Cultural Epoch Theory

Cultural epoch theory is a 19th- and early 20th-century theory that assumes human development to recapitulate or mirror the historical development of the human race. Educational and psychological scholars such as Johann Frederich Herbart and G. Stanley Hall are prominent early proponents. Harold Dunkel's treatment of the Herbartians elaborates the formative influence of disciples of Herbart on what emerged as the curriculum field of the 20th century, thus having continued influence on curriculum studies, by showing the centrality of developmental theory to the field.

This theoretical perspective guided curricular discourse and planning as the mental disciplines theory, the notion that the mind was comprised of muscle-like entities for logic or imagination that profited from exercise, declined in prominence. Though Herbart died in 1841, his disciples in Germany taught the cultural epoch doctrine to U.S. educational scholars, such as Charles DeGarmo, Frank McMurry, Charles McMurry, and C. C. Van Liew. These Herbartians and G. Stanley Hall, from the stance of experimental psychology, perpetuated a cultural epoch curriculum in which they noted an intuitive epoch from infancy to about 8 years of age, an imaginative epoch from about age 6 to 10, and a logical epoch after age 10. Curriculum developers then matched literature with characteristics of each epoch. For instance Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's Song of Hiawatha might be used to develop intuition through emphasis on myth and hero, and Daniel DeFoe's Robinson Crusoe might be used to teach imaginative problem solving to children who were progressing through a process akin to the human race as it became civilized. Only after such developmentally appropriate beginnings were learners thought capable of logical reasoning and intellectual discourse necessary for engaging in freedom and self-governance of the individual in societal context. Francis Parker and John Dewey developed eclectic positions that saw the child, rather than either subject matter content or historical recapitu-alized epoch, as the organizing center of the curriculum. Therefore, cultural epoch was surpassed by progressive studies of the child in societal context.

The notion that the development of each human being metaphorically repeats the development of the human race has not had much currency for over a century; however, it is significant to curriculum studies because it was a precursor to many developmental theories that still serve as philosophical and psychological bases of curriculum: Alfred North Whitehead's rhythms of education through romance, precision, and generalization; Jean Piaget's stages of intellectual development from preoperational to concrete operations and then abstract thought; Erik Erikson's notions of social epigenesis, life cycles, and identity; Lawrence Kohlberg's theory of moral development from [Page 165]attributions of goodness and badness to universal ethical principles; and Kieran Egan's curricular implications of a theory of development based on literary and cultural insights that advocates story-based curriculum appropriate to mythic, romantic, philosophic, and ironic stages. Along the way, such systematic images of development, though more flexible than many realized, were criticized by calls by the likes of Francis Parker, John Dewey, and Paulo Freire to place the learner at the center and listen carefully to what he or she understands to be developmentally appropriate in particular situations. Such situational perspectives on development critique the definitiveness and control of not only cultural epoch theory, but also any developmental theory that offers more or less rigid stages of human development. One may find such rigidity in realms of practice more than among those practitioners attempt to emulate, however. As the likely fabricated story of eminent psychoanalytic theorist, Carl Jung, is told, he said that he was glad to be Jung and not a Jungian because as Jung he could always change his mind and modify his theory and its application. This insightful anecdote is illustrative of how cultural epoch theory is significant to the broad field of education. It shows how developmental theories can limit opportunities for change and inclusion of dynamic perspectives of learners and teachers alike.

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