Faculty Research Profiles: Ian Westbury

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Professor Emeritus

Curriculum & Instruction
390 Education Building
1310 S. 6th St. MC 708
217 244-5811
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Research Biography

My research agenda has focused on the interface between ideas about education and educational research and the institution of the (high) school. I have worked on this agenda as I have looked at (1) the relevance of the German Didaktik tradition for enhancing the idea of reflective teaching and (2) cross-cultural achievement in mathematics as seen comparatively and empirically in the IEA international math studies.

Currently my work has two foci: I am beginning a cross-national study of curriculum development which will involve a study of the development and implementation of the Illinois Standards; I am completing a study of school outcomes and their contexts in metro Chicago.

I teach courses in curriculum theory, educational assessment and evaluation, and web-based teaching in high school social studies.

I am General Editor of the Journal of Curriculum Studies.

Degrees

  • Ph.D., Education, University of Alberta, 1968
  • Diploma, Education, University of Melbourne, 1960
  • B.A. (Hons.), Latin and History, University of Melbourne, 1959

Key Professional Appointments

  • Professor, Secondary Education and Curriculum Laboratory, University of Illinois, 1979--
  • Associate Professor, Secondary Education and Curriculum Laboratory, University of Illinois, 1973-1979
  • Assistant Professor, Education, University of Chicago, 1968-1973
  • Assistant Professor, Curriculum, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, 1967-1968

Activities & Honors

  • General Editor, Revista Estudios Del Curriculum, 2001-2002

Grants

  • Co-Principal Investigator, National Resource Center for Global Studies, U.S. Department of Education (Center for Global Studies), 2003
  • Principal Investigator, From Curriculum Development to Lesson-Planning, Campus Research Board, 2002
  • Principal Investigator, From Curriculum Development to Lesson-Planning, Campus Research Board, 2002
  • Principal Investigator, Visiting Scholar, University of Southern Queensland, 1999
  • Principal Investigator, Visiting Scholar, Abo Akademi Vasa, 1998
  • Principal Investigator, Second International Mathematics Study: Data-enhancement project, National Science Foundation, 1987

Selected Publications

  • Westbury, I. (2002). John Dewey's The educational situation: As concerns the elementary school: Implications for our time. Journal of Curriculum & Supervision, 17(2), 120-129.
  • Westbury, I. (in press). Introduction. In P. Menck (Ed.), Looking into classrooms: Papers on didactics. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
  • Westbury, I. (in press). Theory, research and improvement of music education. In R. Colwell (Ed.), Handbook of research on music teaching and learning (2nd ed.). New York: Oxford University Press.
  • Westbury, I. D. (1998). Didaktik and curriculum studies. In B. B. Gundem & S. Hopmann (Eds.), Didaktik and/or curriculum: An International dialogue (pp. 47-78), New York: Peter Lang.
  • Laih, H. L., & Westbury, I. (1998). The transformation of Taiwan's upper secondary education system: A policy analysis. Educational Policy Analysis Archive, 6(18).