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Julia Schmidlin
EDUC 3501
Aaron Stout
September. 27th, 2017
Curriculum Ideology Reflection
There are four curriculum ideologies that have developed throughout the study of

education. These ideologies are known as Scholar Academic, Social Efficiency, Learner

Centered and Social Reconstruction. Many instructors and teachers often find themselves leaning

towards one of these perspectives, which is ultimately shown in their styles of teaching.

However, what is commonly debated is the degree in which a particular ideology influences the

construction and execution of a learning experience for students. I believe that certain ideologies

can definitely impact the structure of a lesson, however teachers should be flexible with the way

they present material, so their students can have a better chance of retaining the information. It is

important that teachers develop their lessons with a clear structured format (beginning, middle

and end) to act as a point of reference for students. However, what impacts a students

experience in school the most is when teachers present information in a way that aims to fill all

the learning needs of each student; whether that be visual learners, kinesthetic, etc. Therefore,

using an ideology as a basis for teaching can be beneficial for both the teachers and students, yet

an ideology or teaching outlook should not be the sole factor that contributes to the execution of

a learning experience.

After completing research on these ideologies, it is obvious that they influence the way

people think about curriculum. When teachers analyze the different ways to approach

curriculum, they are encouraged to develop their own philosophies on teaching. There are some

clear differences between the ideologies. For example, Scholar Academics focus more on the
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importance of constructing knowledge within the classroom and following a hierarchy of

intellect. Contrastingly, Learner Centered individuals focus more on the needs of students and

promoting individual growth (Schiro, 2008 p. 4-6). Although these ideologies express two very

different opinions on teaching, there has been an attempt to have these ideas cooperate with each

other, rather than compete (Schiro, p. 9). This would allow students to have more variety in their

learning experiences, rather than be stuck to simply one outlook of teaching.

After reading summaries on the ideologies and listening to my classmates presentations,

I found that I had mixed feelings with some elements pertaining to each ideology. For example, I

agree with the Scholar Academic ideology that it is the teachers job to convey their knowledge of

different disciplines to the students and that they should give students a participants knowledge

rather than an observers knowledge. However, I dont think there should be a hierarchal

standard, where you are categorized depending on how knowledgeable you are. This could be

discouraging for some students and may limit their motivation to succeed. This just goes to show

that one shouldnt base their teaching style on one perspective, rather use each of these

ideologies as guides to formulate your own opinions. I understand that this is a challenging thing

to accomplish and the Schiro (2008) article describes just how difficult it would be by stating, It

is as though four great magnets tug on all of us who are interested in education, pulling us in four

different directions (p. 9). I think that teachers need to experiment using different ideologies and

techniques within their teaching and simply see which methods work best in their classroom.

All students learn and retain information differently, so it is important for teachers to

explore different teaching styles and see which ones works best to create an optimal classroom

environment. For example, if a teacher walked into their classroom with a Scholar Academic

mindset, they would only focus on making sure that students were expanding their knowledge on
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the different academic disciplines and moving their way up the hierarchal levels of learning. Of

course, it is important that students advance academically, but teachers should also be aware that

learning is unique to each individual and that growth will occur at an individual rate. With this

approach, students may be more focused on gathering and memorizing as much information as

they can, rather than actually absorbing the content theyre learning. In contrast to this, if a

teacher were to have a Social Reconstructionist mindset, they would focus more on preparing

students for the challenges they will face in society and less on developing their knowledge with

the different disciplines. Scholar academics would argue that students will not be prepared for

their future at all if they dont have enough knowledge on the academic disciplines. Both of these

outlooks are valid and should be used, however there should be a balance between all ideologies

so that students can have more of a positive learning experience and be more engaged with the

material.

One way that I think could help with balancing the ideologies is by including as much

peer collaborative work as possible. A Scholar Academic would view group work as a positive

practice since students are able to participate and develop their knowledge together. Learner

Centered would similarly find benefits to group work as its putting the attention on the students,

where they can learn from one another and grow at their own pace. Social Efficiency and Social

Reconstructionist ideologists would also see group work as a positive method because it

encourages students to take on responsibilities and communicate, which are skills that will

prepare them for the future.

Overall, when looking at the four ideologies, I think using one or more perspectives can

be beneficial when constructing a lesson. All teachers have different philosophies and beliefs on

teaching, so using such ideologies as a guide when creating lessons can be helpful. However,
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teachers should be conscious over how they present information; making sure that their students

retain and absorb what is being taught. It is easy for a Scholar Academic teacher to be focused on

delivering knowledge to their students, but they need to be just as concerned over how their

students are developing individually and what specifically their students need in order to

succeed. As discussed, there are pros and cons to all of the ideologies, so it is important that

current and future teachers examine all of them before implementing them into their teaching.
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Works Cited
Schiro, M. S. (2008). Curriculum Theory, Conflicting Visions and Enduring Concerns:
Introduction to the Curriculum Ideologies. Na: Sage Publications.