Curriculum Development: A Guide to Practice

by Jon W. Wiles

Taba (1962), a curriculum specialist concerned with the development aspects of curriculum: Semantics aside, these variations in the conception of the function of education are not idle or theoretical arguments. They have definite concrete implications for the shape of educational programs, especially the curriculum. . . . If one believes that the chief function of education is to transmit the perennial truths, one cannot but strive toward a uniform curriculum and teaching. Efforts to develop thinking take a different shape depending on whether the major function of education is seen as fostering creative thinking and problem solving or as following the rational forms of thinking established in our classical tradition. As such, differences in these concepts naturally determine what are considered the “essentials” and what are the “dispensable frills” in education. (p. 30 )