Curriculum Reform in the 21st Century
ABSTRACT
Modern critics of the current education environment often point to poor test results achieved by American students in contrast to students in other countries. However, this is not a comparison that can be accurately interpreted without acknowledging the differences in the educational systems themselves. A re-examination of the purpose of education as we enter the 21st century may help us redefine our curricular needs so that our system becomes more globally and nationally viable. Much of what we now consider to be traditional education originated in the 19th century when students were grouped by age and each age level was assigned a particular grade. At the time, education was perceived to be a preparation for adulthood whereas we are now beginning to understand the complexity of the learning process itself through research and observation. However, acknowledging a consensus regarding the purpose of education has been difficult due possibly to the fragmentation and ambiguity within modern day society itself. Recognizing the need for sustained academic development as a first stage will be an improvement over the unabated progressivism that some would say has defined American education. A look at some of the more recent reforms implemented in schools such as restructuring, constructivism, and transformative learning, reveals an understanding of current brain research findings. Unfortunately, curriculum development itself is often perceived as a series of disjointed projects that are not linked together in a cohesive plan. Certainly as the demands for curricular reform intensify, one must include the possibility of a mandate for the development of a national curriculum which might also incorporate a local and/or state component to foster areas of local importance. It is even possible this national/local curriculum may also include a reassessment of subjects more in keeping with the development of non-linear modes of thought in the information age of the new century.