Comparative Perspectives on Curriculum Development: A Study of Tyler, Taba, and Skilbeck Models

Abstract

This article aims to analyze the three centralized, decentralized, and school-based curriculum development approaches of education. For this, I reviewed the literature, including classical books and journal articles, as secondary sources. And then, I discussed these three approaches to curriculum development, thematically linking with their major strengths and weaknesses. The finding is that Tyler, Taba, and Skilbeck advocate centralized, decentralized, and school-based approaches, respectively, for curriculum development in their curriculum development models. The Tyler model is a more centrally dominated approach. This model advocates that the national agencies are more responsible and subject experts have a prominent role in curriculum development. The other two models are more participatory, where local agencies and schools are autonomous in taking curricular decisions. These models allocate the power to the teachers in developing their curricular plan. Taba believes in the rational sequence of curricular elements or stages, whereas Skilbeck puts the value of democratic and participatory ways for determining the sequence of curricular order. On the other hand, Tyler and Taba advocate the prescriptive nature of curriculum development, whereas Skilbeck focuses on the descriptive nature of curriculum development. These models offer the theoretical framework for designing the curriculum according to the responsibilities allocated to the national and local-level institutions.