The Saber-Tooth Curriculum (Term Paper Sample)

The Saber-Tooth Curriculum
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The Saber-Tooth Curriculum
In the book “The Saber-Tooth Curriculum,” Peddiwell (2004) takes a satirical look at conflicting philosophies of educational approaches using the universal principle of education. The author provides information about a professor who took a detailed study on the old age curriculum. From the analysis of the story, it is evident that the stone-age curriculum was designed to tackle the existing problem in the society. The professor states that the Stone Age curriculum had subjects that instilled practical values in the learners and were designed basing on the prevailing local situation (Peddiwell, 2004, p. 27). The designers of the curriculum focused on the economic, as well as social needs of the people and thus designed the subjects to suit the situation.
The author cites subjects such as tiger chasing with fire and fish grabbing with bare hands that focused o how learners could benefit from the existing environment for economic and social gain. However, when the climate changed, the lakes dried up, and tigers migrated to warmer places making the education irrelevant. Instead of changing the curriculum to address the prevailing situation, some traditionalists argued that the change was not necessary. They thought it wise to preserve some ideas in the Stone Age courses for the benefit of building the mind of the learner (Peddiwell, 2004, p. 39). This marked the genesis of the fight between progressive and traditional education.
The radicals termed the practical lessons in the traditional education as consisting of “useless activities that cannot interest an individual with good sense” (Peddiwell, 2004, p. 42). This argument implies that the traditional education focused on traditional activities that are no longer practical in the modern world and thus not suitable for students. He questions the logic behind “a boy learning to club tigers” (Peddiwell, 2004, p. 42) in the world whereby tigers are no longer freely available. The traditionalists, on the other hand, argued, “the true essence of good education is timelessness” (Peddiwell, 2004, p. 44) to imply that education is supposed to withstand changes taking place in the world. However, the author argues that this argument marked the genesis of the demise of progressive education. The author further argues that conservatism education did not benefit students because what they learned was not practical in the progressive era. Even though teachers knew this truth, the author argues that they continued to teach conservatism education (Peddiwell, 2004, p. 44).
The information about the struggle to conform to conservatism education is an indication of the struggle the student is undergoing to grasp concepts being taught in the classroom. The focus on the saber-tooth curriculum that focuses on relevant practical skills in the older generation burdens the student with too much laboratory work without giving them a room to appreciate the advancement in scientific fields. The argument further impl...