From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In
education, a core curriculum is a
curriculum, or course of study, which is deemed central and
usually made mandatory for all students of a
school or school system. Core curricula are often
instituted, at the
primary and
secondary levels, by school boards, Departments of
Education, or other administrative agencies charged with
overseeing education. At the
undergraduate level, individual
college and
university administrations and faculties sometimes mandate
core curricula, especially in the
liberal arts. But because of increasing specialization and
depth in the student's major field of study, a typical core
curriculum in
higher education mandates a far smaller proportion of a
student's course work than a
high school or
elementary school core curriculum prescribes.
Examples in Higher Education
Amongst the best known and most expansive core curricula
programs at leading American colleges are
University of Chicago's and
that of Columbia College at
Columbia University. Both can take up to two years to
complete without advanced standing, and are designed to foster
critical skills in a broad range of academic disciplines,
including: the social sciences, humanities, physical and
biological sciences, mathematics, writing and foreign languages.
However, other selective institutions have largely done away
with core requirements in their entirety, the most famous being
the student driven course selection of
Brown University. Further, as core curricula began to be
diminished over the course of the
twentieth century at many American schools, several smaller
institutions became famous for embracing a core curriculum that
covers nearly the students entire undergraduate education,
oftentimes utilizing classic texts of the
western canon to teach all subjects including science.
St. Johns College in the United States remains famous in
this vein.
Choice v. Curriculum
Many educational institutions are currently trying to balance
two opposing forces: On the one hand, some believe students
should have a common knowledge foundation, often in the form of
a core curriculum; on the other hand, others want students to be
able to pursue their own educational interests, often through
early speciality in a major, however, othertimes through the
free choice of courses. This tension has recieved a large amount
of coverage in light of
Harvard University's reorganization of its core
requirements.
For example, in
1999,
the University of Chicago announced plans to reduce and modify
the content of its core curriculum, including lowering the
number of required courses from 21 to 15 and offering a wider
range of content. When
The New York Times,
The Economist, and other major news outlets picked up
this story, the University became the focal point of a national
debate on education. The National Association of Scholars
released a statement saying, "It is truly depressing to
observe a steady abandonment of the University of Chicago's once
imposing undergraduate core curriculum, which for so long stood
as the benchmark of content and rigor among American academic
institutions."[1]Simultaneously,
however, a set of university administrators, notably
then-President
Hugo Sonnenschein, argued that reducing the core curriculum
had become both a financial and educational imperative, as the
university was struggling to attract a commiserate volume of
applicants to its undergraduate division compared to peer
schools as a result of what was perceived by the pro-change camp
as a reaction by, the average eighteen year old, to the
expanse of the collegiate core.
