Toward a Poor Curriculum: 50th Anniversary Edition

by William F. Pinar, Madeleine R. Grumet

50 years since the publication of Toward a Poor Curriculum, William Pinar and Madeleine Grumet reflect on the ongoing need for a poor curriculum – one stripped of distractions such as technology to allow for the reflection and self-questioning at the heart of the book’s central methodology of currere. Featuring a brand-new preface cowritten by William Pinar and Madeleine Grumet, as well as revised chapters and a never-before included chapter on the four phases of currere, this anniversary edition invites scholars of curriculum theory and teaching methods to revisit the original essays and reconsider their relevance in light of present educational and political challenges.

Kindle Edition

Expected publication February 12, 2026

About the author

William Pinar (born 1947) is an American educator, curriculum theorist and international studies scholar. Known for his work in the area of curriculum theory, Pinar is strongly associated with the reconceptualist movement in curriculum theory since the early 1970s. In the early 1970s, along with Madeleine Grumet, Pinar introduced the notion of currere, shifting in a radical manner the notion of curriculum as a noun to curriculum as a verb.[1] Apart from his fundamental contributions to theory, Pinar is notable for establishing the Journal of Curriculum Theorizing, founding the Bergamo Conference on Curriculum Theory and Classroom Practice, and founding the International Association for the Advancement of Curriculum Studies.

Although Pinar is known best for his publications concerning curriculum theory, he has also spoken about and written on many other topics, including education, cultural studies, international studies, and queer studies.
(from wikipedia)