Modes of Values Thinking in Curriculum.

This paper proceeds from the assumption that (1) thinking about values is necessary and critical for people interested in curriculum; (2) curriculum designs are value-oriented statements; (3) in approaching curriculum thinking from an interest in values, it is important to identify clearly the unit of interest and its relationship to other units of interest; (4) the focus and use of values thinking will be different from one unit of interest to another; and (5) that attempts at a productive dialogue, when primary interests are in different units, lead to hostility and confusion rather than to understanding and clarity. From these assumptions, the author draws four implications: (1) it is important to clearly identify ones unit of interest before entering into dialogues concerning values in curriculum, because the unit of interest will determine the focus of values-thinking; (2) values-thinking at the conceptual, transactional, and transformational levels is referenced by the mode of thought at the preceding level; (3) practice affects theory building through the interaction of the generative mode of the transformational level with the theoretical level; and (4) the proper focus of study for understanding the valuing process is the interaction between the transactional and transformational levels. (Author)