During the 1960s and early 1970s, curriculum reform efforts in many English-speaking countries led to the development of the “teacher-proof curriculum” as a central component of reform. As the term teacher-proof suggests, the aim was to minimize the teacher's control on curriculum development by creating a firm relationship among educational objectives, curriculum content, and [Page 865]assessment tools. The notion of the teacher-proof curriculum is a course of studies well structured, firmly integrated, well supported by rich and motivating materials such that teachers could not stand in the way of a direct transaction between the learner, the student, and the learning recourses the curriculum package.

The teacher-proof curriculum was designed by specialized curriculum experts, removed from the local school community, in a cookbook fashion so that any ...