Tylers design

Step one is determining the objectives of the school or class. In other words, what do the students need to do in order
to be successful? Each subject has natural objectives that are indicators of mastery. All objectives need to be consistent
with the philosophy of the school and this is often neglected in curriculum development. For example, a school that is
developing an English curriculum my create an objective that students will write essays. This would be one of many
objectives within the curriculum.
Step two is developing learning experiences that help the students to achieve step one. For example, if students need
to meet the objective of writing an essay. The learning experience might be a demonstration by the teacher of writing
an essay. The students then might practice writing essays. The experience (essay demonstration and writing) is
consistent with the objective (Student will write an essay).
Step three is organizing the experiences. Should the teacher demonstrate first or should the students learn by writing
immediately? Either way could work and preference is determined by the philosophy of the teacher and the needs of
the students. The point is that the teacher needs to determine a logical order of experiences for the students.
Lastly, step four is evaluation of the objectives. Now the teacher assesses the students ability to write an essay. There
are many ways to do this. For example, the teacher could have the students write an essay without assistance. If they
can do this, it is evidence that the students have achieve the objective of the lesson.
There are variations on this model. However, the Tyler model is still considered by many to be the strongest model for
curriculum development.
Traditional Curriculum Development
There are numerous frameworks for curriculum development. Tyler's (1949) model, however, may be the most widely
recognized. Tyler suggests four basic principles for curriculum development including: purpose(s) of the school,
educational experiences related to purposes, organization of experiences, and evaluation of purposes. Later, Taba
(1962) proposed a more complex model that builds on Tyler's view of effective curriculum development. Taba's
model includes the following stages:
Define target students and their needs: Teachers and curriculum designers need to define those students for whom
the curriculum is being developed. By first identifying particular students and their needs, curricula will be both more
efficient and more effective.
Identify instructional objectives: After teachers and designers have defined the target students and their needs, they
should state specific instructional objectives, including those in cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains.
Select the scope of subject content: After objectives have been stated, teachers and designers must determine the
subject matter, or the content of the curriculum.
Organize sequence and structure: Teachers and designers cannot merely select subject content; they must also
arrange content in a sequence or structure that will best accommodate targeted students' academic levels and interests.
Select presentation methods and media: Following the arrangement of content, teachers and designers should
select suitable media to present the planned sequence or structure of course content. Effective presentation methods
are more likely to engage students in the learning processes, and thus to accomplish instructional objectives.
Design assessment activities: Assessment is a crucial component of curriculum development; assessment of student
learning, based on stated objectives, produces data with which one may determine the overall success of curriculum
design and implementation.
Implement formative evaluation: Before implementing a new curriculum, a series of formative evaluations should
be conducted in order to identify and assess any weaknesses in the proposed curriculum. This allows teachers and
designers to improve design before implementation, and thus improve overall perform
Tylers model is deductive while Tabas is inductive. Tylers approach argues from the administrator approach while
Tabas reflects the teachers approach. In essence, Tyler believes that administration should design the curriculum and
the teachers implement it. Taba believes that the teachers are aware of the students needs; hence teachers should be the
ones to develop the curriculum and implement in practice. Another name for Tabas is the grass-roots approach.
However, her rationale does not start with objectives, as she believes that the demand for education in a particular
society should be studied first (see Step 1). Taba also pays attention to the selection of the content and its organization
with an aim to provide students with an opportunity to learn with comprehension. Tyler lays the main stress on aims,
evaluation and control. This approach may be perfect, perhaps, for market-oriented education, but inadequate for the

development of responsible and creative individuals able to meet the challenges of the constantly changing
circumstances. Many educational systems today, using Tylers model, have come to crises and require reforms based
on a totally different model of curriculum development.