The reading Curriculum Theory and Practice by Smith (www.infed.org/biblio/b-curric.htm) outlines many approaches to curriculum and curriculum development. One of these approaches to curriculum was developed by Ralph Tyler who provided a scientific model of curriculum that is focused on the product of teaching. Tyler poses four fundamental questions that outline the simplicity and effectiveness that curriculum could have:
- What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
- What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes
- How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
- How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?
One of the major goals of the Tyler Rationale is to create a system that can be applied to multiple subject areas through behavioural objectives.
After learning about the Tyler Rationale, I realized that this is definitely something that I have experienced in my own schooling. Teachers were very focused on getting through the entire curriculum without giving much thought to the students who weren’t quite attaining the outcome goals. In elementary school, often as the end of the school year was approaching, it would be easy to overhear them discussing how far behind they were and that they may have to cut out the ‘less important’ subjects to make sure the core subject curriculum goals were met. In highschool I realized that a lot of my schooling was based around the Tyler Rationale. In Grade 12, my Math, Chemistry, and Physics classes were all dependent on writing the departmental exam at the end of the semester. This put the entire focus of these classes on the teacher, quickly teaching each outcome while also hitting each indicator to ensure we had “all” the knowledge necessary to excel on the exam. Unfortunately, for most of my peers this led to them falling behind in the class and not learning enough to do well on the departmental. There was little to no consideration for those that fell behind because the students who were able to stay on pace with the teacher would then “suffer” as there wouldn’t be time to learn all the outcomes if more time was spent on an ‘old’ topic.
I think that my highschool experience is a great example of one of the limitations that the Tyler Rationale presents to students. The plan (curriculum) assumes the greatest importance in the classroom which can cause some issues for the students. The plan gives little to no time for students that are struggling to receive the additional instruction time that is necessary for their success. When a student falls behind, it is ‘their own fault’ rather than faults with the expectations. Smith elaborates by saying “If the plan is tightly adhered to, there can only be limited opportunity for educators to make use of the interactions that occur”. Additionally, the curriculum or plan is created “prior to and outside learning experiences” which again takes the focus away from the students. Students are told what they must learn, and then they must learn it. Smith then states “when all the items are ticked, the person has passed the course or has learnt something”; however, just because an item box is checked does it really mean they have learned that topic?
There are some positives when it comes to the Tyler Rationale. Since it is an objectives driven model, there is a clear and set outline for teachers in specific areas to teach to their students. It creates organization in our school systems giving teachers the direction that is necessary for teachers to have similar educational goals for students. I believe that the organization that this model gives is beneficial for the students when it isn’t also being used as the limiting factor in the classroom.
Smith, M. K. (1996, 2000) ‘Curriculum theory and practice’ The encyclopedia of informal education, www.infed.org/biblio/b-curric.htm.