History of
Curriculum
Meaning of Curriculum
• The term curriculum is derived from the Latin word
“currer” which means a racecourse taken by horses.
• In education, curriculum may be taken to mean a
racecourse taken by the educational process.
• Before 1918, courses offered in learning institutions were
only known as subjects.
• The term curriculum had not been coined.
• Franklin Bobbit after working on a number of courses and
after studying the social, economic and political changes
which came with World War I coined the term “curriculum”
to mean those experiences that the learner acquires in a
learning institution.
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• After World War I, there was an increase in
urbanization, technological advancement
and rapid migration.
• These events had profound effects on
common life generally, because of the above
human life underwent dramatic change.
• Bobbit was influenced by scientific
management, scientific management was
only employed in industries and Bobbit
applied it to education.
• It was seen as a means of minimizing or
eliminating waste and maximizing output.
Curriculum Defined by
Franklin Bobbitt (1918)
“As applied to education, it is that series of things which
children and youth must do and experience by which
of developing abilities to do the things well that make
up the affairs of adult life...” (p 42)
The curriculum may, therefore, be defined in two
ways:
(1) it is the entire range of experiences, both
undirected and directed, concerned in
unfolding the abilities of the individual; or
(2) It is the series of consciously directed training
experiences that the schools use for completing
and perfecting the unfoldment.”
Curriculum Defined by
Various Theorists
• “. . . a plan for learning" (Taba, 1962; p. 11)
• "that reconstruction of knowledge and
experience, systematically developed under the
supports of the school (or university), to enable
the learner to increase his or her control of
knowledge and experience" (Tanner and Tanner
1980; p. 43).
• "a plan or program for all the experiences which
the learner encounters under the direction of the
school" (Oliva, 1982; p. 10).
Perennialism
The aim of education is to ensure that students acquire understandings
about the great ideas of civilization.
These ideas have the potential for solving problems in any era.
The focus is to teach ideas that are everlasting, to seek enduring truths
which are constant, not changing, as the natural and human
worlds at their most essential level, do not change.
Teaching these unchanging principles is considered critical.
The demanding curriculum focuses on attaining cultural literacy,
stressing students' growth in enduring disciplines.
The loftiest accomplishments of humankind are emphasized– the great
works of literature and art, the laws or principles of science.
Advocates of this educational philosophy are Robert Maynard Hutchins
who developed a Great Books program in 1963 and Mortimer
Adler, who further developed this curriculum based on 100 great
books of western civilization.
Essentialism
There is a common core of knowledge that needs to be transmitted to students
in a systematic, disciplined way.
The core of the curriculum is essential knowledge and skills and academic rigor.
Although this educational philosophy is similar in some ways to Perennialism,
Essentialists accept the idea that this core curriculum may change.
Schooling should be practical, preparing students to become valuable members of
society.
It should focus on facts-the objective reality out there--and "the basics,"
training students to read, write, speak, and compute clearly and logically.
Students should be taught hard work, respect for authority, and discipline.
Teachers are to help students keep their non-productive instincts in check,
such as aggression or mindlessness.
This approach was in reaction to progressivist approaches prevalent in the
1920s and 30s. William Bagley, took progressivist approaches to task in the
journal he formed in 1934. Other proponents of Essentialism are: James D.
Koerner (1959), H. G. Rickover (1959), Paul Copperman (1978), and
Theodore Sizer (1985).
Progressivism
Education should focus on the whole child, rather than on the content or
the teacher.
Students should test ideas by active experimentation. Learning is rooted
in the questions of learners that arise through experiencing the
world. It is active, not passive.
The learner is a problem solver and thinker who makes meaning through
his or her individual experience in the physical and cultural context.
Effective teachers provide experiences so that students can learn by
doing.
Curriculum content is derived from student interests and questions.
The emphasis is on process-how one comes to know.
The Progressive education philosophy was established in America from
the mid 1920s through the mid 1950s. John Dewey was its
foremost proponent.
Models
• THE TYLER MODEL (1940s)
• THE TABA MODEL (1960s)
• THE OLIVA MODEL (1980s)
The Tyler Model of
Curriculum Design
(C) The nature &
structure
of knowledge
(A) The needs (B) The needs
of the society of the learner
(A) The Needs of the Society
Ö Literacy
Ö Vocational skills
Ö Social order & morality
Ö Interpersonal skills
Ö Transmission of values &
culture
Ö Creativity & innovation
(B) Needs of the Learner
* Cognitive development
* Linguistic development
* Psycho-social development
* Moral/affective development
* Vocational focus
(C) The Nature & Structure
of Knowledge
1. Selection of subject matter
2. Organization of subject matter
3. Approaches to Subject Matter
(C1) Selection of Subject Matter
Criteria: Relevance, importance, priority
Scope: Amount, depth of coverage, concentration
Sequence: Hierarchy & progression of complexity
or difficulty
(C2) Organization of Subject Matter
Discrete subjects or courses
Broad fields or disciplines
Core or interdisciplinary
Skills or processes
Projects & activities
(C3) Approaches to Subject Matter
Textual
Experimental
Developmental
Psycho-social
Experiential
Fundamental Questions in
Developing Curriculum
• What educational purposes should the school
seek to attain? (purpose or objectives)
Fundamental Questions in
Developing Curriculum
• What educational purposes should the school
seek to attain?
• What educational experiences can be
provided that are likely to attain these
purposes? (content)
Fundamental Questions in
Developing Curriculum
• What educational purposes should the school
seek to attain?
• What educational experiences can be
provided that are likely to attain these
purposes?
• How can these educational experiences be
effectively organized? (teaching strategies)
Fundamental Questions in
Developing Curriculum
• What educational purposes should the school
seek to attain?
• What educational experiences can be provided
that are likely to attain these purposes?
• How can these educational experiences be
effectively organized?
• How can we determine whether and to what
extent these purposes are being attained?
(assessment and evaluation)
References
• http://curricublog.org/2006/10/22/curriclum-what/
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:CurriculumConcept.svg
• http://coe.sdsu.edu/people/jmora/MoraModules/TylerCurrModel.pps
• http://furcs.flinders.edu.au/education/postgrad/clinicaled/HLED9005/module01/mod1_sec3.htm
• http://www.newfoundations.com/GALLERY/ISMS.html
• Bobbitt, F. (1918). The curriculum. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.
• Tanner, D., & Tanner, L. N. (1980). Curriculum development: theory into practice (2nd ed.). New
York: Macmillan.
• Tyler, R. (1949) Basic principles of curriculum and instruction . Chicago: Chicago University Press.
