Love as a Basis for Organizing Curriculum

CLARENCE A. LACK

V^ONSIDER the question, ". . . what . . . can be done with love in the re developed curriculum?" ' Presented here is the thesis that aspects of love are basic to the central organizing foci for curriculum; love is basic to the learning that takes place to fill human needs. That is to say, learning experi ences, in that they fulfill human needs, are structured by love.

Within the paragraphs that follow are references from several disciplines on the place of love in human experience. The ref erences cite several psychiatrists, an anthro pologist, a social psychologist, an educator, a religious leader, and a statesman. These statements trace out in line-of-thought the place of love in various levels of human expe rience. These statements in turn are related to a construct of educational objectives.

Aspects of love in the physical, emo tional, social, mental, and spiritual levels of human experience are proposed as the cen tral organizing foci for developing curricu lum. Deleted from consideration in this presentation are: (a) the validation of those values named; (b) the body of data support ing the formulation of objectives as stated; (c) definition of the processes by which the proposed bases for learning relate to the classes of objectives presented; and (d) the

1 Alexandpr Frazier. "Individualized Instruc tion." Educational Leadership 25(7): 622; April 1968.

body of theory substantiating the assump tions that are made.

The identifiable foci around which the various parts of curriculum may be organized are assumed to be within the nature of man. Some of these assumptions are the following:

1. Bases for curriculum predicate that be havior is acquired through experience.

Curriculum design structures experiences for predetermined learnings.

2. Bases for curriculum are founded upon needs for learning.

Curriculum design structures learning for need fulfillment.

3. Bases for curriculum are derived from learning needs.

Curriculum design is a construct of needs valued by learning.

4. Bases for curriculum are value judg ments.

Curriculum design, states values behav ioral^.

5. Bases for curriculum should account tor learning in toto.

Curriculum design should state factors of learning for the whole person.

6. Bases for curriculum are the basic framework for learning.

Curriculum design orders that framework into a comprehensible pattern for learning.

* C larence A. Lack, Elementary Classroom Teacher, Cupertino, California

April 1969 693

A Basic Part of Humanness

According to Maslow, love is a basic part of humanness; "The need for love characterizes every human being that is born." - Love exists as an essential core in humanness and must be allowed to express itself as love, without which no psychological health is possible. 3

The same interpretation of human be havior is shared by Montagu. He is quoted at length because of the unusual force with which he has written:

. . . one's needs are satisfied by persons whom one loves.

What man wants is that positive freedom which follows the pattern of his life as an infant within the family, dependent security, the feel ing that one is part of a group, accepted, wanted, loved, and loving. . . .

. . . we know that the organism is born with an innate need for love, with a need to respond to love. . . . Mere satisfaction of basic needs is not enough. Needs must be satisfied in a par ticular manner, in a manner which is emotion ally as well as physically satisfying.

It is in the organism's ever present urge to feel secure that social life has its roots, and the only way in which this need can be satisfied is by love. It is a discovery of the greatest possi ble significance for mankind that the ethical conception of love independently arrived at by almost all existing peoples is no mere creation of man but is grounded in the biological struc ture of man as a functioning organism. The implications of this discovery are of the very greatest importance, for it means that man's organic potentialities are so organized as to demand but one kind of satisfaction, a satisfac tion which ministers to man's need for love, which registers love, which is given in terms of love, a satisfaction which is defined by one word security.

This is what the person seeks all his life, and society, culture, and man's institutions, however inefficient some of them may be, all

2 Abraham H. Maslow. "Some Basic Proposi tions of a Growth and Self Actualization Psychol ogy." In: Perceiving, behaving, Becoming, 1 962 Yearbook. Arthur W. Combs, chairman. Washing ton, D.C.: Association for Supervision and Curricu lum Development, 1962. p. 35.

3 Ibid., p . 36.

exist to secure that one fundamental satisfac tion. The emotional need for love is as definite and compelling as the need for food. The basic needs of man must be satisfied in order that he may function satisfactorily on the social plane, the most fundamental of the basic needs must be satisfied in an emotionally adequate manner for personal security or equilibrium.'

While anthropologist Montagu has writ ten from a breadth of contact with world cul tures, Blanton has written from the depth of a psychoanalytic perception of human experience:

For more than forty years I have sat in my office and listened while people of all ages and classes told me of their hopes and fears. ... As I look back over the long, full years, one truth emerges clearly on my mind the universal need for love/1

From the perspective of social psychol ogy, Fromm has conducted a historical analy sis of societies. He states:

The deepest need of man ... is the need to overcome his separateness, to leave the prison of his aloneness."

Fromm gives as man's most basic need that of uniting himself with others into social units. He goes on to state that, "Love is union under the condition of preserving one's integrity, one's individuality." 7 According to Fromm, love makes possible both the sociali zation of man and the fulfillment of individ ual capabilities. This, he states, is possible through each individual man's capacity to love in care, respect, responsibility, and in knowledge." The dual role given to love as defined by Fromm is ". . . to have faith in the possibility of love as a social and not only exceptional-individual phenomena ... a rational faith based on the insight into the very nature of man."

4 Ashley Montagu. Man in Process. New York: The World Publishing Company^ 1961. pp. 65-66.

5 Smiley Blanton, M.D. Love or Perish. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1956. p. 3.

0 Eric Fromm. The Art of Loving. New York: Harper and Brothers (Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.), 1956. p. 9.

1 Ibid., p . 20.8 Ibid., p . 60.» Ibid., p. 1 33.

694 Educational Leadership

That man is loving as well as thinking by nature is acknowledged by Johnson. 10

Jung gives yet another, though still cen tral, role to love in human behavior. He is quoted at length to preserve the differences that are unique to Jung's particular interpre tation, for love is variously defined and used by the authors referred to in this article.

Eros (love) is a kosmogonos, a creator and father-mother of all higher consciousness. I sometimes feel that Paul's words, "Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not love," might well be the first condi tions of all cognition and the quintessence of divinity itself. Whatever the learned interpreta tion may be of the sentence "God is love," the words affirm the complexio oppositorum of the Godhead. In my medical experience as well as in my own life I have again and again been faced with the mystery of love, and have never been able to explain what it is."

Although a complete understanding of the overall concept may have escaped Jung, even with his lifelong experience in studying human behavior, this does not keep the role and value of love from being perceived within many human needs. While Jung attributes a divine quality to the nature of love in relation to human behavior, love, as denned by re ligious teachers, and as also defined by Fromm, is for the individual and his rela tionships with others. One among many examples of this point of view is:

The duty of the teacher is that of guide the guide of ever-growing humanity. Unremit ting guidance what is it but Love intrinsic? Love is the eternal teacher; and education is by Love, is basic in the reorganization of society. 12

That love is an organizing focus for co herent behavior is reflected through the diary of Dag Hammarskjb'ld as he wrote the follow ing poem:

111 Earl S. Johnson. Theory and Practice of the Social Sciences. New York: The Macrnillan Company, 1956. pp. 2-9.

11 C. G. Jung. Memories Dreams Reflections. Richard and Clara Winton, translators; Aniela Jaffe, editor. New York: Pantheon Books a divi sion of Random House, Inc., 1963. p. 353.

I2 Toyohiko Kagawa. Love the Law of Life. St. Paul, Minnesota: Macalester Park Publishing Company, 1951. p. 76.

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The moon was caught in the branches Bound by its vow, My heart was heavy.

Naked against the nightThe trees slept, "Nevertheless,Not as I will. . . ."

The burden remained mine: They could not hear my call, And all was silence.

Soon, now the torches, the kiss: Soon the gray of dawn In the Judgement Hall.

What will their love help there? There, the question is only If I love them. 13

As a public figure in international law, Hammarskjold had a little known, deep re ligious faith founded on love. This gave him the personal strength and the power of com mitment to public service to face world prob lems and the pressures of national interests.

That love can hold and motivate individ uals as well as social organizations, that love is the organizing focus for two major world religions (Judaism and Christianity) that have lived in millions of lives for several centuries in several countries, gives validity to the educational value of love.

The foregoing references to love may be summarized as stating that love is:

1. The physical basis for life2. The basis for social cohesion3. The emotional condition for need ful

fillment4. The basis for mental health5. The spiritual basis for values.

In that love is central to the mode of need fulfillment, love is a part of the per ceptual determinants 1 4 for learning:

13 Dag Hammarskjold. Markings. Lief Sjoberg and W. H. Auden, translators. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1964, p. 135.

14 The list of perceptual determinants are taken from: Robert E. Bills. "Education in Human Relations." In: New Insights and the Curriculum, 1963 Yearbook. Alexander Frazier, editor. Wash ington, D.C.: Association for Supervision and Cur riculum Development, 1963. p. 175; and Abraham H. Maslow. "Believing and Behaving: Perception and Learning." In: Learning More About Learning. Alexander Frazier, editor. Washington, D.C.: As sociation for Supervision and Curriculum Develop ment, 1959. pp. 56-62.

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April 1969 697

1. Self experience

2. Needs

3. Attitudes

4. Beliefs

5. Values.

While the qualities of love are the struc turing elements of the perceptual field for learning, love is a part of the central organiz ing foci for learning. Love then gives basis and structure for:

1. The individual fulfillment of needs

2. The social ordering of human relation ships

3. The knowledgeable employment of skills

4. The educational organization instruct ing purposeful behavior

5. The teaching-learning process disci plined by problem solving

6. The values in curriculum.

Aspects of love as in

Self-respect

Social responsibility

Self- discipline

Knowing

Life purpose, care, "divine quintessence"

Conscious levels of

experience

Physical

Social

Emotional

Mental

Spiritual

Structures the

perceptual field for

Self experience

Needs

Attitudes

BeliefsValues

Bases for curriculum

Individual experience

Society

Teaching- learning processEducational objectives

KnowledgeValues

Figure 1. Love as Basis and Structure for Curriculum

Figure 1 restates the foregoing sum mary. The qualities of love as listed in Fig ure 1 come from the preceding references to the role of love in human behavior. The conscious levels of experience may be recog nized as being frequently used in regard to educating the whole person. The perceptual field as a whole is comprised of the perceptual determinants. Under the bases for curricu lum are listed broad area groupings naming

what many educators variously propose as objectives for education. 1 "' 1(1

Figure 1, "Love as Basis and Structure for Curriculum," helps illustrate how the in terrelationships of love with a structuring of the bases for curriculum may be interpreted. One way is this: love, as experienced in vary ing levels of consciousness, structures the perceptual field which in turn structures the bases for curriculum. In the following poem, "In Love Is the Foundation Laid for Educa tion," is an interpretation of how love may structure curriculum.

In Love Is the Foundation Laid for Education

In love is the foundation laid for education; For to love and be loved is to enter fully into life: Then learning is born of experience.

In love is the foundation laid for education; For to love and be loved is to participate in

society: Then learning is a child of social interaction.

In love is the foundation laid for education; For to love and be loved is to value the person: Then learning is for individual fulfillment.

In love is the foundation laid for education; For to love and be loved is to be purposefully

employed: Then learning matures knowledge into wisdom.

In love is the foundation laid for education; For to love and be Love is the goal most valued: Then learning is Love expressing and experienc

ing itself in Being.

Figure 1 and its interpretation suggest an organizing focus for constructing cur riculum. The objectives of education are ordered by and arise out of the perceptual field. The perceptual field is in turn struc-

1 ~1 The individual experience, society, knowl edge, teaching-learning process, educational ob jectives, and values are names used for groupings of bases for curriculum as cited by the researcher in "A Survey of Bases for Curriculum Design." Un published research paper, San Jose State College, California, 1966.

1(1 Terminology used by writers in the field of curriculum development frequently varies from any common meaning. A needed foundation from which to build curriculum theory is research of terminology and definition of terms used.

April 1969 699

tured by the values in love. The basic struc ture through which love is expressed is an aggregate ordering of those aspects of human nature referred to as the whole person.

Many implications come from such a statement. A larger body of data is needed to demonstrate the reliability of the corre spondences between love, the perceptual field, and bases for curriculum with the phys ical, social, emotional, mental, and spiritual aspects of man. How does the large body of research on learning by wholes relate to this structuring of curriculum? How are the val ues of love to be defined? Of the many cen ters for organizing curriculum, is basic need fulfillment through love perhaps a more valid basis than are some others for struc turing curriculum?

References

Robert E. Bills. "Education in Human Rela tions." New Insights and the Curriculum, 1 963 Yearbook. Alexander Frazier, editor. Washington, D.C.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1963.

Smiley Blanton, M.D. Love or Perish. New York: Simon and Schuster, Inc., 1956.

Alexander Frazier. "Individualized Instruc tion." Educational Leadership 25(7): 616-24; April 1968.

Eric Fromm. The Art of Loving. New York: Harper and Brothers (Harper & Row, Publishers, Inc.), 1956.

Dag Hammarskjbld. Markings. Lief Sjoberg and W. H. Auden, translators. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, Inc., 1964.

Earl S. Johnson. Theory and Practice of the Social Sciences. New York: The Macmillan Com pany, 1956.

C. G. Jung. Memories Dreams Reflections. Richard and Clara Winton, translators. Aniela Jaffe, editor. New York: Pantheon Books, 1963.

Toyohiko Kagawa. Love the Law of Life. S t. Paul, Minnesota: Macalester Park Publishing Com pany, 1951.

Abraham Maslow. "Believing and Behaving: Perception and Learning." In: Learning More About Learning. Alexander Frazier, editor. Washington, D.C.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, 1959.

Abraham Maslow. "Some Basic Propositions of a Growth and Self Actualization Psychology." In: Perceiving, Behaving, Becoming, 1 962 Year book. Arthur W. Combs, editor. Washington, D.C.: Association for Supervision and Curriculum De velopment, 1962.

Ashley Montagu. Man in Process. New York: The World Publishing Company, 1961. Q

The ASCD Research Councilpresents

THE ECOLOGY OF THE CLASSROOMtheme of the

14th Annual Western Research Institute

• The Western Institute will consider a provocative new approach to study of the classroom environment. • Participants will discover the results of ecological research and methodology which provide insight into classroom discipline, interaction, and learning. • Video tapes designed to help schools initiate new programs will

be presented.

April 24-26, 1969 • Thunderbolt Hotel • San Francisco, California

Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development, NEA 1201 Sixteenth Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036

April 1969 701

Copyright © 1969 by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. All rights reserved.