Module 2: Philosophical Foundations of Education and Curriculum Design Planning

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By Jennifer Simpson and Luke Nakonechny

The Process

To begin establishing the relationships between conceptions of curriculum,
philosophy and curriculum designs we brainstormed and created a mind
map from our notes.  Through this we were able to see many connections.
The purpose of this mind map was to help us make these important connections
and solidify our understanding of the reading.  


Our goal was to create a concise, easy to read table that clearly outlined the
relationships.  We wanted to add practical examples that brought these connections
to life. Through the work completed on our mind map we were able to pull the key
information out to summarize it onto a table.  The table is intended as our completed
visual but we have included a link to the mind map for those interested in our process.

Here is a link to our table.
Here is a link to the mind map if you would like to see our process.


The Discussion

The relationship between curricular philosophy, conceptions, and designs is necessary
to understand how curriculum is developed.  Traditional approaches to curriculum
planning reflect guidance, developing basic intellectual skills, and developing rational
thought.  On the other hand, a contemporary approach promotes active learning,
problem solving, and individual growth.

Considering the diversity of needs that exists in schools, it is a challenge for curricular
specialists to find an optimal middle ground to meet the needs for all students.  It is
important to recognize that no school will adhere to one single framework. Multiple
factors in society have the potential to influence curriculum planning including population
demographic and political environment.  The task of developing an appropriate curricular
framework to match the speed of change in society will continue to be a challenge for
curricular designers.

The visual we have produced can be used as a starting point to further understand
curricular development by exploring the following question:


To what extent should schools incorporate multiple philosophies
and conceptions when designing curriculum?


References:

Ornstein, A. C. (1990/1991). Philosophy as a basis for curriculum decisions.
The High School Journal, 74, 102-109.
Ornstein, A. C., & Hunkins, F. P. (2013). Curriculum: Foundations,
principles, and issues (6th ed.). Boston, MA: Pearson.  
Read Chapter 6, pp. 149-173.
Samuelsson, I. P., Sheridan, S., & Williams, P. (2006). Five preschool curricula—
comparative perspective. International Journal of Early Childhood, 38(1), 11.
Sternberg, R. J. (2008) Interdisciplinary Problem-Based Learning: An
Alternative to Traditional Majors and Minors.  Liberal Education, vol 94, no1.

Comments

  1. UnknownJuly 19, 2018 at 5:27 PM

    Hi Luke,

    I applaud your ability to summarize all of the information into such an concise and organized table! Well done!
    You were able to connect philosophies of education with each of the curriculum conceptions we studied in Module 1.
    You have come up with a great question throughout your work. "To what extent should schools incorporate multiple philosophies and conceptions when designing curriculum?" I don't have the answer to this question yet but hope as we work through the next few modules an answer will begin to develop. It seems that most schools we read about use a few overlapping conceptions and philosophies. I think it's important for curriculum to incorporate multiple views but at what extent? How much overlap can curriculum handle before it is doing just a "mediocre" (or even poor) job of meeting the different expectations?

    I look forward to seeing your question (and hopefully answer) expand through this course! Well done.

    Chelsey Abrahamson

    ReplyDelete

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