What Are the Two Main Curriculum Development Models?

By Staff Writer | Last Updated August 4, 2015

The two main curriculum development models used in education are the Tyler model and the Taba model. They are named after the educators who developed them, Ralph Tyler and Hilda Taba. The intent of the models is to serve educational purposes with the structure of curriculum.

The two models have similarities, but approach education from different premises. The Tyler model is deductive and works from a basis of scientific management, with a preference for education administrators developing the curriculum and having the teachers implement it. The Taba model instead is inductive, encouraging significant amounts of input from teachers in creating the curriculum because they are the ones interacting on a daily basis with students.

The Taba curriculum approach uses seven steps, the first being a diagnosis of needs, followed by an identification of the objectives and implementation based on those objectives. The following steps involve organizing the content by the teachers, selecting the learning experiences, organizing the activities and evaluating the effectiveness of the curriculum. The Tyler model uses only four steps, with a statement of the objectives coming first, followed by choosing learning experiences to attain those objectives, organizing material for effective instruction and, finally, evaluating the effectiveness and revising ineffective areas