Documente Academic
Documente Profesional
Documente Cultură
Emily Fraser
UMHB
Curriculum Ideologies 2
Social Efficiency is an ideology surfacing in the early 20th Century. Franklin Bobbitt
demanded that educators of the time looked at what skills were needed to have a successful
industrial future. Bobbitt gave an appropriate analogy: The child is the raw material and the
adult is the finished product. With the teacher being a factory worker and the curriculum
representing the change to happen; once it is all put together you have the desired
Four Components
The Social ideology originates from four movements: Social reform, Utilitarian
Education, Behavioral Psychology, and Scientific Methodology. These four movements continue
First social reform, the inspiration making the needs of todays society the top priority. In
1913 Bobbitt described social reform as: The ideal of social-service is rapidly becoming the
corner-stone of faith in every department of human affairs in none certainly more than in the
Secondly, we will look at the utilitarian education movement. At the turn of the 20t
Century, educators began to emphasize the importance of focusing curriculum and student
education on relevant skills needed to become a successful adult. Currently, educators are
constantly learning new forms of technology and trades to help their students be better prepared
for the future. Educators are becoming more understanding of what skills children need to
Third, behavioral psychology is the older movement of the group, but is an important
one. As a child acquires new skills and internalizes what is being taught, it is important for the
child to understand as to why the lessons being taught are important to their own life and future
success.
Lastly, scientific methodology is the how to the ideology. Educators are constantly
looking for ways to analyze data, looking for trends, and experimenting new ideas. Educators
needed a process to put this ideology through to justify the reasoning behind each component.
As children learn, the educators must constantly make changes to their teaching to better
fit the needs of each student. Learning styles, interests, and pace are all elements of the
instruction to be considered. In Social Efficiency, educators must have the knowledge of how to
do this. Through the behaviors of the educators and teachers, specific information is prioritized
and emphasized. The responsibility of the educator is to then monitor the students as they learn
to ensure each student is doing what is expected and will allow them to be successful citizens.
Schiro explains Bobbitts comparison for both the teacher and the student. The student is looked
at as the factory worker. They expel energy to meet the demands of the teacher. The teacher is
then looked at as the manager. The teacher ensures the environment is a safe one encouraging
productivity. The consequence of these roles is that since the focus is mainly on productivity and
future life skills, the traditional teacher/student relationship is not possible. Another consequence
is the teacher becomes pressured to focus solely on results for a better evaluation. The students
themselves become last on the priority list and the scores jump to the top of the list.
Education can be compared to a pendulum. It goes from one extreme to another and then
back again. Currently, education has its focus on technology and how we can integrate that
technology into all aspects of school. This is happening because of the way our World is going.
In a way, we are all exhibiting Social Efficiency through our acknowledgment of technology in
all work places and fields. Educators have seen the importance of exposure to all available
forms of technology to help better prepare students for future classes in high school and beyond.
In the above section, I briefly explained Social Efficiency Ideology and how it came
about. As I read more I agreed with most of the different theories behind the ideology and the
reasoning as to why they treat students as production workers. Educators feel as though as
assembly line form of teaching is the most efficient way to create future workers and citizens.
It is understandable to be efficient, but is taking away experiences from students the best
practice? In my opinion, no, and that is why I feel the Learner-Centered Ideology is the most
Learner-Centered Ideology has several different looks and ways of teaching. The most
important idea to remember when it comes to this ideology is the students remain the focus of
instruction from start to finish. This does have some natural consequences. Concerning
standardized testing and benchmarks to check for understanding, the teacher will never know if
each student is receiving equal forms of instruction. Student knowledge and progress would be
References:
Schiro, M. (2013). Curriculum Theory: Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns (2nd ed.).
Sage.
Curriculum Ideologies 6