Research on Postmodern Curriculum Part 1

Abstract:
This paper is trying to explore the postmodern curriculum to adapt the curriculum to the changing society and attempt to seek a kind of innovative curriculum in an open platform and background.

1. Introduction

1.1 Pinar, Reynolds, Slattery and Taubman1 have discussed upon poststructuralism, deconstructionism and postmodern orientation in (Understanding Curriculum, 2005) as important contemporary curriculums. Besides, they have repeatedly discussed the influence of postmodernity on other curriculums during their research on orientation of such curriculums (including politics, race, gender, phenomenology, autobiography/ biography, aesthetics and divinity, etc.), namely, postmodernity can bring these curriculums creative concepts to urge them to transform. It may consider that post modern perspective on curriculum was established based on the study of pre-modern perspective on curriculum and criticism of modern perspective on curriculum. As we go deeper into the field of postmodern curriculum, we find that enthusiastic and positive exploration and creation for future world and future education can be produced through this way of viewing world and education. In particular, the postmodern perspective on curriculum introduced by USA curriculum theorist William E.Doll，Jr. in (A Post Modern Perspective on Curriculum, 1993) is full of innovative and developmental vitality. Reading and analysis of his paper can help us create new view on curriculum and transform teaching & learning method, thus we can facilitate reform and development of curriculum.

1.2 In our modern world, everywhere we can feel the strong power of Modernity, while things turn into their opposites when they reach the extreme, there are still many rebellious forces called anti-modernity, which absolutely exclude and oppose any modern things and ideologies, and even try to eliminate modernity and resume tradition. Modern civilization has fully penetrated to every corner of the modern world, modern people can’t live without the modern world; the tide of post modernity that emerged around 60s of 20th century shows what we shall endeavor to achieve. If anti-modernity is to destroy modernity, and then post modernity shall reform modernity and eliminate disadvantages of modernity through query, criticism and denial of such disadvantages. Postmodern curriculums oppose and query such traditional curriculums, and attempt to seek innovations among multiple forms and differences.

2. The influence of postmodern theory on education and curriculum

2.1 Influence of open system on closed system

We shall fully understand that “Object——Action” model reflecting modernism introduced by Tyler is always the fundamental criterion for curriculum development. As a matter of fact, such linear model of seeking correlation between P (object) and P’ (Result of action) by establishing P (object) couldn’t reflect the true value of curriculum for students. Curriculum model introduced by Tyler and Hunter as well as teacher-proof program designed by Skinner are adopted to avoid alterations of constituent factors, which is obviously a kind of curriculum of closed system; as for research on curriculum theory, deconstruction of post modernity disintegrates metanarrative; besides, curriculum theory and research have developed from simplicity to multiple forms, theorists and researchers attempt to seek new theory building beyond curriculum plan of Tyler principle and behavior target, involving gender, race, politics, critical pragmatism, phenomenology, post structuralism, aesthetics, bionomics, deconstruction theory, philosophy, social theory, autobiography, ethno methodology, hermeneutics, theory of literature & art, multi-culture, global theological education and theory of post modernity, etc, which continuously influences and reestablishes curriculum field2(Slattery, 1995). But Tyler（1949, p.11）3actually insisted that student’s interest should be regarded as starting point for further study. When choosing learning experience, Tyler emphasized that student should take the initiative to study from what he has done, but not from what teachers teach him. Tyler’s（1949, p.108） principles of evaluation especially stress local education situation as well as observation on students, interview with students and students’ finished schoolwork as the information source on student study. Many scholars of postmodern curriculum consider that Tyler has developed subject based, reduced and separate curriculum design mode 4（Doll, 1989）and Tyler’s curriculum development mode probably originated from college disciplines5（Slattery, 1995, p.250）.In fact, Tyler （1949, p.98）referred to many models of curriculum organization, including subject focus, broad-fields curriculum and integrated core curriculum focusing on questions; Besides, Tyler emphasized that elements of selected curriculums shall be integrated no matter what organization mode is chosen to help students gain integrated viewpoints. Scholars of postmodern curriculum often cite Dewey's Philosophy as their theoretical base. According to Dewey: Educational aims stem from educational experiences & activities and play an important role in educational activities, besides, education has no other object except for education itself; while Tyler claims that educational aims should take priority of scholars' experiences; therefore, scholars of postmodern curriculum consider that Dewey's opinion is superior to Tyler’s opinion. But, these scholars sometimes neglect the similar points between Tyler’s opinion and Dewey’s opinion on education, namely Tyler contended that the educational concept was a kind of social course and social function, both Tyler and Dewey paid much attention to particularity of democratic society, including mutual benefit, interaction, participation and freedom of social relation6（Behar- Horenstein, 2000）.Such scholars may also forget that Tyler was the presider of reviewing (The Eight Year Study), while Tyler’s ( Basic Principles of Curriculum and Teaching) originated from the flexible, practical and progressive curriculum7（Thomas & Schubert, 1997）introduced in (The Eight Year Study). What Tyler has presented are the most fundamental activities under any educational situation; Tyler valued object but never initiated behavior target of special height; while later imitation or interpretation were turned into four linear procedures to remember separate object, learning experience, organization and review, thus participants confine themselves to the frame of modernistic linear causality, while neglect what he has planned to convey particularity of dynamic interaction; as a result, the flexible pattern of curriculum theory was changed to rigid pattern; Even Tyler himself never insisted that curriculum model should follow a series of linear procedures. In the postmodern world, various fields of knowledge mix and interact with each other, traditional divisions of sciences and disciplines can’t explain diversities of cultural and social phenomena; besides, discussion of any event involves subjects of various fields, and disciplines are continuously crossing border; thus connotation of curriculum structure is continuously disintegrated and recombined, i.e., the closed system of traditional curriculum is continuously impacted by open system, which can be exemplified by continuous emergences of crossing disciplines. Innovations are constantly emerging through crossings of disciplines. For instance, the combination of math and economics has produced econometrics, thus economics has been increasingly scientific; while the combination of physics and math has broken through the limitation of theoretical physics; the combination of biology and chemistry has innovated in biology, while genetic algorithms has brought about a revolution in arithmetic, namely applying the genetic principles to computer science. Curriculums must be developed from simplicity, separation and reduction into complexity and integrity; while teachers are no longer standers-by in learning arena, and fundamentally new relations shall be developed between teachers and students. Based on such new relations, students disagree to accept authorities of teachers, but query such authorities; students agree to join in teachers’ researches, and teachers attempt to understand students’ experiences, thus teachers and students can know each other well; teachers are willing to help students understand meanings of given suggestions & principles, they are ready to accept student’s contention as well as self-examine their understandings of each other together with students.

3. The Influence of self-organization on organization

According to postmodernism, alterations can be transformed, even seemingly ordinary and common things along with unattractive alterations can enlarge their effects through feedbacks of open system, until they are completely transformed into integrative issues, which produce so called butterfly effect8（Briggs & Peat, 1999）. During teaching process, dialogue can inspire originality, while fault is inevitable for dialogue, and it is such fault that urge participants to improve preciseness of their opinions during dialogue; e.g., during class, students’ interpretations to questions can’t be always true at first, such faults help students and teachers realize other possible questions relating to the discussed questions，seemingly plan less questioning and exchanging ideas can sometimes inspire incisive new opinions on something. Such ordered new opinions are produced from seemingly organized classrooms, dialogues and communications, which is a kind of unpredicted self-organization phenomenon; i.e., originalities and opinions produced through self-organization have influenced such organizations as classrooms and curriculums.
Alterations of modern system exert positive forces on passive receivers, while modern curriculums shape behaviors of teachers and students by improving environment and teaching methods. According to postmodernism, alterations are internal reorganizations of organisms themselves or their responses to external forces, emphasizing student’s capability of internal reorganization and cultivation; student’s capability is developed through sudden changes, yet not through gradual changes; During dialogue, communication and listening, student’s consciousness is suddenly transformed to reach new level of organization, thus long incubated subconsciousness can spontaneously emerge to encourage new organization of consciousness. Therefore, curriculum shall be combined with supporting and challenging behaviors to help students have enough time to initiatively undertake internal-reorganization under the cycle of state of equilibrium—state of disequilibrium- state of equilibrium. Modern interaction between teachers and students shall be improved profoundly to promote such learning model. E.g. Teachers shall adopt supporting & challenging behaviors as well as consider state of equilibrium and state of disequilibrium; besides, they shall offer students enough time to think.

4. The Influence of mutual interaction on one-way action

Postmodern curriculums are implemented through actions and interactions of participants, which is the recursive implementation of curriculums to be completed through dialogues and self-examinations of participants. The recursive implementation of curriculums is that participants self-examine their acquired experiences, and establish their own opinions and self-awarenesses based on their reflective interactions with environment, other persons and culture. During recursive implementation of curriculums, it is highly important that students and teachers shall evaluate their own actions and have interactive dialogues. If without dialogue, recursion might become simple repetition. The difference between repetition and recursion is that the latter has dialogues during self-examination process. Thus recursion is a kind of open and bilateral process to cultivate research ability and creativity based on thorough self-examination and dialogue. Two key factors are playing an important role in implementation of curriculum. First, all curriculum contents aren’t authoritative to be completely obeyed or accepted, but shall be amended when necessary; secondly, teachers can’t regard themselves as authorities when they teach students, and students needn’t just repeat absolutely authoritative knowledge. On the contrary, teachers shall undertake interactive dialogues with students as participants. During such dialogues, teachers and students, students and students shall be active and always keep critical sensitivity and attitude to consider what other party say, which can verify correctness of one part’s opinion or certain kind of opinion and more importantly, help participants combine different opinions together and amend them based on active mutual discussions to form their own opinions. Each person has different perspective and position, thus they couldn’t have absolutely same view on richness and complexity of things. Dialogues and criticisms shall be developed based on mutual respects to acquire generous returns through multiple angles of view. Therefore, teachers and students together experience transforms during teaching process, where no one can represent truth (one and only or correct answer), and each person has the right of being understood. Thus it can be seen that it is fundamentally different from modern education advocating that students shall experience transforms and teachers can always keep themselves as authorities.