TOPIC 4: FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM

Definition
Foundations of curriculum are defined as the values, traditions, factors and forces
which influence the kind, quantity and quality of the experience the school offers its
learners. Scholars have agreed that there are four major foundations of curriculum
namely:

1. Historical Foundations
2. Sociological Foundations
3. Philosophical Foundations
4. Psychological Foundations

Historical Foundations
These refer to those influences on the curriculum that are derived from developments
in the past. They form the basis for decision making and systematic growth of the
Education system. Relevant aspects in discerning the Historical Foundations of
Curriculum include:

i) Early Christian Education

ii) The Renaissance
iii) The Reformation
iv) The scientific movement
v) The progressive Education Movement

Early Christian Education

The values of early Christian Education were a blend of Greek, Roman and Hebrew
ideals. The early Christian schools taught the liberal arts and also concerned
themselves with inducting new believers into Church membership. The Curriculum of
the early Christian schools comprised the teaching of discipline, church, doctrine,
moral standards, Christian theology, science, mathematics and astronomy.

The Renaissance
Following increased quest for knowledge and thirst for adventure „humanistic
schools‟ were established. The curriculum of the „humanistic schools‟ emphasized
the study of man as a prerequisite to understanding man‟s role and contribution to
society. Humanistic schools received inspiration from traditions in the Roman
grammar schools. The curriculum in
„humanistic schools‟ included:
i) Good manners
ii) Morals
iii) Rhetoric composition
iv) Sports
v) Games
vi) Dance.

Due to increased degree of enlightenment during the renaissance period, there arose a
need for people with certain vocational skills related to international and national
trade. As a result the curriculum of the school started to have an increasing amount of
vocational studies in the form of book-keeping, business arithmetic, general
correspondence and the keeping of committee minutes and records. The height of the
Renaissance saw the development of the university in response to the need for a
higher cadre of professional people with special faculty specializations.

Reformation
The campaigns of Martin Luther during the protestant reformation led to the
publication of Biblical and other materials in the vernaculars so that every person
should read for themselves and independently interpret the Bible. Reformation
Curriculum was humanistic in nature. It was enriched with the study of science,
mathematics, history and gymnastics. Ignatius of Loyola developed an expanded and
advanced curriculum as a counter movement to the reformation in Jesuit schools.

The reformation contributed further to Educational growth by inciting the church into
greater activity in elementary, secondary and higher Education .

The Scientific Movement in Education

Educators and philosophers of the sixteenth century were concerned more with
observation regarding the working of the universes. Francis Bacon (1561-1626) led
this among others. It led to the Philosophy of realism which has three district phases,
with various implications of the curriculum.
These are:

i) Humanistic Realism
ii) Social Realism
iii) Sense Realism
i) Humanistic Realism
This advocated for student mastery of form and content of the old literature as a basis
for improving the present world. The humanistic realist curriculum drew upon
classical literature to cope with the problems and needs of the 19th Century.

ii) Social Realism

Social Realism aimed at meeting the purposes of the contemporary world. It was class
conscious as a result it advocated an elitist Education for the aristocracy. It
emphasized private tuition in the home, using paid tutors. It aimed at producing a
polished gentleman of high society.

iii) Sense Realism

It was concerned with problems of the current real world and emphasis on an
instructional approach based on sense perception

The Progressive Movement in Education

The advocates of the progressive movement were reacting against the
shortcomings in the Traditional school system. The argued:

i) The curriculum content of the traditional system included a great deal of

meaningless and needles content.
ii) The traditional curriculum did not give utility education. It mainly emphasized
academics iii) The traditional methods of teaching introduced the child to subject
matter of no practical value
iv) The traditional curriculum was rigid and did not cater for the individual needs
of particular
students.

The progressive Education curriculum instead emphasized five

approaches to the teaching/learning process.
i) Teacher- pupils planning of curricular activities..
ii) Flexible curriculum and individualized instruction
iii) Non-formal curriculum activities and physical training in areas such as games
and related hobbies.
iv) Learner centered methodology
v) Selection of study material in line with expressed interests and concerns of the
learner. vi) All these allowed children maximum self direction and reduced
teacher domination of the teaching/learning process.

Sociological Foundations of Curriculum

The social foundations encompass the systematic study of groups and institutions
in the culture with reference to their contribution to the process and growth of the
educational system as well as the established practices in the school system.
In the sociological Foundations, the curriculum designer is actually dealing with
cultural values, societal needs and the learners’ backgrounds. The institutions and
forces which make up the culture and related analytical techniques determine the
curriculum or programme of education schools will follow. The curriculum should be
able to examine and clarify obstacles prevalent in society which make change in
positive direction difficult.

In designing a curriculum based on social foundation the following distinct

levels should be Considered;

i) Purpose of the curriculum

ii) Pressure influencing the curriculum
iii) Characteristics of the students experiencing the curriculum
iv) Role and contribution of other social institutions such as the family and
religious institutions.

Philosophical Foundations of Curriculum

Philosophical or value foundations constitute the values and beliefs that make up
the philosophies of life and of education and have a permeating influence on the
other foundations. Statements of educational philosophy point to methodical efforts
by philosophers to:

i) Examine values in society

ii) Derive meanings from facts
iii) Organize experiences in a manner useful to educational practitioners and
the pupils in the school system.
iv) Justify one or some educational beliefs over others.
v) Develop new proposals of educational practice for translation into action.

vi) In utilizing knowledge of philosophy in curriculum, the curriculum planner is

seeking to establish ideas and notions that will indicate a priority of values in
selecting experiences for the Curriculum.

The value or philosophical orientations, which the educational system is charged

with promoting form an integral part of the culture of a nation. In this context a
number of Philosophical schools emerged. They include:

i) The Traditional school represented by Perennialism and Essentialism.

ii) The progressive school represented by Progressivists.
The three schools have advanced three theories of subject matter as shown below:

The Perennialists
They believe subject matter should be taught for its own sake. They also believe that
permanence of curriculum content and experiences is more important than change.
Subject matter has a value which is inherent in the subject being taught. It is also their
belief that educational systems should be stable and its purposes steady with regard to
the subject matter . according to the Perennialists:
i) Emphasis is laid on the classical subjects. These are subjects valuable in their
own right and any educated person was expected to have had exposure to
them.
ii) Emphasis is laid on the desire to make children literate and moral to enable
them earn a living as well as find a useful place in society.
Educational Principles of Perennialists include:

i) Human nature remains the same.

ii) Man’s highest attribute is rationality
iii) Students should be taught certain basic subjects

The Essentialists
In philosophy, essentialism is the view that for any specific kind of entity there are a
set of characteristics all of which any entity of that kind must have. This view is
contrasted with non essentialism which states that for any given kind of entity there
are no specific traits which entities of that kind must have.
Essentialist agrees on four fundamental principles:

i) Learning of its very nature, involves hard work and often unwilling
application The essentialists insist on the importance of discipline. Instead of
stressing the child’s immediate interests they urge dedication to more distant
goals. Among the living things man alone can resist is his immediate
impulses. If we do not encourage the capacity of interest and hard work to the
child, we make it harder for him to attain self discipline necessary to achieve
any worthwhile end. The vast majority of students attain personal control
only through voluntary submission to discipline intelligently imposed by the
teacher.

ii) The initiative in Education should lie with the teacher rather than with the
pupil
The teacher’s role is to mediate between the adult world and the world of the child. The
teacher has been specially prepared for this task and is, therefore much better qualified to
guide growth of his pupil than they are themselves.

iii) The heart of the educational process is the assimilation of prescribed

subject matter This view accords with the philosophic realists position that it
is largely man’s material and social environment that dictates how he shall
live. The essentialists agrees that education should enable the individual to
realize his potentialities, but such realization must take place in a world
independent of the individual, a world whose laws he must obey. The purpose
 of the child’s attending school is to get to know this world as it really is and
not to interpret it in the light of his own peculiar desires.

iv) The school should retain traditional methods of mental discipline

Although “learning by doing” may be appropriate in certain circumstances
and for certain children, it should not be generalized. The child should be
taught and be taught essential concepts even if such concepts have to be
adopted to his own psychological and intellectual level.
To the essentialists subject matter should be taught for use. They maintain that there
are certain essentials that each student in school ought to know and devote their time
to them. Therefore the Curriculumists should:
i) Re-examining curricula matters
ii) Distinguishing the essential and the non-essentials in school
programmes iii) Re-establishing the authority of the teacher in
the classroom

The Essentialists and Perennialists agree on certain fundamental

principles such as: i) Learning involves hard work often couple with
unwilling application.
ii) The teacher’s role is to mediate between the adult world and the world
of the child. iii) The heart of the educational process is the assimilation of
prescribed subject matter. iv) The school should retain traditional methods
of mental discipline.
The Progressivists
They believed that subject matter is a medium for teaching life processes and skills.
They take the pragmatist view that change, is the essence of reality. Educators must
be ready to modify methods and policies in light of new knowledge and changes in
the environment. To progressivists, a good school is not a place of compulsory
instruction but a community of old and young engaged in learning by co-operative
experience.

Progressivists’ principles
i) Education should be life itself not a preparation for living.
ii) Learning should be directly related to the interests of the child.
 iii) Learning through problem solving should take precedence over the
inculcating of subject Matter.
iv) Teachers have to advise not direct pupils.
v) The school should encourage co-operation as opposed to competition.

Philosophical positions
The three prominent philosophical positions that are closely related to
perenialism and progressivism are:

i) Idealism

ii) Realism
iii) Pragmatism.

Idealism
It is largely a traditionalist view which is a carry over from Plato’s writings. Idealism
uses deductive reasoning in its quest for answers to current day problems. They
believe in the independence of truth from the individual or the society. There is over
emphasis on the intellectual aspects. They stress the role of education in the
transmission of the cultural heritage as handed through the ages from the past.
Hence it is a preserving function. It allows the concurrent study of liberal and
vocational education, as a means to living completely through understanding life.

Realism
The realist believes in the existence of a real world, divorced from the imaginations
of the perceiver. To the realist, the real world is the physical world of the physical
matter of man and has a specific role to play in daily routine and actions. Here, the
problems of man in life are approached through the inductive method by which data
is gathered to form a basis for new principles and generalizations. Realism accepts
God as the motive cause of all existence.

They argue that education should induct learners into their culture and help them to
adjust to the natural order of things in order to live in harmony with the universe.
Teachers act as guides making children aware of the true nature of real world. They
advocate for a study of physical and social sciences which are instrumental to
explaining natural phenomena. Mathematics is also encouraged.
Advocates of realism include John Amos Comenius (1592-1670), John Locke
(1632-1704) and John Herbart (1776-1841).

Pragmatism
It is a progressivist position that sees reality as being in a state of flux or constant
change. Pragmatists employ the realist approach in gathering information and facts,
and idealist approach in generalizing about the facts gathered. Pragmatism seeks
meaning in the immediate situation.

According to pragmatists education:

i) Should enable the learner to experience situations in practice
ii) Is a means for recreating, controlling and redirecting, experience.
iii) Should help learners to solve their problems and is to be considered an
integral part of life.

Systematic sequencing of learning experiences is emphasized by pragmatists.

Teachers should provide an atmosphere in which learners identify the problems and
seek solutions to them. Teachers should also arrange an environment that provides
experience for learners. The curriculum should be organized on the basis of the
learners’ interests and the subject matter selected should help the learner to solve
problems.

Psychological Foundations
These are insights gained from psychology which have a bearing on the learning
process. Psychologists believe that learning experiences have to be introduced to the
learner when such exposure is most effective and most beneficial to him. The
following issues should be taken into account when dealing with learning
experiences in the curriculum.

i) Capability of the learner.

ii) Maturational level of the learner.
iii) Students’ rate of learning as well as how they learn.
Psychology as a discipline helps the curriculum designer and the teacher to reach
decisions in relation to:

i) Sequence: In the stages of development

ii) Organization: Grouping of learning experiences for optimal effect.
iii) Methodology: Dealing with the question of what methods and approaches
are likely to promote and guiding learning most effectively.

Psychology also contributes to:

i) Formulation of appropriate educational goals
ii) Decisions regarding the scope of curriculum

Theoretical Branches of psychology which contribute in curriculum development are :

1. Behavioral Psychologists: Have contributed to decision making in curriculum

through their findings and theories.
2. Connectionist Psychologists: The work of connectionists like E.L. Thorndike
(1931) has established the phenomenon of the relationship between
environmental stimulus in a learning situation and the response to such
stimulus and that repeated connection of pairing of the environmental
stimulus and the response embeds skills so learnt in the learner’s mind.
3. Gestalt and Organismic Psychologists: Also called Field Theory
psychologists stress the understanding of the relationship between the
physical world and the world of experience. They believe learning takes place
more efficiently when the learner is given the opportunity to view a complete
learning situation from which he/she proceeds to make response choices as
opposed to the piecemeal presentation of isolated elements in the problem
situation.
4. Mental Health Practitioners: Psycho analysts and other mental health
practitioner have helped to explain many issues regarding human behavior
especially that which is related to stress condition their findings. Educational
authorities are now in a better position to deal with crisis situations that come
up now and then in a school setting and which have an effect on the learners
level of concentration at the tasks provided by the learning environment. An
 understanding of certain basic psychological principles will enhance the
effectiveness of planning design and development of the curriculum in a
number of ways:

i) The physical health and physiological status of the learner in the classroom
has a bearing on the rate at which he will learn.
ii) The learner’s nervous condition also has an effect on his mental readiness
iii) Curriculum should be planned in accordance to different age groups
corresponding to different age- grade levels.
iv) Different age groups have unique problems which require that
curriculum is planned according to such.
v) Like adults, learners have their own interests and aspirations and this
should determine curriculum structure.
vi) Effects of rewards and punishments on the process of learning should be considered