Running head: FOUNDATIONS OF SUPERVISION
Foundations of the Supervision of Curriculum and Instruction
University of Phoenix
Foundations of Supervision 2
Abstract
Pressure from public education stakeholders created a need for intentional, professional
supervision of curriculum and instruction. Living in a complex society struggling with
competing ideologies shaped by globalism, high technology, and scientific methods shaped
curriculum and instruction in the past and the present (Marshall, 2009). Early literature in this
field represents two competing educational philosophies which continues to dominate the focus
and approach to curriculum and instruction leadership. This paper reviews the foundational
literature shaping the evolution of curriculum and instruction leadership to understand the
philosophy, influences, and practices at work in schools today.
Foundations of Supervision 3
Foundations of the Supervision of Curriculum and Instruction
When Josiah Cater attained age 6 in 1820, his father made a contractual arrangement with
the local schoolmaster at Four Corners near Upper Marlborough, Maryland. The curriculum and
terms of service were dictated to the teacher for 10 dollars in gold per year. Josiah’s father
wanted Josiah to read from the Bible, learn to write, compute basic math, and learn military drill
during the winter months with his younger sister receiving classroom instruction in the summer
months. Variation from this agreement by the teacher voided the contract resulting in a full
refund to George Cater (Cater, 1880). This simple form of curriculum supervision grew into an
organized public education system before the start of the 20th century. After 1900, the second
industrial revolution, economic changes, educational theories, globalism, and public pressure
worked to change the direction and approach to public education (Johnson, Musial, Hall,
Gollnick & Dupuis, 2008; Levine, 2010). Pressure from public education stakeholders moved
schools toward intentional, professional supervision of curriculum and instruction and an era of
competing ideologies in a complex society shaped by globalism, high technology, and scientific
methods. (Marshall, 2009). This paper reviews the foundational literature shaping the evolution
of curriculum and instruction.
An Overview of Historic Foundations for Curriculum and Instruction Supervision
Ponder (1974) asserted belief in the need for a historical understanding of curriculum
supervision. Current developments in curriculum, according to the 1974 article by Ponder
needed an understanding of history as a means for preventing repetition of the same mistakes.
Forty years of history in the supervision of curriculum and instruction has been added since
Ponder presented his 1974 summary of formal supervision of curriculum and instruction. While