A Sense of history is very important to anyone who works in curriculum. In the United States, for example, the development of education can be viewed as three distinct eras. Those eras are: the evolutionary era, the modern era, and the postmodern era.
By the end of the 20th century, the purpose and rationale of education had begun to change. Indeed, the method itself of being educated also began to change. Discuss our postmodern era and how education has changed, and how it continues to change. Be certain to discuss changes in teaching and learning.
In Curriculum Development a guide to practice eight edition, it is stated that the four major curriculum planning areas that have dominated thinking about schools include; Social forces in society, treatment of knowledge, human growth and development, learning as a process and technology (Wiles J., & Bondi, J. 2011). Our postmodern era of education focuses heavily on these areas in the schools. Social forces is the transition of the United States moving from an agrarian society to an industrial one (Wiles J., & Bondi, J. 2011). The various changes in communication and technology over the years has improved and led to a greater postindustrial society. Television,radio and the computer are all examples of this. In terms of treatment of knowledge, over the years, there has been more emphasis placed on what is being taught in school, why it is being taught and how the information if valuable to student knowledge. As not only the U.S continues to grow and expand in regards to social forces but the world continues to grow and improve in this area as well. The third major planning area of human growth and development is very important. This area is the information and how its affects and relates to human development. From Freud to Vygotsky, there has been a need to examine and focus on the development and growth of humans in various stages of their life. These psychologist and philosophers have made sense of certain behaviors of humans and with that information, curriculum's can be developed on what students should be learning and what age they should be learning it. The fourth stage which is learning as a process can be an extension of human growth and development. This stage is a result of the understanding of human development and new perspectives on learning and knowledge in schools. This stage bring various strategies in learning and promotes multiple learning styles in education so that every student can succeed. The last stage of planning is technology which is the newest stage. This stage has grown in the last years since the start of the internet (world wide web). Technology can be frustrating for educators since there are new technologies created frequently and have a short commercial life inside the classroom. As soon as teachers and students get used to a certain technology, something new is created to replace it. This planning area will always cause for a change in our education as technologies will continue to change and improve over the years. All of these planning areas has caused our postmodern era of education to shift and change into what it is today. We are currently in a time where there is a strong need for accountability with education and high stakes testing. The speed of education has increased tremendously with the amount of information students should know and with only a short time period to learn it. Changes in teaching and learning can be seen with the use of high stakes testing. High stakes testing is a test or assessment with important consequences for the test taker. Passing this type of test has important benefits such as passing onto the next grade level, receiving a diploma, or licensure. If a student fails this type of test, they are at a disadvantage and are often made to take remedial courses until they are able to pass. There are other negative domino affects of students failing high
