Validation of Objectives

My excuse for offering this paper is the belief that the isola tion and definition of a problem constitute a contribution to progress of no less value than the discovery of a solution. Fre quently in man's history much time and energy have been wasted "barking up the wrong tree," and very many complex and baffling problems have ultimately turned out to be comparatively simple and easy of solution when approached from the right angle. Accordingly, in spite of many misgivings I have decided to air a growing conviction of mine that somewhere in this mat ter of curriculum building a fundamental mistake has been made. I shall not be able to point out that mistake but only to suggest the general area of its location and the general method by which ultimately it may be isolated and defined. This paper is really an appeal for assistance. What I hope to do is to direct your attention to certain aspects of the general problem of curriculum making which seem to me worthy of more detailed scrutiny than they have yet received. During the last few years the educational world has given an unusual amount of attention to the problem of curriculum building and many new books on the subject have appeared. This is but natural, for as our social prophets tell us, we are living in a transition age during which even the most funda mental of our ideals may be expected to undergo some modifica tion. But any change in our general conception of the aims of education leads inevitably to the construction of a new curriculum designed to realize these aims. It is precisely to this process of formulating aims and of designing curricula to correspond to them that I wish to direct your attention. Fortunately the process as ordinarily carried on is familiar to you all. As one speaker put it the other evening, curriculum building is the favorite educational indoor sport. Let me recall 197