Historical Foundations of Curriculum

 THE COLONIAL PERIOD 1642-1776

 COLONIAL SCHOOLS IS MUCH SMALLER OF CHILDREN THAN NOWADAYS.
1. TOWN SCHOOLS
• A public elementary schools attended by boys and girls of the community.
• Children ranging from 5-6 years old to 13-14 years old.
• Weather and farming conditions decided the children attendance.
• Elementary schools based on religion and ethnicity.
• Focused on reading, writing and religious sermons.
• Attended by upper-class children.
• Focused on reading, writing, arithmetic, primer and bible.
2. PAROCHIAL SCHOOLS PRIVATE SCHOOLS CHARITY SCHOOLS
• Attended by less fortunate children.
• Learned to recite religious hymns and vocational skills.
3. LATIN GRAMMAR SCHOOLS
• Secondary level for upper-class boys as preparation for college.
• For boys at age 8 or 9 and remains for 8 years.
• Catered to those who planned to enter the professions Medicine, law, teaching, the
ministry, business or merchants
• Latin apparently three-quarters of the curriculum taught. • One of colonial America’s
closest links to European schools.
• The classical humanist curriculum of the Renaissance  Support the era's religious and
social institutions
4. ACADEMIES (1751)
• Second American institution provide education.
• Based on Benjamin Franklin’s ideas and offered practical studies.
• Commons studies
• English grammar, classics, composition, rhetoric and public speaking.
• Students can choose foreign language based on their vocational needs. • Introduced
practical and manual skills
• Carpentry, engraving, printing, painting, cabinet making, farming and bookkeeping.
5. COLLEGES
• Harvard or Yale.
• Admitted into college upon examination.
• College curriculum
- Latin - Ethics - Grammar - Logic - Metaphysics - Natural - Rhetoric - Sciences -
Arithmetic - Astronomy Showing competency in being able to - Read - Construe -
 Parce Tully - Vergil and the Greek Testament - write in Latin - understand the
Rules of Prosodia - Common Arithmetic
TEXTBOOKS FOR THE COLONIOL PERIOD
Example of textbooks:
 Hornbook, Primer, Westminster Catechism, Old Testament and Bible
 Children learned the alphabet, the Lord’s prayer and some syllables, words and
sentences by memorizing hornbook.
 In 1960’s, the New England Primer was published.
 Most used textbooks for 100 years.
 3 millions copies were sold
 ABC’s were learned through rote and drill. In 1740, the new guide to English
tongue was published followed by The School Master’s Assistant (Mathematics
text)
THE NATIONAL PERIOD 1776 - 1850
1. Dr. Benjamin Rush (1745-1813) Science, Progress and Free Education
• Outlined a plan of education for Pennsylvania
• Free elementary schools for towns with 100 or more families.
• A free academy at the country level
• Free colleges and universities at the state level for societies future leaders
2. Tax dollars pay for expenses, but ultimately reduced taxes because a productive, well
managed work force was a result of the plan Elementary schools.
- Reading - Writing - Arithmetic Secondary and college - English - German - Arts -
Sciences All levels - Good manners - Moral principles
3. Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826) Education for Citizenship
• Created a bill for Virginia to allows taxes to finance schools.
• Divides Virginia’s counties into wards
• free elementary schools for teaching of reading, writing, arithmetic and history.
• There was an Elementary school, secondary school and William and Mary school.
• The proposal was never enacted. But did provide good education for society.
4. Noah Webster (1758-1843) Schoolmaster and Cultural Nationalist “unshackle your
mind and act like independent being”
• Created the US American Language.
• Known for Webster dictionary.
• Identified the US as nation.
• The use of a US language would eliminate the European language, and make the US
more uniform.
5. William Holmes McGuffey (1800-1873) The Readers and American Virtues
• Paved the way for the grading system in the US.
 • His book still used today in rural, conservative school
• Created the most popular textbook of his era called 5 readers
• Patriotism • Heroism • Hard work • Diligence • Virtuous living
NINTEENTH-CENTURY EUROPEAN EDUCATORS
Johann Pestalozzi (1746-1827) General and Special Methods Created the basics
principals in education
• General Teaching
• Educators provide emotional security and affection.
• Special teaching
• Considers children’s auditory and visual senses. McClure, Neef, Mann and Barnard
introduced these ideas to US schools.
1. Freidrich Froebel (1782-1852) The Kindergarten Movement
• Focused on 3 and 4 years old.
• Surrounded their schooling with play and individual group interests and activities.
• Encouraged and child centered curriculum based on love trust and freedom.
• The formal curriculum consisted of colorful materials, song, stories and games
Johann Herbart (1776-1841) Moral and Intellectual Development
• Contributed to morals in education.
• Five ideas to found moral character
Inner freedom , Perfection ,Benevolence, Justice , Retribution
• Two major bodies of interest
1. Knowledge of interest (Factual data and speculative ideas).
2. Ethical interest (Sympathy and social relationship).
2. Herbart Spencer (1820-1903) Utilitarian and Scientific Education
• English social scientist
• Based on his ideas of education on Charles Darwin’s theory: “Survival of the fittest”
• Teach HOW to think not WHAT to think.
• His popular books
• “What knowledge is of most worth” If you were lazy or weak, you would not survive
THE RISE OF UNIVERSAL EDUCATION 1820-1900
1. Monitorial Schools
• European invention.
• Highly structured school with lots of rote learning and drilling the three R’s
education.
• Focused on systematic instruction and good citizenship.
• Monitorial teaching kept all students busy while teacher could focus on one student.
• It was mechanical way of teaching and the students were poorly informed by their
educators.
2. Common schools
• Established by Massachusetts (1826).
• Every town was able to choose a board of education to be responsible for the local
schools.
• Devoted to elementary education with large emphasis on the Three R’s of Education.
• Attended by children from 6-14 years old and the school districts elected the schools
board.
• It flourished on the frontier with all of the pioneers.
• Abe Lincoln said that, it was a boring school but it was where common kids could
come learn the basic.

3. Elementary Schools
• Through 1800’s people could not agree on the appropriate curriculum for a child.
• It was ever changing which reading, spelling, grammar and arithmetic.
• In 1825 Religion mandated that, morality and manners should be taught as well.
• 1850
• Geography and history
• 1875
• Science and visual arts
• 1900s
• nature study and biology
• music and homemaking
4. Secondary schools
• Attendance was very rare in 1900s.
• 1930 -School enrolment figure exceed 50%.
• 1970 - 98% of elementary children would move on to secondary school.
• Form of high school students to graduate up to after elementary school.
5. Academies
• 1800’s, academies replaced the Latin Grammar School.
• Offered better range in curriculum.
• Taught useful things and subjects of modern nature.
• Help focus on preparing students for college.
• Academies taught
• Latin, Greek, English Grammar, Geography, Arithmetic, Algebra, Composition,
Rhetoric, Natural philosophy and US history.
• Continued through the 1870’s
6. High Schools
• Kalamazoo School Case.
 • Attended by only small amount of youth.
• Many families did not care about college preparatory.
• Curriculum continued expand.
• Making it easier for student to determine their interest and capabilities

THE TRANSITIONAL PERIOD 1893-1918

1. Committee of Fifteen
• Harvard University President Charles Eliot influenced the committee.
• The committee adopted Eliot’s plan to move from 10 grades to 8 in elementary school.
• Emphasizes of the three R’s, English Grammar, literature, geography and history.
• Hygiene, culture, vocal music and drawing were part of curriculum.
• 7th and 8th grades
• Sewing, manual training, cooking, algebra and Latin
2. Committee of ten
• Also chaired by Charles Eliot.
• 9 subject matters in the high school curriculum
• Latin, Greek, English, Other Modern Languages, Mathematics, Physical sciences,
Natural history, Social sciences and geography.
• Committee recommended four different tracks
- Classical, Latin scientific, modern language and English
• The committee ignored physical education and arts.
• The committee started college preparatory courses.
3. Committee on College Entrance Requirements
• Met in 1985
• Affirmation of the college preparatory curriculum.
• Created college admission requirements
• Discussed credits required for different subjects during college,
• Discussed credits for admission imposed during high school
4. Harris and Eliot Two Conservative Reformers
• Dominated the reform movement during the transitional period.
• Eliot played a role in shaping higher education.
• He allowed independent learning.
• Advocated for vocational schools to be different from high school
• Harris wrote that common high schools should teach morality and citizenship.
• Instill social order.
• View school as one of the many factors in educating and socializing children
5. Vocational education
 • 1917, Smith - Hughes act provided federal aid for vocational education.
• Working class students were placed in vocational programs due to biases of middle
class educators.
6. Abraham Flexner (1866-1959) A modern curriculum
• Advocate for abolishing Latin in America schooling.
• He argued that tradition was inadequate criteria for students and educators should
make changes to the curriculum.
• 4 basics areas in modern curriculum
• Science, industry, civics and aesthetics
• The Lincoln school of teachers college, Columbia University adopted this curriculum in
1971
7. Dewey Pragmatic and scientific principles of education
• Believes in democracy and education (has a book)
• Democracy was a social process that needed to be enhanced through schooling
• Study of any subject could enhance a child’s development.
• He formed the basis of child development movement in the 1930’s and 1940’s.
8. Charles Judd (1873-1946) Systematic studies and social sciences
• An evolutionist who believed in laws of nature.
• Prepare to change the world
• Believed in preparing students to deal with problems and not acquire endless
knowledge.
• Emphasized reading, writing and spelling based on words, science and mathematics
9. Commission on Reorganization of Secondary Education
• 1918’s, NEA’s Commission published the “cardinal principles of secondary education”
• The principles for democratic society
• Educations should promotes seven aims
• High schools should be a comprehensive institution
• High schools curriculum should meet varied needs of students
• Current educational psychology should be applied to secondary education
• US educational should function with one another
10. Franklin Bobbitt (1876-1956) W.W.Charters (1875-1952)
• A major goal in the 1920’s was to eliminate small classes and increase the students to
teacher ratio.
• Behaviourist ideas included
• Objectives derived from students needs
• Learning experiences relate to objectives
• Activities organized by teacher should be integrated into subjects matter
• Instructional outcomes should be evaluated
 • Bobbitt curriculum should outline the knowledge important for each subjects.
• Bobbitt guideline for objectives
• Eliminate objectives
• Emphasizes objectives
• Avoid objectives opposed by communities
• Involve the community
11. Kilpatrick The Progressive Influence
• Divided methodology in four steps
• Purposing, planning, executing and judging
• He argued for integrated subject matter and a general education emphasizing values
and social issues.
• Organized experiences or activities that related and developmental in nature:
• One activity should lead to another
• Curriculum should derive from real life experiences not organized bodies of subject
matter.
12. The 26th Yearbook The books outlining of the ideal curriculum
 Focus on affairs on human life. Deal with local national and international issues.
 Enable students to think critically about various forms of government.
 Foster open minds.
 Consider students interests and needs.
 Deal with the issues of modern life and society’s cultural historical aspects.
 Consider problem activities.
 Organize problems and exercise in graded organization
 Deal with humanitari an themes in purposeful way.
• The committee that developed the yearbook
• Rugg, Bagley, Bobbitt, Charters, Counts, Judd and Kilpatrick.
• Created in 1930
13. Harold Rugg and Hollis Caswell Curriculum should address the students needs and
provide proper scope and sequences of subject matter
• Caswell wanted to improve instruction and help teachers to coordinate their activities
with students needs.
• Caswell coordinated step by step curriculum building procedures.
• Rugg insisted that teacher should pre-plan and implement the curriculum needed for
the students
• Rugg advocated for cooperation among educational professionals
14. Eight Year Study (1932-1940)
• Launched by The Progressive Education Association.
 • A study designated to show that curriculum can meet the needs of students interests
as well as a curriculum based on tests.
• Members understood that evaluation must determine whether a curriculum
objectives had been achieved.
• The showed that they needed data on
• Students achievement
• Social factors
• Teaching and learning processes
• Instructional methods
15. Ralph Tyler (1902-1994) Basic principles
• Created more than 700 articles and 16 books
• Known for his books “Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction”
• Created 4 basics questions for any curriculum
• What educational goals should a school seeks?
• What educational experiences are likely to lead these goals? • How can these
educational experiences be effectively organizes?
• How can we determine whether a school’s goal are being accomplished?
16. John Goodlad (1920-) School Reform
• He views that schools should helps individuals fulfil their potential but should promote
societal goals.
• He launched a study of 260 kindergarten and first grade classrooms in 100 schools to
discuss curriculums.
• His conclusion in his study showed that schools are emphasis on test score and they
are the bottom line!