History of Curriculum

The Tyler Rationale is an education theory based on four distinct questions. The theory come from Ralph Tyler and believes that curriculum can be broken down into a linear theory. His influence has been in school systems since the 1940’s and has been approved by numerous presidents. The questions go as follows:

1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
2. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes?
3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?

This is a model that is largely followed in Canadian education and has been followed a large portion of my academic career. My teachers largely followed his model of:

objective -> content -> organization of teaching and learning -> evaluation/assessment

We would usually discuss the objective of what we were learning, learn the content, organize how we learned it, then have an exam after completing a unit. Strictly following this structure can be quite limiting for students and teachers alike. It does not allow for students to use different learning approaches. It also limits how teachers teach the content and how assessments follow.

While this model may have limitations, it also creates structure. A positive to having the Tyler Rationale set in place is it provides a natural order to how to teach students. This will help create less stress on teachers and students as there is no surprise. The Tyler Rationale has had great success, and have been used for decades in schools in the U.S. But while it does work, there is still room for improvement for a new generation of learners.