chapter 21 the scope of the curriculum from ways of knowing through the realms of meaning by william...

Copyright © 2011 by William Allan Kritsonis/All Rights Re-served

21

THE SCOPE OFTHE CURRICULUM

INSIGHTS

1. What does a person need to know?2. What is the appropriate scope of the course

of study that ought to be provided?3. The recommended curriculum aimed at tech-

nical efficiency differs from one that considers the delights of contemplation to be the highest good.

4. Highest good to be served by education is the fullest possible realization of the distinctively hu-man capacities and that these capacities consist in the life of meaning.

5. The course of study should be such as to maximize meanings.

6. Fulfillment consists in mastery.

463

7. The meaningful life is that in which the per-son finds one thing to do and learns to do it very well.

464 PART THREE:THE CURRICULUM FOR GENERAL EDUCATION

8. People who scatter themselves in many di-rections dissipate their powers and never tran-scend superficiality.

9. Most of the outstanding achievements of hu-mankind have been made by people who have de-veloped a single line of competence to a point sufficient to yield something really new.

10. The scattered person can only follow the paths laid out by the single-minded pioneers.

11. The scope of the curriculum for any given person should be narrow rather than broad.

12. Depth of knowledge and skill should be the goal.

13. Fulfillment consists in belonging to a commu-nity.

14. The significance of each person’s life results from participation in the meaning of the social whole.

15. Fulfillment consists in many-sidedness.16. Fulfillment of meaning consists in the in-

tegrity of the person.17. Fulfillment consists in gaining a certain qual-

ity of understanding.18. There are certain essentials that need to be

learned, and beyond them everything else is unim-portant.

19. A person can attain high mastery of one field and good understanding of many other fields.

20. Human nature itself supplies the clue to the minimal scope of the curriculum.

21. No one realm of meaning can be perfected without the aid of the others.

22. The curriculum should at least provide for learnings in all six of the realms of meaning: sym-bolics, empirics, esthetics, synnoetics, ethics, and synoptics.

23. If any of the six is missing, the person lacks a basic ingredient in experience.

THE SCOPE OF THE CURRICULUM 465

24. The basic realms are such that all of them are required if a person is to achieve the highest ex-cellence in anything at all.

25. The curriculum of general education contains those provisions for learning that are necessary for the development of the person in his essential hu-manity.

26. An item of knowledge that is an essential in-gredient in the humanizing of one person may be used by another for special purposes.

27. Specialized study is likewise requisite for the common good in a complex civilization.

28. The basis for advanced society is specializa-tion of function, in which each person concentrates his energies upon doing a few things well rather than many things poorly.

29. The term “fundamental” refers to fields that are concerned with the deliberate and direct pur-suit of one of the six possible kinds of realms of meaning.

30. Derivative or applied fields result from the utilization of meanings from the fundamental disci-plines in the solution of problems arising out of bi-ological and social exigencies.

31. The fundamental studies focus on the pure types of meaning, having regard for their distinc-tive forms.

32. Derivative or applied studies grow out of practical considerations, and workers in them seek solutions to problems without regard to purity of logical type.

33. Education as a field of learning draws upon all the fundamental fields.

34. In all the applied fields language plays an im-portant part.

35. Whether specialists concentrate on funda-mental or applied studies depends on what their specialties are.


36. The decision as to whether fundamental or derived studies shall be used in general education is not as easy as it is for specialized education.

37. Derived studies may have a more immediate appeal to the interests of the student, and on that account may prove more instructive in the basic meanings.

38. Using the fundamental disciplines for general education also has the major advantage of keep-ing the various distinct ways of understanding clear and of helping the student to avoid the con-fusions of meaning that are all too prevalent in or-dinary life and practical affairs.

39. The scope of the school curriculum depends in part upon whether or not other agencies be-sides the school take responsibility for certain as-pects of education.

40. It is desirable to include some provision for all six realms of meaning in the school curriculum, in order to provide the requisite consistency and unity in the experience of learning.

41. Because people differ, no one curriculum suffices for everybody.

42. For most effective learning curricula need to be designed as far as practicable to take account of each person’s particular aptitudes and enthusi-asms.

43. Normally a person’s special interests and abilities are an important clue in what he should specialize.

44. In general education the lesson of individual differences is mainly that particular attention needs to be given to devising materials and meth-ods designed to awaken the interest of those who do not respond easily and naturally to certain of the fundamental disciplines.


45. The educator takes responsibility for seeing to it that each person develops all the types of un-derstanding required to become fully human.

46. A major goal of general education in school should be to establish habits of study that will lead one to continue general learning regularly after completing his formal education.

47. The measure of the success of the school cur-riculum is the degree to which graduates voluntar-ily and zestfully go on learning in later life.

48. The number of years devoted to general edu-cation in schools is determined in large part by economic factors.

49. When resources are ample, a society can af-ford to allow considerable time for general educa-tion.

50. No one curriculum is the best for all people and for every culture and situation.

51. The course actually chosen in a particular school will depend upon the circumstances of the case, including the character, traditions, and his-tory of the community and the predispositions of its students.

52. A general philosophy for the curriculum can only indicate the large design of the curriculum and certain principles for making decisions about the sequence of studies and the selection and or-ganization of materials for instruction.

____________________


In Part One it was argued that human beings are dis-tinguished by their capacity for meanings and that there are six basic realms of meaning that are charac-teristically human. In Part Two the fundamental pat-terns of meaning in these six realms were set forth. In Part Three an attempt will be made to draw some con-clusions regarding curriculum on the basis of these con-siderations about human nature and the patterns of meaning.

WHAT DOES A PERSON NEED TO KNOW?WHAT IS THE APPROPRIATE SCOPE OF STUDY

THAT OUGHT TO BE PROVIDED?We begin by asking: What does a person need to

know? What is the appropriate scope of the course of study that ought to be provided? The answers to such questions depend upon many factors, including the unique personality of the student, the social and cul-tural context in which he lives, and the available re-sources for teaching and learning. More important than all of these, however, is the end to which education is directed. For example, the recommended curriculum aimed at technical efficiency differs from one that con-siders the delights of contemplation to be the highest good.

THE COURSE OF STUDY SHOULD MAXIMIZE MEANINGS

The premise of the present argument is that the highest good to be served by education is the fullest possible realization of the distinctively human capaci-ties and that these capacities consist in the life of meaning. The course of study should be such as to maximize meanings.

WHAT SHOULD BE TAUGHT IN ORDER

TO MAXIMIZE MEANINGS?


MasteryThen the question becomes: What should be

taught in order to maximize meanings? What provides for the fulfillment of the life of meaning? There are five principal answers to such questions, and each has cer-tain merits. The first answer is that fulfillment consists in mastery. The meaningful life is that in which the per-son finds one thing to do and learns to do it very well. The realization of existence lies in depth of understand-ing. The wealth of possible meanings is so great that a person has to choose the one channel into which he can pour his energies with maximum effect. People who scatter themselves in many directions dissipate their powers and never transcend superficiality. Most of the outstanding achievements of humankind have been made by people who have developed a single line of competence to a point sufficient to yield something re-ally new. The scattered person can only follow the paths laid out by the single-minded pioneers.

According to this view, the scope of the curriculum for any given person should be narrow rather than broad. Each person should be highly trained in a spe-cialty instead of comprehensively as a generalist. Depth of knowledge and skill should be the goal, rather than superficial acquaintance with a variety of fields.

Belonging to a CommunityA second position is that fulfillment consists in be-

longing to a community in which the various meanings are realized. The significance of each person’s life re-sults from participation in the meaning of the social whole. The good life is not conceived as depth of mas-tery, as in the first view, but in loyal membership in the social body.

From this standpoint the course of study to be fol-lowed depends upon a person’s place within the social complex. Each individual plays his part and is required to develop competencies that best equip him to contrib-


ute to the whole. Unless his function is that of compre-hensive social planning, he does not need to cultivate meanings in other than the special sphere in which he serves the community. Nor does he need to plumb more deeply in any given field than his social position requires. This view results in specialized curricula for most students, usually with less depth than the first po-sition entails and with particular provision for under-standing the nature of the social enterprise as a whole.

Many-SidednessA third answer to the question about fulfillment is

that it consists in many-sidedness. The desirable goal is well-roundedness and variety of interests, and the cur-riculum should be correspondingly broad and diverse. Instead of specializing in one field the student should gain some understanding of many different fields. Rather than developing one skill to a high degree, he should be encouraged to gain some competence in a number of different types of activity.

IntegrityA fourth position is that the fulfillment of meaning

consists in the integrity of the person. The main objec-tive is to secure a coordination of whatever meanings are acquired into a coherent whole. The evil to be avoided is inner division and partiality. Each person should possess a sufficient range of meanings in his own self without depending for the significance of his life upon his position in the social whole. He should be-come relatively independent, with rich inner resources for meeting a variety of situations and exigencies. From this standpoint the most important consideration in the curriculum is the studies form an interrelated whole and not a collection of unrelated pieces. The materials of learning also need to be capable of assimilation by the particular person so they may contribute to his integral selfhood.


QualityA fifth and final view is that fulfillment consists in

gaining a certain quality of understanding. The ideal of life has to do with quality rather than with depth, partic-ipation, extensiveness, or coherence. According to this position, there are certain essentials that need to be learned, and beyond them everything else is unimpor-tant. In this case the breadth of the curriculum depends upon what it is deemed essential to know, whether a few things or many.


Achieving Fulfillment of Meaning in MoreThan One Way is Possible

The foregoing positions are not mutually exclusive. It is not necessary to choose one and reject the others. Since in modern civilization study extends over many years, sometimes for the greater part of a lifetime, it is possible to achieve fulfillment of meaning in more than one way. It is possible to achieve fulfillment in all the ways of knowing suggested above. A person can attain high mastery of one field and good understanding of many other fields. He can achieve both inner integrity and satisfaction in belonging to a larger whole. He can pursue essential understandings without minimizing the significance of less than essential ones.

THE FOUNDATION FOR ALL CIVILIZED

EXISTENCE IS HUMAN NATURE The analysis in Part One suggests that human na-

ture itself supplies the clue to the minimal scope of the curriculum. Human beings are characterized by a few basic types of functioning. They use symbols, they ab-stract and generalize, they create and perceive inter-esting objects, they relate to each other personally, they make judgments of good and evil, they reenact the past, they seek the ultimate, and they comprehen-sively analyze, evaluate, and synthesize. These are the universal, pervasive, and perennial forms of distinc-tively human behavior. They are the foundation for all civilized existence. All of them are deeply woven into the texture of life whenever it transcends the level of biological and social survival.

THE SIX REALMS OF MEANING FROM A COMPLEX UNITY

Furthermore, the analysis of Part Two shows that these fundamental types of human understanding are interdependent. No one realm of meaning can be per-fected without the aid of the others. All six realms form


a complex unity of interrelated yet relatively autono-mous domains.


THE CURRICULUM SHOULD PROVIDE FOR LEARNING

IN ALL SIX REALMS OF MEANING

The curriculum should at least provide for learn-ings in all six of the realms of meaning: symbolics, em-pirics, esthetics, synnoetics, ethics, and synoptics. Without these a person cannot realize his essential hu-manness. If any one of the six is missing, the person lacks a basic ingredient in experience. They are to the fulfillment of human meanings something like what ba-sic nutrients are to the health of an organism. Each makes possible a particular mode of functioning without which the person cannot live according to his own true nature.

SIX REALMS OF MEANING ARE REQUIRED IF A PERSON

IS TO ACHIEVE THE HIGHEST EXCELLENCE

This six-fold curriculum answers to the fifth or qualitative criterion of fulfillment previously discussed. Since the six realms form a whole integrated by the synoptic meanings, it also satisfies the fourth criterion, of wholeness. It indicates the need for a varied curricu-lum with at least the six fundamental components. What of the other two criteria—of mastery and belong-ing? Is the six-realm curriculum consistent with them? It might seem at first that concentration on mastering one field would exclude concern for anything else. Such is not the case, because the basic realms are such that all of them are required if a person is to achieve the high-est excellence in anything at all. They are essential in the sense that a person cannot do his best in any hu-man undertaking without some understanding of all the realms.

A PERSON CAN ATTAIN MAXIMUM MASTERY OF

ANY OF THE DIVISIONS OF HUMAN ACTIVITY

For example, a person cannot attain maximum mastery in any scientific field without having some competence in language, the arts, personal relations,


morals, and synoptics, since scientific activity in its own structure includes symbolic, esthetic, personal, ethical, and integrative factors. Again, a person cannot attain the highest mastery in the arts unless he knows how to communicate, understands facts and generalizations, relates insightfully with others and with himself, has a sensitive conscience, and has achieved a certain per-spective on the whole. Similar conclusions hold for the mastery of any of the other divisions of human activity.

THE CURRICULUM IS BASED ON FULFILLMENT

THROUGH COMMUNAL PARTICIPATION

It follows that learning in the six realms is neces-sary even when the goal of specialized mastery guides the construction of the curriculum. Concentration should not proceed to the point of neglecting any of the essential human capacities, since the fullest mastery it-self requires all these abilities. The same is true of the curriculum based on fulfillment through communal par-ticipation. A person cannot understand his place in the whole and behave accordingly unless he is aware of the basic functions of civilized man. He must possess the powers of speech, description, creation, relation, choice, and integration if he is to play a significant part in the human commonwealth. In other words, he has to become essentially human himself if he is to participate in a meaningful civilized order.

THE CURRICULUM OF GENERAL EDUCATION

The foregoing concept of the six essential domains in which every person needs to develop understanding and skill is the basis for the idea of general education. The curriculum of general education contains those pro-visions for learning that are necessary for the develop-ment of the person in his essential humanity. General education is contrasted with specialized education, which includes provisions for the development of partic-


ular competencies for other purposes than the becom-ing of a person as a person.

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN GENERAL

AND SPECIALIZED EDUCATION

The distinction between general and specialized education is admittedly vague and imprecise. It is diffi-cult in any given case to make a clear-cut and unequiv-ocal judgment between the two. But it is not necessary to do so. The significant distinction is between studies intended to develop kinds of understanding (not partic-ular understandings) that everybody needs simply be-cause he is human and studies intended to develop kinds of understanding that only some people need in order to fulfill certain particular individual or social ends. Evidently the judgment as to whether a study is general or special does not apply to content as such, but to the relation between content and purpose for the given person and situation. An item of knowledge that is an essential ingredient in the humanizing of one per-son may be used by another for special purposes.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SPECIALIZED EDUCATION LIES INFULFILLING MEANING IN MASTERY AND BELONGING

The importance of specialized education lies in ful-filling meaning in the first two areas previously dis-cussed, namely, mastery and belonging. To become an expert in any field of learning a person needs to go far beyond what one needs to know to achieve human stature. In fact, some other way of gaining the kind of understanding required by everyone can always be found as an alternative to any particular specialty, while there is no substitute for particular specialized study if one wishes to gain mastery in that field. For ex-ample, to become an expert in physics one must study a great deal of physics to an advanced level, while for purposes of general education one does not need to study physics at all, since there are many other scien-


tific disciplines that can just as well yield the basic un-derstanding of empirical meanings.

Specialized study is likewise requisite for the com-mon good in a complex civilization. The basis for ad-vanced society is specialization of function, in which each person concentrates his energies upon doing a few things well rather than many things poorly. The gain in social efficiency through such specialization is spectacular. To make it possible, specialized education is required. Such an education gives knowledge and skill to people in any given field of specialization far be-yond the general understanding that everyone should acquire in the realm of meaning to which that field of learning belongs.

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN FUNDAMENTAL AND

DERIVATIVE OR APPLIED FIELDS

The distinction between general and specialized studies is quite different from another distinction that is important for curricular purposes, namely, the distinc-tion between the fundamental and the derivative or ap-plied fields of learning. The term “fundamental” refers to fields that are concerned with the deliberate and di-rect pursuit of one of the six possible kinds of realms of meaning. All the disciplines discussed in Part Two are fundamental in this sense, and others not included for want of space could be added. On the other hand, de-rivative or applied fields result from the utilization of meanings from the fundamental disciplines in the solu-tion of problems arising out of biological and social exi-gencies. The fundamental studies focus on the pure types of meaning, having regard for their distinctive forms. Derivative or applied studies grow out of practi-cal considerations, and workers in them seek solutions to problems without regard to purity of logical type.

EXAMPLES OF DERIVATIVE OR APPLIED FIELDS


The skilled crafts are derivative fields, drawing in various degrees upon the arts and the sciences for the requisite understandings. The same is true of engineer-ing, with major emphasis on the natural sciences. Law is concerned with problems of social control, and draws chiefly upon the social sciences, ethics, and the synop-tic disciplines (particularly history and philosophy). Business is compounded of empirical knowledge and ability in personal relations, with an occasional admix-ture of ethics. Education as a field of learning draws upon all the fundamental fields. Social work combines social science with personal knowledge and, to some extent, ethics. In all the applied fields language also plays an important part.


GENERAL EDUCATION OR SPECIALIZED EDUCATION

DEPENDS ON THE PERSON AND THE SITUATION

The distinction between fundamental and applied studies is independent of the distinction between gen-eral and specialized studies. Work in a fundamental dis-cipline, such as pure mathematics, may be used either for general education or for specialized education, de-pending on the person and the situation. Again, applied studies may be used either for general or specialized education. The practical field of ceramics may be a means either for general education in the esthetic realm or for the training of an expert in that craft. The study of law may also be used either for the ethical component of general education (among other goals) or for the preparation of professional lawyers.

Whether specialists concentrate on fundamental or applied studies depends on what their specialties are. A linguist, an artist, or a philosopher specializes in advanced fundamental studies. An engineer, a busi-nessman, or a doctor specializes in applied studies, to-gether with such fundamental studies as are needed to support his special applied field (e.g., mathematics and physics for the engineer, the social sciences for the businessman, and biological science for the doctor).

THE DECISION TO USE FUNDAMENTAL OR

DERIVED STUDIES IS DIFFICULT TO MAKE

The decision as to whether fundamental or derived studies shall be used in general education is not as easy as it is for specialized education. Derived studies may have a more immediate appeal to the interests of the student, and on that account may prove more in-structive in the basic meanings than would fundamental studies, in which these meanings are developed di-rectly. For example, a student might learn more mathe-matics and physics by studying them in the context of automobile mechanics and electronics than as pure dis-ciplines. On the other hand, it should be possible to


teach fundamental studies in such a way as to capture the interest of the student, particularly if ample use is made of examples of application, thus in effect incorpo-rating materials from the applied fields into the teach-ing of the fundamental disciplines. Using the fundamen-tal disciplines for general education also has the major advantage of keeping the various distinct ways of un-derstanding clear, and of helping the student to avoid the confusions of meaning that are all too prevalent in ordinary life and practical affairs.

THIS BOOK IS CONCERNED WITH THE CURRICULUM OF

GENERAL EDUCATION AND WITH THE

FUNDAMENTAL DISCIPLINES

This book is concerned with the curriculum of gen-eral education and not with specialized studies. It is also concerned with the fundamental disciplines and not with the applied fields. The foregoing discussion of specialized and derived studies is included to make it clear the scope of the curriculum as a whole extends beyond the provisions made for general education us-ing the fundamental disciplines and to suggest briefly some of the relations between general and specialized education and between fundamental and applied stud-ies.

THE CURRICULUM OOF GENERAL EDUCATION

USING FUNDAMENTAL STUDIES

Having said this much about the total curriculum, in all that follows we shall be concerned only with that part of the curriculum that is devoted to general educa-tion using fundamental studies. It will be assumed that insofar as derivative materials are employed, they will be introduced as auxiliary to the teaching of the funda-mental disciplines.


More knowledgeis to be learned than any one

person is capable of learning. Peopletry to teach children at an early age

someof the basics of everything. In order to

seethe broader picture one must be some-

whatdistanced from each part. At what

pointdo teachers decide that the student

must now concentrate on anygiven discipline?


Picture


THE SCOPE OF THE SCHOOL CURRICULUM

The scope of the school curriculum depends in part upon whether or not other agencies besides the school take responsibility for certain aspects of educa-tion. No general rules can be laid down to decide this question, since the agencies of education and their as-signed responsibilities differ from one social system to another. For example, it is conceivable that esthetic learning might take place mainly through museums, theaters, and the mass media, making instruction in the arts unnecessary in the schools. Religious and moral in-struction might be assigned to the home and the church, and personal relations could be regarded as ev-erybody’s province and therefore not in need of explicit care in schools. Nevertheless, it is desirable to include some provision for all six realms of meaning in the school curriculum, in order to provide the requisite con-sistency and unity in the experience of learning. Provi-sions made in other institutions can then be supple-mented and corrected by the corresponding studies within the school curriculum.

EFFECTIVE CURRICULA MUST BE DESIGNED TO TAKE INTO

ACCOUNT EACH PERSON’S APTITUDES AND ENTHUSIASMS

Because people differ, no one curriculum suffices for everybody. Some people are abler than others, and their abilities are of different kinds. One person has un-usual facility with language, another in artistic creation, and a third in human relations. Interests and disposi-tions also differ and these differences affect progress in learning. The conclusion to be drawn from individual differences is that for most effective learning, curricula need to be designed as far as practicable to take ac-count of each person’s particular aptitudes and enthusi-asms.

CONSEQUENCES FOR GENERAL EDUCATION NOT THE

SAME AS FOR SPECIALIZED EDUCATION


The consequences for general education are not necessarily the same as for specialized education. Nor-mally a person’s special interests and abilities are an important clue to what he should specialize in, indicat-ing the fields which it would be most profitable for him to take the most advanced work. By contrast, in the case of general education, which is concerned with what everyone should understand, less study rather than more is indicated for those fields in which a person has unusual ability, since he can be expected to gain competence in them more easily and quickly than in studies where his abilities are of a lower order. In gen-eral education, the lesson of individual differences is mainly that particular attention needs to be given to de-vising materials and methods designed to awaken the interest of those who do not respond easily and natu-rally to certain of the fundamental disciplines. In so do-ing, the educator takes responsibility for seeing to it that each person develops all the types of understand-ing required to become fully human.

A PERSON CAN BE AS ADVANCED IN STUDIES

AS IN SPECIALIZED ONES

Since the task of realizing one’s humanity is never really completed, general education is not simply a matter of developing certain minimum competencies in the fundamental disciplines. General education need not be elementary and introductory. One can be as ad-vanced in general studies as in specialized ones. As stated earlier, the difference between the two is one of purpose and function rather than of the subject itself. Every person should continue throughout life in the cul-tivation of his humanness. In fact, a major goal of gen-eral education in school should be to establish habits of study that will lead one to continue general learning regularly after completing his formal education. The measure of the success of the school curriculum is the degree to which graduates voluntarily and zestfully go


on learning in later life, and the measure of its failure is the lack of interest of its graduates in further study of the kind done in school.


YEARS DEVOTED TO GENERAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

IS DETERMINED BY ECONOMIC FACTORS

The number of years devoted to general education in schools is determined in large part by economic fac-tors and by the dedication of the public to humane val-ues as contrasted with efficiency in organization and production. If economic conditions are poor, it is neces-sary to turn every effort toward increased production and better distribution of goods, with corresponding emphasis on specialized studies and the applied fields. Even so, since certain basic human competencies are required for success in practical endeavors, a minimum of general education is important even in a relatively poor society.

WHEN ECONOMIC FACTORS ARE ABUNDANT,SOCIETY CAN AFFORD TO ALLOW CONSIDERABLE

TIME FOR GENERAL EDUCATION

When resources are ample, a society can afford to allow considerable time for general education. It seems likely that everything necessary to prepare a person in the general competencies and for lifelong continued general education can well be done in a period of from ten to sixteen years of school. It should be possible to complete formal general education sometime during the high school or college period. The usual pattern in the United States is for the least able students to com-plete general studies after eight or ten years and for the most able students to continue general studies at least through the second year of college, and often for the entire four college years.

ALL SIX FUNDAMENTAL REALMS OF MEANING PROVIDE

A PROGRAM FOR THE CURRICULUM OF

GENERAL EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

A program for the curriculum of general education in schools may then be conceived as providing for in-struction in all six of the fundamental realms of mean-


ing—in language, science, art, personal knowledge, ethics, and synoptics—over a period, say, of 14 years, with some opportunity for concurrent specialization where individual abilities and interests and social needs indicate its desirability. To achieve a well-balanced pro-gram it may further be recommended that the program be divided approximately equally among the six realms. In this way considerable variety within each type of meaning can be offered, and the criterion of fulfillment as richness and breadth of understanding can be satis-fied, along with the other criteria earlier discussed.

IMAGINE THE STUDENT DURING 14 YEARS

OF GENERAL EDUCATION

For example, during 14 years of general education a student could study not only his own everyday lan-guage, but also mathematics and one or two foreign languages (Symbolics). He could study several of the sciences—physical, biological, psychological, and social (Empirics)—and, among the arts at least the four groups of disciplines treated in Part Two—music, the visual arts, the arts of movement (in physical educa-tion), and literature (Esthetics). He could have regu-lar opportunities for gaining personal insight, through a program of social activities and of work with skilled guidance counselors (Synnoetics). He could have in-struction and practice in making moral decisions, through the study of moral problems and the methods of ethical inquiry consummated by responsible partici-pation in decision-making where the common good is at stake (Ethics). Finally, he could be given a thorough grounding in history and a basic understanding of reli-gious commitment and philosophic interpretation (Syn-optics).


Only athighly advanced stages

of learning capabilities does onegreatly narrow the scope of what is tobe learned and begins concentrating

on aparticular discipline. It is possible toconcentrate so fully on one subject

that thestudent cannot see anything else

aroundhim/her, thereby giving the student

an unrealistic view of the worldin which one lives.


Picture


A PROGRAM FOR GENERAL EDUCATION THROUGH

INSTRUCTION IN THE FUNDAMENTAL SIX REALMS

OF MEANING MAKES GOOD SENSE

Within the broad recommendation of a six-fold program of general education through instruction in the fundamental meanings a great variety of particular cur-ricula can be conceived. No one curriculum is the best for all people and for every culture and situation. The course actually chosen in a particular school will de-pend upon the circumstances of the case, including the character, traditions, and history of the community and the predispositions of its students. A general philosophy for the curriculum can only indicate the large design of the curriculum and certain principles for making deci-sions about the sequence of studies and the selection and organization of materials for instruction.

WAYS OF KNOWING

1. What does a person need to know?2. What appropriate scope of study ought to be

provided for a given course of study?3. What should be taught in order to maximize

meanings?4. Why is it that most of the outstanding achieve-

ments of humankind have been made by people who have developed a single line of competence?

5. What are five principal answers that pertain to what should be taught in order to maximize mean-ings for the fulfillment of a life of meaning?

6. What are a few basic types of functions that characterize human beings?

7. How do all six realms of meaning form a com-plex unity of interrelated yet relatively autono-mous domains?

8. Why should the curriculum provide for learnings in all six realms of meaning?


9. What are the six realms of meaning?10. How does a person attain maximum mastery of

any of the divisions of human activity?11. Why should the curriculum be based on fulfill-

ment through communal participation?12. What does the curriculum of general education

contain?13. What does the curriculum of specialized educa-

tion contain?14. What is the distinction between general and

specialized education?15. Why is mastery and belonging so important to

the fulfilling of meaning in specialized education?16. To become an expert in a specialized field, what

must a person do?17. What is the basis for advanced societies?18. What is the distinction between fundamental

and the derivative or applied fields of learning?19. What are some practical examples of derivative

of applied fields?20. Why is the decision to use fundamental or de-

rived studies in general education difficult to make?

21. Why do derived studies have a more immediate appeal to the interests of the student?

22. How does using the fundamental disciplines for general education help the student to avoid confu-sions of meaning that are all too prevalent in ordi-nary life and practical affairs?

23. The scope of the school curriculum depends on what?

24. Why does effective curricula need to be de-signed to take into account each person’s particu-lar aptitudes and enthusiasms?

25. Why are the consequences for general educa-tion not the same as for specialized education?

26. How can a person be as advanced in general studies as in specialized studies?


27. What is the major goal of general education in school?

28. How should we measure success of the school curriculum?

29. How is the number of years devoted to general education in schools determined largely by eco-nomic factors?

30. How is the dedication of the public to humane values more important in schooling than efficiency in organization and production?

31. Why are years devoted to school determined by economic factors?

32. Why can a society afford to allow considerable time for general education when economic factors are abundant?