18 Questions
What process is more popularly known as 'Taylorism'?
Efficient production methods
According to Bobbitt, what dictates the pupil-experiences in education?
Specific methods employed by teachers
What did scientific management provide in US education according to Kliebard?
Specific logic of efficiency
What does Bobbitt emphasize in his concept of 'factorylike efficiency' in education?
Objectives alone dictating pupil-experiences
What does Taylorism secure according to Noble?
Managerial control over the production process
According to Bobbitt, what dictates the supervision and other functions in attaining desired results in education?
'Taylorism'
What was a dominant model guiding education in the US during a critical time period?
Scientific management
What did scholars like Kliebard previously associate scientific management in the curriculum with?
Social efficiency movement
Why was scientific management considered a dominant model in education according to recent research?
A shift in perception towards social efficiency
What shaped the thinking of various key stakeholders for the remainder of the twentieth century?
The relationship between education, economy, and society
What did business leaders, public officials, educators, and parents generally hold as unquestioned beliefs according to the text?
Efficient organization in schools
What was a common misconception about scientific management in the curriculum according to more recent research?
'Social efficiency' was not relevant to scientific management
What is the main point about 'social efficiency' made in the text?
It was linked to conservative versions more closely aligned with scientific management.
What became hegemonic in the US in terms of school and curricular reform?
Efficient, factory-like production associated with Taylorism
How are the logics of scientific management related to modern-day educational structures?
They can be found in modern-day educational structures and can be traced back to the early 1900s.
What is the significance of the claims regarding the links between 'social efficiency' and schools/curriculum in the text?
The claims illustrate a strong ideological and structural connection.
In what way did contemporary curriculum scholars wrongly conceptualize 'social efficiency'?
By aligning it with factory-like production associated with Taylorism.
What do the text's references to Callahan (1964) and Apple (1979/2004) signify?
They highlight the dominance of scientific management principles in educational reform.
Study Notes
School Reform and Scientific Management
- By the 1920s, business leaders were no longer driving school reform, but their core assumptions about education, the economy, and a stable society had become widely accepted.
- These assumptions, which shaped the thinking of various stakeholders, included the relationships between education, the economy, and a stable society, and between business and schools.
The Dominance of Scientific Management
- Scientific management became the dominant model guiding education in the US, partly due to the make-up of school boards, mass schooling, and the struggle between capital and labor.
- Scientific management, also known as 'social efficiency,' aimed to optimize education through efficient production and management.
The Origins of Scientific Management
- Scientific management was developed by Frederick Taylor, who emphasized the importance of gathering information, analyzing it scientifically, and dictating the most efficient ways for workers to complete tasks.
- Taylor's approach secured managerial control over the production process and laid the foundation for the systematic reorganization of work.
Application of Scientific Management in Education
- Curriculum leaders such as Bobbitt, Snedden, and others applied scientific management principles to US education, focusing on objectives, efficiency, and factory-like production.
- Bobbitt (1920) argued that objectives dictate the curriculum, methods, and materials, which in turn dictate supervision, finance, and other functions.
The Legacy of Scientific Management
- Despite challenges to the concept of 'social efficiency,' the structures of school and curricular reform associated with Taylorism and efficient production became hegemonic in the US.
- The logics of scientific management can be traced directly back to the school reform movements of the early 1900s and are still present in modern day educational structures.
Test your knowledge about the shifting roles of business leaders in school reform during the 1920s and their impact on public school goals, governance, organization, and curricula.
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