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John Franklin Bobbitt


John Franklin Bobbit (February 16, 1876 near English, Indiana – March 7, 1956 in Shelbyville, Indiana) was a North-American educationist, a university professor and a writer. A representative of the efficiency minded thinkers, he specialized in the field of the curriculum. Bobbitt received a PhD from Clark University in 1909.

His parents were James and Martha Bobbitt. From 1903 to 1907, Bobbitt was a teacher at the Philippine Normal School in Manila. He went to the Philippines as part of a member of a committee sent to draw up an elementary school curriculum for the islands. They had the freedom to form an original curriculum to fit the needs of the population. At first they put together American textbooks which they had been familiar with in United States schools, but a director of education in the Philippines made them look this over. When they saw that their idea did not fit with the social realities, they discarded their original plan. This time they drew up a plan with a variety of things to help the people gain health, make a living, and enjoy self-realization. They got away from the American textbooks and found activities derived from the Philippine culture. This is when Bobbitt realized that there were more useful solutions to forming a curriculum than just using traditional beliefs.

He felt that the curriculum was a way to prepare students for their future roles in the new industrial society. He influenced the curriculum by showing how teaching classical subjects should be replaced by teaching subjects that correspond to social needs. In 1918, Bobbitt wrote The Curriculum: a summary of the development concerning the theory of the curriculum. This became an official specialization in the education sciences. The entrance point of a curriculum was, according to Bobbitt, to see which results have to be accomplished.

Bobbitt felt that the curriculum has to adapt to the needs of an individual and to the needs of the new industrial society, people should not be taught what they would never use. They should only learn those skills which were necessary to fulfill their personal tasks. Education was according to Bobbitt primarily a preparation for adulthood and not for childhood or youth. This resulted in an early differentiation in education. Bobbitt was not a supporter of coeducation. In his view girls had a very different future than boys, so they did not need the same sort of education.


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