Modernism VS Postmodernism

Modernism

Assumptions

1. Life & the world are mechanical
2. There exists a stable-state universe
3. Curriculum development can be compartmentalized and decontextualized "norm"
4. Goals can be separated from the experience designed to address them

Leading proponents

1. Bobbitt (The Curriculum, 1918): first consider curriculum as a science; curriculum development is precise and predictable, resulting in a tangible product; still the mainstream view in today's schools
   
2. Tyler (Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, 1949): four basic questions (modernist, linear, cause-effect framework
   
   • What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
   • What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purpose?
   • How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
   • How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?
3. Taba (Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice, 1962): There was a definite order to curriculum development; all curricula are composed of certain elements; seven-step model:
   
   • Diagnosis of needs
   • Formulation of objective
   • Selection of content
   • Organization of content
   • Selection of learning experiences
   • Organization of learning experience
   • Evaluation and means of evaluation
     

Postmodernism

Assumptions

1. Life is organic, not mechanical
2. The universe is dynamic, not stable
3. Curriculum development is not passive acceptance of steps, but evolves from action with the system in particular contexts
4. Goals emerge oftentimes from the very experiences in which people engage

Leading proponents

1. Giroux (1991): encourage the achievement and employment of multiple awareness
   
2. Lyotard (1992): play the game without rules, and from the very playing, to invent new rules; our challenge is not that of supplying a clear reality, but inventing allusions to the conceivable and engaging ourselves in the dynamics of the system
   
3. Doll: four criteria (1993, 4 Rs)
   
   • Richness: players include teachers, students, and interested parties from the wider community; curricula must have some disturbing qualities
     
   • Recursion: stability + change; reflective interaction; no fixed beginning or ending; the curriculum is designed to allow for continually going back to and then incorporating previous points and insights into a growing sense of understanding
     
   • Relations: dialogue between students and teachers; social activity full of surprises
     
   • Rigor: critique validity; cultivate new ideas
     
4. Slattery (?)
5. Pinar (?)