Content I. Introduction II. Main part Approaches of Curriculum 4

Idealist Curriculum Theory

This theory is prevalent during the days of Plato. Idealists viewed curriculum as a body of intellectual subject matter and learned disciplines that are ideational and conceptual. Mathematics, history and literature for instance are ranked very high. The overriding goal of Idealist education was to encourage students to be seekers of truth.

2. 
   Realist Curriculum Theory
   

Aristotle finds Realism. Realist curriculum maintains that the most effective and efficient way to find out about reality is to study it through systematically organized subject matter disciplines. Realist curriculum involves instruction in the areas of reading, writing, and computation. Gaining knowledge through research methods are stressed.

3. 
   Naturalist Curriculum Theory
   

The Naturalists view of curriculum differed from the earlier theorists. Learning should actively involve children in dealing with the environment, using their senses, and solving problems. Naturalists maintained that genuine education is based on the readiness and needs of the human being.

4. 
   Pragmatic (Experiential) Curriculum Theory
   

This curriculum theory approaches learning through experiencing . The child’s interests, needs and experiences are taken into consideration.

5. 
   Existentialist Curriculum Theory
   

The curriculum includes the skills and subjects that explain physical and social reality. “The crucial learning phase is not in the structure of knowledge, nor in curricular organization but rather in the student’s construction of its meaning”

6. 
   Conservatism Curriculum Theory
   

The curriculum should transmit the general culture to all and provide appropriate education to the various strata in society. This curriculum included the basic skills found in most school programs – reading, writing, and math.
One of the most widely cited classifications of curriculum theories is proposed by Eisner and Vallance (1974 : 56). As they survey the field, they find five different conceptions of or orientations to the curriculum, which are:

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  A “cognitive-process” approach is concerned primarily with the development of intellectual operations and is less concerned with specific content.
  
• 
  The “curriculum-as-technology” orientation conceptualizes the function of curriculum as finding the most efficient means of accomplishing predetermined ends.
  
• 
  “Self-actualization” sees curriculum as a consummative experience designed to produce personal growth.
  
• 
  “Social reconstruction-relevance” emphasizes societal needs over individual needs. Theorists with this orientation tend to believe that the primary role of the school is to relate to the larger society, with either an adaptive or a reformist stance.
  
• 
  “Academic rationalism” emphasizes the importance of the standard disciplines in helping the young participate in the Western cultural tradition.
  

A tripartite classification proposed by Pinar ( 1978: 205-214) seems equally unsatisfactory: In his formulation, all curriculum theorists can be classified as traditionalists, conceptual empiricists, or reconceptualists.