Curriculum Foundations

A Research Paper
Written by
Khaled Sellami, Ph.D.
Abstract:

In their seminal work, Ornstein and Hunkins (2009) present an elaborate overview of the field of

curriculum. They refer to a myriad of curricular approaches: behaviorist, managerial, systems,

academic, humanistic, and reconceptualist. They also point out the challenges of defining the

concept (hardly any agreement on a unified definition of the field), domains (development,

design, implementation, and evaluation), planned and hidden curricula (i.e., formal and

informal), theory and practice (conceptual framework of thinking that guides the application and

implementation of procedures, methods, and skills), and the roles and responsibilities of the

curriculum worker (supervisor, leader, coordinator, specialist, teacher, superintendent; anyone

involved in the afore mentioned curriculum domains, to include the student/learner).

Perhaps the most intricate debate in the field of curriculum is the one covered in depth by

Ornstein and Hunkins (2009) in four separate chapters. The open-ended debate is about the

foundations, sources, influences, and determinants of the knowledge of curriculum. The most

commonly accepted foundations are philosophical, historical, psychological, and social (while

cultural, political, and economic foundations are often regarded as part of the social origins). I

will try below to summarize each of the four major foundation areas shaping curriculum. I will

also elaborate more on the psychological perspective and compare it to the other three sources as

it has a direct bearing on what I personally do in my career and what I subscribe to as a matter of

conviction about the role of education in people's lives and in contemporary society. I

acknowledge that the field of curriculum is in constant flux and, as an aspiring curricularist, I

hereby pledge to be flexible enough to change my position, based on empirical evidence that

current and future research will enrich the field with.

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Introduction:

The goals and functions of schools have been greatly influenced by the inherited or

contemporary world of knowledge, by sociopolitical forces, and by the subject-matter specialists.

Education has been interpreted as the process of changing people’s patterns of behavior, with

little consideration of learners as individuals. New experiential-progressivist orientations view

students as autonomous thinkers and socially responsible individuals who are able to control

their destiny. In this respect, the individual learner is now seen as a whole, and this new outlook

requires from educators and curriculum developers to have a broader vision of education as to

address not only the cognitive goals, but also affective-biosocial developmental processes, and

other moral principles. The ultimate goal of school, education, and curriculum is to bring about

the necessary social transformation and to ensure that the widest public interest is served.

The Issue:

There has been a sharp division among educators and thinkers as to the dominant source

and influence for curriculum development since—and even before—the first attempt at

establishing curriculum as a distinct area of study (1918), that is, throughout most of the 20 th

century and until today. Should the determinant influence be the world of knowledge, society, or

the learner? Which of those three determinants is most relevant and most significant? Making

one source more dominant than the others has resulted in the fragmentation and imbalance of the

curriculum field. However, interaction and interdependence of all three influences will produce

unity, coherence, and balance when a paradigm or a model is agreed upon by the leading

contemporary curricularists, reaching consensus among all, rather than compromise (what the

eclectic approach is about) that never resolves fundamental differences. Substantive problem-

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solving and long lasting reform and progress are what curriculum development needs, not

cosmetic changes, reactionary movements, short-sighted arrangements, and/or special interests.

Philosophical Foundations:

Philosophical foundations of curriculum abound; each distinct orientation influenced

education, and notably the field of curriculum, for a considerable period of time. No doubt that

the philosophy of a school and its officials has a direct bearing on the goals, content, and

organization of its curriculum. A philosophy of education has always had an impact on schools

and society; it tends to determine educational or curriculum decisions. According to John

Dewey (1916), the leading advocate of this perspective, philosophy is the all-encompassing

aspect of the educational process.

A myriad of philosophical viewpoints have emerged within the field of curriculum:

idealism, realism, pragmatism, and existentialism. They have inspired educational theories:

perennialism and essentialism (with traditional and conservative outlooks), progressivism and

reconstructionism (holding contemporary and liberal views). The curriculum focus in all of

these theories ranges from classical subjects, literary analysis, essential skills and disciplines, old

and tested moral and ethical values (the conservative stance) to students' interests, human affairs,

social sciences, present and future trends, national and international issues, and interdisciplinary

subject matters, activities, and projects (the contemporary stance).

Most schools in the U.S. and elsewhere adopt an eclectic philosophical approach; very few opt

for a single philosophy. That is possibly due to the interrelatedness of issues and the fact that the

needs of individual students and those of society at large must be served in order for a

curriculum to be accepted and implemented.

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Historical Foundations:

If we examine the historical foundations of curriculum in the U.S., particularly in the last

100 years, we will find that European educational ideas and 19 th-century European pioneers of

pedagogy have significantly influenced the U.S. school system. During the colonial period,

Puritan thought was prevalent. The primary purpose of school was to teach children to read (also

write and spell) the Scriptures and notices of civil affairs. There were Town Schools, Provincial

and Private Schools, Latin Grammar Schools, Academies, and Colleges. During the early

national period (Independence until 1850), free public schooling emerged. Free education

emphasized science, progress, democracy, and moral principles, among other notions. The

theme of reform characterized the era and that brought about such pedagogical ideas as Johann

Pestalozzi's (in Barnard, 1862) general and specialized methods to educate children who use

their senses to learn, thus emulating home experiences. Other initiatives came into play and

reflected the evolving history of curriculum. Most notable of those initiatives were Friedrich

Froebel's (1889) Kindergarten Movement (when a children-centered curriculum became the

norm), Joseph Lancaster's (1803) Monitorial Schools (following the industrial model where

efficiency, structure, rote learning, and mass education were emphasized), and Horace Mann's

(1957) Common Schools (local schools and universal education to promote common culture,

equal opportunity, and national identity).

From 1800 to 1900, elementary schools, secondary schools, academies, and later on, high

schools, became U.S. educational institutions. They grew in number and did offer a variety of

courses. From 1893 to 1918, education and curriculum saw a transitional period dominated by

the findings of three committees whose mission was to reaffirm the traditional curriculum: (1)

the Committee of fifteen that rejected the ideas of newer and interdisciplinary subjects and called

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for the compartmentalization of subject matter; (2) the Committee of Ten that promoted

academics and ignored most students who were not college-bound; and (3) the Committee on

College Entrance Requirements that reaffirmed the dominance of the college preparatory

curriculum and classical subjects.

From 1918 onwards, immigration, industrial development, and the scientific movement

in psychology led several educators to question the mental discipline approach and reject classic

curriculum. Thinkers like Francis Parker (1894) and John Dewey (1938) introduced modern

learning theories that produced behaviorist and progressive orientations in schools and society.

There was a pressure for the implementation of a modern curriculum based on pragmatic and

scientific principles of education. Behaviorism and the scientific movement, the rise of

progressive and universal education, specialization and professional training, and the

developmental ideas of child- and learner-centered approaches—all immensely impacted the

field of curriculum. Also curriculum as a field of study, with its own methods, theories, and

approaches to solving problems, has made concrete advances since leading figures in the field

published their influential works (e.g., Bobbitt 1918, 1924), Charters (1923), Kilpatrick (1918,

1926), Rugg (1930), and, in particular, Tyler (1949), and Goodlad (1984, 1994)).

Psychological Foundations:

Just like good teaching (which effectiveness is known only when genuine learning takes

place), a curriculum has worth only when students gain long-term knowledge. Both teaching and

learning are essential processes to curricularists. To enhance those two processes, curriculum

needs to be organized in a certain way, based on a psychological theory of learning. Three major

schools of thought in psychology embody the psychological foundations of education and

curriculum. They are: (1) behaviorist or association theories which deal with various aspects of

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stimulus-response and reinforcers, i.e., conditioning, modifying, or shaping behavior via

reinforcement and rewards; (2) cognitive information processing theories which account for the

significant role of the environment and the way the learner applies information. This implies that

the focus is on student’s developmental stages and multiple forms of intelligence, as well as on

creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving; and (3) the phenomenological, humanistic

theories which consider the whole child as a social, cognitive, and psychological being. This

entails countless alternatives in learning since the emphasis is on the ever-changing learner’s

needs, feelings, and attitudes.

Behaviorism is perhaps the most recognized and widely used learning theory in the field

of curriculum; it has been certainly the most influential for much of the 20th century. What was

once known as traditional psychology, rooted in philosophical speculation, emphasizing classical

conditioning behavior of stimulus and response and habit formation, and epitomized by Edward

Thorndike (1911, 1932), known as the father of behavioral psychology in the U.S., who believes

that learning is a matter of relating new learning with previous learning—behaviorism is being

transformed into several current-teaching-learning models such as mastery learning, hierarchical

learning, modeling, direct instruction, and individualized instruction; each model is well-argued

and has significantly contributed to the curriculum field.

Cognitive psychology has transpired as a criticism of behaviorism, which was described

as too simple and mechanical. Advocates of this new orientation in psychology believe that

learning in school is mainly cognitive and that the behaviorists have failed to recognize that

human learning often relies on complex thinking processes that are beyond respondent or operant

conditioning.

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 An important and unresolved debate within the cognitive camp is about heredity versus

environment in determining cognitive outcomes (i.e., IQ and achievement scores). Central

questions for cognitive psychologists revolve around ways of organizing knowledge, storing

information, retrieving data, generating conclusions, and using the new information and

understandings. Thus, the focus of cognitive psychology is on how individuals process

information and how they monitor and manage their thinking. In other words, the study of the

mind—to include short-term and long-term memory—is of great value.

Several learning methods and theories emerged thanks to this new orientation. Maria

Montessori (1912), a pedagogist of the early 20th century, used a rational and scientific approach

that considered children's developmental stages. She maintained that children develop at

different rates and that certain cognitive and social abilities develop before others. She

concluded that in order for learning to take place, children's school environment needs

enrichment, their self-confidence in performing tasks requires enhancement, and structural play

to teach basic skills ought to be provided. To this extent, Montessori was a psychological pioneer

in cognition.

More influential than Montessori was Jean Piaget (1948), the Swiss psychologist who

presented cognitive development in terms of stages, from birth to maturity. These stages are

hierarchical and the mental operations increasingly sophisticated. Level of attainment in

individuals varies, he concluded, due to heredity and environment. Like Piaget, John Dewey

(1938) used environmental and experiential theories to claim that there are three basic cognitive

processes. What Piaget termed assimilation (incorporating new experiences into existing ones)

Dewey referred to as situation. Piaget's second process, accommodation (developing new

cognitive structures to adapt to a new environment) is similar to Dewey's interaction. The final

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process is dubbed equilibration by Piaget and continuity by Dewey (denoting the process of

balancing what is already understood and what has yet to be understood, that is, situations and

interactions that follow).

A number of cognitive psychologists followed in the footsteps of Piaget and Dewey and

used different, yet similar terms to refer to the various cognitive processes of learning. They

were Hilda Taba, Ralph Tyler, Jerome Bruner, and Lawrence Kohlberg. Taba (1962), in her

discussion of curriculum organization, noted Piaget's processes of assimilation, accommodation,

and equilibration as she formed her curriculum strategies for productive learning. Tyler (1949)

employed the concepts of continuity, sequence, and integration, very much in line with Dewey.

For Bruner (1959), learning follows three related processes: (1) acquisition, (2) transformation,

and (3) evaluation. As for Kohlberg (1963), he shares with Piaget the cognitive developmental

view of morality. Kohlberg outlined three moral levels or processes: Preconventional,

Conventional, and Post-conventional. (It is beyond the scope of this paper to elaborate on the

above concepts)

Other than Piaget, the most influential figure in cognitive psychology is perhaps Lev

Vygotsky. According to Jerome Bruner (cited in Moll, 1990, p. 2), Vygotsky "not only

developed an educational theory, but a general theory of sociocultural transmission." For

Vygotsky (1978), child development is a sociogenic process shaped by the individual's

interactions with the culture. Both culture and human action evolve over time, maintains

Vygotsky. The mind changes, so does cognitive processing, which in turn impacts thinking.

Language, being human culture's primary tool, enables and elicits thought. Thus, the idea of

"enculturation" came about to indicate that formal education is the way to improve human

conditions. Vygotsky called for a school with an environment conducive to conscious learning,

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under the guidance of an educator, for a child/learner to reach the next developmental stage. In

other words, unlike Piaget and others, Vygotsky believes that the learning process precedes the

developmental process. Effective teaching and peer instruction, argues Vygotsky, can take a

child from a particular developmental level to a higher level. This last idea brought about the

concept of meaningful instruction and another closely related field; Dynamic or Diagnostic

Assessment (a specialty in which I was a practitioner and faculty trainer at the Defense Language

Institute Foreign Language Center, in Monterey, CA). Vygotsky's ideas gave a tremendous

boost to the role of effective teaching—and continual assessment—at a time when those two

areas were coming under serious criticism by radical educators as to their worth and practical

use.

Cognitive psychology is concerned with both learning and thinking processes; what

happens inside a person's brain. This led to the emergence of a myriad of research studies and

even new disciplines. There was research about the brain and its connection to learning, a study

on the relationship between IQ and birth order, and another one on the structure of the intellect

(being made up of numerous distinct mental abilities). Novel concepts such as learning styles,

multiple intelligences, emotional intelligence, and constructivism came to the fore. Other ideas

surfaced such problem-solving learning, discovery learning, creative thinking, reflective

thinking, critical thinking, and intuitive thinking. Again, it is beyond the scope of this paper to

define and explain each of these concepts. Yet, overall, cognition and curriculum are intertwined

as most curricularists are cognitive-oriented and believe the cognitive approach to be a logical

method for organizing and interpreting learning.

The third most common type of psychology is the humanistic or phenomenological one.

It is a contemporary school of psychology that emphasizes the whole person, the uniqueness of

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the human personality, and the preeminence of the affective aspects (such as feelings, attitudes,

motivation, and sense of freedom). Based on the existentialist philosophy, phenomenology

points out that self-perception and self-concept determine what we do and how much we learn.

Many influential ideas were behind the establishment of this new learning theory. The Gestalt

theory, for instance, considers learning as complex and abstract, explained in terms of the whole

problem and in relation to others. Abraham Maslow’s (1968, 1970, 1971) hierarchy of human

needs, ranging from survival and safety to self-actualization and developing one’s fullest

potential became prominent for some time. And then came Carl Rogers (1951, 1981, 1983),

perhaps the best known humanist, who argues that reality is based on what the individual learner

perceives; children tend to differ in their kind and level of response to a particular experience.

Rogers also believes that positive human relationships enable people to grow and thus

interpersonal relationships are as important as cognitive scores. The teacher, in this respect, is

considered as a facilitator who guides students’ growth.

The humanistic perspective is thus about process, not product; personal needs, not subject

matter; changing environments, not predetermined environments; and freedom to learn at one’s

pace, not prescribed content and preplanned activities. In addition, phenomenological

psychologists’ ultimate goal is self-realization, self-fulfillment, and self-actualization. Similarly,

self-concept and self-esteem should be recognized as essential factors of learning. Hence, for

humanists, learning would not take place if students’ needs, desires, and feelings were not

satisfied. They would argue that a child and an adult learner is supposed to demonstrate

curiosity and motivation to be able to continue emotional, cognitive, and behavioral

development.

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 To summarize my stance regarding the psychological foundations of curriculum, I

believe that each theory of learning has shed important light on a specific aspect of human

learning, but not its entirety. Each theory of learning is incomplete by itself, but the three

together have a lot to contribute to the field, namely, a balanced view of education and learner

development.

Social Foundations:

The last of the four sources of curriculum is social in nature. Just like the philosophical,

historical, and psychological foundations, the social foundations play a major role in outlining an

educational theory and discussing the most suitable learning theory to adopt for a comprehensive

curriculum. Schools and society must have a strong relationship for a curriculum to be accepted

and trusted. The transmission of cultural heritage from generation to generation is the primary

mission of a society’s educational system.

In the educational process, school is a vital institution, and so is society at large. A

curriculum content, activities, and environment indirectly help shaping and socializing students.

A society’s values and norms govern interpersonal relations and produce a model personality

reflecting the attitudes, feelings, and behaviors shared by most members of that society. As for

developmental theories, they maintain that maturation and appropriate societal experiences are

necessary to move the individual from stage to stage. Researchers and educators realized that

basic needs in learners (personal, social, and economic) must be satisfied for actual learning to

take place. In the case of curriculum, developing a social-issues curriculum, along with a core

curriculum, may also help focus on resolving issues of importance to individuals and society.

Analyzing the social foundations of education and schooling, several unanswered

questions remain; do schools make a difference in knowledge and procedures learned? Do

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schools and their curriculum affect society by contributing social, moral, and economic

behaviors? Does education equate with social and economic mobility? How does curriculum

reflect social reality by relating to the diverse, multi-form, postmodern family? How does

curriculum account for new mores and new customs? Is there a place in curriculum for moral

education, moral conduct, and character building? How do American students nowadays

compare nationally and internationally? Is there a correlation between learning and earning? All

of the above are unresolved topics of inquiry.

Conclusion:

I have tried to shed light on the major foundations of curriculum, being an integral part of

the field of education. I have explained how multifaceted those sources and determinants are. The

historical, philosophical, and social perspectives—though extremely important in shaping the

discipline of curriculum—are moderately disproportionate when compared with the psychological

foundations, particularly the impact of cognitive psychology.

Reaching a unified and universally accepted definition of curriculum is "highly unlikely,"

remarked Tanner and Tanner (2007). Similar to any subjective human endeavor (being dynamic,

fluid, and unpredictable), it is safe to conclude that education (and curriculum as the means to

carry out its objectives) should have no end beyond itself. A school’s mission is to reconstruct

knowledge and create a curriculum that reflects an open learning process, integrally addressing

and relating to individual, social, and, heretofore, global needs and issues.

Synthesizing past achievements with current practices and constructive interplay between

competing theoretical orientations will result in higher-order thinking. That is the type of

thinking required in a free, democratic, and pluralistic society, like the U.S., to resolve personal

and social problems in a technological age and in the context of social responsibility. To achieve

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such a state, an integrated, well-balanced curriculum structure is a must, which would bring

about total education, social transformation, and, eventually, enlightened citizens.

I believe that any curriculum, whether generic or specialized (covering a specific

discipline or subject matter), must take into account balanced considerations and interactions of

society, the world of knowledge, and the nature of the learner. Measuring the effectiveness of a

curriculum is manifested when genuine learning and application of knowledge are taking place

and when school graduates pass life’s intricate test, continue to learn, grow, and reinvent

themselves in order to adjust to a constantly changing reality.

To sum up, I can safely assert that schools, education, and the field of curriculum need

revamping. A close look at their actual state of affairs reveals a discrepancy at all levels. There

is little balance in the core approach to reform since many narrow interests will always fight it,

very much similar to what happened recently with the healthcare reform in the United States. An

evidence-based debate must take place, sooner rather than later, to reach a consensus on how to

proceed and arrive at a permanent resolution of this most vital of issues in all human societies;

proper education for all.

Addendum:

Tanner and Tanner (2007, pp. 99-100) wrote that “education must be a dynamic process

of individual and social growth. Curriculum is the means and ends through which education is

made instrumental… [The definition of curriculum] encompasses not only formal subject matter,

but also the process through which the learner becomes increasingly knowledgeable.”

Curriculum reform in the United States correlates with educational reform. Both have

failed to recognize the interdependence of three major factors in the educative process: (1) the

nature and needs of the learner, (2) the actual social environment, and (3) the selection and

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organization of subject matters in curriculum development and implementation. Thus there has

been a variety of independent and competing curricula, ranging from learner-centered to

community-based, from individualized to society-relevant, and from humanistic to Back to

Basics. Fueled by reactions and counter-reactions and led by special interest groups, there were

few attempts, if any, to seek a balanced view of curriculum as a means to account for the whole

learner being four dimensional: physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual.

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