4.5.6 SOCIAL PROCESSES AND LIFE FUNCTIONS DESIGN
This design is focused heavily on society. Social processes, functions, or problems become the center for the design of the curriculum. One way o look at this approach is to see it as using social studies to become the general background of the entire curriculum. A major goal is the improvement of society through the direct involvement of the schools.
The curriculum is structured around the various aspects of problems and processes of community life with the subject areas subservient to the problem. Careful development of continuous themes fr the entire curriculum is important.
This design is more subjective than is either the subject-centered of broad fields. Cooperative planning occurs more frequently. The curriculum is more flexible. Skills taught are skills students can apply everyday living.
Many resources and materials are used in addition to, or in place of, the traditional textbook. The library media center is used extensively work out solutions to social problems by drawing from many sources and
The validity of this approach may be questioned by parents a others. The diagram below shows some examples of "content" element that might be included: communication, transportation of goods an people, freedom of the individual, exploration, production of goods a services, distribution of returns of production, education, aesthetics recreation, protection and conservation of life, property and natural resources. All elements are interrelated and collectively known as social processes and problems of living.