CHAPTER 2: Applying Tyler Today

Prior to this assignment my understanding and knowledge of Tyler’s impact on curriculum was nonexistent. This may be the product of the educational programs I have experienced or my own neglect of truly analyzing the historical nature of curriculum. This may also be due to my brief career in education thus far. Yes, I have been a teacher, and I am an assistant principal, but the reality is that I have not studied or analyzed curriculum until now. As I reflect on this void in my educational preparation and understanding, my experiences confirm Kliebard’s (1970) frustrations, “One of the disturbing characteristics of the curriculum field is its lack of historical perspective” and follows up by summarizing that recent curricular work is seldom far from the curricular proposals of the earlier 1900s (p. 259).