Discussion Board Week 7: Curriculum: Foundations, Principals and Issues (Chapters 6 and 7) by Allen C. Ornstein and Francis P. Hunkins

1. Curriculum: Foundations, Principals, and Issues
Allen C. Ornstein and Francis P. Hunkins, 2013
Chapter 6
CURRICULUM DESIGN

2. Horizontal and Vertical Organization
 Horizontal Organization combines, classifies, and categorizes related subject
areas to form a unified content matter. Exposes students to multiple subject areas.
For example: History + anthropology + sociology + geography = Social Studies
 Vertical Organization – curricular elements in a sequence. For example: In
second grade students identify unit fractions as parts of a whole; In third grade
students add and subtract unit fractions; In fourth grade students compare and
order fractions with like denominators and like numerators
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013).

3. Things to remember…
A curriculum design should achieve:
 Scope – a curriculum’s depth of content; all of the content, topics, learning experiences and the
links between them; curriculums horizontal organization
 Sequence – deciding on what content should come first within a hierarchy of developmental
goals how it should be built upon
 Continuity – recurring and continuing opportunity to practice and develop skills in which
students have already been pre-exposed.
 Integration – linking and exposing the relationship between all types of knowledge and
experiences contained within a curricular plan. Emphasizes horizontal relationships among topics.
 Articulation – the relationship between vertical and horizontal aspects of the curriculum. Linking
information between courses along a continuum of learning.
 Balance – applying appropriate weight to each aspect of the curriculum.
(Ornsten and Hunkins, 2013).

4. Major Curriculum Designs
In order to design curriculum, one must have an understanding of what it means to
educate as well as the purpose of education. With so many different visions,
opinions, and new discoveries in brain research, deciding upon a direction for which
to structure a curriculum can be an overwhelming task. Fortunately for educators,
there are foundations in place to guide us towards selecting the best design for our
population’s needs. We can decide between Subject Centered, Learner Centered,
and Problem Centered curricular structures and choose a design based on our
educational philosophies (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013).

5. Subject Centered Designs
Subject Design (Essentialism + perennialism) – Separate subjects with subject specialists. Easy to deliver
with corresponding textbooks. With an increase in knowledge and field specialists, areas have increased
over time, i.e. English is broken down into literature, grammar, writing, speech, reading, linguistics.
Discipline Design (Essentialism + perennialism) – Appeared after WWII. Slightly more organized version of
Subject Design. Focuses on academic disciplines of science, mathematics, English, history, and certain other
subjects.
Broad-fields Design (Essentialism + progressivism) – A version of Subject Design; blended two or more
subject areas to give students a more broad view of subject matter within shorter lengths of time.
Correlation Design (Progressivism + essentialism) – A combination or median of the Broad-fields and subject
Designs. Combines certain related subjects but keeps them separated. While learning about the American
Revolution in history class, in Literature students might read a novel set within the same time period.
Process Design (Progressivism) – separate subjects; students learn through process and procedures.
Students learn about subject matter through processes by which those who study the content as a
profession. For example: Students learn history from the point of view of the historian.
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013).

6. Learner Centered Designs
Child-centered Design (Progressivism) – promotes active learning; design is based on
student’s lives, needs, and interests (with educational value). Student’s interests are
studied and a curriculum is planned accordingly.
Experience-centered Design (Progressivism) – closely resemble child-centered design;
curriculum is not pre-planned. Teachers create a stimulating environment where
students learn through exploring and watching others learn.
Radical Design (Reconstructionism) – goal is to encourage student awareness of
inequities in society. Radicals believe that schools are being used and operate to control
the minds of our youth. Radical curricular design intends to break that mold and
encourage students to restructure society.
Humanistic Design (Reconstructionism + existentialism) – students learn what students
want to learn, with emphasis on learning for pleasure. Encourages self-understanding.
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013).

7. Problem Centered Designs
Life-situations Design (Reconstructionism) – students learn through the study of real
life situations and problems. Focus on problem-solving procedures. Involves the
integration of subject matter.
Reconstructionist Design (Reconstructionism) – encourages social action geared
toward reconstructing society. The purpose of this style of curriculum is to engage
students to analyze the local, national, and international community and its
problems.
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013).

8. Chapter 7
Curriculum Development
Call me a traditionalist, but at this point, with the relatively narrow scope on curriculum my current
knowledge and experience permits me to have, I can’t see any way in which a Nontechnical-Nonscientific model
could be relevant in the 21st century, at least within a mass education system. From my point of view, many
nontraditional, subjective curricular structures seem well in theory, however, they have one critical common flaw.
That is—from my own perspective—they require extraordinary individuals to create, and extraordinary
individuals to effectively implement. Extraordinary because undergraduate programs aren’t designed to provide
educators with adequate knowledge and exposure to such curricular models. Therefore, in order to gain an
understanding to even implement, let alone construct an effective nontechnical-nonscientific curricular model,
one must undergo further analysis beyond what’s required to obtain a teaching license. Furthermore, it would
be difficult to ensure validity without an objective method of evaluation.
I believe that an effective curriculum must begin with clear, objective goals, guidelines, and structure in
order to function in today’s society that can only be achieved from a Technical-Scientific model. In order to
ensure effective instruction within a school district, curriculum must be predetermined. Even without the
influence of high stakes testing, there should be some form of accountability for all members of an education
system.
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013).

9. What Dangers are there in equating goals and standards?
“[According to Evelyn Sowell, goals answer the question: “What destination do you
have for learners as far as a particular curriculum or subject is concerned.”]”
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013.; Sowell 1996.)
Goals and Standards, although often stated as equals, are different from one another. The major
difference being, that Goals are more general than Standards. Goals do not state a measurable
outcome within. Although both state an intended outcome in regards to a long-term event,
Standards are measurable outcomes and align more precisely with objectives, or measurable short
term behaviors required to meet a Standard (Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013).

10. What are the central criteria to consider when
selecting curriculum content?
When selecting curriculum content, there are a number of items one must keep in mind. Foremost,
as stated by Yong Zhao:
a) The selected content should reflect the culture of the students
b) Content should be relatable to a global society.
c) Content should be useful and meaningful. Therefore it must provide knowledge that relates to
student concerns.
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013; Zhao, 2009).

11. Criteria for Selecting Content
Although the amount of weight applied to each may vary depending on philosophy, a degree of consideration must be
applied to each of the following criteria when selecting curriculum content.
Self Sufficiency – Within the allotted time frame for instruction, are students able to demonstrate
content knowledge on their own or with the identified amount of assistance?
Significance – Does the content relate to the overall goals or standards within the curricular
structure?
Validity – Is the content accurate, and will it remain accurate for an extended time? Is the content
applicable to a vast array of uses?
Interest – Is the content relatable to the learner? Are the learners interested in the content?
Utility – How useful will the content be within 21st century society? Will learners be able to apply
content to a life skill?
Learnability – Is the content socially and developmentally appropriate for its intended learners?
Feasibility – Is the selected content able to be completed within the allotted time frame? Are the
money, resources, and specialized staff available to implement the selected content? Does the
content fit within the legal, social, and political framework of the community?
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 2013).

12. References
Ornstein, A., & Hunkins, F. (2013). Curriculum: Foundations, principles,
and issues. Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice Hall.
Sowell, E. (1996). Curriculum: An integrative introduction. Upper
Saddle River, NJ: Merrill, 1996, p.20.
Zhao, Y. (2009). Catching up or leading the way. Alexandria, VA:
Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.