Educational Theories and Curriculum Models

Foundations of Curriculum

• The learning outcome for the session is for pre-service teachers to demonstrate a clear understanding of curriculum foundations through a panel discussion.

Philosophical Foundations of Curriculum

• Philosophy is the starting point for all curriculum decisions. It establishes the criteria for curriculum aims, selection, organization, and implementation.
• Philosophy helps answer general questions like: What are schools for? What subjects are valuable? How should students learn the content?
• Philosophy determines the precise tasks of curriculum development including textbook selection, homework assignments, and assessment methods.

Philosophical Foundations: Specific Schools of Thought

• Perennialism:

  • Proponents: Plato, Aristotle, Thomas Aquinas
  • Aim: Educate the rational person; cultivate intellect.
  • Role: Teachers assist students to think with reason.
  • Focus: Classical subjects, literary analysis.
  • Trends: Use of Great Books and Liberal Arts.
  • Seeks a general course of study, not specialized or vocational.
  • Aims to fulfill the meaning of 'paideia' and 'humanities'.

• Essentialism:

  • Proponent: William Bagley
  • Aim: Promote intellectual growth to make learners competent.
  • Role: Teachers are sole authorities in subject areas.
  • Focus: Essential skills of the 3 Rs (reading, writing, arithmetic); essential knowledge.
  • Trends: Back to basics, excellence in education, cultural literacy.
  • This philosophy is underpinned by a conservative belief that schools should transmit traditional values and intellectual knowledge.

• Progressivism:

  • Proponent/Theorist: John Dewey
  • Aim: Promote democratic social living.
  • Role: Teacher leads for growth and development of lifelong learners.
  • Focus: Interdisciplinary subjects, learner-centered, outcomes-based.
  • Trends: Learner centered, outcomes-based, equal opportunities for all, and humanistic education.
  • Learners learn to work with others, and social/intellectual interactions dissolve barriers.
  • Education is a process of growth, experimentation, and applying thought and reason to problem-solving.

• Reconstructionism:

  • Proponent/Theorist: Theodore Brameld
  • Aim: Improve and reconstruct society; education for change
  • Role: Teacher acts as an agent of change and reforms.
  • Focus: Present and future educational landscape.
  • Trends: School and curricular reform, global education, collaboration and convergence, standards and competencies.
  • Curriculum focuses on student experience and taking social action on real problems (i.e., violence, hunger, terrorism).

Historical Foundation of Curriculum Development

• Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956) is credited with starting the field of curriculum development by writing "The Curriculum".
• Curriculum is a science; it prepares learners for adult life, emphasizing students' needs. Objectives and activities are grouped when tasks are clarified.

Other Key Figures in Curriculum Development

• Werret Charters (1875-1952):

  • Objectives and activities should match.
  • Subject matter should relate to objectives.
  • Curriculum is a science and emphasizes student needs.

• William Kilpatrick (1875-1952):

  • Curriculum purpose is child development and growth (child-centered).
  • Both teachers and students should plan activities.
  • Curriculum develops social relationships and small group instruction.

• Harold Rugg (1886-1960):

  • Curriculum should develop the whole child and produce outcomes.
  • Curriculum emphasizes social studies.

• Hollis Caswell (1901-1989):

  • Curriculum is organized around social functions, themes, organized knowledge, and learners' interests.
  • Curriculum, instruction, and learning are interrelated.

• Ralph Tyler (1902-1994):

  • Curriculum is a science and an extension of school philosophy.
  • Focuses on student needs and interests, and is always related to instruction with subject matter organized by knowledge, skills, and values. The curriculum emphasizes problem solving.

• Hilda Taba (1902-1967):

  • Contributed to theoretical and pedagogical foundations of concepts and critical thinking, particularly in social studies curriculum.

• Peter Oliva (1992-2012):

  • Described curriculum change as a cooperative endeavor.
  • Teachers and curriculum specialist are the professional core for planning.
  • Group activity improves curriculum development.

Psychological Foundations of Curriculum

• Learning Theories:
  • Behaviorism/Association Theories:
    • Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936) is known as the father of classical conditioning (S-R theory).
    • The key to learning in early life is training to become what is wanted.
    • Edward Thorndike (1874-1949) defined learning as habit formation and championed connectionism theory, with three laws of learning: readiness, exercise, and effect. Stimuli have specific responses.
    • Robert Gagne (1916-2002) proposed hierarchical learning theory, stating behavior is based on prerequisite conditions, and introduced task-based objectives.
  • Cognitive-Information Processing Theories
    • Includes theorists such as Jean Piaget, Lev Vygotsky, Howard Gardner, and Daniel Goleman.
  • Humanistic Theories
    • Includes Gestalt theory, Abraham Maslow's self-actualization theory and hierarchy of needs, and Carl Rogers' nondirective and therapeutic learning.

Social Foundations of Curriculum

• Society as a source of change

• Schools as agents of change

• Knowledge as an agent of change

• Emile Durkheim

  • Influence of society and social context on education.
  • Identifying the things around individuals that can change and develop their behavior.

• Alvin Toffler

  • Knowledge should prepare students for the future.
  • Parents could teach their children using technology.
  • Schools should be collaborative and creative

• Paulo Freire

  • Education shapes the person and society through critical reflections and "conscientization."
  • Teachers prioritize questioning and problem-solving to raise students' consciousness.
  • Major book is "Pedagogy of the Oppressed" (1968).

• John Goodlad:

  • Curriculum organized around societal and student needs.
  • Efforts to reduce student conformity.
  • Emphasis on active learning, critical thinking, and student involvement.
  • Aligning content with standards is necessary.

• William Pinar

  • Broader conception of curriculum to enrich practice and understand educational experience.
  • Curriculum studied from historical, racial, gendered, phenomenological, postmodern, theological, and international perspectives.

Explore key concepts of essentialism, reconstructionism, and progressive education in this quiz. Delve into the roles of influential theorists such as John Dewey and Edward Thorndike, and discover the principles guiding curriculum development. Test your understanding of how these theories apply to modern education.