The Eighth Edition of Contemporary Curriculum: In Thought and Action prepares readers to participate in the discussion of curriculum control and other matters important to K-12 and university educators. The text highlights major philosophies and principles, examines conflicting conceptions of curriculum, and provides the intellectual and technical tools educators and administrators need for constructing and implementing curriculum.

Table of Contents:
Preface vii Acknowledgments x Part I Conceptions of Curriculum Chapter 1 Humanistic Curriculum 1 Characteristics of the Humanistic Curriculum 3 Purpose 3 Role of the Teacher 3 Forms of Humanistic Curriculum 4 A Confluent Curriculum 4 Consciousness and Transcendency 5 Responses to Depersonalization 7 Psychological Foundations of the Humanistic Curriculum 11 Third-Force Psychology 11 Historical Antecedents to the Humanistic Curriculum 15 Ancient Greeks and Romans 15 Traditional Humanities 15 Progressive Education 16 Spiritual Images 16 Criticisms of the Humanistic Curriculum 17 Concluding Comments 18 Questions 19 Suggested Strategic Research 19 Chapter 2 The Social Reconstructionist Curriculum 21 Characteristics of the Social Reconstructionist Curriculum 21 Purpose 21 Role of the Teacher 22 Social Reconstruction in Practice 23 Changing the Community 23 Freire’s Social Reconstructionism 24 Eradicating Illiteracy 24 Neo-Marxists 26 Neo-Marxist Manifesto 26 Critical Theory against Reproductive Knowledge 27 Environmental Reconstruction 28 Futurologists 29 The Use of Future Planning 29 Typical Futurists’ Recommendations 30 Critical Pedagogy 30 Social Adaptation versus Social Reconstruction 31 Psychological Foundations of Social Reconstruction 32 Cultural Psychology as a Source 32 Psychoanalytical Psychology and Social Reconstruction 34 Historical Antecedents to Social Reconstruction 35 Criticisms of Social Reconstructionism 37 Concluding Comments 38 Questions 39 Suggested Strategic Research 39 Chapter 3 The Systemic Curriculum 41 Alignment 42 Accountability 43 Standards-Based Curriculum 43 Policies for Standards-Based Curriculum 43 Common Core State Standards 46 Standards-Based Curriculum in the Classroom 47 Psychological Foundations of the Systemic Curriculum 50 Historical Antecedents to the Systemic Curriculum 51 Consequences of Systemic Curriculum 53 Concluding Comments 56 Questions 57 Suggested Strategic Research 57 Chapter 4 The Academic Curriculum 59 Approaches to the Academic Curriculum 62 The Forms of Knowledge Approach 63 Structure in the Disciplines Approach 64 Reaction Against a Structure of Knowledge 67 Revival of the Disciplines Approach 68 Liberal Arts and the Academic Core 70 Liberal Arts in Higher Education 70 Academic Programs in the Elementary and Secondary Curriculum 72 Cultural Literacy 73 Making Subject Matter More Appealing to Growing Minds 74 Psychological Foundations of the Academic Curriculum 76 Historical Antecedents of the Academic Curriculum 78 Concluding Comments 81 Questions 82 Suggested Strategic Research 82 Part II Curriculum Development Chapter 5 Deciding What Should Be Taught 84 Arenas for Deciding What to Teach 85 Levels of Decision Making 85 Curriculum at Different Levels 86 Contexts for Development of Curriculum 87 Range of Activity 87 Development of Materials 88 State, Regional, and Local Curriculum Planning 88 Institutional Curriculum Planning 88 Functions of the Curriculum 89 Determining What to Teach 90 Rational and Technical Models in Curriculum Decision Making 91 Needs Assessment Model 91 Steps in Needs Assessment 92 The Futuristic Model 94 The Rational Model 95 The Vocational-Training Model 98 Alternative Approaches to Determining Curriculum Purposes 100 Disjointed Incrementalism 100 Problems with Disjointed Incrementalism in Curriculum Making 101 Emergent Approaches in Curriculum Decision Making 101 A Comment on Models and Approaches for Curriculum Building 103 Concluding Comments 104 Questions 105 Suggested Strategic Research 106 Chapter 6 Developing and Selecting Learning Opportunities 107 Standards for Teaching Impact Classroom Curriculum Development 108 Learning Opportunities for Higher Order Thinking 112 Transfer and Problem Solving 112 Creativity 114 Creating New Knowledge 115 Procedures for Developing Learning Activities 116 Current Orientations in Developing Learning Activities 117 Criteria for Selecting Learning Activities 120 Philosophical Criteria 121 Psychological Criteria 121 Political Criteria 123 Practicality as a Criterion 124 Research-Based Criteria 124 Criticisms of Textbooks and Learning Opportunities 125 Criticisms of Criteria for Selecting Learning Opportunities 126 Concluding Comments 126 Questions 127 Suggested Strategic Research 127 Aperture Chapter 6 How Technology is Used With Curriculum Orientations 129 Technology in Humanistic Classrooms 129 Social Reconstruction and Technology 130 Technology in a Systemic Curriculum 131 Technology in the Academic Curriculum 133 Building Web Sites 135 New Developments in Learning Opportunities 135 Chapter 7 Organizing Learning Opportunities 137 Key Concepts in Curriculum Organization 137 Organizing Centers or Foci 138 Organizing Elements 138 Principles for Sequencing Centers and Activities Related to Elements 140 Organizing Structures 141 Structure at the Institutional Level 141 Structure at the Classroom Level 142 Organizational Patterns and Conceptions of the Curriculum 146 Unified Disciplines: The New Academic Pattern 148 Empirical Studies of the Effects of Patterns 152 Issues in Curriculum Organization 154 Concluding Comments 157 Questions 157 Suggested Strategic Research 157 Part III Curriculum Management Chapter 8 Managing Curriculum 159 Schools and the Institutionalized Curriculum 159 Curriculum Change in the Context of Restructuring 161 Roles in Restructuring Curriculum 164 The Principal as Director of Learning 164 The Principal in Shared Leadership 165 Department Heads in Curriculum Management 166 Administrative Arrangements 166 Stratifying Students 168 Staffing Patterns and Scheduling 169 Supplementary Personnel 170 Nongrading 170 Facilities 170 The Middle School 171 Alternative, Magnet, Charter, and Specialist Schools 172 Trends in Reforming School Organization 174 Options in the Schools 174 Administration for Instructional Effectiveness 175 Coordinating the Curriculum 175 Effective Research and Curriculum Policy 177 Concluding Comments 179 Questions 179 Suggested Strategic Research 180 Chapter 9 Evaluating the Curriculum 181 Models for Evaluation 183 Consensus Models (Traditional and Technical Evaluation) 183 Pluralistic Models (Humanistic and Social Reconstructionist Evaluation) 186 Controversial Technical Issues in Curriculum Evaluation 187 The Form of Objectives (Goals, Standards, Benchmarks, and Indicators) 188 Measurement of Intended Outcomes Versus Goal-Free Evaluation 189 Norm- and Criterion-Referenced Tests 190 Tests and Invasion of Privacy 191 Authentic Assessment of Student Performance 191 Assessment as Learning 192 Techniques for Collecting Data 193 Measuring Affect 194 Sampling 195 Hazards in Conducting Traditional Evaluation 195 Value-Added Assessment 196 Concluding Comments 197 Questions 198 Suggested Strategic Research 199 Chapter 10 The Politics of Curriculum Making 200 Curriculum Policy 202 The Politics Involved 203 Political Decisions About What Will Be Taught 203 Concepts for Interpreting the Process of Political Decision Making 204 The Professionalization of Reform 204 Forces of Stability 204 Constraints on Policy 205 Participants in Determining Curriculum Policy 206 School-Based Political Participants 206 Community Participants 209 State Agencies 211 Testing Agencies 212 Publishers 212 The Courts 213 The Federal Government 214 Foundations 214 Special Interests 215 Conflicts in Curriculum Control 216 Concluding Comments 217 Questions 217 Suggested Strategic Research 218 Part IV Issues and Trends Chapter 11 Current Issues Demanding Responses 219 Curriculum for Thinking 219 The Focus of a Thinking Curriculum 221 Curriculum Competition: An International Comparison 223 Invidious Comparisons 224 Vocational Education 229 Contrasting Purposes for Vocational Education 230 Access to Vocational Education 231 Content of Vocational Education 233 Reorganizing Vocational Education 234 Trends in Vocational Education 234 Moral Education 235 Phenix’s Basic Questions in Moral Education 235 Kohlberg’s Theory of Moral Development 236 Character Education 237 School Safety 238 Concluding Comments 240 Questions 240 Suggested Strategic Research 240 Chapter 12 Trends in the Subject Fields 242 Mathematics 243 Mathematics in Our Schools 243 Trends in Mathematics 243 Science 246 Evolution of Science Teaching 246 New Approaches in Science Education 247 Recommendations for the Future Science Curriculum 249 Physical and Health Education 251 Its Place in the Curriculum 251 Guidelines for Future Physical Education Programs 252 English 253 English as a Subject 253 Current Trends in the Teaching of English 255 Reading 256 The Curriculum of Reading 256 Contested Trends in Reading 257 History and Social Studies 259 History as a Subject 259 An Evaluation of History Curriculum 259 History and Geography in the 1990s 260 History and the Social Studies in the Standards Movement 261 Social Studies 261 The Future of Social Studies 263 Foreign Language 264 The Rise and Fall of Foreign Language 264 Efforts to Revive Language Instruction 264 The Arts 267 Concluding Comments 268 Questions 269 Suggested Strategic Research 270 Part V Curriculum Inquiry: Retrospect and Prospect Chapter 13 A historical Perspective of Curriculum Making 271 Curriculum Historians 272 Context for Formulation of the Curriculum Field 273 Founders of the Field of Curriculum 274 Herbartism and the McMurrys 275 Basic Tenets of Herbartism 275 The McMurrys’ Thinking 276 Dewey’s Opposition to Herbartism 278 Dewey’s School 278 Dewey’s Curriculum 278 Scientific Curriculum Making: Franklin Bobbitt and Werrett W. Charters 279 Societal Influences on the Scientific Movement 279 Key Ideas of Scientific Curriculum Making 280 Bobbitt’s Contribution to Curriculum Making 280 Charters’s Contribution to the Curriculum Field 282 Improvement of Instruction 283 Local Development of Curriculum 283 The Course of Study Movement 283 Caswell’s Influence on the Curriculum Field 284 Rational Curriculum Making 285 Tyler’s Curriculum Inquiry 285 Feminine Enactment of Curriculum 286 Hilda Taba 286 Mary Sheldon Barnes 289 Lucy Maynard Salmon 289 Lucy Sprague Mitchell 290 Concluding Comments 290 Questions 291 Suggested Strategic Research 291 Chapter 14 The Promise of Theory and Inquiry in Curriculum 293 State of the Field 294 The Need for Curriculum Theory 294 The Need for Curriculum Conceptions 295 The Need for Studies of Correlation and Integration 297 The Need for Studies of Sequence 298 The Need for Analyzing Education Objectives (Progressions and Standards) 299 The Need for Process–Product Research 300 Trends in Curriculum Inquiry 301 Forms of Inquiry 302 Synoptic Activity as Curriculum Inquiry 302 Inquiry in the School and Classroom 303 Narrative 303 Qualitative Inquiry in School Settings 304 Action Research as Curriculum Inquiry 304 Concluding Comments 306 Questions 307 Suggested Strategic Research 307 Name Index 309 Subject Index 315