Tyler, Ralph W.

Ralph W. Tyler (19021994) was described in a 1977 issue of the Phi Delta Kappan as “Mr. Fix-it,” a moniker that is surprisingly insightful but also somewhat amusing as a way to depict the stoic statesman who many consider one of the defining [Page 905]figures for the field of curriculum studies and one of the more important educators of the 20th century. But Tyler's work in the field of curriculum studies can be best understood as that of an individual whose career was based on assisting others to solveto fixtheir problems. From the 1920s and 1930s and his involvement in the Eight Year Study through the 1940s and 1950s and the publication of his renowned treatise, Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, to the 1960s and 1970s and his role in helping establish the National Assessment of Educational Progress program, his career was based on helping others formulate solutions to complex situations. Tyler stated throughout his career that he never sought to develop a distinctive ideology or theory, yet his legacy in curriculum studies, as described and defined by others, includes a curriculum theory, the applauded and criticized Tyler Rationale, and a distinctive instructional practice, “teaching with behavioral objectives.”

No problem, as described by Tyler in Research Methods and Teachers' Problems, appeared too great or too insignificant for his attention, and all solutions seemed situationala solution at one site might not be appropriate in another, a problem here could become an answer there. Tyler never embraced any approach that promulgated predefined curriculum programs or predetermined solutions. Although the Tyler Rationale was interpreted as a rigid, step-by-step procedure beginning with the formulating purposes (and identifying objectives, selecting, organizing, and evaluating experiences), classroom and school-related problems became the all-defining motif and starting point for the selection of purposes, outcomes, and objectives. This becomes crucial when one realizes that the Tyler Rationale was conceived not as a four-step process for curriculum development, at least as described by Tyler, but as a method to view, analyze, and interpret curriculum and instruction for those who were experiencing problems and concerns in the classroom.

Tyler began his professional career as a science teacher in North Dakota, taking degrees at Doane College and University of Nebraska. He spent one year in residence at the University of Chicago working with Charles Judd; however, his dissertation research was a component of W. W. Charters's The Commonwealth Teacher Training Study. Tyler worked in bureaus of educational research first at the University of North Carolina, from 1927 to 1928, and then with Charters at Ohio State University beginning in 1929. In 1938, Robert Hutchins, president of the University of Chicago, hired Tyler to serve as the university's examiner and chair of the Department of Education, positions he held until 1948 when he was appointed dean of the Division of Social Sciences, serving until his retirement in 1953. In 1954, Tyler became the founding director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, a position he held until his retirement in 1967 when he then focused exclusively on a 20-year career as lecturer and writer.

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