This question moves us into the efficiency movement & before we explore the movement itself (along with its ideas) we need to set the context. What’s the back-story of schooling & the efficiency movement?
Schooling expanded rapidly during the Industrial Age, and a variety of forces contributed to this complex process. For an overview of this period, see Jim Carl's article, Industrialization & Public Education: Social Cohesion & Social Stratification (International Handbook of Comparative Education, 22, 4, 503-518). Considering the following eight questions will help to contextualize the efficiency movement: (1) Where did most people live & work before the industrial revolution? (2) How did England’s enclosure movement (1760s-1830s) impact on its population? (3) How did the rise of factories impact on the population? (4) What happened when governments took a Laissez Faire approach to working conditions? (5) What problems did the Health & Morals of Apprentices Act (1802) aim to address? (6) Who were the Luddites & what did they want? (7) What was the Sadler Report (1833) about? (8) How did the ever-changing Factory Act (1833, 1844, 1847, 1850, 1853, 1864, 1878) change the workforce?
As schooling became a system, and responsibility, of the state, a drive known as the efficiency movement emerged as the dominant force in education. To better understand the parameters of the efficiency movement, consider the following questions: (1) How did changes in the economy/workforce lead to changes in schooling during the Industrial Age? (2) Who went to school in this era? (3) Why did people go to school in this era & what did people learn in school? (4) How were roles conceptualized? (5) How was curriculum delivered? (6) What was the aim of curriculum during the Industrial Age & how did social forces influence this aim?
A precursor to the efficiency movement emerged in the 1830s/1840s (see The Six Main Principles (1837/1848) & Common School Journal (1837/1848), by Horace Mann, the first secretary of a board of education in America).
Proponents of the efficiency movement believed that curriculum contributes to a society’s wellbeing. Interlocked with this idea were other ideas about what societal well being means. As a consequence, they viewed the aim of curriculum in a particular way. While reading the work of proponents of the efficiency movement (Bobbitt & Tyler), consider the following questions: (1) What exactly was the efficiency movement & why did it emerge in the late 1800s & take hold in the early 1900s? (2) Why did proponents of the efficiency movement & scientific curriculum-making take issue with the classical idea of education? (3) How was the classical movement inefficient & unscientific? (3) On what grounds did people (such as Dewey) oppose the core aims/ideas of the efficiency movement? (4) How should we look back at the efficiency movement from today's perspective?
As you read Bobbitt’s passage, consider the following questions: (1) How does Bobbitt view curriculum? (2) Why does he view curriculum in this way? (3) What sort of strengths/weaknesses do you see in Bobbitt’s ideas? (4) How does he set out to bring efficiency & science into curriculum? (5) What does Bobbitt have to say about vocational curriculum & how do you feel about this? (6) Why does Bobbitt write about employers?
· SCIENTIFIC METHOD IN CURRICULUM-MAKING (from The Curriculum) (1918) – FRANKLIN BOBBITT – (The Curriculum Studies Reader #1)
As you read Tyler’s passage, consider the following questions: (1) How does Tyler view curriculum? (2) Why does he view curriculum in this way? (3) What sort of strengths/weaknesses do you see in Tyler’s ideas? (4) How does he set out to bring efficiency & science into curriculum? (5) What is Tyler’s idea of practical application of school subjects?
· FOUR PRINCIPLES OF CURRICULUM & INSTRUCTION (1949) – RALPH W. TYLER – (The Curriculum Studies Reader #7)
A variety of writers have debated the value & implications of the efficiency movement. (1) What is Kliebard’s view of the efficiency movement & how do you feel about this? (2) How would Bobbitt or Tyler counter Kliebard’s appraisal of the efficiency movement? (3) Does Kliebard feel that schools are being asked to do too much? (4) How do you feel about this?
· THE RISE OF SCIENTIFIC CURRICULUM-MAKING & ITS AFTERMATH (1975) – HERBWET M. KLIEBARD – (The Curriculum Studies Reader #6)
Additional books/articles on the subject of the efficiency movement & scientific curriculum-making include:
· Sociological Determination of Objectives in Education (1921) – DAVID SNEDDEN
· Seven Rules that Govern Curriculum Construction from Curriculum Construction (1923) – W.W. CHARTERS
· Education & the Cult of Efficiency (1962) – RAYMOND CALLAHAN
· How Dewey Lost: The Victory of David Snedden and Social Efficiency in the Reform of American Education (2008/2010) – DAVID F. LABAREE
· Generational Ideas in Curriculum: A Historical Triangulation (2005) – PETER S. HLEBOWITSH – (The Curriculum Studies Reader #23)
