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"The purpose of life is learning."
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BIOSKETCH: RALPH W. TYLER
EDSE 683
By: Andrea D. Thornberry
INTRODUCTION: Ralph W. Tyler had an innovative approach to curriculum design and evaluation, which has made him one of the most influential men in American education. Tyler�s greatest contributions include heading the Eight-Year Study, which convinced the educational community that schools could develop programs that were interesting and useful to their students and prepare a large proportion of them for success in college. He was also responsible for directing the Center for Advanced Student in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford; serving on or advising a number of bodies setting guidelines for the expenditure of federal funds; contributing to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965; being a founding member and first president of the National Academy of Education; serving on the National Advisory Council on Education for Disadvantaged Children, a panel to study SAT scores, the Science Research Associates, the System Development Foundation, and the Exploratory Committee on Assessing Progress on Education.
Tyler was born in Chicago, Illinois in 1902, and was reared and educated in Nebraska. As a 19-year old college graduate Ralph Tyler became "hooked on teaching" while substituting as a science teacher in South Dakota, and switched his career plans from medicine to teaching. Thus began the active career of an educational activist whose contributions to society were many.
For his master�s thesis in 1923, Tyler designed a science test for high school students and "came to see the holes in testing only for memorization." He departed early from the view of testing as largely a statistical process that would "place people along the line of normal distribution." Instead he felt that evaluation had to start with objectives: "What were they trying to teach the children, how to memorize or to understand and use the material?" His graduate work at the University of Chicago connected him to famous educators such as Charles Judd and W.W. Charters, whose concepts of teaching and testing influenced Tyler�s later work. In 1927, he joined the faculty of Ohio State University where he further developed his innovative approach to testing. (Hiatt, 1994)
Tyler felt that the purpose of life is learning. He stated, "when one ceases to learn, one ceases to live life to its fullest." "His learning occurs through reflection on direct experiences." Tyler felt that children learn through exploration, and that they construct their knowledge through direct experience, especially through events related to past experiences. Through this direct experience, children become independent thinkers equipped to act responsibly in a democratic society.
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Tyler's View of Curriculum Development and Assessment
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Tyler was instrumental in curriculum development as we know it today. He emphasized the fact that both vertical and horizontal alignment in curriculum are important. Vertical alignment emphasized the same subject area in consecutive grade levels, whereas horizontal alignment focuses on integrated different subject areas within grade levels.
Tyler wrote in his Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction that there are 3 major criteria in building a curriculum. These are continuity, sequence, and integration. Continuity represents the vertical reiteration of curriculum elements. Sequence deals with having each successive experience build upon the preceding one, and going more in depth and more broadly into the topic involved. Integration emphasizes horizontal relationships in learning, enabling a more unified view. In attaining the learning goals written in the curriculum, Tyler emphasized the importance of behavioral objectives as a means of clearly stating what information or concept that the students need to know. He also realized the value of assessing changes in behavior which come with learning, and believed that these changes should be evaluated formatively (continually). Tyler believed that tests provided just marginal evidence of learning, and that assessment should occur within all facets of a child�s life, i.e., family, academics, social skills, etc. He believed that educators should focus their efforts on meeting the educational needs of youths rather than on gathering meaningless test scores from them and crying, "Woe is me." (Hiatt, 1994)
Tyler�s influences on curriculum stretched from public schools, private schools, medical and law schools, to military education, business education, and government education. In conclusion, Tyler saw no limit to the possibilities that learning experiences could provide to all people. He is one of the giants on whose shoulders we stand to reach new heights of learning.
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Reference:
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Hiatt, D.B. (1994). An interview with Ralph Tyler: No limit to the possibilities. Phi Delta Kappan, 75, 786-789.
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