum audiences throughout Australia.
In addition to the present volume Case Studies in TAFE Curriculum, two other books Case Studies in Curriculum Evaluation and Case Studies in Curriculum Design are currently available in the Series. Also it is intended that further titles should be added in the future. Whereas each volume is written or edited by a particular author, the overall direction for the Series as a whole and the final approval of individual volumes is the responsibility of the General Editors of the Series, namely:
Professor Barry J. Fraser
School of Curriculum Studies
Curtin University of Technology
Dr Gilbert McDonald
West Australian Social Science Education Consortium
Dr Kerry J Kennedy
Assistant Director
Curriculum Development Centre
The audiences for the Series are varied and include undergraduate and graduate education students, teachers involved in school-based curriculum development and evaluation initiatives, and groups participating in local, state or national curriculum initiatives. In particular, because reports of curriculum work are not widely available, these books of case studies are likely to prove valuable as texts or references within a wide range of education courses throughout Australia and, to a lesser extent, in overseas countries. Consequently, it is anticipated that the Consortium's sponsorship of this Series will provide a series which will be valued by the educational community.
General Editors of Series
Cite as: Fraser, B. J., McDonald, G. & Kennedy, K. J. (1988). Foreword to the series. In C. McBeath, (Ed), Case studies in TAFE curriculum, p.v. Perth, WA: West Australian Social Science Education Consortium, Curtin University of Technology. http://www.clare-mcbeath.id.au/case-studies/foreword.html