The Curriculum of the Realist
The primary aims of education are to teach children the laws of nature and those values that will lead to the good life. Of course, the good life is that which conforms to the natural law. The realist views the curriculum as reducible to knowledge that can be measured. The curriculum includes science in all of its many branches. The study of science will teach students the underlying order of the universe. Other subjects included in the curriculum are mathematics and the social sciences. According to the realist, mathematics represents a precise, abstract, symbolic system for describing the laws of the universe. The social sciences are seen as dealing with the mechanical and natural forces which bear on human behavior.
In the idealist school, the teacher occupies a vantage point and her role is that of a guide. She is to introduce the students to the regularities and rhythm of nature so that they may comprehend the natural law. The knowledge transmitted by the teacher should be free of biases and of her personality. To remove teacher biases from factual presentations, the realist recommends the use of teaching machines. Teaching is best when it is most objective, abstract, and dehumanized.