CURRICULUM THEORIES AND SCIENTIFIC PRODUCTION: CONCEPTUAL MAPPING FROM BIBLIOMETRY¹

ABSTRACT:

This article presents the results of an academic research mapping about curriculum and its theoretical conceptualizations, seeking to identify how curriculum integration emerges from these discussions. This descriptive study carried out bibliometric analyses using the Bibliometrix package of the R software, extracted from the Web of Science database, from 2002 to 2022. We analyzed the following information: co-citation networks, most relevant authors, co-occurrence network, publication evolution, thematic map, and thematic evolution. Based on the analysis of this information, we mapped the main discussion axes and authorship networks to describe and discuss the main concepts addressed. The study shows that the curriculum theoretical discussions dialogue with the principles of curriculum integration, mainly those in which the authors deal with its importance as a potentializing agent of subjects' critical and emancipatory formation. However, there was a small number of works exclusively about this theme. We can see this indicator through the analysis of the thematic map. The works on curriculum integration are treated peripherally concerning the curriculum theoretical field. The studies also pointed out that productions on curriculum theories are emerging and closely connected with the themes of knowledge and curriculum policies, although they are still quite shy and need to be better explored, considering their relevance in the educational field.

Keywords:
curriculum; curriculum theory; curriculum integration; bibliometrics; research mapping