Society for the Study of Curriculum History

The Society for the Study of Curriculum History (SSCH) was established in 1977 by a group of curriculum scholars meeting at Teachers College, Columbia University. The society's purpose was, and continues to be, to encourage the scholarly study of curriculum history and provide an opportunity for the presentation and discussion of research inquiries into curriculum history. The society has met annually in conjunction with the American Educational Research Association since that time. Established scholars, emerging scholars, and doctoral students present papers of interest to the membership for discussion and feedback. Meetings often include keynote speeches or papers by leading curriculum and educational history researchers and symposia that foster collegial interchange. Papers presented at SSCH generally reflect interpretations of important issues and influential events and persons in the history of the curriculum field, and in the history of the formation of curriculum theory, curriculum policy, and curriculum practice. Although most papers have focused on practices in U.S. schools, many papers have been presented by international scholars on Australia, Japan, England, Germany, and Israel as well as on other European and Asian countries.

In 1989, 23 papers were published in the edited book. Since 1991, selected papers presented at the meetings have been published in journal format under the title of Curriculum History. Some papers presented at the meetings have been indexed in ERIC; others were published in an edited volume, Explorations in Curriculum History.

Many of the professors were, at the time of the organizational meeting, noted names in the field of curriculum, including some whose names are found in this encyclopedia. Among the other founding members who have provided guidance for scholars in the years since 1977, either through their writing or their chairing of doctoral committees, were Lawrence A. Cremin, O. L. Davis Jr., Arthur W. Foshay, Murry R. Nelson, A. Harry Passow, William H. Schubert, Daniel Tanner, and Laurel N. Tanner. In the years since its founding, the society has provided a place for emerging scholars to present their fledgling ideas and receive feedback on their work. Many of these scholars have gone on to faculty positions in noted universities in the United States and internationally.