Technical curriculum models: are they appropriate for the nursing profession?

The technical view of curriculum epitomized by the Tylerian objectives-based model focuses on measurable, quantifiable outcomes. Partly because of the drive to legitimize nursing as a profession, nursing education has accepted the Tylerian approach to demonstrate acceptable levels of competence for nursing practice. This paper examines the appropriateness of the behavioural measurement of outcomes for nursing in the present decade, using the framework of Habermas' knowledge-constitutive interests. It is contended that nursing educational practices have not kept pace with changes in the ethos of nursing practice in the 1990s. Nursing education must shift its focus from the technical curriculum to encompass humanistic principles and critical reflection, compatible with currently accepted nursing values.