Middle school Curriculum, History of

It is difficult to trace the history of middle school curriculum, for unlike other aspects of middle school practice and philosophy (e.g., interdisciplinary teaming, advisory programs, exploratory classes and projects, and flexible block scheduling), middle-level advocates have fallen short of creating and promoting a consistent and coherent form of middle-level curriculum. Although middle schools were created as a response to the perceived shortcomings of the junior high schools that preceded them (although junior highs continue to exist), middle schools have historically distinguished themselves by their administrative structures. Therefore, identifying a particular evolutionary path of a middle school curriculum is difficult at best. What is apparent is that a relatively small number of middle schools have been places where important departures from the dominant, high schooldriven, separate-subject approach have occurred. Such departures have been consistent with the kinds of curricula advocated by middle level curriculum experts, but have not been adopted in most middle grades schools, which cannot be accurately labeled as middle schools. In addition, depending upon one's political views, such curricular options are often viewed as exemplary exceptions or rebellious realignments that ignore standards and rigor. For this and other reasons, the curricula that students experience in most middle grades schools continues to mirror high school curricula, in other words, a junior high school curriculum.

In attempting to trace a history of middle school curriculum, it is helpful to consider publications that have described or recommended curricula that embraced middle school philosophy and practice. For example, middle-level advocates have recommended developmentally appropriate curricula for middle schools that connect content across the different subject areas. The major implications for such curricula are that they can be organized around themes that young adolescents see as being connected to their own lives. There is a long, but relatively unknown, history of curricular forms that addressed the needs of the learners and moved away from the separate-subject approach.

The idea that curriculum should connect the disciplines and in addition connect to the prior experiences of learners, goes back at least 250 years ago to the Herbartians. The Herbartians were followers of the German philosopher and educator, Johann Friedrich Herbart, who believed in the importance of concentration centers.

In addition, the Herbartians promoted the notion that ontology recapitulates phylogeny, basically meaning that the way an individual developed followed the order of the historical development of mankind. In the early 1900s, this idea served as a catalyst to G. Stanley Hall and others to form the child study movement, which in part promoted curriculum based on the notion of cultural epochs.

Hall's work, which focused on the importance of studying children and how they developed, created the foundation for developmental theorists such as Jean Piaget, Erik Erickson, and Lev Vygotsky. Ultimately, the adoption and modification of Herbartian ideas led to curricula that connected disciplines thematically and recognized the importance of the prior experiences and the developmental needs of the learners.

The U.S. link to Herbart runs deep, for many progressive educators of the early 1900s were influenced either directly or indirectly by Herbartian thought. In terms of linking today's middle-level curriculum advocates to the past, some of the more important educators who were influenced by the Herbartians include John Dewey, William Heard Kilpatrick, and L. Thomas Hopkins. The curriculum of the Dewey-run Laboratory School of the University of Chicago shared interesting similarities with current forms of curriculum found within middle schools. Although there was little doubt that the notion of cultural epochs had an influence on Dewey's curriculum, his ideas included respect for the feelings and interests of the students, an emphasis on investigation and problem solving, and a desire to connect learning with social experiences.

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