Curriculum Studies in Relation to the Field of Instruction

Conversations that link curriculum and instruction are as old as the institutions that educate students. Decisions about what to teach have implications for how to teach. The origin of the notion of instruction as a production system can be traced to efforts during the early decades of the 20th century to apply industrial scientific management to education. In later years, instruction as a production system was related to the doctrine of behaviorism and to systems analysis and accountability. By mid century, with focus on accountability, evaluation became a central practice in the field of instruction and in the practice of curriculum development. Ralph W. Tyler, perhaps one of the most influential educators in evaluation, influenced policy and set guidelines for the expenditure of government funds. ...