Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction

Few single publications have so influenced the field of curriculum studies, both positively and negatively, as Ralph W. Tyler's Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, published in 1949 and still in print today. Philip Jackson referred to it in the Handbook of Research in Curriculum as the Bible of curriculum making. In what arose from a 1940s course syllabus, Tyler developed a rationale for understanding the principles of educational programming and classroom problem solving. He maintained that his intent was never to construct a curriculum theory, but merely to outline questions that should be asked by educators when examining their practices. His series of questions, a common communications tool that he had developed during his career as an educational consultant and program evaluator, became known as the Tyler Rationale and has served as a flashpoint for current discussions about the significance of curriculum studies.

Tyler (19021994) served as chair of the Department of Education and later dean of the Division of Social Sciences at University of Chicago, during which time he taught courses in education. Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction was first prepared as a 71-page mimeographed syllabus for Education 360 at the University of Chicago in the late 1940s. The content was said to have been dictated by Tyler throughout the course and distributed in sections to the students. The document was published by the syllabus division of the University of Chicago Press in 1949 as an 83-page pamphlet for Education 305 with very few changes. During the 1960s, a more standard 128-page book was prepared with a table of contents. This version is the one that remains in print today even though there have been many variations through the years in the way the questions have been summarized and abbreviated. The four questions of the Tyler Rationale (appearing in slightly restated form as chapter headings in Basic Principles) are as follows: What educational purposes should the school seek to attain? What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes? How can these educational experiences be effectively organized? How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained? A fifth question, how can a school or college staff work on curriculum building, constituted the final chapter of the publication and addressed the application of the rationale. At the 1976 Milwaukee Curriculum Theory Conference, Tyler mentioned that although the questions remain significant, he would give more attention to the role of the learner and the nonschool dimensions of curriculum design and development.

The rationale rests upon a conceptual foundation, as articulated by Tyler, to help the student of curriculum and instruction understand the formation of educational objectives. Objectives arose from three sourcesthe needs and interests of the [Page 72]learners, examination of society (life outside of schools), and recommendations from content specialistsand the final determination of objectives (leading to purposes) is guided by two screens (or filters): (1) social philosophy that examines objectives in relation to a conception of a good life and a good society and (2) the psychology of learning that serves to define conditions that would lead to the fulfillment of objectives. In the final chapter, on curriculum implementation, Tyler states that curriculum design and development should not follow a rigid sequence of steps.

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