Pragmatism And Curriculum
Education is a continuous process of adjusting to varying situations in daily life (John Dewey, as cited in Khalid, 2005). Thus, the aim of education is to enable students to solve the problems encountered by them in daily life and construct in them the capacities for solving those problems. The skills required to solve problems according to pragmatism are analytic and synthetic skills.

Curriculum on the basis of pragmatism involves subject matter that is related to household occupations like cooking food, stitching clothes, furnishings, and operating appliances connected with production, exchange, and consumption. The students while studying household occupations learn calculations and by keeping records they learn reading and writing skills. Finding solutions to problems in such occupations. 

The students are given tasks to select and use the available material for carrying out plans (Bhatia, 2004). In light of this philosophy, the curriculum for physics contains such topics which are essential ingredients of household life. For example heat, light, electricity, simple machines, and measurements are all such topics where the students develop their competencies while doing practical work in the laboratory. Calculating the mechanical advantage of any machine, for instance, an inclined plane, the students measure lengths, calculate and keep records of the readings. All these skills are used in daily life.

Khalid (2005) says that in pragmatism, the method of teaching which is preferred is the problem-solving method and project method while teaching physics. These methods require learning by doing any hands-on activity on part of the students while the teacher performs the role of facilitator and moderator presenting pervasive facts. The physics curriculum includes project and problem-solving methods to teach some topics in the classroom. For example “simple machines” are to be taught using problem-solving method while waves and sounds are to be taught by the project method.

References:

Bhatia, K. K. (2004). Philosophical perspective of education. Ludhiana: Kalyan.
Khalid, T.(1998). Education: An introduction to educational philosophy and history.                                 Islamabad: National book foundation.
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