Summary Strengths Weakness Traditionalists Famous theorists include Franklin Bobbitt, Henry Harap, Werrett Charters, John Dewey, and Edward Thorndike Focuses on objectives, Activities. Curriculum can be created before the teacher ever enters the classroom Plans and curriculum are seen as one and the same in this method. There is protocol for developing curriculum. Traditionalists believe curriculum can be created without ever stepping foot inside of a classroom. (Core Knowledge schools)(Lecture 2, 2010). Information is organized and structured. Standards are ensured to be met by guidelines that are used. Standards are the basis for the creation of all curriculum. Information is created without ever setting foot inside of the classroom, the takes away the feedback aspect of curriculum formation. Due to the heavily nature of this curriculum, and the reliance on standardized testing and assessments, there is a tendency to “teach to the test” and provide information that will help the students to pass the test but may not be relevant or useful in life. Conceptual Empiricists Famous theorists include Benjamin Jerome Bruner, David Berliner, George Posner, Robert Stake, and Herb Walberg. Do not typically work with teachers and schools; instead, Conceptual Empiricists are strong in theory. This groups sees education as a living process. The curriculum is often outside of the box activities that don’t fit the normal pattern for curriculum. Believers in this method take a systematic approach. Admits education is a changing thing, this allows for adaptations to occur. It expects for adaptation to occur during the formation and use of the curriculum. Curriculum is formed from the end to the beginning, allowing for questions to be Too much theory is not always a good thing. This method may be difficult to apply in some content areas due to the nature of the content. This could be a major problem due to perspective. A different perspective many cause one set of teachers to interpret
impose curriculum design upon them Evaluate current situations and suggest alternatives to improve curricula and instruction (Backward design) (Lecture 2, 2010). addressed that would otherwise be missed. the standards differently than intended. curriculum developers are less likely to work with teachers in order to develop curriculum. This lack of utilization of a valuable resource leads to less effective curriculum and may result in a curriculum that teachers are less inclined to use as they do not believe that their opinions were taken into account during its creation. Reconceptualists (Critical Theorists) Macdonald, Michael Apple, John Mann, Dwayne Huebner Transform society via critical awareness, empowerment, and knowledge Teach students to question and critically analyze literature and curriculum content Reconceptualists are beyond the outside of the box thinkers. They believe that schools are holding children back and are old-fashioned. They think schools should be centered around the children who guide the way the curriculum goes. Encourages free choice. (Magnet school-International Baccalaurate)(Lecture 2, 2010). Reconceptualists encourage freedom of choice, thus encouraging the imagination. Curriculum is centered around community and world problems, giving students a realistic view on how to solve actual problems (Gurmet, 1989 & Jupp, 2007). Creating students that are part of the solution rather than just an informed student. (Barnes, 2015 & Gurmet, 1989). Since this is a new approach, there is very little written about it. (Barnes, 2015 & Gurmet, 1989). Since there are very few articles even written about Reconceptualists, there are even fewer written about the disadvantages. Of all that I found, none discussed the disadvantages but rather discussed only why it should be used. Since students run the educational show, state and national standards are often not met while other areas are thoroughly covered.