0617+Curriculum

Curriculum as Experience

Hopefully at this point you see a great deal of consistency between Tyler and Dewey. Tyler was heavily influenced by the work of Dewey. His own work, in many ways, is a more technical way of operationalizing Dewey’s work at the Lab School as well as Dewey’s own theories about curriculum and thinking.

Tanner’s book is getting a bit dated, but it is a good (and short) description of the school. While she addresses issues from the 80s and 90s in her first chapter, think about current issues and concerns that should influence how we do curriculum work in schools. This is not part of your discussion at this point, but it will come up again as you analyze your curriculum for your project.

For your responses, please keep in mind (and reference where reasonable) the readings from both Tyler and Tanner. Most importantly, however, explore the “what ifs” in imaginative (as Dewey defined imagination) ways. Do not succumb to neo-liberalism – throwing up your hands and saying that there’s nothing that can really change. Think in terms of the nature of curriculum work in schools as well as the challenges and opportunities for school leaders in approximating some sort of ideal based upon what the lab school was able to achieve.

To that end, here are your two discussion questions. Please respond with two to four incredibly thoughtful paragraphs by midnight on Wednesday and then respond to at least two students by midnight on Thursday.

// What is gained/lost if we start curriculum deliberations with experience instead of standards or objectives? // // What would it take to achieve correlation and coherence in curriculum at the same level achieved in Dewey’s lab school? //