INSTRUCTION, CURRICULUM AND SOCIETY: ITERATIONS BASED ON THE IDEAS OF WILLIAM DOLL

This paper explores the relationship between society and school from the point of view of chaos theory with the purpose to understand the deficiencies in teacher education programs and to offer suggestions for their improvement. Based on the ideas of the postmodern curriculum theorist William Doll, it examines the paradigm shifts of world views from pre-modern to post-modern times and their implications for education. The methodology is theoretical analysis. The findings will show that classrooms are fractal in nature and reflect the society of which they are a part. Therefore, it is necessary to understand that the function of school goes beyond passing generations along or changing society. Today’s schools must bridge the gap between a modernist education system and a post-modern, globalized knowledge society. The paper concludes with examples that use those findings to improve the praxis of pre-service teacher education.