Reconstructionism

Reconstructionism is a group of related curriculum proposals that, although evolving from the social reconstructionist ideas of George Counts, Harold Rugg, and Jessie Newlon, developed a distinct rationale and proposal for advancing education as an agent for social reform. This movement differs from social reconstruction in its promotion of a rationale for a social issues curriculum, its use of psychology and sociology to inform this rationale, and in providing specific curricular and instructional guidelines. The developed proposal for reconstruction education was developed by Theodore Brameld with variants presented in the influential synoptic curriculum text, Fundamentals of Curriculum Development by the B. O. Smith, W. O. Stanley, and J. H. Shores, all from the University of Illinois.

Brameld developed his proposal in the 2 decades following World War II. Brameld's philosophy of education sought to effect the transformation of economic, political, and cultural institutions through education. Presenting his philosophy as a social progression from John Dewey's experimentalist philosophy, Brameld incorporated into Dewey's epistemology the insights of utopian thinkers and the contributions made by 20th-century inquiry in the social sciences.

Brameld accepted Dewey's model of deliberative scientific thinking as the means to social progress. The limitation of experiential thought, Brameld contented, was its inability to project social ends for which means can then be designed. Utopian thought, for Brameld, provided these ideal goals and motivated inquiry. Brameld expanded the experientialist understanding of human nature to include the insights of Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx, as well as of sociologists such as David Reisman and W. Lloyd Warner. In his description of contemporary society, Brameld criticized the failure to meet basic human needs, with social analysis evidencing limited control of essential resources and Dewey's scientific deliberation providing a method for social problem solving to reconstruct the social order.

Key elements of the curriculum theory Brameld developed included (1) an inductive approach to determining social values, (2) the mandate to build consensus on social policy, (3) the use of “defensible partiality” in teaching, and (4) the organizing of the curriculum around social problems or spokes of a “wheel curriculum.” The inductive approach for determining social values introduced an “unrational” or subconscious basis for determining social values, a “prehension” of basic human needs. Immediate experience provokes recognition of 12 intrinsic values or “prehensive urges” such as food, shelter, vocation, and recreation.

Gaining consensus on social policy was how Brameld interpreted Dewey's proposal for public democratic deliberation. In education, this meant bringing before students a significant social problem, interpreted as an unmet fundamental need. Using the analogy of a jury trial, social consensus worked through stages, beginning with assembling evidence through social research in a climate of discussion and criticism. When viable hypotheses emerge, they are publicly scrutinized for possible outcomes. A course of action is decided and refinement, analysis, and dialogue continue to evaluate the solution in addressing the social problem.

The teacher is facilitator in this consensual deliberation, but also advocates for solutions he or she believes are most effective. In stating a “defensible partiality,” a teacher is welcome to promote social causes and state philosophic convictions but only if she or he is also willing to engage in critical and unrestricted debate. According to Brameld, indoctrination is avoided because the learner is free to accept or reject the explicitly stated convictions of the teacher.

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