SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FORCES AFFECTING CURRICULUM DECISIONS

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SOCIAL AND CULTURAL FORCES AFFECTING CURRICULUM
DECISIONS

• EDU 685
• WEEK 4

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SOCIETAL EXPECTATIONSFOR SCHOOLS

• Teach the basics
• Transmit social customs
• Develop civility in the young
• Foster development of individual talents

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GOALS 2000

• Enter school ready to learn.
• Ninety percent increase in graduation rate
• Competency at grades 4, 8, and 12
• Continued improvement for teaching force
• U.S. first in mathematics and science
• Every adult literate
• Schools free of drugs, violence, firearms
• Partnerships with parents

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SOCIETAL INFLUENCES ON SCHOOLS

• Inhibiting change
• Speeding change
• Political pressures

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TRADITION VS. CHANGE

• Legal authority
• Principles of right and wrong

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tradition vs. change, continued...

• Psychological resistance to change

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SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES

• Development and growth of knowledge
• Financial support of public schools
• Changes in human conduct
• Population mobility

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RATE OF CHANGE

• One way to illustrate the rate of change is to
  divide the last 100,000 years of human existence
  into lifetimes of approximately 75 years each or
  a total of 1,333 lifetimes. Only during the last
  60 lifetimes has it been possible to communicate
  effectively from one lifetime to another through
  writing.
• p. 143

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Rate of change, continued...

• Only in the last six lifetimes did humankind see
  a printed word.
• Only in the last two lifetimes has anyone
  anywhere used a motor, and only in the last one
  have we used electricity.
• p.143

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Rate of change, continued...

• To a person born in 1940, who was 50 years old
  in 1990, the following occurred
• Telecommunications became instantaneous.
• Speed of information processing increased a
  millionfold.
• Major organs were transplanted.
• Moon and Martian landings were successful. p.
  143

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POLITICAL PRESSURESON SCHOOLS

• 1950s - Beat the Russians.
• 1960s - Well succeed somehow anyway.
• 1970s - The federal government will
  provide.

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Political pressures, continued...

• 1980s - Wheres the money?
• 1990s - Exercise choice!

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LARGER DEVELOPMENTS

• Conservatism
• Schools of choice

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Larger developments, continued..

• Cultural shifts
• Curriculum bulge

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INFLUENCES WITHIN THE COMMUNITY

• Communities own needs
• Curriculum limits
• Who shall receive schooling
• The Board of Education

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IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTS

• Inner-city
• Suburban
• Rural

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STRATEGIES FOR USING INFLUENCES

• Be open-minded
• Take the lead
• Consider American feelings about education
• Recognize dynamics of education and teaching
• Realize reality of politics

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SUMMARY

• Quality
• Equity
• Efficiency
• Choice