Ralph W. Tyler
Ralph W. Tyler (1902–1994) was an American educator who worked in the field of assessment and evaluation. He served on or advised a number of bodies that set guidelines for the expenditure of
Early life and education
Tyler was born on April 22, 1902, in
Tyler went to college during the day and worked as a
His first teaching job was as a
His
Eight-Year Study
Tyler headed the evaluation staff of the "
Thoughts on curriculum
A decade after completing his work with the Eight-Year Study, Tyler formalized his thoughts on viewing, analyzing and interpreting the curriculum and instructional program of an educational institution in Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction (1949). This book was a bestseller and has since been reprinted in 36 editions, shaping curriculum and instructional design to this day. The book laid out a deceptively simple structure for delivering and evaluating instruction consisting of four parts that became known as the Tyler Rationale:[7]
- What educational purposes should the school seek to attain? (Defining appropriate learning objectives.)
- How can learning experiences be selected which are likely to be useful in attaining these objectives? (Introducing useful learning experiences.)
- How can learning experiences be organized for effective instruction? (Organizing experiences to maximize their effect.)
- How can the effectiveness of learning experiences be evaluated? (Evaluating the process and revising the areas that were not effective.)
In this book, Tyler describes learning as taking place through the action of the student. "It is what he does that he learns, not what the teacher does" (Tyler p. 63).
Educational advisor
Tyler advised President
Tyler was named founding director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences in 1954 and held that position through 1967. The center was originally envisioned as a five-year project, but later became an ongoing independent institution that would eventually claim to have supported over 2,000 leading scientists and scholars. As a member of the governing board, Tyler is credited with playing a critical role in determining the character of the center as a new type of educational institution.
In 1964, the
Ralph Tyler also contributed to educational agencies such as the National Science Board, the Research and Development Panel of the U.S. Office of Education, the National Advisory Council on Disadvantaged Children, the Social Science Research Foundation, the Armed Forces Institute, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Ralph Tyler also served the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) and helped publish its Fundamental Curriculum Decisions in 1983.
Late life and legacy
Tyler formally retired in 1967 from the Center for Advanced Study, but he later became president of the System Development Foundation in San Francisco in 1969, which supported basic research in information sciences. He was also on many other commissions, committees, and foundations. He was on the National Advisory Council on Education for Disadvantaged Children, a panel to study SAT scores, and was also the chairman on the Exploratory Committee on Assessing Progress on Education.
After his retirement, Tyler maintained an active life as a lecturer and consultant. He was a visiting professor at the
Tyler believed in the social role of religion and remained a member of the First
Tyler died of cancer at the age of 91 on February 18, 1994, at the St. Paul's Health Care Center in San Diego, California.[9]
References
- ^ International Honor Society in Education. Ralph W. Tyler 1976 Kappa Delta Pi.
- ^ Jeri Ridings Nowakowski. On Educational Evaluation: A Conversation with Ralph Tyler Educational Leadership.
- ^ Tjerandsen, Carl; Chall, Malca (1987). "Educating America: How Ralph W. Tyler Taught America to Teach". University of California. Greenwood Publishing Group.
- ^ Tjerandsen, Carl; Chall, Malca (1987). "Educating America: How Ralph W. Tyler Taught America to Teach". University of California. Greenwood Publishing Group.: "he and Mother felt that they were probably worshipping Mammon rather than God, and prayed over it and finally decided he had to give up medicine it was too profitable and become a minister."
- ^ Tjerandsen, Carl; Chall, Malca (1987). "Educating America: How Ralph W. Tyler Taught America to Teach". University of California. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 7: "In fact, at one point I was quite tempted when I was a senior in college to go to Rhodesia as a missionary, but decided not to. [Why?] Because I didn't think that I could do enough. I hadn't been trained as a minister. I was only trained in science and math and that's what I was a teacher for."
- ^ Tjerandsen & Malca (1987). p. 7
- ^ Wraga, William. [Understanding the Tyler rationale: Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction in historical context "Understanding the Tyler rationale: Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction in historical context"]. Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction in Historical Context.
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value (help) - ^ Tjerandsen, Carl; Chall, Malca (1987). "Educating America: How Ralph W. Tyler Taught America to Teach". University of California. Greenwood Publishing Group. "Major Influences in Ralph Tyler's Life and Career". To the question "Has religion remained a potent force in your own life?", Tyler replied: "Yes. If by the sense of religion you mean the view that the purpose of life is to help improve the nature of humankind and make them more and more civilized, that every individual is worth preserving as a person himself. Things of that sort which are part of the deep religious beliefs held by most of the modern religions Judaism, Christianity, the best of some of the other religions. The religious question is how to explain the world and what is the purpose of living?... I'm still a member of the First Congregational Church at Palo Alto, and I pay contributions to them, but I haven't been there for a long time.
- ^ "Ralph Tyler, one of century's foremost educators, dies at 91". web.stanford.edu. Stanford University. 1994-02-28. Archived from the original on 2017-10-24. Retrieved 2018-02-09.
Sources
- Families.com. Tyler, Ralph (1902–1994). Retrieved 02/03/06 from http://education.families.com/tyler-ralph-w-1902-x20131994-2587-2590-eoed
- Finder, Morris (2004) Educating America: How Ralph W. Tyler Taught America to Teach. Westport: Praeger.
- Natera-Riles, M. Ralph W. Tyler. Retrieved 02/03/06 from http://wredu.com/~wriles/Tyler.html
- Nowakowski, J.R. (1981) An Interview with Ralph Tyler. Retrieved 02/03/06 from http://www.wmich.edu/evalctr/pubs/ops/ops13.html
- Tyler, R.W. (1949) Basic principles of curriculum and instruction. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
- RALPH W. TYLER https://web.archive.org/web/20060117104256/http://wredu.com/%7Ewriles/Tyler.html