Revisions to Curriculum and Aims

Revisions to Curriculum and Aims

My co-author, Professor Jonas Soltis of Teachers College, Columbia University, and I have just completed revisions for the Third Edition of Curriculum and Aims. WeÕve added an entirely new chapter. Here are some excerpts....

Chapter 7 - Cross-Currents of Reform

In this chapter we will look at reform up close. We will ask such questions as:

What happens in a reform movement?
Where do reforms come from and why do we have so many?
Are reforms successful in changing the curriculum?
Who is in charge of the curriculum? Local educators or reformers?
As an educator, when should I embrace reform and when resist it?
What can educators do to get the most value from reforms?

An educational reform movement is thus a kind of miniature revolution, an overthrow, perhaps only a partial overthrow, of only one institution or even just one part of an institution. During this little revolution the existing order according to which incremental school changes are normally made is set aside in favor of a new change process that goes by a name specific to that revolution Ð the New Math, the New Curriculum Movement, Progressive Education, School Vouchers, Charter Schools, Coalition of Essential Schools, etc. The generic name for these revolutionary movements for educational change is reform.

Because their support usually comes from many independent sources who have united only temporarily on one issue, reform movements have little formal structure and no readily identifiable leadership group. ... The absence of formal structures like a chain of command within the ranks of reformers makes it difficult for reform movements to sustain a consistent policy for long and makes it difficult, too, for anyone, including the leaders of the reform, to hold reform movements accountable for actions taken in the name of the reform. ... Thus, reform movements are by their nature temporary entities. They are powerful, but short-lived and resist efforts to guide or control them.

If we view reform movements as a response to the absence of official institutions for curriculum making at the national level, then reforms and local incremental decision-making are complementary. Local schools represent well the views of key local decision-makers Ð teachers, school administrators, and parents active in school affairs Ð but they do not represent as well the views of other groups who also claim a right to influence curriculum decisions, such as colleges and universities, professional scholars, corporations, and unions, to mention just a few. These other groups whose interests fit naturally at the national level cannot effectively advance their interests through a purely local process.

In recent years reform itself has come under criticism. Those who value traditional education have always opposed reform, but now many of those who want change in schools are also questioning it. They argue that the reforms of the last generation have done little to improve American education. ... Reformers call for more radical approaches to educational change, such as private for-profit firms running public schools or vouchers to encourage competition among public and private schools for students. Many educators also point to the debilitating effects of repeated reform movements on the normal operations of schools and on the process of incremental change. Experienced teachers ... are particularly upset at what they see as irrational pendulum swings as successive reforms seek to reverse the direction of previous ones.

Thus the report card for reform seems mixed. Nevertheless, until there is a better way, those who want schools to respond more strongly to what they see as neglected needs will still see reform as an attractive option. What other option do they have?

So we end with this observation: Welcome or not, reform is a fact of professional life for educators, who must find ways to deal with it. We see four responsible stances a teacher can take regarding reform,...