INTRODUCTION

1. The Nature and Purpose of the Study

Lifelong education has in recent years proved to be a fer-

tile field for educational thought and research. Its richness
is amply exemplified in the spate of literature and amount of
discussion that have been generated since its adoption in 1972
as the focus for the research programme of the Unesco Institute
for Education. Yet these developments in themselves barely re-
veal the considerable effect that the idea has had on education-
al thought and practice throughout the world. The implications
of the idea are being continually mediated through an unfolding
process of interpretation and application and it is to this
process that this study makes its small but particular contri-
bution.

Due perhaps to the idealism inherent in the concept, the

indebtedness of lifelong education to other developments in ed-
ucational thought and practice, such as the progressive and
adult education movements, has not always been fully recognised.
As the significance of the concept is assessed in the context
of specific educational areas and activities a more objective
appraisal of its potential will no doubt emerge. In general
terms the purpose of this study is to initiate this process
within the field of curriculum integration. A number of writ-
ers, for example Dave (1973), have claimed that integration is
a focal concept in any consideration of education as a lifelong
activity. By reviewing therefore what is known of curriculum
integration it is reasonable to expect that the meaning and
feasibility of integration within the perspective of lifelong
education may gain in clarity and realism. Within the compass
of a small study there are clearly limits to such an undertaking
and these define its scope and structure.

2. The Scope and Structure of the Study

The meanings attached to the terms 'curriculum and 'in-

1
2 Curriculum Integration and Lifelong Education

tegration constitute the first limiting factor. Most defini-

tions of curriculum can be located between the two extremes of
curriculum as content of teaching and curriculum as experience
of learning. In the one case curriculum is a form of the orga-
nisation of knowledge, in the other an expression of the learn-
ing experience of pupils. This study is necessarily concerned
with both these aspects since the basic issue in curriculum
integration is how to reconcile the obvious diversity of the
one with the apparent unity of the other.

The curriculum to be studied is the school curriculum,

with particular reference to primary and lower secondary schools.
Traditionally, integration has been more characteristic of pri-
mary than of secondary education, though its influence in the
secondary sector is spreading. The problems which this is cre-
ating will be examined.

A further constraint is the type and extent of the inte-

gration involved. Integration can be both vertical and hori-
zontal. Vertical integration is integration over time and in-
volves the articulation of teaching and learning experiences at
different stages of development. Horizontal integration aims
to harmonise the various dimensions of the curriculum or the
various educational agencies such as home, school and the mass
media. This study concentrates on the horizontal integration
of the curriculum.

The range of literature referred to suffers from two in-

adequacies. The first is the author's limited linguistic abil-
ity, which is largely responsible for most of the literature
being drawn from the English-speaking world, and the second his
selection and arrangement of the material, which to some extent
influenced his choice of authors. It is hoped that neither of
these deficiencies creates too distorted a picture of the con-
temporary scene in the areas involved.

The extent of the respective contributions of curriculum

integration and lifelong education to each chapter is also in-
fluential in determining scope and structure. The focus in the
first chapter is on lifelong education but an attempt is made
to identify the principal characteristics of curriculum inte-
gration which are relevant to lifelong education. The chapters
which follow concentrate on curriculum integration and look at
the ways in which it can be achieved, the purposes it can serve,
and the influences it can exert on the classroom and the school.
Aspects that are relevant for lifelong education are noted and
 Introduction 3

discussed. The 6th chapter presents some of the more pressing

problems of curriculum integration and evaluates its prospects
in the educational enterprise.

The nature of the discussion and the way in which the

material is presented may lead some readers in the earlier chap-
ters to overestimate the value of curriculum integration for
lifelong education. This is partly due to the fact that there
are some very positive points of correspondence between the two
areas and that while these are subject to criticism where ap-
propriate, the more weighty objections to curriculum integration
are reserved for chapter six. It is well that the reader should
therefore keep his expectations in check until these objections
have been considered. He can then, on the basis of the evidence
given, decide for himself how effective a contribution curricu-
lum integration, in one form or another, can make to the further-
ance of lifelong education.