Discusison

The title of this discussion question is the title of the 1861 article by Herbert Spencer. What is the purpose of a curriculum? Is there knowledge that needs to be in the curriculum and other knowledge that does not need to be in the curriculum? In our discussion article, Grant Wiggins argues that we need to rethink our high school curriculum. Spencer noted and Wiggins has examples of how every discipline will argue for the importance of their content. In this course the issue of educational philosophy and learning theory have somewhat dominated each assignment. According to Grant Wiggins, inclusion in the high school curriculum should be based on criteria that come from the mission of the school and that mission is determined by our educational philosophy and the learning theory to which we subscribe. Evaluate and discuss Wiggins' argument based on your learning in the course about curriculum theory and design and its relationship to educational philosophy and learning theory.