Complexity and the Culture of Curriculum

Abstract

This paper has two main foci: (1) the history of curriculum design, and (2) implications from the new sciences of chaos and complexity for the development of new forms of curriculum design and teaching implementation. Regarding the first focus, the paper posits that there exist—to use Wittgenstein’s phrase—‘family resemblances’ between Peter Ramus’ 16th century curriculum design and that of Ralph Tyler in the 20th century. While this 400-year linkage is by no means linear, there are overlapping strands from Ramus to Comenius to the Puritans to colonial New England to Horace Mann to Ralph Tyler. What unites these strands, all belonging to the Protestant Methodization movement that swept across northern Europe into colonial America and the USA, is the concept of Method. Taylor’s ‘time and motion’ studies set the stage for Tyler’s Basic Principles of curriculum design—those starting with set goals and concluding with measured assessment. The second focus draws on the new sciences of chaos and complexity to develop a different sense of curriculum and instruction—open, dynamic, relational, creative, and systems oriented. The paper concludes with an integration of the rational/scientific with the aesthetic/ spiritual into a view of education and curriculum informed by complexity.

Leadership for change in the educational wild west of post-Katrina New Orleans

“…As Doll (2008) notes, ''the steadiness of an open system is a dynamic or unstable steadiness… the system maintains an 'imbalance,' neither too great or too small, but of 'just the right amount' for the system to be continually active' ' (p. 197). Substantive changes cannot be mandated, and silver bullet solutions sold by fast-talking reformers are bound to fail unless teachers and administrators engage in meaningful thought, dialogue, and action around improving education for their students (Ravitch 2000).…”

Convergence in Library and Museum Studies Education: Playing Around with Curriculum?

“…It has the assumption of a simple routine order, dichotomous structures, and predictive principles. (Doll, 2012). This traditional approach, according to Doll (2012), constricts creative and human thinking.…”

“…(Doll, 2012). This traditional approach, according to Doll (2012), constricts creative and human thinking.…”

Systems models in educational research: a review and realignment in the context of curriculum

“…Systems-based models have commonly been used as a means of managing data for educational phenomena as a topic of research or for improved practice (Biggs 1999;Doll 2008;Frederiksen 1989;Hicks 2007;Iannone 1995;Semetsky 2008). As a social system with multiple complex parts in constant flux and interaction with the environment, education epitomises the characteristics of a complex system (Hicks 2007).…”

“…Navigation of this complexity when developing a research design is a difficult task, especially for the novice educational researcher or scholarly practitioner. In particular, identifying the boundaries of a topic for study and the connections between the multiple influences on educational events or outcomes can seem a daunting and unachievable task.Systems-based models have commonly been used as a means of managing data for educational phenomena as a topic of research or for improved practice (Biggs 1999;Doll 2008;Frederiksen 1989;Hicks 2007;Iannone 1995;Semetsky 2008). As a social system with multiple complex parts in constant flux and interaction with the environment, education epitomises the characteristics of a complex system (Hicks 2007).…”