FOUNDATIONS OF

CURRICULUM
 1. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS

Educators, teacher, educational planners and policy makers must have a

philosophy or strong belief about education and schooling and the kind
of curriculum in the teachers’ classrooms or learning environment.
Philosophy of the curriculum answers question like: What are schools
for? What subjects are important? How should students learn? What
methods should be used? What outcomes should be achieved? Why?
The various activities in school are influenced in one way or another by
a philosophy. John Dewey influenced the use of “learning by doing”, he
being a pragmatist. Or to an essentialist, the focus on the fundamentals
of reading, writing, and arithmetic are essential subjects in curriculum.
 THERE ARE MANY PHILOSOPHIES IN EDUCATION BUT WE WILL ILLUSTRATE
ONLY THOSE PRESENTED BY ORNSTEIN AND HUNKINS IN 2004.

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

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

Where is curriculum development coming from? The

historical foundations will show to us the chronological
development along a timeline. Reading materials would tell
us that curriculum development started with Franklin
Bobbit (1876-1965) wrote the book “The Curriculum.” Let
us see how each one contributed to curriculum development
during his own time. Here are eight among the many, we
consider to have great contributions.
 • 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.

Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956)

 • Like Bobbit, he posited that
curriculum is science and emphasizes
students’ needs.

• Objectives and activities should

match. Subject matter or content
relates to objectives.

Werret Charters (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.

• Curriculum develops social relationships

and small group instruction.

William Kilpartrick (1875-1952)

 • Curriculum should develop the whole
child. It is child-centered.

• With the statement of objectives and

related learning activities, curriculum
should produce outcomes.

• Emphasized social studies and suggested

that the teacher plans curriculum in
advance.

Harold Rugg (1886-1960)

 • Curriculum is organized around social
functions of themes, organized knowledge
and learner’s interest.

• Curriculum, instruction, and learning are

interrelate.

• Curriculum is a set of experiences. Subject

matter is developed around social functions
and learner’s interest.

Hollis Caswell (1901-1989)

 • Curriculum is a science and an extension
of school’s philosophy. It is based on
students’ needs and interest.

• Curriculum is always related to instruction.

Subject matter is organized in terms of
knowledge, skills, and values.

• The process emphasizes problem solving.

Curriculum aims to educate generalists and
not specialists.

Ralph Tyler (1902-1994)

 • 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.

Hilda Taba (1902-1967)

 • He described how curriculum change is a
cooperative endeavor.

• Teachers and curriculum specialist

constitute the professional core of
planners.

• Significant improvement is achieved

through group activity.

Peter Oliva (1992-2012)

 3. PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATION OF
CURRICULUM

Psychology provides a basis to understand the teaching and

learning process. It unifies elements of the learning process.
Questions which can be addressed by psychological foundations of
education are: How should curriculum be organized to enhance
learning? What is the optimal level of students’ participation in
learning the various contents of the curriculum? In this module, we
shall consider three groups of learning theories; cognitive-
information processing theories and humanistic theories (Ornstein
and Hunkins, 2004).
 LET US REVIEW SOME THEORIES IN LEARNING RELATED TO THESE
CLUSTERS OF LEARNING THEORIES.

3.1 Association and Behaviorism

3.2 Cognitive Information Processing Theory

 • 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.

Ivan Pavlov (1849-1936)

 • 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.

Edward Thorndike (1874-1949)

 • He proposed the Hierarchical Learning
Theory. Learning follows a hierarchy

• Behavior is based on prerequisite

conditions.

• He introduced tasking in the formulation of

objectives.

Robert Gagne (1916-2002)

 ✔ Theories of Jean Piaget
• Cognitive development has stages from
birth to maturity:
Sensorimotor stage (0-2), preoperational
stage (2-7), concrete operations stage (7-
11) and formal operations (11
onwards)

✔ Keys to Learning
• Assimilation (incorporation of new
experience)
• Accommodation (learning modification and
Jean Piaget (1896-1980) adaptation)
• Equilibration (balance between previous
and later learning)
 ✔ Theories of Lev Vygotsky
• Cultural transmission and development:
Child could, as a result of their interaction
with society, actually perform certain
cognitive actions prior to arriving at
developmental stage
• Learning precedes development
• Sociocultural development theory

✔ Keys to Learning
• Pedagogy creates learning processes that
lead to development
• The child is an active agent in his or her
Lev Vygotsky (1896-1934)
educational process.
 ✔ Gardner’s multiple intelligences

• Humans have several different 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
Howard Gardner naturalistic
 ✔ Emotion contains the power to
affect action.

• He called this Emotional

Quotient.

Daniel Goleman
 3.1 Humanistic Psychology

✔ 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
essential and nonessential data, and perceive
relationships.
• Learners will perceive something in relation to the
whole. What/how they perceive is related to their
previous experiences.
Gestalt
 • He advanced the Self Actualization Theory and
classic theory of human needs.
• A child whose basic needs are not met will not
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
Abraham Maslow (1908-1970) her human self.
 ✔ Nondirective and Therapeutic Learning
• He established counselling procedures and
methods for facilitating learning.
• Children’s perceptions, which are highly
individualistic, influence their learning and
behavior in class.

✔ Key to learning

• Curriculum is concerned with process, not

product; personal needs, not subject matter,
psychological meaning, not cognitive
Carl Rogers (1902-1987)
scores.
 Social Foundations of Curriculum

⮚ Society as a source of change

⮚ Schools as agents of change

⮚ Knowledge as an agent of change

Schools and Society

 ⮚ Considered two fundamental elements –
schools and civil society – to be major
topics needing attention and
reconstruction to encourage
experimental intelligence and plurality.

John Dewey (1859-1952)

 ⮚ 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
technology, not in spite of it. (Home
Schooling)
⮚ Foresaw schools and students worked
creatively, collaboratively, and
independent of their age.

Alvin Toffler