Innovative Higher Education, Vol. 24, No.

2, Winter 1999

EDITOR'S PAGE

Ralph Tyler on Curriculum: A Voice from

the Past with a Message for the Future
Ronald D. Simpson
In this world of rapid, almost uncontrolled change, it is comforting
to know that the ideas of some who have gone before us still ring true
today. Such is the case of Ralph W. Tyler. This educational giant, who
lived only eight years shy of a century, provided us with a model for
thinking about curriculum that is as sensible today as it was when
he published Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction in 1949.
Ralph W. Tyler's 70-year career in education included his monumental
eight-year study, a founding role in the National Academy of Education, directorship of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral
Sciences at Stanford University, his influence in the formulation of several national assessment projects, a legendary career as a professor and
dean at the University of Chicago, and a consultant to five U.S. presidents. Without question, Ralph Tyler stands today as one of the most
brilliant educational thinkers of our century, a giant among educational
giants.
What does Ralph Tyler have to tell us today in higher education? How
do his ideas relate to what and how we teach in higher education? Just
as I find re-runs of the old Andy Griffith Show as incredibly entertaining
and funny today as I did forty years ago, I find the message of Ralph
Tyler still as crisp and rational as any scheme for curriculum planning
available today.
The simple and elegant components of the Tyler Model include a few
concepts that are, again, as rich today as they were fifty years ago. The
fundamental question that Tyler always addressed was to question the
sources from which we draw the basic goals of education and to ask
ourselves how to refine these goals into appropriate instructional objectives. I would like to review, in a brief and hopefully succinct manner,
some of his major ideas about curriculum planning.
One major source of educational goals, no matter what the context, is
what Tyler called "the nature of the society." This means that whatever
we do in the name of education in this country should serve the needs
of democracy, freedom, and justice and should manifest a general belief
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in an open enterprise system of thinking as well as economics. Furthermore, our country is one that has embraced science and technology as
a way of searching for truth as well as improving the quality of life
for everyone. We are pluralistic and mobile in nature and have worked
hard for equal rights for all citizens, admitting openly that we are not
finished with any of these endeavors. If Ralph Tyler were alive today, he
would stress once again that any educational system is by its very nature an extension of the values of its society. We should never forget this.
Ralph Tyler believed strongly that any educational planning should
consider seriously the nature of the learner. This is why college educators need to be acutely aware of the nature of undergraduate and
graduate students today. Students entering college this year are vastly
different than those of just fifteen to twenty years ago. Many have grown
up in homes and communities quite different from that of their professors. Today students are more sophisticated socially than those of two
or three decades ago; yet in other ways they are less prepared for the
rigors of scholarship and deep learning. Students today are more skeptical and cynical than in the past, and many have less faith in the value
of a college education and less hope that they will find a good job after
four or five years on a college campus. While they are more demanding in many ways, they are perhaps more open and honest than their
peer groups of a few decades ago. It is extremely important for college
educators to be aware of the social, intellectual, and spiritual maturity of students as appropriate instructional goals are established as
expectations.
The third major area that Tyler talked about as a major source of
educational goals was the nature of the discipline or profession. Each
of our basic disciplines in the arts, humanities, and sciences represents
rich histories and deep cultural roots. Each of these areas has come to
embrace unique ways of discovering new knowledge, organizing facts
into major concepts and drawing meaning from the centuries of thinking produced by those on whose shoulders we stand. Each of the areas
of professional study such as law, medicine, education, social work, and
business possesses rich traditions and core values on which their members operate. It is imperative that a college teacher not only know his or
her subject matter content in the deepest way possible; one must also
be aware of the unique historical evolution and nuances that prevail
within the discipline or profession and be able to communicate that to
students.
Once the major educational goals are established in any educational
setting (coming from the three aforementioned sources), Ralph Tyler

Editor's Page

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then talked about refining these broad goals by running them through
two screens: a philosophical filter and a psychological filter. All societies
and educational systems adhere to certain beliefs and values that color
the instructional objectives of the day. In the United States, for example, the higher education system provides for much greater access than
does that of many countries. Our system values individualism, equal
opportunity, diversity of thought, and a general belief that if anyone
works hard enough they can be successful. And among our 3,500 institutions of higher learning are all kinds of other principles that make
for a hugely diverse set of options such as religiously affiliated, technologically oriented, or liberal arts based programs.
The psychological screen or filter of which Tyler spoke includes such
factors as our knowledge of how students learn, the developmental
stage at which a student is thought to be, and many other environmental and cultural factors that are important to consider while managing
the circumstances associated with a particular educational activity.
The ideas of Ralph Tyler are as relevant today as they were fifty years
ago. A competent educator at any level is one who considers the nature
of the society in which he or she works, the nature of the learners to
which he or she has been entrusted, and the nature of the discipline or
profession in which the instruction is occurring. Once these broad goals
are realized then refinement occurs by making adjustments based on
philosophical and psychological considerations deemed to be important.
Once the educator understands the direction in which each learner
should go, then a toolbox of instructional methods is available to help
accomplish the desired learning outcomes. Ralph Tyler also spent many
years thinking about and implementing ways of assessing learning.
Being able to ascertain that important concepts, skills, or processes
have been learned is still a daunting task for college educators today.
It was Ralph Tyler some seven decades ago who began thinking about
and formulating the education model that is the foundation on which
we think and operate today. Ralph Tyler not only inspired many young
colleagues who have helped shape American education, he constructed
a framework in which we are able to think about our responsibilities
as reflective teaching scholars. Like good music, visual art or science,
those things that withstand the test of time, his ideas thrive today with
the same degree of fidelity as they did early in his seventy year-long
career as an educational giant.

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