Module 2

Foundations of Curriculum
At the end of this module, the pre- service teacher (PST) are to:

1. Describe the foundation of curriculum Development

2. Explain how each foundation influences the curriculum development
3. Compare and contrast the philosophical beliefs of perennialism, essentialism,
progressivism and reconstructionism
4. Identify the application of behaviorist, cognitivist, constructivist and humanist
principles in the classroom
5. Examine how history and society influenced curriculum

Four Educational Philosophies According to Ornstein and Hunks

(2004) and their relations to curriculum

1. Perennialism

Aims of Education- To educate the rational person; to cultivate the intellect

Role of Education- Teachers help student think with reason. Based on the
Socratic methods of oral exposition or recitation. Explicit or deliberate
teaching of traditional values. Focus in the

Curriculum- Classical subjects, literary analysis and curriculum is constant

Curriculum Trends – Use of great books and return to liberal arts.

2. Essentialism

Aims of Education – To promote the intellectual growth of the individual and

educate a competent person.

Role of Education – The teacher is the sole authority in his or her subject area
or field of specialization.

Focus in the Curriculum – Essential skill of the 3 R’s and essential subjects of
English, Science, History, Math and Foreign Language.
 Curriculum Trends – Excellence in education, back to basics and cultural literacy.

3. Progressivism

Aims of Education – To promote democratic and social living

Role of Education – Knowledge leads to growth and development of lifelong

learners who actively learn by doing.

Focus in the Curriculum – Subjects are interdisciplinary, integrative and

interactive. Curriculum is focused on students’ interest, human problems and
affairs.

Curriculum Trends – School reforms, relevant and contextualized curriculum,

humanistic education.

4. Reconstructionism

Aims of Education – To promote and reconstruct society, education for change.

Role of Education - Teachers act as agents of change and reform in various

educational projects including research.

Focus in the Curriculum – Focus on present and future trends and issues of
national and international interest.

Curriculum Trends – Equality of educational opportunities in education, access

to global education.

Historical Foundations of Curriculum

Different curriculum theorist and how they view curriculum from a historical perspective.

1. Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956)

Presented curriculum as a science that emphasizes on students’ need.

Curriculum prepares students for adult life. Objectives with corresponding activities
should be grouped and sequenced.
 2. Werret Charters (1875-1952)

Viewed curriculum as a science. It gives emphasis on students’ needs. The listing

of objectives and matching these with corresponding activities ensures that the content
or subject matter is related to objectives.

3. William Kilpatrick (1871-1965)

Curricula are purposeful activities which are child-centered. The purpose of

curriculum is child development and growth. The project method was introduced by
Kilpatrick where teacher and student plan the activities.

4. Harold Rugg (1886-1960)

To Rugg, curriculum should develop the whole child. It is child-centered.
With the statement of objectives and related learning activities, curriculum should
produce outcomes.

5. Hollis Caswell (1901-1989)

Sees curriculum as organized around social functions of themes,

organized knowledge and learner’s interest.

6. Ralph Tyler (1902-1994)

Believes that curriculum is a science and an extension of school’s

philosophy. To him curriculum is always related to instruction.

Psychological Foundations of Curriculum.

Three Groups of Learning Theories

1. Behaviorist Psychology

Well-known curricularists are Edward Lee Thorndike, Ralph Tyler, Hilda Taba,
Ivan Pavlov B.F. Skinner, Albert Bandura.

Robert Gagne’ hierarchical learning or sets of behavior and five learning outcomes
became classic examples. These learning outcomes include:
1. intellectual skills or “know how” to categorize and use symbols, forming concepts
and problem solving
2. information or “knowing what” knowledge about facts, dates and names;
3. cognitive strategies or learning skills;
4. motor skills; and
5. attitudes, feelings and emotions learned through experiences.

To the behaviorist, learning should be organized in order that students can

experience success in the process of mastering the subject matter. The method is
introduced in a step by step manner with proper sequencing of task which is viewed by
another educational psychologist as simplistic mechanical.

2. Cognitive Psychology

How do learners store information? How do they retrieve data and generate
conclusion?

To the cognitive theorist, learning constitutes a logical method for organizing and
interpreting learning. Learning is rooted in the tradition of subject matter and is similar
to the cognitive development theory.

Teachers use a lot of problem and thinking skills in teaching and learning. These
are exemplified by practices like reflective thinking, creative thinking, intuitive thinking,
discovery learning.

3. Humanistic Psychology

Humanistic psychologists are concerned with how learners can develop their
human potential. They view humanistic psychology as the third force learning theory
after behaviorism and cognitive development.

It is built on Gestalt psychology where learning can be explained in terms of the

wholeness of the problem and where the environment is changing and the learner is
continuously recognizing his or her perceptions.

Abraham Maslow’s theory of human needs for self-actualizing persons and Carl
Rogers’ non-directive lives, are also fall under the humanistic psychology.
 Among the humanistic psychologists, curriculum is concerned with the process not
the products; personal needs not the subject matter; psychological meaning and
environment situations.

In summary, psychology has great influence in the curriculum. Learners are not
machines and the mind are not a computer. Humans are biological beings affected by
their biology and cultures. The psychological foundations will help curriculum makers in
nurturing a more advanced, more comprehensive and complete human beings.

Social Foundation of Education

The schools are the only one of the many institutions that educate the society. The
home, the family, community likewise educate the people in the society. But schools are
formal institutions that address more complex and interrelated societies and world.

In order for the schools to be relevant, school curricula should address diversity,
explosion of knowledge, school reforms and education for all.

Schools and society are persons/symbols that contribute as source of change, as

agents of change, and knowledge as an agent of change. John Dewey considered two
fundamental elements- schools and civil society- to be the major topics needing
attention and reconstruction to encourage experimental intelligence and plurality. Alvin
Toffler wrote the Future Shock and believed that knowledge should prepare students
for the future. He 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. He
also foresaw schools and students worked creatively, collaboratively, and independent
of their age.

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.
Legal Foundation of
Curriculum The 1987. Philippine
Constitution ARTICLE XIV
Education, Science and
Technology, Arts, Culture, and
Sports
EDUCATION

The State must provide quality education for all and does everything to reach
out the farthest community to educate each citizen of the country for free as much
as possible. Provision for formal and informal education in all kinds of citizen must
be offered to respond to the needs of each individual and the society. All
educational institutions public, private, sectarian or non-sectarian must include the
study of constitutions and religion to promote nationalism, patriotism and inculcate
values. Teaching and non-teaching personnel have their own role to be educator
on their own way. Everybody is free to choose the course to be taken up in
college as long as it is within its ability and capacity.

LANGUAGE

The national language of the Philippines is Filipino and it must be learned

further than other language evolves within the country. English is provided to
facilitate instruction and further communication. Other languages such as Spanish
and Arabic shall be promoted on a voluntary and optional basis. Researches must
lead to development and preservation of Filipino and other languages.

SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY

Science and technology are essential for national development and

progress. The State has to give priority to research and development, invention,
innovation, and their utilization; and to science and technology education, training,
and services. It must support indigenous, appropriate, and self- reliant scientific
and technological capabilities, and their application to the country’s productive
systems and national life.
Guide Questions
1. How should curriculum be organized to enhance learning?
2. Is there a mutual and encompassing relationship between society and
curriculum?
3. How historical foundation contribute to curriculum development?

Answers to Guide Questions

1. In organizing a curriculum, the groups of learning theories should always be
considered to enhance learning.
2. The relationship of curriculum and society is mutual and encompassing. Hence, to
be relevant, the curricula should reflect and preserve the culture of society and its
aspiration. At the same time society should also imbibe the changes brought about
by formal institution called schools.
3. The historical foundations are useful in identifying the problem, issues and
perspective. An examination of all the historical foundations of the curriculum points
up threads of continuity as well as instances of rejection of precedents and illustrates
the way in which the curriculum, at any point in time, is also a production that time.
Furthermore, history provides opportunities to refine methods that have been used in
the past to be applied in the current trends of curriculum development.

Key Points/Summary
1. It is vital that one should understand first the philosophical, psychological, social
and historical foundations of curriculum development in order to make or
develop curriculum that would be applicable and relevant in today’s teaching -
learning process taking into consideration the changes that the process or the
curriculum itself has undertaken from the past to present in order to meet the
changing needs of the learner.
2. Educators, teachers, 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.
3. The historical foundations will show to us the chronological development along a
 timeline. Reading the materials will tell us that curriculum development started when
Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956) wrote the book “The Curriculum”.
4. Phycology provides a basis to understand the teaching and learning process.
5. The foundation upon which are educational philosophies, historical developments,
psychological explanations and societal influences. All of these foundations are
interrelated to each.

References and Supplementary Materials Books

1. Bilbao, P. P., Lucido, P. I., Iringan, T. C., and R. B. Javier (2008). Curriculum
development. Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
2. Dayagbil, Filomena T. et.al. (2015). Curriculum Development for Teachers. Quezon
City, Metro Manila Lorimar Publishing, Inc.

Online Supplementary Material

1. © 2015 JaCite this article as: Alvior, Mary G. (January 9, 2015). Four Major
Foundations of Curriculum and their Importance in Education [Blog Post]. In
SimplyEducate.Me. Retrieved from https://simplyeducate.me/2015/01/09/4-
majorfoundations-of-curriculum-and-their-importance-in-education/nuary 9 M. G. Alvior