Theory of Thematic Curricula

Authors

  • Carole Cook Freeman La Salle University
  • Harris J. Sokoloff University of Pennsylvania

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v3n14.1995

Keywords:

Course Descriptions, Curriculum Development, Education Attitudes, Education Theories, Units of Study, Elementary Education, Field Tests, Interdisciplinary Approach, "Pets", Preschool Education, Teaching Methods, Thematic Approach

Abstract

A theory of thematic curriculum emerged during the development of a unit on pets, entitled Pets & Me. The unit was designed through a school/university partnership for children pre-school to grade 5. Analysis of data collected during the unit's development and field tests supports a dynamic view of curriculum that challenges policy makers to rethink policies that begin from a view of curriculum as a static list of "facts" to be learned or "topics" to be mastered. Reflection on the project led to the differentiation of three distinct constructs: (1) facts and information, (2) topics, and (3) themes. Each of these three constructs plays a different role in children's learning. Facts focus on basic information and narrowly defined ideas understood as discrete items. Topics provide a context for facts and information, and present a way of organizing discrete bits of information into classes of experience recognizable by scholars within traditional disciplines. Themes defined as broad existential questions, transcend disciplines, allowing learners to integrate the information and the topic within the full range of human experience. All three are important elements of thematic curriculum. PREFACE

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Author Biography

Harris J. Sokoloff, University of Pennsylvania

Harris Sokoloff is Executive Director of the Center for School Study Councils (CSSC) at the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education. His responsibilities includes working with school superintendents, school boards, and district staff to help them keep pace with state-of-the-art educational and management theory, research and practice. He has worked with more that 70 educational organizations in six states on a range of organizational development and improvement projects. His consulting focuses on strategic planning, organizational redesign, and improving linkages between schools and the communities they serve. Dr. Sokoloff and the Center for School Study Councils are working to develop a regional and Commonwealth-wide network of educators who are able to moderate deliberative dialogues that will create stronger, more supportive linkages between schools and their communities. As part of this network, he has moderated deliberative forums around the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania under a grant from the Pennsylvania Humanities Council and is working with the Philadelphia Inquirer and WHYY radio on a project called "Citizen Voices." This later project extends the idea of deliberative dialogues to include the print and electronic media, involving them as partners to the conversations. Dr. Sokoloff also directs the University of Pennsylvania Summer Public Policy Instiute which trains people in the theory and practice of deliberative dialogues. Some of Dr. Sokoloff's projects include working with the Susquenita (PA) School District to redesign the early childhood and elementary education programs, and to build board and community support for those changes (some of this work is reported in the November 1996 issue of School Administrator; designing and implementing an instructional student database for the Wissahickon School and Southeast Delco School Districts; and working with the West York Area School District to improve school district and community dialogues. Dr. Sokoloff has also worked on technical assistance projects with the Radnor School District, the Haddonfield (NJ) School District, the Haverford Township School District and the Upper Dublin School District. He has worked extensively with the School District of Philadelphia in the early design of the PEPI (Philadelphia Elementary Principals Institute). Dr. Sokoloff is also lead author of a thematic unit for pre-school and elementary school settings. Entitled "Pets & Me," the unit has been commended by the National Council of Teachers of English and has received glowing reviews from professional organizations focusing on the teaching of the humanities and the sciences. That curriculum served as the impetus for this article which appears in EPAA. Dr. Sokoloff received his Bachelor's Degree in Philosophy from Temple University and a Master's in Education in Philosophy of Education and Educational Counseling, also from Temple University. In 1983, he received his Ph.D. from Syracuse University where his research focused on Philosophy of Education and Social Theory.

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Published

1995-09-15

How to Cite

Freeman, C. C., & Sokoloff, H. J. (1995). Theory of Thematic Curricula. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 3, 14. https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v3n14.1995

Issue

Vol. 3 (1995)

Section

Articles