John Dewey's critique of the prescribed curriculum and education

Ethics of a Prescribed Curriculum

The prescribed curriculum has been the source of much debate among scholars and philosophers alike as various views of how the curriculum should be formulated arise from the different philosophical views of the purpose of and proper format of the educative process.

John Dewey (1902)

John Dewey states in his work entitled: "The Child and the Curriculum" that differences in theory that are profound in nature "are never gratuitous or invented. They grow out of conflicting elements in a genuine problem -- a problem which is genuine jut because the elements, taken as they stand, are conflicting." (1902) Any problem of a significant nature "involves conditions that for the moment contradict each other." (Dewey, 1902) Very wisely, Dewey notes that the only means to a solution is to effectively remove the framework of thought "away from the meaning of terms that is already fixed upon and coming to see the conditions from another point-of-view, and hence in a fresh light." (1902) However, be warned because to enter this process of "reconstruction" means entering into a condition characterized by "travail of thought." (Dewey, 1902)

It is much easier, according to Dewey, to simple stand behind already formulated ideas and to seek "about for something with which to buttress it against attack." (1902) The result: "…sects arise; schools of opinion." (Dewey, 1902) And each of these chooses "that set of conditions that appeal to it; and then erects them into a complete and independent truth, instead of treating them as a factor in a problem, needing adjustment." (Dewey, 1902)

It is important to note Dewey's statement on the fundamental factors in the process of education in that he states that these are "immature…[and]…undeveloped," and that it is within this framework that the "educative process" must navigate and among these various forces. The educative process is one, according to Dewey characterized by fragmentation of facts, facts that are easily interchangeable with the mindset of the social grouping and within this framework the child experiences the world. This is a world in which "facts are torn away form their original place in experience and rearranged with reference to some general principle." (1902)

Educational studies are stated by Dewey to be "classified...the product…"instead of the child's experiential knowledge. Fundamental diverges are stated to exist and the first is "the narrow but personal world of the child against the impersonal but infinitely extended world of space and time; second, the unity, the single whole-heartedness of the child's life, and the specializations and divisions of the curriculum; third, an abstract principle of logical classification and arrangement and the practical and emotional bonds of child life." (Dewey, 1902)

The curriculum works as a great powerful piece of machinery in the educative process that effectively "subdivide[s] each topic into studies; each study into lessons; each lesson into specific facts and formulae." (Dewey, 1902) The great curriculum mechanism effectively orchestrates the feeding of the child's mind that is expected to appear as "ductile and docile." (Dewey, 1902) Not so according to the other "sect" as the child is centric to the process with the child's "development…growth" being that which is held as "the ideal." (Dewey, 1902)

II. Bernstein and the Curriculum

The work of Bernstein observed that pedagogic identity "emerges as a reflection of a differing discursive bids 'to construct in teachers and students a particular moral disposition, motivation and aspiration, embedded in particular performances and practices' (1999, p. 246: as cited in Moore, 2008) Specifically, initiatives focused toward curricular reform focus on inclining "pedagogic dispositions one way or another. Importantly though -- and policy proposals tend to ignore this -- identity is as much a social as an individual achievement, and Bernstein reminds us that pedagogic identity 'is the result of embedding a career in a collective social base'. But what is not clear is how policy-driven shifts in identity -- and the curricula that are supposed to produce these identities -- are to be supported by appropriate social bases, or in other words the forms of social organization that legitimate and sustain particular values and patterns of practice." (Moore, 2003)

III. The Paradigm Shift

The work of Anne Murphy (2008) entitled: "The Interface Between Academic Knowledge and Working Knowledge Implications for curriculum design and pedagogic practice" states that the definition of a 'paradigm' may be loosely based on "Kuhn's original definition which is broadly defined as a set of practices underpinned by shared epistemology, values and beliefs, habits of reasoning, patterns of judgment and working techniques, with broad agreement on theories and concepts." (Murphy, 2008) Murphy additionally states that one paradigm may effectively emerge from another and as well one may replace the other in a process of displacement or they might very well exist right alongside one another. (Paraphrased) From the larger view which Murphy refers to as the "meso level of epistemology, a paradigm" is that which determines "what counts as acceptable, or legitimate, knowledge." (Murphy, 2008)

Murphy goes on to state that a paradigm is the mediator the community practices "at the micro level of ethics and praxis…" (2008) However, this paradigm will experience shifts depending upon "circumstances, events, and actions" and the field of education also "organizes itself and positions itself within the world" and education as well may be the cause of the shift of change of paradigm. Paradigmatic change makes a requirement of the "power elite" as they are "generally accepted" to be to "accept" this change and only then is the paradigm to which the shift has been made going to be one that is sustainable.

V. Stenhouse, Habermas and Bernstein

The present paradigm in education is one that is extremely adherent to standardized instruction and testing and this issue is addressed in a study in Ireland which places an emphasis on the statement of Noddings (1998) as follows: "The odd notion that establishing national goals will make teachers work harder and more effectively, thereby making students work harder and more effectively is part of a long tradition that assumes an autonomous agent can logically plot a course of action and through personal competence somehow carry it out, even if others are intimately involved. Noddings (1998:196; as cited in: Moles, 2005) In other words, a merely prescription does not ensure the proper framework or provision of education and it is this that demonstrates the power of the 'paradigm' from within which education effectively proceeds in its provision.

Lawrence Stenhouse (1975) spoke 'initiation' and 'induction' as learning functions and held that these forms of learning effectively reached further than 'training' and 'instruction' which are instrumental learning. The initiation stage of learning is an independent learning stage where the learner grasps and understands for themselves the object of learning and in which the learner's dependence upon both the teacher and upon learning structures are lessened. A higher stage of independent learning was referred to by Stenhouse as 'induction' and is a stage of learning in which the learner has come to the place of owning, valuing and believing in the object of learning for themselves. Stenhouse affirmed the need for foundational knowledge upon which the higher learning skills can be constructed and held that the functional knowledge must be solidly in place before higher learning functions could begin.

Curriculum, according to the work of Grundy "is often written and spoken about in an idealistic sense as if there is a perfect 'idea' of a curriculum of which all individual curricular are more or less imperfect imitations." (1987) Curriculum is "not a concept, it is a cultural construction…a way or organizing a set of human educational practices." (Grundy, 1987) Grundy states that a framework for "meaning or curriculum practices is provided by the theory of 'knowledge constitutive interests' proposed by the German philosopher Jurgen Habermas." (1987) The knowledge-constitutive interests do not merely represent an orientation towards knowledge or rationality on the part of the human species, but rather constitute human knowledge itself." (Grundy, 1987) It is explained by Richard Bernstein that "such interests or orientations are knowledge-constitutive because they shape and determine what counts as the objects and types of knowledge. Knowledge-constitute interest both shape what we consider to constitute knowledge and determine the categories by which we organize that knowledge." (1979) Grundy notes that Habermas identified "three basic cognitive interests: (1) technical, (2) practical and (3) emancipatory and states that these interest constitute the three types of science by which knowledge is generated and organized in our society. These three ways of knowing are: (1) empirical-analytic; (2) historical-hermeneutic; and (3) critical. (Grundy, 1987)

VIII. Conclusion

This work has examined the various philosophical concepts related to the prescribed curriculum and this close examination has resulted in the researcher gaining an understanding that the question of what is or alternatively is not ethical in regards to the curriculum is very much dependent on the dominating 'school of thought' that reigns supreme and the paradigm that the question of ethics regarding the curriculum arising within. For the purposes of democracy there can be no question that the elective process within the curricular framework is desirable and viewed as the most ethical framework from which to formulate the curriculum because invasive control of the curriculum by the government or religious authorities serves to supplant the ideals of the amount of freedom the student should posses in the pursuit of their educational goals. However, the prescribed curriculum should not be considered so lightly as to dismiss the inherent importance of the prescriptions which it contains for the educational attainment of students in that in order that the student attain a degree in a specific field of study there is knowledge that the student must necessarily gain and be in full possession of if they are to effectively practice in that field of study. Therefore, there is an ethical obligation to be met in ensuring that students receive the necessary education and training to step forth into their roles in their field of study as a professional that is knowledgeable and suitably educated to assume their professional position adeptly rather than due to the lack of field-specific learning to commit some atrocity of malpractice against society-at-large. The ethical aspects of the prescribed curriculum are aspects that must be carefully balanced in today's educational system just as historically has been the case as this study has clearly demonstrated.