Blog: Statement of Purpose - Curriculum Construction Project

  Construct a statement of purpose that clearly indicates to the reader (think of your audience and who you would be proposing this curriculum to) why the proposed curriculum needs to be designed, re-designed, or revised. Address the needs of content/knowledge, society, and learners. Be sure to include evidence from scholarly sources and educational literature that indicates why these needs are essential to your curriculum. Some examples of where to find such evidence would be state and national standards, developmental theory/research, learning theory/research, social theory/research, educational policy, etc. In the final portion of the statement of purpose you should analyze whether you have appropriately balanced the needs (content/knowledge, society, learner). Remember that appropriately balancing these needs does not mean equally addressing each need area, but instead providing justification for the amount of attention given. Finally, reflect on the context in which the curriculum will be situated and determine if the orientation(s) a) is represented well and b) is appropriate for that particular context. For example, creating a Statement of Purpose proposing a heavy focus on the needs of the learner from the perspective of the Personal Relevance orientation may not be appropriate in the context of a school where the Academic Rationalism orientation is dominant; thus, you may have to attempt to balance both perspectives. Please review Chapters 2 and 4 in the Chiarelott text for more information and example Statements of Purpose. Required Texts: Chiarelott L. (2006). Curriculum in context. Belmont, CA: Wadsorth. ISBN-13: 978-0-534-59212-7 Tyler, R. W. (2013). Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press. ISBN-13: 978-0-226-08650-7