Schwab's “Practical 4” and its Corroboration in Recent History

Abstract

It is always a pleasure to read and listen to Joe Schwab. In his unique and sometimes piquant way, Schwab has done much to influence how educators think about curriculum and how we approach the complex problems of changing curriculum and revising instructional strategies. In his fourth article on the theoretical and practical elements of curriculum, he emphasizes the practical aspects of local school curriculum development, suggesting that even university professors of curriculum might be able to contribute to the process. article is titled: The Practical 4: Something for Curriculum Professors To Do. Schwab examines both the theoretical and the practical sides of the curriculum profession in recommending the creation of a new role at the local school level. curriculum change structure and membership are familiar under other names, including cross-role cadres, Teacher Corps coordinating committees, urban school task forces. It is in his explication of the processes by which the Curriculum Chairman (a new role) would function with the group, and his description of the content and scope of the training needed to function in the role, that Schwab, in The Practical 4, contributes to our understanding of what is necessary to foster curriculum change. His synthesis of the current research on schools, the role of the teacher, and the nature of change is unobtrusively coupled with clear conceptions of how organizations and people behave when challenged with dissatisfaction and the need to change.