The purpose of this study is to examine the logic of curriculum theorists in the 1920s. This period was known as formative years of the curriculum field. Major theorists were F. Bobbitt, F.G. Bonser, W.W. Charters, G.S. Counts, W.C. Bagley, H. Rugg, D...
The purpose of this study is to examine the logic of curriculum theorists in the 1920s. This period was known as formative years of the curriculum field. Major theorists were F. Bobbitt, F.G. Bonser, W.W. Charters, G.S. Counts, W.C. Bagley, H. Rugg, D. Snedden, H.L. Caswell & D.S. Campbell, and J. Dewey etc.. Firstly, we reviewed the work of five curriculum theorists, who leaded the how to curriculum making.
Bobbitt, who was shown as a father of the curriculum theorist, leaded the social efficiency movement in curriculum. He advocated that the curriculum should be formulated by scientifically analyzing activities of adult life and translating them into behavioral objectives. The process was known as activity analysis. It was detalied in his work, How to Make a Curriculum(1924).
Bonser's primary concern was curriculum making for the elementary education. He conceived curriculum as something which can be stated, and as being the same for all children in elementary school. Thus, he suggested that the process of planning a curriculum with regard to using the principles of job analysis whcih was determine common knowledge, skills, attitudes, and appreciations to all works of life in America.
Charters, like Bonser, focused on the tasks involved in planning a curriculum. He viewed the curriculum as a series of objectives that children must attain by way of a series of learning experiences. In his book on Curriculum Construction(1923), he maintained that there are seven rules for constructing a curriculum and that these rules may be ordered so as to define the logical sequence of steps to be taken in planning a curriculum. According to his suggestion, subject matter must be logically derived from objectives. He has emphasized that the first step was to identify ideals of socially efficient persons in the society. These ideals and common activities were then analyzed into objectives and were arranged in order of importance for children to acquire, so that they might efficiently fit society's needs. The process was known as job analysis.
Counts explained the curriculum with relation to the social function of education. He viewed the curriculum as a statement of what ought be the stage of development of human experiences. In other words, a curiculum is a statement of what ought be the case for the child and for society. Especially, he criticized the method of scientific curriculum making and insisted that a children's interests furnish the raw conditions but not the goals of education.
Begley emphasized the form of the curriculum as do Bonser and Charters. Also, like them, he viewed the curriculum as a statement which is to direct the work of teachers. He look to subject matter as constituting the curriculum. He suggested the core curriculum that will be the nucleus of a common culture for the children of the nation.
Five curriculum theorists' concern was the method of curriculum making. But their viewpoint of the curriuclum and approach to constituting the curriculum were different each other. Thus, in order to understand their logic of curriculum manking in detail, we should compare the issues and debates of each curriuclum theorist and scrutinize the suggestions of the five in reference to their social circumstance.