BIG IDEAS
Who is the self that teaches?
Collectively, Dan Marshall, James Sears, William Schubert and other authors we will encounter, will provide us with a glimpse into some of the key educational players, historical movements, social events, ideologies, ambiguities and explanations for "the ways things were" in contemporary curriculum (primarily post WWII).
In their opening remarks, Marshall et al. weigh heavy about the importance of understanding our historical educational roots as a prelude to engaging in responsible and thoughtful problem-posing and problem-solving around curriculum issues. While such knowledge does not simply make problems go away, it does allow for situating contemporary trends and issues within a broader context. This assertion is the starting point of our course.
The late 1800s and early 1900s saw curriculum workers, from very different assumptions, introducing innovations based upon “scientific” approaches to education – Johann Herbart (lesson plan), William Kilpatrick (project method), John B. Watson & B. F. Skinner (behaviorism), and John Dewey (learning by doing). Each of these individuals, like the innovations themselves, was influenced by contemporary and historical contexts.
In this unit, though, we will look at what curriculum IS, and why looking at curriculum history helps to understand more deeply contemporary curriculum. Generally, though, we read about and discuss “curriculum” as if we share a common understanding of it. In fact, we need to consider several fundamental questions:
- What is curriculum?
- Who does curriculum work?
- What historical forces influence curriculum?
- What is this field of study called “curriculum studies” and how does it relate to my curriculum work?
These questions (and the attempts to answer them over the generations) help to frame this course. We will explore these vis-à-vis contemporary curriculum issues.
Decker Walker( 2003) asserts that well-prepared curriculum leaders must be knowledgeable about four foundations of curriculum work:
- Traditions of curriculum practice: every element of every curriculum has a history…that…discloses important things about it and about the values of those who made it and sustain it. Knowledge of history and traditions enables the curriculum professional to…see how events and trends shape curriculums and curriculum work, and gain perspective on current curriculum issues.
- Visions and values that drive judgment and action: ideas animate people and influence how they shape the curriculum [and] that all curriculum work favors some human values at the expense of others….
- Reforms and reform movements: Curriculum leaders should know that reforms [can] cause damage as well as bring benefits. They should know how and why reform movements arise and how to make the most of the opportunities they bring and minimize their damage.
- Studies that inform curriculum decisions: curriculum professionals should know how research and scholarship can help them do better curriculum work. They should know how to find relevant research, read it critically, and understand its implications for practice (pp. 22-23).
Bibliography:
Bobbitt, F. (1918). The curriculum . New York : Houghton Mifflin. Charters, W.W., & Waples, D. (1929). The commonwealth teacher-training study . Chicago : University of Chicago Press.
Dewey, J. (1938). Experience and education. New York: Macmillan.Eisner, E. (1990). The educational imagination: On the design and evaluation of school programs . New York : Macmillan.
Freire, P. (1970). Pedagogy of the oppressed . New York : Herder & Herder.
Hewett, E.C. (1884). A treatise on pedagogy for young teachers. New York : Van Antwerp, Bragg & Co. Retrieved January 13, 2003, from http://www.nimbus.org/ElectronicTexts/Hewett.Pedagogy.html.
National Commission on Excellence in Education (1983). A nation at risk: The imperative for educational reform - a report to the Nation and the Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education. Washington , DC : The Commission [Supt. of Docs., U.S. G.P.O. distributor]
Oakes, J., & Lipton, M. (2003). Teaching to change the world (2nd ed.). New York : McGraw Hill.
Pinar, W., Reynolds, W., Slattery, P., & Taubman, P. (1995). Understanding curriculum: An introduction to the study of historical and contemporary curriculum discourses. New York: Peter Lang.
Tanner, D., & Tanner, L.N. (1975). Curriculum development: Theory into practice . New York : Macmillan.
Walker, D. F. (2003). Fundamentals of curriculum: Passion and professionalism. Mahwah , NJ : Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.