Curriculum, The

John Franklin Bobbitt's The Curriculum, appearing in 1918, was the first book published in the United States on the subject of curriculum. It is the most frequently cited book on curriculum in the field of U.S. educational history.

When he published the book, Bobbitt was a professor of educational administration at the University of Chicago. He completed his PhD degree in education at Clark University in 1909 and then accepted a position at the University of Chicago, where he remained until his retirement in 1941. The Curriculum was heavily influenced by the industrial context in which it was written. Bobbitt based his views on the work of Frederick Winslow Taylor, specifically his book Principles of Scientific Management. Taylor's text, published in 1911, was written to make industrial plants more efficient by generating more production from workers. Taylor advocated the use of time and motion studies, empirical research, and top-down management. Although intended for use primarily in industry (particularly steel plants), advocates of Taylor's system applied his views to numerous fields such as medicine, agriculture, and even the ministry. Bobbitt's The Curriculum was the first book to take Taylor's methods and apply them to curriculum.

Bobbitt begins the book by discussing contemporary controversies surrounding educational philosophy. He discusses two views that he sees vying for control over the purpose of schooling, one based on culture and the other based on utility. Proponents of culture as the end of education, says Bobbitt, argue that the goal of education should be to cultivate citizens who have the ability to live. These educators want to emphasize learning for its own sake and the strengthening of the powers of the mind. They also have little concern for utility or the practical outcomes of schooling. On the other hand, supporters of utility as the end of education propose that the goal of education is to create students who have the ability to produce. These advocates assert that schools should prepare students to perform their daily activities efficiently, so as to create practical citizens who can cooperate with their fellow citizens in effective and cooperative ways. Bobbitt states that both of these views hold value, but a complete reading of his book indicates that he was clearly on the side of those who favored utility. In the battles waged over the purpose of education, The Curriculum, in fact, was one of the most powerful books from the 20th century on the side of vocational training.

The most enduring aspect of The Curriculum can be found in his chapter titled “Scientific Method in Curriculum-Making.” Bobbitt's plan has been repeated countless times, albeit in slightly different forms, since the time he published it. It can be summarized in five steps. The first is to study the daily activities of adults. The basis for curriculum is found in what adults do every day. Curriculum workers (or discoverers, as Bobbitt [Page 189]calls them) are to study adult activities in order to catalogue what they do, including the knowledge they possess, the terms they use, the problems they solve, the skills they employ, and the ambitions they exhibit. In deciding who to study, curriculum workers, moreover, are to find the most efficient adults, not just anyone. The second step is to take the information that curriculists have collected and prioritize this information into objectives for the schools. Third, curriculists are to identify the students who, based upon ability and interest, will most likely fulfill the various adult roles upon graduation. Fourth, once these students have been identified using intelligence tests or other means, the curriculum is differentiated for each group of students so as to train them for their adult roles. Finally, curriculum specialists are to study students once they have become adults to assess whether or not the curriculum they completed prepared them efficiently for their daily activities. This evaluation is then taken into account when devising future curriculum plans.

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