East Tennessee State University Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University Electronic Theses and Dissertations Student Works August 1975 The nflueI nce of the Idea of Progress on the Curriculum Theories of Experimentalism, Essentialism, and Reconstructionism Christopher R. Clarke East Tennessee State University Follow this and additional works at: https://dc.etsu.edu/etd Part of the Other Education Commons Recommended Citation Clarke, Christopher R., "The nflueI nce of the Idea of Progress on the Curriculum Theories of Experimentalism, Essentialism, and Reconstructionism" (1975). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2843. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2843 This Dissertation - Open Access is brought to you for free and open access by the Student Works at Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Electronic Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ East Tennessee State University. 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Silver prints of "photographs" may be ordered at additional charge by writing the Order Department, giving the catalog number, title, author and specific pages you wish reproduced. 5. PLEASE NOTE: Some pages may have indistinct print. Filmed as received. Xerox University Microfilms 300 North Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, Michigan 48106 THE INFLUENCE OF THE IDEA OF PROGRESS ON THE CURRICULUM THEORIES OF EXPERIMENTALISM, ESSENTIALISM, AND RECONSTRUCTIONISM A Dissertation Presented to The Faculty of the Department of Education East Tennessee State University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Education by Christopher R. Clarke August 1975 APPROVAL This is to certify that the Advanced Graduate Committee of ______Christopher R. Clarke_______ met on the 27th________ day of May _________, 19 75 The commiteee read and examined his dissertation, supervised his defense of it in an oral examination, and decided to recommend that his study be submitted to the Graduate Council and the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Doctor of Education. Chairman, Advanced Graduate Committee As&CAA School of Graduate StudiesDea ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I wish to express my appreciation to my wife, Eileen, without whose love, understanding, and dedication this work would never have been completed. Also a special statement of appreciation to Dr. T. Madison Byar, without whose unselfish work and love this dissertation would not have been completed. I am also deeply indebted to Mrs. Martha Hauff for her continued assistance. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.............................................. ii LIST OF F I G U R E S ............................................. vi Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION.............................. 1 THE PROBLEM . .............. ............. 3 Statement of the Problem......................... 3 Statement of the Subproblems..................... 3 IMPORTANCE OF THE PROBLEM ......... 4 ASSUMPTIONS ........................................ 5 LIMITATIONS ............................. 5 PROCEDURES ........................................ 6 ORGANIZATION OF THE STUDY .......................... 7 2. REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE.......................... 10 INTRODUCTION................................. 10 SUMERIAN THOUGHT............................. 11 GREEK T H O U G H T ...................................... 12 THE THOUGHT OF THE MIDDLE A G E S ..................... 14 THE THOUGHT OF THE RENAISSANCE..................... 16 THE AGE OF ENLIGHTENMENT ...................... 18 SUMMARY ............................................ 19 3. THE IDEA OF PROGRESS IN THE NINETEENTH CENTURY ........ 21 INTRODUCTION..................... 21 iii iv Chapter Page METAPHYSICAL I D E A L I S M ........... 23 METAPHYSICAL PO S I T I V I S M ................. 29 EVOLUTION AND THE IDEA OF PROGRESS.................. 36 IDEALISM AFTER DARWIN ....................... 39 POSITIVISM AFTER D A R W I N ..................... 44 POSITIVISM AND UT O P I A N I S M......... 49 SUMMARY . ........................................ 52 4. EXPERIMENTALISM...................................... 56 INTRODUCTION ...................................... 56 INTELLECTUAL ANTECEDENTS ............................ 58 SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY .................................. 72 SOCIAL GOALS ........................................ 76 CURRICULUM THEORY .................................. 78 SUMMARY ............................................ 91 5. RECONSTRUCTIONISM.................................... 96 INTRODUCTION ...................................... 96 INTELLECTUAL ANTECEDENTS........... 99 SOCIAL PH I L O S O P H Y .................................... 108 SOCIAL GOALS ..... .............................. 113 CURRICULUM T H E O R Y .................................... 120 SUMMARY .............................................. 137 6. ESSENTIALISM . ...................................... 144 INTRODUCTION ...................................... 144 INTELLECTUAL ANTECEDENTS . .......................... 147 SOCIAL PHILOSOPHY . ......... 154 SOCIAL GOALS 158 V Chapter Page CURRICULUM T H E O R Y .................................... 160 SUMMARY .............................................. 165 7. SUMMARY, FINDINGS, IMPLICATIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS. , .................................. 169 SUMMARY ..................... 169 FINDINGS........... 170 IMPLICATIONS......................... 174 RECOMMENDATIONS.................. , ..................174 BIBLIOGRAPHY ............... 176 LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. The Historical Development of the Idea of Progress . 20 2. The Idea of Progress During the Nineteenth Century . • 55 3. Dewey Experimentalists and the Idea of Progress.... 92 4. Dewey's Social Philosophy and Goals ............. 93 5. Dewey's Curriculum Theory and the Idea of Progress . 95 6. The Idea of Progress in Reconstructionist Thought . 138 7. The Social Philosophy of George Counts and Harold Rugg ........................... 139 8. The Social Philosophy of Theodore Brameld ...... 141 9. The Curriculum Theory of Theodore Brameld ........... 143 10. Intellectual Antecedents of the Essentialist Theory of Education ................... 167 11. The Idea of Progress and the Intellectual Antecedents of the Founders of Experimentalists, Essentialism, and Reconstructionism . .......... 173 vi Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION The idea of Progress was not a clear concept in the philoso­ phical thought of the Middle Ages. For about one thousand years, from the fourth through the fourteenth centuries, the concept that man could be the planner and director of his own social progress and destiny was not considered. During this long period, philosophic ideas depicted a static universe and, consequently, a static society. In the period of the Renaissance, philosophers directed their attention to observing the world in which they lived; and, consequently, it was during this age that the roots of modern science and philosophy had their origins. As man directed his thoughts away from the religious-oriented, spiritual world of the Middle Ages and began looking at himself and society, the idea of Progress began to evolve. Once the idea of Progress entered the thought patterns of men, it went through an historical development of three stages. During the first stage, from the Renaissance up to the French Revolution, a period of approximately five hundred years, the idea of Progress was treated in a casual fashion; it was taken for granted and received no searching examination from philosophers or historians. In the second stage its immense significance was apprehended and a search began for a general law which would define and establish it. It was 1 2 the theory of biologic evolution that led to the third stage of the idea of Progress.^- Darwin’s Origin of Species finished the work of