![]() Intellectual and esthetic responsibility, right choice of work and recreation, conservation of natural and human resources, and so on are all moral issues. Thus, the use of genuine issues as the criterion of what shall be taught affirms that education is a moral enterprise, where the term "moral" refers to purposeful conduct based on consideration of values. They are real problems because most people are not neutral toward them but, on the contrary, hold firm convictions about them. Race, social class, the use of leisure time, and the like are problems only because values are at stake, because people care about the outcomes, because these are questions on which decisions of moment must be made. Problems appear and their solution is believed important only because people have values, that is, purposes that they wish to realize. This leads us to the third level of unity, deeper than the concern for the curriculum and for the problems of civilization. Hence the chapters to follow range over what appear to be the principal problematic fields in present-day culture. The clue to choice in the curriculum lies in the demands that are imposed by the development of modern civilization. The premise of this study is that neither the organized subject fields nor the psychology of personality furnishes the criteria for deciding the content of instruction. The progressive schools were concerned more with the individual child’s interests and needs. The traditional formal schools taught subjects - the three R’s and their higher elaborations. Thus, the question, "What shall the young be taught?" is answered by saying, "Teach them to meet the challenge of these problems." And what are the problems of our time? Are they not such matters as the role of intelligence, the mass media, standards of taste, sex, race, politics, and religion? The fifteen subjects considered in chapters 3 through 17 cover most of the major problem areas in modern life. What should we teach our children? We must above all teach them to meet the problems of our time with courage and competence. Shall it be the traditional subject fields? Shall it be current issues in education, like federal aid to schools, education of the gifted, and so on? Instead of such perspectives, the major problems in contemporary culture and civilization have been elected as the basis for the choice of topics. The next unifying concern is that of finding a common perspective from which to consider the content of instruction. So it seems reasonable that a book about the content of education should treat subjects covering a wide spectrum - not exhaustively of course, but only so as to show why each one is important and to indicate something of the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that need to be developed in each area and how this may be done. If we ask what should be the content of instruction, it is evident that anything like an adequate answer must include many different topics, because a person living in the complex modern age must know and be able to do a multitude of things. The study grows out of the practical problem of deciding what should be taught in our homes and schools. The first unity lies in the fact that this is a book about education. These concerns move successively to deeper levels, finally culminating in certain principles which are the organizing center of the entire analysis. There are several common concerns by which the topics are united. How can the treatment of matters so different within the compass of one short book be justified? ![]() The subjects treated cover a wide range, from table manners to international organization, from scientific methods to the tax structure. ![]() ![]() In order that the central theme may stand out clearly, its statement will be followed by a discussion of the context in which the text is set, indicating some of its sources and relationships.Ī glance at the chapter headings reveals at once the need for such an introduction. ![]() This will constitute the text upon which the succeeding chapters are commentary, illustration, and elaboration. This introductory chapter will state the theme around which the whole book revolves and on which the widely diverse topics considered are so many variations. Education and the Common Good: A Moral Philosophy of the Curriculumīy Philip H. ![]()
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