There are those who label as core any attempt to correlate, however loosely, two or more separate subjects of the curriculum. Particularly is this true if two periods are combined into one block for such correlation effort. Many would limit the term core to apply to some form of unified studies approach where the content of two or more subjects are fused, the subject lines broken down, and the content organized around large central themes, such as &dquo;Our American Heritage&dquo; to replace separate courses in American literature and American history. Some, including leading curriculum authorities, restrict the use of the term core to refer to a form of curriculum organization that disregards completely traditional subject matter divisions or combinations thereof, and centers this phase of the curriculum around problems of personal-social concern common to all, thereby developing those insights, personal and social skills essential to effective participation in our democratic society as a way of life.Still others, accepting the last idea of core as basic in our modern conception of experience learning, further limit the meaning of the core curriculum to involve an organization of all learning experiences into a cohesive curriculum pattern consisting of two major divisions; namely, first, the organization into an integrated program of those types of problem experiences of personal and social concern needed by all competent citizens, and second, the close interrelation with the above of these types of problem experiences included in the total curriculum designed to provide for the special interests, abilities, and aptitudes that will enable each learner to develop his individual potentials to their maximum. This con-
A CHAPTER on teaching in an issue of the REVIEW devoted to curriculum planning and development is justified more by theoretical need than by the existence of research which can clearly be categorized under the label, "teaching." Educators turn to many other categories which pull together information and ideas related to teaching. In recent REVIEW issues, Ellis (14) examined writings dealing with instructional procedures in secondary schools, and Leavitt (33) reviewed the literature on teacher-pupil relationships in elementary schools. In the third edition of the Encyclopedia of Educational Research, writings related to teaching were summarized by Stiles (55) under "Instruction" and by Wingo (63) under "Methods of Teaching."In summarizing literature on different aspects of the same phenomena, Barr and Jones (3) stated that the primary factors of teaching have been ignored and that only surface aspects have been studied. This opinion is not uncommon today. Dodes (12), reviewing studies from 1900-1955 in order to suggest measures for solidifying the background of pedagogical knowledge, concluded that the dearth of scientific evidence is the result, in part, of ready acceptance of mere opinion and of a lack of clarity in terminology. The need to study teacher behavior in a context of theory was emphasized by Ryans (47), and it is this recurring theme which justifies inclusion of a chapter on teaching in this issue of the REVIEW.Whatever schools do or are expected to do, most educators would agree that teachers are expected to, and do, teach. Of all researchers in education, those who claim the curriculum as their field of inquiry presumably have the greatest interest in teaching. One would assume, therefore, that curriculum research would focus major attention on teaching in order to understand it and thereby gain greater control over it. However, teaching has seldom been studied by curriculum researchers as a social or educational phenomenon in its own terms. For example, the comprehensive review of 25 years of educational research (1) published in 1956 reported not one study focused directly on teaching.During the three-year period of this review, researchers have continued to study (a) effectiveness of teaching and prediction of teacher success, (b) teacher-student relationships, and (c) methods and styles of teaching. There is, however, a growing interest in the study of teaching as such.246
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