From Static Artifact to Living Organism: A Substantive Theory of the Thinking and Learning Curriculum

Abstract

Traditional curricula are known to go through a systemic stagnation during a period of rapid changes which implies that they cannot adjust to changing societal and epistemic demands. The paper outlines a substantive theory created as a way to resolve the issue of a new paradigm called the Thinking and Learning Curriculum (TLC). This study employs a grounded theory design which amalgamates the data gotten from the in-depth interviews with sixteen experts from different areas such as curriculum studies, philosophy, and computer engineering. The emergent theory attributes the TLC with characteristics of a self-governing, complex adaptive life form with an internal metacognitive core that endows the system with self-regulation and intelligent decision-making functions. The system of this nature is backed up by a heavily integrated neuro-technical infrastructure where AI is the cognitive partner and the system is located in a decentralized, democratic socio-managerial ecosystem. The research paper concludes by showing the TLC model as an innovative and robust theoretical framework to transcend the static, object-based portrayal of curriculum, thus, proposing a 21st-century education-field ontology that is dynamic, agent-based.