Curriculum and Material Development

In  Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, Ralph Tyler outlines four critical components of curriculum that may serve as a guide to the creation of curriculum as well as a tool for the analysis and interpretation of curriculum. The four basic components consist of educational purposes (or objectives), educational experiences (or learning activities), organization, and evaluation (Tyler, 1949, p. 1). His rationale on curriculum then is simplified without changing the meaning by Judith Howard into: defining goals, establishing corresponding learning experiences, organizing learning experience to have a cumulative effect, and evaluating outcomes. These four basic principles coined either by Tyler or Judith has been widely welcomed, but at the same times it has also been criticized.

In one hand, as stated above Tyler’s rationale is widely welcomed; to begin with it may be set as the ideal foundation. It arguably covers everything a school should first and foremost have. For example in defining the objectives, it is surely true we have to set the objectives or goals prior to establishing the school. As cited in business dictionary, objective is:

An end that can be reasonably achieved within an expected timeframe and with available resources. In general, an objective is broader in scope than a goal, and may consist of several individual goals. Objectives are a basic tools that underlying all planning and strategic activities. They serve as the basis for policy and performance appraisals.

Therefore, by defining the goals or objective, the school will get more ready because as the statement shows, setting goals and objectives builds on the previous steps of visioning and taking stock, and also helps the school for keeping track the idea/plan that is designated previously. In addition, Daniel asserts that their functionality was well received and teachers generally appreciated the ease with which they could be applied to the daily work curriculum planning. It would be nearly thirty years, in fact, before any significant criticism were waged against Tyler’s work. And by that time, his approaches were so entrenched in classroom practice that radical critiques of his approaches left few marked changes in the implementation of curriculum in the public schools.

In another hand, however, these four basic principles is also criticized for being overtly managerial and linear in its position on the school curriculum. As it is stated in education encyclopedia  that some critics have characterized it as outdated and atheoretical, suitable only to administrators keen on controlling the school curriculum in ways that are unresponsive to teachers and learners. It means, differ from Hilda Taba, Tyler did not include teachers to be primary curriculum developers. Tyler should believe that teachers who teach or implement the curriculum should participate in developing it.

In conclusion, Tyler’s rationale gets not only support but also criticism. It is regarded as the good basic principles of curriculum as it could be implemented in school daily work planning easily, but at the same time Tyler put out of his mind to involve teacher in it.

References

Education Encyclopedia. Ralph W. Tyler (1902–1994) – Contribution to Testing and Curriculum Development, Advisory Role – School, Educational, Education, University, Rationale, and Study. http://education.stateuniversity.com. Retrieved on 25 April 2011.

Tyler, Ralph W. 1949. Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.