AIOU Assignment BEd 1.5 Year 2.5 Year 8603 Curriculum Development Assignment 1

AIOU Assignment BEd 1.5 Year 2.5 Year 8603 Curriculum Development Assignment 1

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Q 1: Critically analyze the principles of curriculum development with reference to the curriculum development in Pakistan at the secondary level.

Answer:

A. Bestor (1956): The curriculum must consist essentially of disciplined study in five great areas: 1) command of mother tongue and the systematic study of grammar, literature, and writing. 2) mathematics, 3) sciences, 4) history, 5) foreign language. Albert Oliver (1977): curriculum is “the educational program of the school” and divided into four basic elements: 1) program of studies, 2) program of experiences, 3) program of service, 4) hidden curriculum.

B. Othanel Smith (1957): A sequence of potential experiences is set up in the school for the purpose of disciplining children and youth in group ways of thinking and acting. This set of experiences is referred to as the curriculum.

Bell (1971): the offering of socially valued knowledge, skills, and attitudes made available to students through a variety of arrangements during the time they are at school, college, or university.

Bobbit (1918): Curriculum is that series of things which children and youth must do and experience by way of developing abilities to do the things well that make up the affairs of adult life; and to be in all respects what adults should be.

Caswell and Campbell (1935): curriculum is composed of all of the experiences children have under the guidance of the teacher."

Daniel Tanner and Laurel N. Tanner (1988) "that reconstruction of knowledge and experience systematically developed under the auspices of the school (or university), to enable the learner to increase his or her control of knowledge and experience."

Curriculum refers to the means and materials with which students will interact for the purpose of achieving identified educational outcomes. Arising in medieval Europe was the trivium, an educational curriculum based upon the study of grammar, rhetoric, and logic. The later quadrivium (referring to four subjects rather than three as represented by the trivium) emphasized the study of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy. These seven liberal arts should sound a lot like what you experienced during your formal education.

The emphasis on single subjects persists even today. Very likely you moved from classroom to classroom, particularly throughout your secondary education, studying a different subject with each teacher. Yet there was more to your education. Perhaps you participated in athletics, or the band, or clubs, or student government, or made the choice not to participate in any extracurricular activities. All of these (including the option not to participate) are part of what we might call the contemporary curriculum. But there is more.

Some educators would say that the curriculum consists of all the planned experiences that the school offers as part of its educational responsibility. Then there are those who contend that the curriculum includes not only the planned, but also the unplanned experiences as well. For example, incidents of violence that have occurred at a number of schools across the nation are hardly a planned component of the curriculum. However, the manner in which violence is addressed before, during, and after the actual event sends a very definite message about how people in our culture interact and how the laws of our nation are applied.

Another perspective suggests that curriculum involves organized rather than planned experiences because any event must flow of its own accord, the outcome not being certain beforehand. For instance, competitions, whether academic or athletic, can be organized, but the outcomes will depend on a myriad of factors that cannot be planned.

Which brings us to the notion of emphasizing outcomes versus experiences. This shift to the notion of outcomes is very much in keeping with the current movement toward accountability in the public schools, that is, the perspective that there are indeed specific things that the schools are supposed to accomplish with children. District personnel, school administrators, and you as one of many teachers are to be held accountable by the public/taxpayers for ensuring that those objectives are met. Curriculum, it turns out, is indeed much more than the idea of specific subjects as represented by the trivium or the quadrivium. And, as we will see in the next section, it can be characterized not only by what it does include but also by what it intentionally excludes.

A key concept to keep in mind is that the curriculum is only that part of the plan that directly affects students. Anything in the plan that does not reach the students constitutes an educational wish, but not a curriculum. Half a century ago Bruner (1960) wrote, "Many curricula are originally planned with a guiding idea . . . But as curricula are actually executed, as they grow and change, they often lose their original form and suffer a relapse into a certain shapelessness" (p. 54). Curriculum—however grand the plans may be—can only be that portion of the plan that actually reaches the student. Planning that keeps that point in focus can be expected to result in a more focused curriculum.

The Purpose of Curriculum

We have suggested that curriculum refers to the means and materials with which the student interacts. To determine what will constitute those means and materials, we must decide what we want the curriculum to yield. What will constitute the "educated" individual in our society? In other words, what purpose does the curriculum serve?

The things that teachers teach represent what the larger society wants children to learn. However, beyond teaching reading and writing, what are the necessary things that they should be taught? Is it really necessary to teach science? Does teaching mathematics really lead to logical thinking, or does it just provide students with some basic computational skills that may or may not come in handy at some future time? You may feel that answering such questions is not something a teacher has to be able to do, but rest assured that at some point a parent will ask you questions like these. As a teacher, you will be the representative of "the curriculum" to whom parents and students turn for answers. The purpose of the curriculum is to prepare the student to thrive within the society as it is—and that includes the capacity for positive change and growth.

You Actually Have Four Curriculums

There are essentially four curriculums at work in most educational settings: the explicit, implicit, null, and extra-, or cocurriculum. You are probably familiar with the notions of explicit curriculum and extracurricular activities. The real intrigue of curriculum debate and design comes into play with the implicit and null curriculums.

There are four curriculums:

Explicit curriculum: subjects that will be taught, the identified "mission" of the school, and the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquire

Implicit curriculum: lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that characterize that culture

Null curriculum: topics or perspectives that are specifically excluded from the curriculum

Extra curriculum: school-sponsored programs that are intended to supplement the academic aspect of the school experience

The Explicit Curriculum

Explicit means "obvious" or "apparent," and that's just what the explicit curriculum is all about: the subjects that will be taught, the identified "mission" of the school, and the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquire. If you speak with an administrator at your school or where you do your observations or practicum work, ask about the curriculum; it is this publicly announced (and publicly sanctioned) explanation of the message of school that will be explained to you. The explicit curriculum can be discussed in terms of time on task, contact hours, or Carnegie units (high school credit courses). It can be qualified in terms of specific observable, measurable learning objectives.

The Implicit Curriculum

Sometimes referred to as the hidden curriculum, the implicit curriculum refers to the lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that characterize that culture. While good citizenship may be part of the explicit curriculum, a particular ethos that promotes, for example, multiethnic acceptance and cooperation may also characterize a particular school. This is not to say that parents, teachers, and administrators sat around a table and said, "Hey, let's promote acceptance of diverse ethnic values in the context of the American experience." That would be nice, of course, but then it tends to fall into the category of the explicit curriculum. By virtue of a high multiethnic enrollment, a particular school may have a culture of multiethnic cooperation. Another school, isolated in that its enrollment is primarily that of one ethnic group, would develop a different sort of culture. Individual schools within a district, or even classrooms within a school that share a common explicit curriculum, can differ greatly with regard to the implicit curriculum. This is not an altogether bad situation, but to a great degree the implicit curriculum is subjected to less scrutiny than is the explicit curriculum.

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Q 2: Discuss the curriculum offering during the period of Holy Prophet (PBUH). Give studies reference while explaining your answer.

Answer:

Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H. adopted a distinctive approach to teach his followers and companions the basics and concepts of Islam, which comes from divine revelation; his teachings cover all aspects of life, work, living and human dealings, which are suitable everywhere and anytime. The significant of this approach in individuals learning motivate us to highlight those ways in a scientific methodology. In this paper, we have classified the ways and methods adopted by the Prophet Muhammad P.B.U.H in the education for Muslims generally and for his companions specially.

The Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H starts new religion spreading by calling people to Islam and be ready to change their life to the better, his style was based on individual differences and consisted with their situations, natures, habits and mentalities(Sulayman, 2014). The prophet fully succeed in his task bringing the new nation of Islam to the world as Allah wants it to be by introducing the new religion rituals, aspects and concepts to the humanity by well-formed ways which are able to implement fruitfully across the time (Al-Saidi, 2009).

Nowadays, many of the modern learning methods may contains or depends on some learning basics comes from Prophet Mohammad school. Some ways are considered standards of current learning methods while other ways still scholarly uncovered until now up to our knowledge. The new emerged ways of adaptive learning models and blended learning environments are yet fertile field for making learning developments, and ways of torturing may be incorporated within this field(Mogire & Oboko, 2013),(Temdee, 2014).

Prophet Mohammad P.B.U.H School Categories:

The Prophet starts calling for Islam with his companions first in order to make a strong base for humans to learn from, worshiping Allah S.W.T., managing daily life and dealing with family and other people. Any act, behaviour, method or way taken from the Prophet is called Sunnah (Al-Twaim, 2011),(Ali, 2002),(Al-Ghazali, 1957).

Directing.

Practical Application: The Prophet gave the lessons regarding worshiping Allah and living matters to his followers, he started by himself doing the obligatory rituals to encourage Muslims to do so; he used the practical application to teach his followers the five pillars of Islam, which are not only movements formality performed for a particular purpose only, as well as not just a ritual or observance occupies a place or period of time; they are the media that raise the humans and close them to Almighty creator(Ali, 2002). An example when someone new to Islam asked the prophet about the prayers and their times, Prophet asked him to pray with people two days to learn, so that man just kept watching Muslims when they pray five times a day, after two days when last pray finished, Prophet ask where is that man who wished to learn prayers and their times? The man replied here I am, I learned them well. (Mehdi, 2013)

Getting Knowledge from Learners in The Presence of The Instructor.

Another approach is letting one of the learners give the lesson to the others, one day two men invoked to the Prophet; he diverted the judgment to one of his followers who said how to make a judgment in your presence? The Prophet replied, if you make right, you'll be rewarded ten, but if you make a wrong decisions you’ll get one reward only. Here the prophet encouraged Muslims to take the responsibilities of each other, not to limit for group of them.(Ali, 2002).

Openness to Other Communities.

The Prophet encouraged his followers to be open on other nations in order to know their customs, morals, behaviours and to keep safe from their harm. For example, the prophet asked one of his followers to learn Hebrew to be the prophet translator who could understand the Jews tribes' messages and reply to them in Hebrew. Another example during the Alkhandaq(Trench) war with Jews of Madinah who broke the covenant with Muslims, the Prophet took advantage of making trench in the northerner area of Almadinah, by advice from his follower Salman Alfarsi as Persian did against invasions by horses.(Debabeche, 2008).

Mind Management.

• Thinking Management: Quran and Sunnah encourages using the mind and intellect, forbidding minds wasting is of the greatest purposes of religion, with great interest in mental education,(Al-Twaim, 2011). In Islam, the request of science is an imposition, as well as education and delivery of science to others, Prophet said (Any one enter the Masjid to learn or to teach good matters, would be like the combatant for the sake of Allah).
• Mental Persuasion. The Prophet fostered mental persuasion development, which are the key of scientific discoveries' growth of the human mind. An example of utilizing mental persuasion, when a man came to the Prophet and said:( O Messenger of Allah, my boy was born black(suspect in his wife), the Prophet said: Do you have camels? Man said: Yes, Prophet said, what colors? He said: Reds, said: Is one of them grey? Man said: Yes, Prophet said: How so? Man said: mutation, Prophet Said: Perhaps your son is mutation), (Siddiqui, 2008).
• Brainstorming. Brainstorming is targeting an innovative problem solving, find new projects, stimulate thinking and creativity training and apprentice students (Debabeche, 2008). A brainstorming used by the Prophet when asked his followers: (What are the trees whose leaves never falls, that looks like the Muslim? [he meant that the Muslims good work never gone away]; Tell me about it? After a while the Prophet answered his question: The palm tree). Here the Prophet does not specify a particular person to get the answer from, instead his question was in a plural form to give the group of people a chance to think and discuss before answering, not to relate it to a particular person, which may have the impression of embarrassing(Siddiqui, 2008).
• Hitting Parables. Making comparisons among objects and events to derive the solution are from the nature of the human brain, hitting parables clearly shown in most of the dialogs and arguments. The Prophet gave preliminary and great importance to the way of hitting parables and metaphor for being an effective and influential role in the process of teaching and development of moral and social values (Ali, 2002). The Prophet hired hitting proverbs to illustrate his sermons to the people; which has a rhetorical persuasive power, splendour of clarity in the embodiment of the intended meaning, and portrayed in the form of sensory to make it is present in front of the listener. An evidence, when the Prophet said:(Such as the believers in their mutual love and mercy and compassion like the body if an organ complained to falter, the rest of the body ensuring fever). (Al-Zahrani, 2003).

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Q 3: Select any subject from the curriculum of the primary school and identify the different foundations of the curriculum from it. Also highlight the focused foundation that is reflected at this level of the curriculum with examples.

Answer:

This article explains the four major foundations of curriculum and their importance in education. Examples are provided to stress the importance of curriculum in the academe.

Read on and reflect on some of the experiences you have had in school to match it with how philosophy, history, psychology and sociology influence those experiences of yours.

The Influence of Philosophy to Curriculum

Educators, curriculum makers and teachers must have espoused a philosophy or philosophies that are deemed necessary for planning, implementing, and evaluating a school curriculum. The philosophy that they have embraced will help them define the purpose of the school, the important subjects to be taught, the kind of learning students must have and how they can acquire them, the instructional materials, methods and strategies to be used, and how students will be evaluated.

Likewise, philosophy offers solutions to problems by helping the administrators, curriculum planners, and teachers make sound decisions. A person’s philosophy reflects his/her life experiences, social and economic background, common beliefs, and education.

When John Dewey proposed that “education is a way of life”, his philosophy is realized when put into practice. Now, particularly in the Philippines, Dewey’s philosophy served as anchor to the country’s educational system.

History and Its Influence to Curriculum

The history of one’s country can affect its educational system and the kind of curriculum it has. If we are going to trace the formal beginning of curriculum, we get back in time to Franklin Bobbit’s book entitled, “The Curriculum” which was published in 1918.

From the time of Bobbit to Tyler, many developments in the purposes, principles and contents of the curriculum took place. Please read the Six Famous Curriculum Theorists and their Contributions to Education for more information.

The Influence of Psychology to Curriculum

Curriculum is influenced by psychology. Psychology provides information about the teaching and learning process. It also seeks answers as to how a curriculum be organized in order to achieve students’ learning at the optimum level, and as to what amount of information they can absorb in learning the various contents of the curriculum.

The following are some psychological theories in learning that influenced curriculum development:

1. Behaviorism

Education in the 20th century was dominated by behaviorism. The mastery of the subject matter is given more emphasis. So, learning is organized in a step-by-step process. The use of drills and repetition are common.

For this reason, many educational psychologists viewed it mechanical and routine. Though many are skeptical about this theory, we can’t deny the fact the influences it had in our educational system.

2. Cognitivism

Cognitive theorists focus on how individuals process information, monitor and manage their thinking. The basic questions that cognitive psychologists zero in on are:

• How do learners process and store information?
• How do they retrieve data and generate conclusions?
• How much information can they absorb?

With their beliefs, they promote the development of problem-solving and thinking skills and popularize the use of reflective thinking, creative thinking, intuitive thinking, discovery learning, among others.

3. Humanism

Humanism is taken from the theory of Gestalt, Abraham Maslow’s theory and Carl Rogers’ theory. This group of psychologists is concerned with the development of human potential.

In this theory, curriculum is after the process, not the product; focuses on personal needs, not on the subject matter; and clarifying psychological meanings and environmental situations. In short, curriculum views founded on humanism posits that learners are human beings who are affected by their biology, culture, and environment. They are neither machines nor animals.

A more advanced, more comprehensive curriculum that promotes human potential must be crafted along this line. Teachers don’t only educate the minds, but the hearts as well.

4. Sociology and Curriculum

There is a mutual and encompassing relationship between society and curriculum because the school exists within the societal context. Though schools are formal institutions that educate the people, there are other units of society that educate or influence the way people think, such as families and friends as well as communities.

Since the society is dynamic, there are many developments which are difficult to cope with and to adjust to. But the schools are made to address and understand the changes not only in one’s country but in the world as well.

Therefore, schools must be relevant by making its curriculum more innovative and interdisciplinary. A curriculum that can address the diversities of global learners, the explosion of knowledge through the internet, and the educational reforms and policies recommended or mandated by the United Nations.

However, it is also imperative that a country must have maintained a curriculum that reflects and preserves its culture and aspirations for national identity. No matter how far people go, it is the country’s responsibility to ensure that the school serves its purpose of educating the citizenry.

Now, it is your time to reflect. Can you think of your experiences in which the major foundation of curriculum can explain it?

Try to ask yourself the following questions:

1. Why should I take history, philosophy, psychology or even PE subjects in college?
2. Why is it that there is K to 12 and the mother tongue-based curriculum being implemented by the Department of Education?
3. Why is there institutional amalgamation?
4. Why is there “One UP” (One University of the Philippines) now in the Philippines?
5. Why is there a need for a globalized higher education?

These questions imply that change will take place in the near future. So, brace yourself for the many changes that will take place in education!

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Q 4: Explain the concept of accountability with reference to curriculum development. Evaluate the importance of evaluation for the improvement of curriculum development.

Answer:

In the UK, as in many other countries, schools are held accountable for their ability to provide high quality education that leads to strong educational outcomes. To support discussions about accountability system reforms, NFER produced a rapid literature review on the impact of accountability on curriculum, standards and engagement. We reviewed a small body of the best available evidence on the accountability systems in Australia (New South Wales), England, Japan, New Zealand, Singapore and Wales. We focused on evidence relating to primary education. The literature offers useful insights, though there was a lack of data and robust, quantitative evidence.

Key Findings

Curriculum

• Where pupil performance is used as a high stakes accountability measure, there is concern that schools prioritise certain parts of the curriculum over others (‘teaching to the test’).
• Where accountability systems focus on “borderline” or “cliff edge” measures, targeted teaching may limit some pupils’ experience of the school curriculum.
• International benchmarking can markedly affect curriculum policy.

Standards

To support school effectiveness, accountability systems should feature:

• clear responsibilities
• coherent, aligned objectives at all levels
• transparent performance assessment criteria.

Accountability measures can increase or decrease the achievement gap; it is all in the application.

Engagement

• Teacher education can support teachers’ engagement with assessment data to inform classroom teaching and learning.
• The extent to which pupils’ experiences of assessments, such as test anxiety, specifically relate to accountability is unclear.
• Placing undue emphasis on the performance of some groups at the expense of others may lessen pupil engagement.

Importance of evaluation for the improvement of curriculum development:

This module offers opportunities for curriculum professionals to develop their understanding of curriculum evaluation and student assessment by exploring:

• International and regional trends and rationales for curriculum evaluation and student learning assessment;
• Types and methods of curriculum evaluation and student assessment;
• Approaches to the restructuring of evaluation and assessment systems.

This module is organized in three activities:

1. Curriculum evaluation. The participant is guided through an analytical schema to plan the evaluation of curricula.
2. Student assessment. Participants examine considerations about student assessment that are regularly included in curriculum materials.
3. Assessment of learning outcomes in specific content areas. Strategies and special modalities for the assessment of learning outcomes are analyzed for content areas recently included in curricula.

Following these activities is a “Resources” section which contains a list of discussion papers and other resources referred to in the activities, and a series of additional reading materials.

Conceptual framework

Curriculum evaluation is a necessary and important aspect of any national education system. It provides the basis for curriculum policy decisions, for feedback on continuous curriculum adjustments and processes of curriculum implementation.

The fundamental concerns of curriculum evaluation relate to:

• Effectiveness and efficiency of translating government education policy into educational practice;
• Status of curriculum contents and practices in the contexts of global, national and local concerns;
• The achievement of the goals and aims of educational programmes.

Student assessment is an important aspect of curriculum evaluation which helps to facilitate the understanding of the impact and outcome of education programmes. A fundamental measure of the success of any curriculum is the quality of student learning. Knowing the extent to which students have achieved the outcomes specified in the curriculum is fundamental to both improving teaching and evaluating the curriculum.

Curriculum evaluation

The term “evaluation” generally applies to the process of making a value judgment. In education, the term “evaluation” is used in reference to operations associated with curricula, programs, interventions, methods of teaching and organizational factors. Curriculum evaluation aims to examine the impact of implemented curriculum on student (learning) achievement so that the official curriculum can be revised if necessary and to review teaching and learning processes in the classroom. Curriculum evaluation establishes:

• Specific strengths and weaknesses of a curriculum and its implementation;
• Critical information for strategic changes and policy decisions;
• Inputs needed for improved learning and teaching;
• Indicators for monitoring.

Curriculum evaluation may be an internal activity and process conducted by the various units within the education system for their own respective purposes. These units may include national Ministries of Education, regional education authorities, institutional supervision and reporting systems, departments of education, schools and communities.

Curriculum evaluation may also be external or commissioned review processes. These may be undertaken regularly by special committees or task forces on the curriculum, or they may be research-based studies on the state and effectiveness of various aspects of the curriculum and its implementation. These processes might examine, for example, the effectiveness of curriculum content, existing pedagogies and instructional approaches, teacher training and textbooks and instructional materials.

Student assessment

The ultimate goal of curriculum evaluation is to ensure that the curriculum is effective in promoting improved quality of student learning. Student assessment therefore connotes assessment of student learning. Assessment of student learning has always been a powerful influence on how and what teachers teach and is thus an important source of feedback on the appropriateness implementation of curriculum content.

Fulfilling the diverse objectives of diagnosis, certification and accountability requires different kinds of assessment instruments and strategies selected to achieve specific purposes. Assessment of student learning could be summative or formative, and there are various types of tests to address different needs such as standardized tests, performance-based tests, ability tests, aptitude tests and intelligence tests.

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Q 5: Describe the main approaches of behavioral objectives. Develop ten statements of behavioral objectives of the research course of Master level program?

Answer:

The Behavioral Approach is based on a blueprint, where goals and objectives are specified. Contents and activities are arranged to match with specified learning objectives. The learning outcomes are evaluated in terms of goals and objectives that are set at the beginning.

This approach is grounded in scientific principles. Everything the students do must be observable as this is the evidence that the student has achieved the goals and objectives, which are also based on observable behaviors. All activities lead to students being able to do whatever the goals and objective specify.

The Behavioral Approach, is the oldest, and still the major approach. This approach relies on technical and scientific principles. It includes paradigms, model, and step-by-step strategies. Goals and objectives are specified. All the content and activities are sequenced based on objective, and learning outcomes are evaluated based on goals and objectives

Fredrick Taylor

At the close of the 19th century American education became ever increasingly affected by the developments and ideas present in business and industry – especially the Scientific Management theory postulated or developed by Frederick W. Taylor.

• Taylor, an engineer working for Bethlehem Steel, developed his management theory that consisted of four basic principles. Taylor’s four principles along with how his theories are still affecting education are listed below:
• Scientific research & analysis of work - Taylor insisted that the duty of a manager was to examine a task so that the task could be performed faster and better. According to Taylor the ultimate goal of any manager was to increase production. Taylor did a number of studies relating to the tasks of workers and formulated ways in which production could increase.
• Scientific selection, training, and development – Taylor argued that every worker should be trained as to how best achieve or complete a task and once trained the worker or employee must follow the adopted practice. This idea is embedded in each state’s requirement for teacher certification. The idea of course is that workers (teachers) that are trained in specific curricula can provide much more information to students than can teachers trained in a wide discipline.
• Intimate, friendly, and hearty cooperation for scientific work principles – Taylor felt that workers should be paid for their production. He advocated paying workers based on what they achieved and thus workers were placed into an incentive system. Many states have implemented and continue to implement this idea through a variety of plans including “merit pay”, career ladder, and currently the National Board standards. The idea in education is that those teachers that put forth more effort than others should be financially rewarded.
• Planning work tasks were the responsibility of management. Workers should then be closely supervised to ensure their completion of any assigned tasks. The formal and informal teacher evaluation process of today somewhat mirrors Taylor’s idea concerning the duty of management to closely supervise employees.

Franklin Bobbit

Franklin Bobbit believed that the learning objectives, together with the activities, should be grouped and sequenced after clarifying the instructional activities and tasks. He also viewed curriculum as a science that emphasized the needs of the students. This viewpoint explains why lessons are planned and organized depending on the needs of the students and these needs must be addressed by the teachers to prepare them for adult life. Bobbitt is best known for two books, The Curriculum (1918) and How to Make a Curriculum (1924). In these volumes and in his other writings, he developed a theory of curriculum development borrowed from the principles of scientific management, which the engineer Frederick W.Taylor had articulated earlier in the century in his efforts to render American industry more efficient.

The key principal for Taylor was the task idea, the notion that each worker should be given a narrowly defined production assignment that he was to perform at a specific rate using certain predefined procedures. It was the responsibility of an emerging profession of efficiency experts to identify these precise steps. The procedures for curriculum planning, which Bobbitt referred to as job analysis, were adapted from Taylor's work and began with the identification of the specific activities that adults undertook in fulfilling their various occupational, citizenship, family, and other social roles. The resulting activities were to be the objectives of the curriculum. The curriculum itself, Bobbitt noted, was comprised of the school experiences that educators constructed to enable children to attain these objectives.

Bobbit's Contribution

First, he was one of the first American educators to advance the case for the identification of objectives as the starting point for curriculum making. Second, his so-called scientific approach to curriculum making served as a precedent for the work of numerous educators during the next half-century in spelling out the procedures for designing the course of study. It was a method that became and has remained the conventional wisdom among American educators concerning the process of curriculum development. Third, Bobbitt along with other early-twentieth-century efficiency-oriented school reformers made the case that the curriculum ought to be differentiated into numerous programs, some academic and preparatory and others vocational and terminal, and that students ought to be channeled to these tracks on the basis their abilities.

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