The developments of modern day school curriculums have been influenced by many rudimentary concepts which have induced practices in the way students attain knowledge. These concepts can be traced back to famous philosophers such as Plato and Aristotle, and as late as Wolfe and Rousseau. In the following dissertation I will be commenting on the forces that have helped shape the school curriculums, and preferences among mental discipline, natural unfoldment, and apperception.
First, looking back through the pages of history it is important to mention the significant roles that early philosophers, and the reform movements had on the modification of modern day curriculum courses. With people like Horace Mann leading the “Common School Concept” and John Dewey introducing the “Progressive Education Concepts” the portico of education would never be the same. Topics such as philosophy, immigration, gender, exceptionalism, technology, and sociology now challenged the prospectus of most school officials, and altered the adaptation and adjustment of modern day academic demand. All of these evolving issues required progressive solutions which eternally modified our school curriculum and its future framework.
Secondly, in scope of all these modifications, there is a pivotal purpose which drove all concepts of the sociological and economical demands found in the academic arena as well as in society. That pivotal purpose was to attain the new academic and/or “mental disciplines” necessary to adapt to change. Mental discipline as stated by James D. Koerner is “The harmonious development of the mind, the will, and the conscience of each individual so that he may use to the full of his intrinsic powers and shoulder the responsibilities of citizenship." In the process of “mental discipline” we see several notable components which focus on the strict development of memorization, recitation, perseverance, and humanistic development. Learning, training and exercising the mind to prepare and answer common day problems is a concept that challenges all citizens to stretch beyond mediocrity and break through paradigms which catapult them into unscathed domains. Exercising mental discipline either through classical, existentialist or scientific means would remain in the foundations of our academic framework for years to come.
Thirdly, “unfoldment” was another concept which nurtured the curriculum progress found in our school system. With a notable philosopher such as Jean J. Rousseau introducing this new model of course discipline, he stated that “Human hereditary nature is good, it need only be permitted to develop in a natural environment free from corruption” provoked school officials to permit students to live close to nature so that they might indulge freely in their natural impulses, instincts, and feelings. This concept was deemed significant because it later associated itself closely to the progressive concept founded and practiced by John Dewey. Understanding that students should freely develop, search, and attain their innate qualities and interests in a healthy school setting encompassed a new degree of learning that triggered changes in the time and context in which students learned. Each student independently possessed learning qualities which was distinct from the rest of his or her colleagues and could differ in visual, auditory, experimental or other means. All these means were positively influential in a constructive environment.
Finally, the “apperception concept” was a culmination of the “unfoldment” and “mental discipline” concepts shared by earlier philosophers. Apperception is understood to be the “process of new ideas associating themselves with old ones”. In any evolutionary process, one cannot remove the fundamental principles or substance which gave rise to the movement or concept which it nurtured. In the apperception concept we learn that everything “one knows come to one from outside oneself” or external means. In applying this notion, a chain of developmental components coincides with the previous knowledge already attained, thereby adding to mental perception and development. This concept takes precedence to notions shared by an earlier philosopher named Aristotle. Aristotle introduced the “unmovable mover” and “great chain of being” concepts which possesses a class structure by ascending importance.
It is my contention that each concept has played a universal role in the process of curriculum development. Similar to any evolutionary process one cannot speculate or preference on the theoretical precepts which birthed its foundational beginnings, for each contains truths which can easily be applied or perceived. “Apperception”, “unfoldment”, and “mental discipline” will always have its residence in academic development.
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