Curriculum Development
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Submitted by: Ian Israel T. Atienza
Hollis Leland Caswell (October 22, 1901 –
November 22, 1988). was an American educator who
became an authority on curriculum planning in schools. He
directed surveys of curriculum practices in several school
systems, and wrote several books on the subject.
Caswell joined the editorial advisory board of the World
Book Encyclopedia in 1936, and became its chairman in
1948. In 1954, Caswell was appointed president
of Teachers College, Columbia University in New York City, and served as its president
until 1962.
Caswell was a descendant of Kansas homesteaders. He attended a rural high school in
western Kansas and attended Kansas State University for two years before transferring
to the University of Nebraska, where he received a bachelor's degree in 1922.
Planning to go to law school, he took a temporary job teaching at the high
school in Auburn, Nebraska. After he was appointed principal at the age of 21, he gave
up his ambition to become a lawyer and devoted his full energies to teaching. After two
years in Auburn, he was named superintendent of schools in Syracuse, Nebraska. In
1926 he enrolled in Teachers College, earning a master's degree the following year and
a doctorate in 1929. In 1929, after receiving his Ph.D., Caswell joined the faculty
of George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee; now affiliated with Vanderbilt
University, and rose to become a full professor before he returned to Teachers College
nine years later to head its department of curriculum and teaching and to direct its
division of instruction. He launched several studies of educational systems during this
time, publishing his findings ("City School Surveys: An Interpretation and Appraisal"
(1929); "Education in Middle School" (1942); "Program-Making in Small Elementary
Schools" (1942); "American High School: Its Responsibility and Opportunity" (1946).
Casell was a leader in the development of state courses of study in the 1930s,
consulting on state curriculum programs in Alabama, Florida, Virginia, Mississippi,
Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kansas.
1. query.nytimes.com
2. Saylor, J. Galen, ed. (1970), The World Book Encyclopedia, Field Enterprises,
p. 211
3. The Presidents of Teachers College
Werrett Wallace Charters (1875–1952)
was a pioneering researcher in teacher education and
curriculum development. His scientific approach to
curriculum development through analysis of life activities
broke new ground in the emerging field of curriculum
study.
Born in Hartford, Ontario, Charters attended the Hartford
Village School and, after finishing studies at Hagersville
High School, enrolled at McMaster University in Toronto
for one year. Taking a break from the university, he taught at the Rockford Public
School for two years before he returned to McMaster to earn a bachelor’s of art degree.
A leader throughout his life, Charters served as class president during his final year at
McMaster. In 1923, he received an honorary doctorate degree from his alma mater.
Charters later earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Toronto, and a
master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago. John Dewey, renowned
educational philosopher and the first Laureate of Kappa Delta Pi, was his dissertation
advisor.
Upon completing his doctorate, Charters served as principal of the Winona State
Normal School in Minnesota before transferring to the University of Missouri, where he
became a Professor of Theory of Teaching and the Dean of the School of Education.
Concerned particularly about instruction in rural schools, Charters traveled throughout
Missouri to visit and inspect high schools, often walking miles between train stations
and the schools themselves. His first book, Methods of Teaching, appeared in
1909. From 1917–1928, Charters was a faculty member at four institutions: the
University of Illinois, Carnegie Institute of Technology, University of Pittsburgh, and
University of Chicago. In 1928, he left the University of Chicago to become Professor of
Education and Director of the Bureau of Educational Research at The Ohio State
University. He also served as Director of Research at Stephen’s College in Columbia,
Missouri, from 1920–1949. For Charters, activity analysis was the critical starting point
of curriculum development. “Without such analysis,” he explained, “we are entirely at a
loss to know how to proceed in building the curriculum” Charters’s legacy includes the
enhancement and professional development of the lives of many of his students and
colleagues. Notably, Charters selected William H. Cowley, Edgar Dale, and Ralph W.
Tyler, all his former Ph.D. students, to become affiliated with the Bureau of Educational
Research. Each later became internationally renowned.
During his lifetime, Charters published more than 500 books, chapters, and articles. An
active member and leader of numerous organizations, Charters served as founder and
director of the Institute of Education by Radio, director of the National Society for the
Study of Education, a Kappa Delta Pi Laureate, and the National Education Association
(Kliebard 1975; Rosenstock 1984).
Charters died in 1952, at the age of 77 in Livingston, Alabama. The Charters’ Papers
are housed in the Special Collections division of the library at The Ohio State
University.
Charters, W. W. 1923. Curriculum construction. New York: Macmillan.
Charters, W. W. 1933. Motion pictures and youth: A summary. New York: Macmillan.
Dale, E. 1970. Associations with W. W. Charters. Theory into Practice 9(2):116–18.
Johnson, B. L. 1953. Werrett Wallace Charters: Particularly his contributions to higher
education. The Journal of Higher Education24(5): 236–40, 281.
Kliebard, H. M. 1975. The rise of scientific curriculum making and its
aftermath. Curriculum Theory Network 5(1): 27–37.
Rosenstock, S. A. 1984. The educational contributions of W(erret) W(allace) Charters.
Ph.D. diss., The Ohio State University, Columbus.
Seguel, M. L. 1966. The curriculum field: Its formative years. New York: Teachers
College Press.
Wraga, W. G. 2003. Charters, W. W. 1875–1952. In Encyclopedia of Education, Vol. 1,
2nd ed., ed J. W. Guthrie, 263–65. New York: McMillan.
