Zongyi Deng
Biographic Data
| ID | 5239682 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Zongyi Deng |
| GIVEN NAMES | Zongyi |
| FAMILY NAME | Deng |
| SIGNATURE | DENG Z |
| AFFILIATIONS | University College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-8068-382X |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 38 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2007 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2026 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Artificial intelligence and the internal structure of education
This paper articulates the internal structure of education and, on this basis, examines the significance and limits of contemporary AI for educational practice. Public, policy, and technological discourse commonly frame AI in terms of personalization, access, and efficiency, while a growing Deweyan literature has explored its implications for inquiry, experience, and democratic life. Yet across these discussions, education is largely taken for gr…
Rethinking twenty-first-century competency-based education
Drawing on social science perspectives, research has examined how twenty-first-century competencies are incorporated into educational policies, curricula, and classroom practices across contexts, yet comparatively little attention has been given to these processes from an ‘internal’ perspective that is distinctively educational and curricular. Informed by Bildung-centred Didaktik, this article addresses this gap by critically examining the concep…
Knowledge and curriculum
The call for ‘bringing knowledge back in’, epitomized by the concept of powerful knowledge coined notably by Michael Young and Johan Muller, has significantly influenced the ‘knowledge turn’ in global educational landscapes. However, the way of thinking and theorizing about knowledge and the curriculum that underpins the project of ‘bringing knowledge back in’ has not received adequate attention in the literature. Using Muller’s article ‘The pali…
A framework for curricular analysis of powerful knowledge
This study investigates and compares knowledge types in national curricula embedded in the curriculum tradition (England) and the didactic tradition (Finland and Sweden). In the study, we develop and operationalize a theoretical framework based on educational purposes (academic, citizenship and humanistic purposes) and knowledge categories (substantive, disciplinary, sociocultural applications, pedagogical considerations and student-psychological…
Powerful knowledge, school subjects and the curriculum
This introductory essay presents a special issue that foregrounds school subjects as purpose-built educational enterprises and reconsiders the role of powerful knowledge in national curricula. Framed against the marginalization of knowledge in both global policy reforms and contemporary curriculum theory, it argues for renewed attention to the educational purpose, content, and construction of school subjects by engaging with questions such as: Wh…
Social realism, knowledge and curriculum
Building on the ‘Didaktik Meets Curriculum’ dialogue, this symposium (special issue) seeks to further the ongoing discussion on knowledge and curriculum—recently revitalized by the concept of powerful knowledge—by engaging with social realism in conjunction with Didaktik and curriculum theory. The symposium features two key articles concerning social realism: Johan Muller revisits the early work of Basil Bernstein, while Michael Young examines th…
Mass upper-secondary and tertiary education
We have been re-reading two JCS papers on ‘science for all’ by the late Peter Fensham (Fensham, 1974, 1985; see also Fensham, 1990, 1996a, 2008, 2012, 2022). Although centred on Fensham’s battles f
Educational Studies, Pedagogy and Education as a Discipline
This article continues the efforts of Gert Biesta and Jim Hordern to address the nature and organisation of educational studies as highlighted in a recent special issue titled ‘Educational studies today and for the future: threats, hopes, and collaborations’ in BJES (Volume 7, No. 5, 2023). The aim is to articulate a distinctive voice or language within the study of education, addressing contemporary challenges in the field. Invoking German Pädag…
Practice, pedagogy and education as a discipline
The British Educational Research Association (BERA) has promulgated a concept of close‐to‐practice research that is seen as vital to defending and promoting education as an academic discipline. However, what is overlooked are the questions of what education is for and what educational practice is—questions that need to be addressed for any research aiming to understand and improve educational practice. Informed by Robin Alexander's conception of …
Powerful knowledge, educational potential and knowledge-rich curriculum
Building on and going beyond Young and Muller’s theory of powerful knowledge, this article seeks to articulate a model of a future-oriented, knowledge-rich curriculum by invoking David Lambert’s capabilities approach and Bildung-centred Didaktik. The curriculum is knowledge rich in three respects. First, it is informed by a vision of education centrally concerned with the cultivation of human powers (understanding, capabilities, dispositions) pre…
Constructing ‘powerful’ curriculum theory
This article addresses how ‘powerful’ curriculum theory might be constructed from the perspective of the German Didaktik tradition—highly compatible with Schwab’s the Practical. To start with, I scrutinize Joseph Schwab’s model of curriculum planning and Wolfgang Klafki’s model of lesson preparation and examine two theories of content that underpin the two models. Invoking the German Didaktik tradition, I next explicate a distinctive form of theo…
Towards powerful educational knowledge? Addressing the challenges facing educational foundations, curriculum theory and Didaktik
This paper introduces a special issue which aims to address the challenges facing the ‘deliberative’ educational knowledge traditions of educational foundations, curriculum theory and Didaktik as a consequence of the rising tide of empiricism in educational research, the ‘what works’ agenda in global educational reform and internal fragmentation within the traditions themselves. By examining the potential for the reconfiguration or reconstruction…
Powerful knowledge, transformations and Didaktik /curriculum thinking
From the vantage point of knowledge transformations entailed in curriculum making, this article seeks to contribute to a rethinking of the concept of powerful knowledge. It makes a case for linking the teaching of content knowledge to the development of human powers (understanding, ways of thinking, capabilities and dispositions) by way of knowledge transformations. The article starts by examining three perspectives or contributions to knowledge …
Pedagogical content knowledge reconceived
Pisa and high-performing education systems
Singapore’s remarkable performance in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has placed it among the world’s high-performing education systems (HPES). In the literature on HPES, its ‘secret formula’ for education success is explained in terms of teacher quality, school leadership, system characteristics and educational reform. This article offers an alternative explanation for the education success of Singapore and, in so doing, qu…
Globalization and the Singapore Curriculum
On Developing Chinese Didactics
Bringing Curriculum Studies and Padägogik Together
Academic debates over the theoretical base of China's curriculum reform reflect a paradigmatic war between two traditions, curriculum studies and Padägogik. This article attempts to reconcile the two traditions by advancing a way of looking at the relationship between curriculum studies and Padägogik as well as the two concepts "curriculum" and "pedagogy." The implications of curricular and pedagogical theorizing for China's curriculum reform are…
Revisiting Curriculum Potential
This article analyzes the notion of curriculum potential by revisiting the ideas of Miriam Ben‐Peretz and Joseph Schwab. Invoking the German Didaktik tradition and by way of a curriculum‐making framework, the paper argues that interpreting curriculum materials for curriculum potential requires a careful analysis and unpacking of the meanings and significance of the content contained in materials. This analysis and unpacking need to be informed by…
Transforming the Subject Matter
This article questions the basic assumptions of pedagogical content knowledge by analyzing the ideas of Jerome Bruner, Joseph Schwab, and John Dewey concerning transforming the subject matter. It argues that transforming the subject matter is not only a pedagogical but also a complex curricular task in terms of developing a school subject or a course of study. This curricular task, however, has been obscured by the concept of pedagogical content …
Pisa and high-performing education systems
Singapore’s remarkable performance in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has placed it among the world’s high-performing education systems (HPES). In the literature on HPES, its ‘secret formula’ for education success is explained in terms of teacher quality, school leadership, system characteristics and educational reform. This article offers an alternative explanation for the education success of Singapore and, in so doing, qu…
Transforming the Subject Matter
This article questions the basic assumptions of pedagogical content knowledge by analyzing the ideas of Jerome Bruner, Joseph Schwab, and John Dewey concerning transforming the subject matter. It argues that transforming the subject matter is not only a pedagogical but also a complex curricular task in terms of developing a school subject or a course of study. This curricular task, however, has been obscured by the concept of pedagogical content …
Pedagogical content knowledge reconceived
Practice, pedagogy and education as a discipline
The British Educational Research Association (BERA) has promulgated a concept of close‐to‐practice research that is seen as vital to defending and promoting education as an academic discipline. However, what is overlooked are the questions of what education is for and what educational practice is—questions that need to be addressed for any research aiming to understand and improve educational practice. Informed by Robin Alexander's conception of …
Revisiting Curriculum Potential
This article analyzes the notion of curriculum potential by revisiting the ideas of Miriam Ben‐Peretz and Joseph Schwab. Invoking the German Didaktik tradition and by way of a curriculum‐making framework, the paper argues that interpreting curriculum materials for curriculum potential requires a careful analysis and unpacking of the meanings and significance of the content contained in materials. This analysis and unpacking need to be informed by…
Transforming the Subject Matter
This article questions the basic assumptions of pedagogical content knowledge by analyzing the ideas of Jerome Bruner, Joseph Schwab, and John Dewey concerning transforming the subject matter. It argues that transforming the subject matter is not only a pedagogical but also a complex curricular task in terms of developing a school subject or a course of study. This curricular task, however, has been obscured by the concept of pedagogical content …
Bringing Curriculum Studies and Padägogik Together
Academic debates over the theoretical base of China's curriculum reform reflect a paradigmatic war between two traditions, curriculum studies and Padägogik. This article attempts to reconcile the two traditions by advancing a way of looking at the relationship between curriculum studies and Padägogik as well as the two concepts "curriculum" and "pedagogy." The implications of curricular and pedagogical theorizing for China's curriculum reform are…
Revisiting Curriculum Potential
This article analyzes the notion of curriculum potential by revisiting the ideas of Miriam Ben‐Peretz and Joseph Schwab. Invoking the German Didaktik tradition and by way of a curriculum‐making framework, the paper argues that interpreting curriculum materials for curriculum potential requires a careful analysis and unpacking of the meanings and significance of the content contained in materials. This analysis and unpacking need to be informed by…
Globalization and the Singapore Curriculum
On Developing Chinese Didactics
Pisa and high-performing education systems
Singapore’s remarkable performance in Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) has placed it among the world’s high-performing education systems (HPES). In the literature on HPES, its ‘secret formula’ for education success is explained in terms of teacher quality, school leadership, system characteristics and educational reform. This article offers an alternative explanation for the education success of Singapore and, in so doing, qu…
Pedagogical content knowledge reconceived
Constructing ‘powerful’ curriculum theory
This article addresses how ‘powerful’ curriculum theory might be constructed from the perspective of the German Didaktik tradition—highly compatible with Schwab’s the Practical. To start with, I scrutinize Joseph Schwab’s model of curriculum planning and Wolfgang Klafki’s model of lesson preparation and examine two theories of content that underpin the two models. Invoking the German Didaktik tradition, I next explicate a distinctive form of theo…
Towards powerful educational knowledge? Addressing the challenges facing educational foundations, curriculum theory and Didaktik
This paper introduces a special issue which aims to address the challenges facing the ‘deliberative’ educational knowledge traditions of educational foundations, curriculum theory and Didaktik as a consequence of the rising tide of empiricism in educational research, the ‘what works’ agenda in global educational reform and internal fragmentation within the traditions themselves. By examining the potential for the reconfiguration or reconstruction…
Powerful knowledge, transformations and Didaktik /curriculum thinking
From the vantage point of knowledge transformations entailed in curriculum making, this article seeks to contribute to a rethinking of the concept of powerful knowledge. It makes a case for linking the teaching of content knowledge to the development of human powers (understanding, ways of thinking, capabilities and dispositions) by way of knowledge transformations. The article starts by examining three perspectives or contributions to knowledge …
Powerful knowledge, educational potential and knowledge-rich curriculum
Building on and going beyond Young and Muller’s theory of powerful knowledge, this article seeks to articulate a model of a future-oriented, knowledge-rich curriculum by invoking David Lambert’s capabilities approach and Bildung-centred Didaktik. The curriculum is knowledge rich in three respects. First, it is informed by a vision of education centrally concerned with the cultivation of human powers (understanding, capabilities, dispositions) pre…
Practice, pedagogy and education as a discipline
The British Educational Research Association (BERA) has promulgated a concept of close‐to‐practice research that is seen as vital to defending and promoting education as an academic discipline. However, what is overlooked are the questions of what education is for and what educational practice is—questions that need to be addressed for any research aiming to understand and improve educational practice. Informed by Robin Alexander's conception of …
Knowledge and curriculum
The call for ‘bringing knowledge back in’, epitomized by the concept of powerful knowledge coined notably by Michael Young and Johan Muller, has significantly influenced the ‘knowledge turn’ in global educational landscapes. However, the way of thinking and theorizing about knowledge and the curriculum that underpins the project of ‘bringing knowledge back in’ has not received adequate attention in the literature. Using Muller’s article ‘The pali…
A framework for curricular analysis of powerful knowledge
This study investigates and compares knowledge types in national curricula embedded in the curriculum tradition (England) and the didactic tradition (Finland and Sweden). In the study, we develop and operationalize a theoretical framework based on educational purposes (academic, citizenship and humanistic purposes) and knowledge categories (substantive, disciplinary, sociocultural applications, pedagogical considerations and student-psychological…
Powerful knowledge, school subjects and the curriculum
This introductory essay presents a special issue that foregrounds school subjects as purpose-built educational enterprises and reconsiders the role of powerful knowledge in national curricula. Framed against the marginalization of knowledge in both global policy reforms and contemporary curriculum theory, it argues for renewed attention to the educational purpose, content, and construction of school subjects by engaging with questions such as: Wh…
Social realism, knowledge and curriculum
Building on the ‘Didaktik Meets Curriculum’ dialogue, this symposium (special issue) seeks to further the ongoing discussion on knowledge and curriculum—recently revitalized by the concept of powerful knowledge—by engaging with social realism in conjunction with Didaktik and curriculum theory. The symposium features two key articles concerning social realism: Johan Muller revisits the early work of Basil Bernstein, while Michael Young examines th…
Mass upper-secondary and tertiary education
We have been re-reading two JCS papers on ‘science for all’ by the late Peter Fensham (Fensham, 1974, 1985; see also Fensham, 1990, 1996a, 2008, 2012, 2022). Although centred on Fensham’s battles f
Educational Studies, Pedagogy and Education as a Discipline
This article continues the efforts of Gert Biesta and Jim Hordern to address the nature and organisation of educational studies as highlighted in a recent special issue titled ‘Educational studies today and for the future: threats, hopes, and collaborations’ in BJES (Volume 7, No. 5, 2023). The aim is to articulate a distinctive voice or language within the study of education, addressing contemporary challenges in the field. Invoking German Pädag…
Artificial intelligence and the internal structure of education
This paper articulates the internal structure of education and, on this basis, examines the significance and limits of contemporary AI for educational practice. Public, policy, and technological discourse commonly frame AI in terms of personalization, access, and efficiency, while a growing Deweyan literature has explored its implications for inquiry, experience, and democratic life. Yet across these discussions, education is largely taken for gr…
Rethinking twenty-first-century competency-based education
Drawing on social science perspectives, research has examined how twenty-first-century competencies are incorporated into educational policies, curricula, and classroom practices across contexts, yet comparatively little attention has been given to these processes from an ‘internal’ perspective that is distinctively educational and curricular. Informed by Bildung-centred Didaktik, this article addresses this gap by critically examining the concep…
Pedagogy (18 works) · Sociology (18 works) · Global Educational Policies and Reforms (17 works) · Curriculum (16 works) · Curriculum development (11 works) · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy (11 works) · Psychology (11 works) · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies (10 works) · Mathematics education (10 works) · Political science (10 works)