AG ED 423/623

Chapter 6
Curriculum Theory

The foundation of curriculum that is least

appreciated is curriculum theory.

The behaviorist approach to curriculum is based

largely on psychological theories of learning.

We are no longer satisfied with merely being

technicians following curriculum development
recipes in blind adherence to past models of
previous thinking.

They are very much immersed in investigating

how current curricula are created and
maintained and how particular programs
evolve and emerge in response to dynamic
times. They wish to produce theoretical
knowledge that can serve the practical
purposes of explaining, prescribing, guiding,
and describing what people involved in
education do within the curriculum arena and
within the general social context.

With theory, curriculum decision makes can

draw on the most advanced and valid
knowledge available and apply it to many
situations.
We can provide ourselves with ways of
viewing the world and how it works so that
education will be real, will relate to the
world, and will have applicability to real issues
and challenges.

Theoretical Perspectives

The challenge of bringing into focus visions of the

future and then skillfully initiating actions that assure
attainment of these visions is not small.
Curriculum is a complex phenomenon existing within
ever expanding social and political dynamics.

Perhaps we can be more receptive to theory if

we realize that theorizing is a process that
engages us in imagining the how and why of
certain phenomena.
It challenges us to analyze why we think a
curriculum should be developed in a certain
way for particular students and focused on
certain content.
Theory can also suggest ways in which we can
teach what we think is important.

In many ways, theory is an expression of

belief.

George Beauchamp has asserted that all

theories are derived from three broad
categories of knowledge: (1) the humanities;
(2) the natural sciences; and (3) the social
sciences. These divisions of knowledge are
well established as the basic realms of
knowledge.

There are two major categories of curriculum

theories design theories and engineering
theories.

Design theories address the basic organization of

the curriculum plan. For this, curricularists draw
on philosophy as well as on social and psychology
theory.
Engineering theories explain, describe, predict, or
even guide curriculum-development activities.
They involve specific plans, principles, and/or
methods or procedures. Engineering theories of
curriculum are also partially based on principles of
measurement and statistics.

The Meaning of Theory

A theory is a way of making sense of a
disturbing situation so as to allow us most
effectively to bring to bear our repertoire of
habits, and even more important, to modify
habits or discard them altogether, replacing new
ones as the situation demands
- Abraham Kaplan

A challenge for curricularists is to determine

just what aspect of the field of curriculum we
are processing. Our assumption is that the
field of curriculum should involve
curricularists in theorizing about curriculum
design and curriculum development.

Most curricularists do seem to agree on two

points.

First, curricularists agree that curriculum is of

fundamental importance to our teachers and
students, and to the nature of teaching and
learning.
Second, curriculum development is greatly
influenced by the values we bring to the process.

The term theory sometimes refers to a set of

propositions inductively derived from
empirical findings. These generalizations refer
to various facts, laws, or hypotheses that are
related to each other in a systematic way and
that form a type of whole an entity.

Scientific theory, then, is comprised of general

facts, laws, or hypotheses related to each other.

Scientific theory is a set of assumptions from

which can be derived by purely
logicomathematical procedures, a larger set of
empirical laws. The theory furnished an
explanation of these empirical laws and unifies
the subject matter.

Philosophical and Humanistic Theory

Such theories produce a set of assumptions or

beliefs that explain what ought to be.
Philosophers theories describe their outlooks
their views of reality and their place within
it.

Much of the theory that relates to education, and

specifically to curriculum, stems from the
philosophical and/or humanistic orientation.

Philosophical and humanistic theory is largely

normative (based on values). It essentially
indicates what should or should not be
included or done in some action.
Humanistic theory emphasizes the melding of
the emotion and physical with the intellectual.

The Functions of Theory

Educators may ask, Why do we need theory at

all? Often, they do not wait for a reply and
state, I do not need your damn theory.

The aim of science is to understand the

phenomena studied. Philosophers also seek
answers to their questions: What is knowledge,
what is reality, what is of value?

Theory comes from the Greek word theoria

connoting wakefulness of mind. It is a type
of pure viewing of truth. Theory explains
reality; it makes people aware of their world
and its interactions.

Many writers have ascribed four functions to

theory:

Description
Prediction
Explanation
Guidance

Description provides a narrative classification

of knowledge in a particular theoretical field.
It furnished a structure through which
individuals interpretations of complex
activities can be verified. It organizes and
summarizes knowledge.

Prediction A theory can predict the

occurrence of as yet unobserved events on the
basis of explanatory principles embedded in it.
Perhaps this is the ultimate function of theory.

Explanation addresses why. It not only

points out the relationships between
phenomena, but suggests either explicitly or
implicitly the reasons for the relationships.

Guidance. Theory also acts as a guide. It helps

researchers choose data for analysis and make
economical summaries of the data. The theory
generated promotes further investigation.

Theory Building

Essentially, the process of theory development

is tied to inductive and deductive thinking.

Induction means building a theory by

accumulating and summarizing a variety of
inquiries.
They form propositions on the basis of research
that began as tentative hypotheses they tested and
validated.

Deduction, in contrast to induction, is the

process of inferring necessary conclusions
from a combination of premises whose truth
has either been accepted as given or assumed
to be true. People employing deduction
develop theory by constructing logical
sequences. They proceed from the general to
the specific.

Steps in Theory Building

To engage in theory is to deal with symbols,

facts, or words that can be classified into large
concepts and generalizations.
The problem with theory is when it must be
applied in the real world.

Defining Terms. One of the basic rules in

theory building is to be clear about terms.
Selecting terms is governed by two rules:

The wording must be clear, and

The terms, once defined, must be used
consistently.

Concepts are either nominal or operational.

Nominal definitions present the attributes of
a term or concept.
In contrast, operational definitions indicate
the context in which the concept is
employed.

These primitive terms are accepted by those

who use them in their theoretical work. In
mathematics, for example, the terms point or
straight line are primitive terms.

Another category of terms used in theory is

theoretical terms or operational constructs;
theories with any degree of sophistication
contain such terms. A construct is a concept
that represents relationships among things
and/or events and their properties.

Classifying. The second activity in theory

building is classification. Theorists attempt to
organize and integrate what they know about
the areas being theorized. They begin
summarizing discovered uniformities of
relationships between two or more variables or
concepts.

Curriculum Theory
The challenge to curricularists is to make
sense out of the complexity of the field of
curriculum and to determine whether they
should create their own curriculum theory or
theories, borrow theories from other
disciplines such as psychology, sociology,
anthropology, and philosophy or do both.

To create a single curriculum theory that would

describe, and more importantly explain,
curriculum is perhaps an unrealistic goal;
curriculum covers too many aspects of education.

Maccias Theory
Consequently, they organized theory as formal
theory, even theory, valuational theory, and
praxiological theory.
1. Formal theory. This theory deals with
speculation about the structure of the
disciplines that comprise the curriculum.

2. Event theory. This theory, very similar to

what we have been discussing as
scientific
theory, refers to speculation
about
occurrences. It attempts to
predict what
will occur given certain circumstances.
3. Valuational theory. This theory involves
speculation about the appropriate
means to attain the objectives most desired
and to include the content
judged to be
the best.

4. Praxiological theory. Such theory refers to

speculation about appropriate means to attain

what is considered valuable. It is about practices.

Johnsons Theory

Johnsons definition of curriculum an

intended series of learning outcomes they
should realize the usefulness of distinguishing
between theorizing about curriculum as a plan
and theorizing about the means by which such
plans are generated.

Macdonalds Theory

Macdonald defines curriculum as the social system

that actually produces a plan for instruction, which he
in turn defines as another social system within which
formal teaching and learning take place.

Teaching is different from instruction and is defined as a

personality systemthe teacheracting in a particular
manner to facilitate learning.
Learning is defined as a personality system too; the student
becomes involved in specialized task-related behaviors.

Curriculum Inquiry

Curricularists are confronted with making sense

of the world, not only to describe it but to
manage it in the present and to entertain and
initiate ways of modifying it in the future.

Decker Walker, who is classified by some as

a conceptual curricularist, has outlined five
questions:
1.

2.

3.

What are the major features of a given

curriculum?
What are the personal and social consequences
that a given curriculum feature elicits?
What accounts for the stability and change in
curriculum features?

4.

5.

What accounts for peoples judgments of the

merit or worth of various curriculum
features?
What sorts of curriculum features should be
part of a curriculum designed for a particular
purpose?