Child Development and the Curriculum

As the world presses eagerly forward toward the accomplishment of new things, education also must advance no less swiftly. It must provide the intelligence and the aspirations necessary for the advance; and for stability and consistency in holding the gains. Education must take a pace set, not by itself, but by social progress. The present program of public education was mainly formulated during the simpler conditions of the nineteenth century. In details it has been improved. In fundamentals it is not greatly different. A Program never designed for the present day has been inherited. This is a first book in a field that until recently has been too little cultivated For a long time, WE have been developing the theory of educational method, both general and special, and we have required teachers and supervisors to be thoroughly cognizant of it Recently, however, we have discerned that there is a theory of curriculum –formulation this is no less extensive and involved than that of method; and that it is just as much needed by teachers and superviso To know what to do is as important as to know how to do it. This volume, therefore, is designed for teacher training institutions as an introductory textbook in the theory of the curriculum; and for reading circles in the training of teachers in service. It is hoped also that it may assist the general reader who is interested in noting recent educational tendencies.