Foundations of

Curriculum
Development
Foundation of Curriculum Development

Objectives
Describe the foundations of curriculum development
Explain how each foundation influences the
curriculum development
Foundations of Curriculum

1.Philosophical Foundations
A. Perennialism
• Aim: To educate the rational person; cultivate intellect
• Role: Teachers assist students to think with reason (critical
thinking HOTS)
• Focus: Classical subjects, literary analysis. Curriculum is
enduring
• Trends: Use of great books (Bible, Koran, Classics) and
Liberal Arts
B.Essentialism
• Aim: To promote intellectual growth of learners to become
competent
• Role: Teachers are sole authorities in the subject area
• Focus: Essential skills of the 3rs; essential subjects
• Trends: Back to basics, Excellence in education, cultural
literacy
 C. Progressivism
• Aim: Promote democratic social living
• Role: Teacher leads for growth and development of lifelong learners
• Focus: Interdisciplinary subjects. Learner-centered. Outcomes-based
• Trends: Equal opportunities for all, Contextualized curriculum,
Humanistic education

 Progressivists believe that people learn best from what they

consider most relevent to thier lives.
D. Reconstructionism
• Aim: To improve and reconstruct society. Education for change
• Role: Teacher acts as agent of change and reforms
• Focus: Present and future educational landscape
• Trends: School and curricular reform, Global education,
Collaboration and Convergence, Standards and Competencies
2. Historical Foundations
Contributions to Curriculum Development
• Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956)
He started the curriculum development movement.
Curriculum is a science that emphasizes students’ needs.
Curriculum prepares learners for adult life.
Objectives and activities should group together when tasks are
clarified.
• Werret Charters (1875-1952)
Like Bobbit, he posited that curriculum is science and emphasizes
students’ needs.
Objectives and activities should match. Subject matter or content
relates to objectives.
• William Kilpartick (1875-1952)
Curricula are purposeful activities which are child-centered.
The purpose of the curriculum is child development and
growth. He introduced this project method where teacher and
student plan the activities.
Curricula develops social relationships and small group
instruction.
• Harold Rugg (1886-1960)
Curriculum should develop the whole child. It is child centered.
With the statement of activities studies and suggested that the
teacher plans curriculum in advance.
• Hollis Caswell (1901-1989)
Curriculum is organized around social functions of themes,
organized knowledge and learner’s interest.
Curriculum, instruction and learning are interrelated.
• Ralph Tyler (1902-1994)
Curriculum is a science and an extension of school’s
philosophy. It is based on students’ needs and interests.
Curriculum is always related to instruction. Subject matter is
organized in terms of knowledge, skills and values.
Th process emphsizes problem solving. Curriculum aims to
educate generalists and not specialists.
• Hilda Taba (1902-1967)
She contributed to the theoretical and pedagogical
foundations of concepts development and critical thinking
in social studies curriculum.
She helped lay the foundation for diverse student
population.
• Peter Oliva (1992-2012)
He describe how the curriculum change is a cooperative
endeavor.
Teachers and curriculum specialist constitute the
professional core of planners
Significant improvement is achieved through group
activity.
3. Psychological Foundation of Curriculum
3.1 Association and Behaviorism
3.2 Cognitive Information Processing Theory
• Psychology provides a basis to understand
the teaching and learning process. It unifies
elements of the learning of the learning
process.
Questions which can be addressed by psychological
foundations of education are:
a. How should curriculum be organized to enhance learning?
b. What is the optimal level of students’ participation in the
learning various contents of the curriculum?
• Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

He is the father of the classical conditioning theory, the S-R

theory
The key to learning is early years of life is to train them
what you want them to become.
S-R theory is a foundation of learning practice called
indoctrination.
• Edward Thorndike (1874-1949)
He championed the Connectionism Theory.
He proposed the three laws of learning:
-law of readiness
-law of exercise
-law of effect
Specific stimulus has specific response.
• Robert Gagne (1916-2002)
He proposed the Hierarchical Learning Theory.
Learning follows a heirarchy.
Behavior is based on prerequisite conditions.
He introduced tasking in the formulation of
objectives.
• Jean Piaget (1896-1980)
Cognitive development has stages from birth to
maturity:
Sensorimotor stage (0-2), preoperasyonal stage (2-
7), concrete operations stage (7-11) and formal
operations (11-onwards)
Keys to learning
Assimilation (incorporation of new experince)
Accomodation (learning modification and adaptation)
Equilibration(balance between previous and later
learning )
• Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
Theories of Lev Vytgotsky
• Cultural transmission and development:
Children could, as a result of their interaction with society, actually
perform certian cognitive actions prior to arriving at developmental
stage
• Learning preceds development
• Sociocultural development theory
Key to Learning
• Pedagogy creates learning processes that lead to development.
• The child is an active agent in his or her educational process.
• Howard Gardner
Gardner’s multiple intelligences
• Humans have several diffrent ways of processing
information and these ways are relatively independent of
one another.
• There are eight intelligences: linguistic, logico-
mathematical, musical, spatial, bodily/kinesthetic,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, and naturalistic
Daniel Goleman
• Emotion contains the power to affect
action.
• He called this Emotional Quotient.
“ If you want to be successful. You should have great
EQ, because EQ knows how to work with people. No
matter how smart you are, but you never know how
to work with people, you’ll never succeed, it’s just
your dream.” (Jack Ma, Chinese billionaire)
 HUMANISTIC PSYCHOLOGY
Gestalt
• Gestalt Theory
• Learning is explained in terms of “wholeness”
of the problem.
• Human beings do not respond to isolated
stimuli but to an organization or pattern of
stimuli.
Keys to learning
• Learning is complex and abstract.
• Learners analyze the problem, discriminate between
assentail and nonessential data, and perceive relationships.
• Learners will perceive something in relation to the whole.
What/how they perceive is related to thier previous
experiences.
Abraham Maslow(1908-1970)
• He advanced the Self-Actualization Theory and classic
theory of human needs.
• A child whose basic needs are not met will be interested in
acquiring knowledge of the world.
• He put importance to human emotions, based on love and
trust.
• Key to learning
• Produce a healthy and happy learner who can accomplish,
grow and actualize his or her human self.
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
• Nondirective and Therapeutic Learning
• He established counselling procedures and methods
for facilitating lerning.
• Children’s perceptions, which are highly
inidividualistic, influence their learning and behaviour
in class.
• Key to learning
• Curriculum is concerned with process, not product;
personal needs, not subject matter, psychological
meaning, not cognitive scores.
Social Foundations of Curriculum

Schools and Society

Society as a source of change
Schools as agents of change
Knowledge as an agent of change
John Dewey (1859-1952)

 Considered two fundamental elements-

schools and civil society-to be major
topics needing attention and
reconstruction to encourage
experimental intelligence and plurality.
Alvin Toffer
 Wrote the book Future Shock
 Believed that knowledge should prepare students for
the future
 Suggested that in the future, parents might have the
resources to teach prescribed curriculum from home
as a result of thechnology, not in spite of it.(Home
Schooling)
 Foresaw schools and students worked creatively,
collaboratively, and independent of their age.
Thank
You!