Questions

1.  What role does high stakes testing play in education? How can we expect students to be more than receptacles when all we do is deposit information into them based on tests?

2.  Are there resources in place to determine standards-based pedagogy? 3.  Doll’s post-modern view of the curriculum offers four R’s to improve

the curriculum content. As future teachers, administrators, and educators, do you feel that we incorporate Doll’s ideas about the curriculum effectively into our everyday teaching?

The 3rd question is mine. Question 1 and 2 were contributed by my group partners Ellen and Richard

The The Four R’s – an

Alternative to the

Tyler Rationale

William E. Doll Jr.

Tyler Rationale

Ralph Tyler (1902 -1994) was an American Educator who worked in the field of assessment and evaluation.

In 1949, he wrote “Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instructions” which laid out the structure for delivering and evaluating instructions. It consisted of 4 parts that became known as Tyler Rationale. The 4 parts are:

1)What educational purposes should the school seek to obtain? 2) How can learning experiences be selected which are likely to be useful

in attaining these objectives? 3) How can learning experiences be organized for effective instruction? 4) How can the effectiveness of learning experiences be evaluated?

William E. Doll Jr.

William E. Doll Jr. is an Emeritus Professor at John Hopkins University.

In his book, “A Post-Modern Perspective on Curriculum, William E. Doll Jr. traced the movement of the curriculum from a modernist viewpoint to that of a

post-modernist.

In this excerpt he examined the assumptions of the educational polices and practices that existed when he was younger and offers his view on the curriculum as a post-modernist.

His post-modern curriculum is characterized by metaphors and ideas that form a complex system of uncertainty, ambiguity and transformation.

His idea for a post-modern perspective on the curriculum stems from ideas of Piaget, Dewey, Bruner and Whitehead.

Late 19th and early 20th century curriculum- three R's

The late 19th and early 20th century curriculum included the three R’s “Readin, Ritin and Rithmetic”

These creations were geared to the needs of a developing industrial society.

Doll saw the education system in which he grew up in : - as a “factory model” that has roots in behaviorist psychology. - learning followed a specific guideline, deviations were not accepted. - information was transmitted to the students (learners) in a linear order. - the curriculum was predefined and goals were set.

Late 19th and early 20th century curriculum- three R's

Reading – prepared students to read sales slips and bills of lading.

Writing – Palmer method was used (ledger-oriented style)

Arithmetic – not mathematics, included column addition and subtraction with algorithmic division and multiplication in later elementary years.

Connection between Tyler Rationale and the three R's

A pre-set functionalism underlies both.

Tyler’s frame broadens industrial functionalism beyond the three R’s.

However goals are still predetermined , experiences are predetermined and so are the methods for developing these experiences in Tyler’s frame.

Goals and experiences are already in place before any type of student interaction occurs.

Evaluations are not designed to correlate with what students can produce after gaining experience.

Doll's post-modern view of the curriculum

Doll offered a post-modern view of the curriculum that is composed of spontaneous and complex ideas. His idea of a curriculum is one that is, for example:

-generated and not pre-defined -indeterminate yet bounded

His idea of a curriculum is one that is transformative and embodies four R’s which include:

- Richness - Recursion - Relations - Rigor

Richness

Richness - refers to the depth of the curriculum, the multiple layers that exist and as a result the numerous possibilities or interpretations that there may be.

Both teachers and students have to be transformed so : - According to Doll,“ there should be a right amount of indeterminacy,

anomaly, inefficiency, chaos, disequilibrium, dissipation and lived experience.”

- In addition, Doll states that there should be, “problematics, perturbations and possibilities” as part of a rich and transforming curriculum.

Richness in disciplines

Each discipline interprets richness in its own way. Let us take a look at some disciplines

Language Mathematics Sciences (Biological and Physical)

Develops richness by focusing on the interpretation of narratives, myths and metaphors.

Develops richness by playing with patterns.

Develop richness by creating and testing hypotheses

Language has to be as integrated with culture, as one of the determinants of culture.

Uses tools to enrich curriculum like computers.

Social Sciences question assumptions. Participate in dialogues and compare passages to interpret issues in society.

Table 1: Developing Richness in 3 Disciplines

Recursion

Recursion – an interaction that involves reflection with one’s knowledge, environment (surroundings), culture and other people.

Recursion is usually associated with the mathematical operation of iteration. Take the following , a = 3+b

a 4 7 10 13 16

b 1 4 7 10 13

Table 2: Iteration in Mathematics

In this case, formula stays the same but the variables keep changing. The output (a) becomes the input (b)and the process in repeated all over again

Recursion continued

In terms of the curriculum there is no fixed beginning or end (Dewey). The parts of the curriculum are not separated entities but are opportunities for

continuous entries for discussion, reflection, and exploration (Piaget’s reflexive intelligence)

How is recursion different from repetition? Neither reflects the other.

Recursion RepetitionPart of an open frame Closed frame

Develops competence Improve set performance

Reflection plays a positive role- thoughts leap back on themselves (Bruner). Include reflection plus dialogue

Reflection plays a negative role- it breaks the process (flash cards)

Table 3: Recursion and Repetition

Relations

Relations – important to the curriculum in two ways:

a) Pedagogical relation – The matrix or network that exists in the curriculum that gives it its richness.

b) Cultural relation - Cultural or cosmological relations exist outside the curriculum but form a matrix deep within the curriculum.

Pedagogical Relation

Pedagogical relations and the curriculum The process of doing and reflecting makes curriculum richer overtime. Students master material to a certain predetermined level of repetitious proficiency. Relations are developed during the course(changing conditions and situations within the curriculum as time progresses result in a difference between beginning

and end of semester). Doll supports Whitehead’s dictum, to not teach many subjects rather to teach thoroughly with the central ideas being thrown to students in every possible combination. Curriculum needs to be created by classroom community.

Cultural Relations

Cultural relation and the curriculum Narration and dialogue are important in interpretation. Narration includes history (through story), language (orally) and place (story’s

locality). Dialogue connects history, language and place to show us that although culture has

a local origin, the interconnections are global. Cultural relation is an extension of what we know, it extends to include the

cosmos.

Together then, what do pedagogical and cultural relations mean for us?We have to incorporate both pedagogical and cultural relations into our existence. Our progress as a society depends on how well we can connect these two perspectives together. In other words, we should be able to understand how ourlocal perceptions integrate into a larger cosmic and cultural matrix.

Rigor

According to Doll, Rigor may be the most important of all R’s Rigor according to Doll, can be conceived as a dialectic between the complexity

of indeterminacy and critical interpretation.

Indeterminacy - One is never sure he/she is right. He/she is always looking for newcombinations, interpretations, alternatives and patterns.

Interpretation – attempt to rummage through problems, procedures and valuedresults. In order for dialogue to become meaningful and transformative, there shouldbe an attempt to sort out what is important.

Rigor is therefore a mixing between these two components. Doll wants the quality of interpretation to be rich and this depends on how well we develop the alternatives that indeterminacy present.