Where Children Live Affects Curriculum. Bulletin, 1950, No. 7
Author: Bathurst, Effie G.
Date: 1950-00-00
Type: Historical Materials
Subjects: Social Status,Natural Resources,Rural Areas,Superintendents,Income,Community Attitudes,Neighborhoods,Curriculum Development,Geographic Location,Industry,Folk Culture,Race,Learning Activities,Information Sources,Teaching Methods,Males

This bulletin deals with everyday problems of boys and girls. It shows how groups of children and their teachers have tackled such problems and made some progress in solving them. It shows that the curricular activities in which children engage in solving real-life problems are often different in different regions, communities, and neighborhoods where the children live. Among the influences on curricular activities are geography and natural resources, industry, history, ancestry and culture, wealth or income level, social status, race, and community attitudes and folkways. Some of the influences are characteristic of large regions. Others are simple ways of living that may be found in one city or county and not in another. For the bulletin, teachers in selected schools where children have real-life curriculums were asked to contribute illustrations of their pupils' activities which were so developed because of the nature of the home community, the homes, the geographical location, or the culture. Names of teachers were obtained from supervisors, principals, and county superintendents and from Office of Education staff members who were visiting schools here and there over the country. Books and magazine articles were drawn on occasionally. The illustrations are representative of cities, towns, and rural communities. In the selection of illustrations, the nature and appropriateness of the activity were considered of greater importance than the number of illustrations drawn from a particular State. For this reason, some States and some places are mentioned more often than others. Sample activities from some 30 States are included. That does not mean that the examples are the only kinds of curriculum in those States. No two curriculums that really meet the needs of the pupils are ever exactly alike. Contributions are selected and classified to illustrate certain important fields of curricular activity. Although the activities described in this bulletin were selected because they were needed by children living in certain places, the fields of subject matter are those generally accepted by schools everywhere. So also are the principles of learning. Some learning is gained through books, some from people, some through observation, much through first-hand experience. Chapter I describes a typical young boy's introduction to the curriculum. Chapter II gives examples of curricular activities which belong to the everyday lives of children in different places. Chapter III contains suggestions to help teachers discover leads to the kind of curricular activities described in the preceding chapter. Chapter IV contains steps for improvement of curriculum in line with the problems and resources of the place where the children live. In general, the bulletin is aimed at curricular improvement rather than sociological analysis. We hope it will be useful to teachers, supervisors, and others who are responsible for planning curriculums. Lists describing "Readings on Curriculum" and "Sources of Information" are provided. (Contains 51 footnotes.) [Best copy available has been provided.]