Curriculum Development: Definitions & Approaches

Curriculum Development & Evaluation

• Curriculum has existed since 1820, derived from the Latin term "currere," meaning "to run a course."
• Experts define "curriculum" in various ways, reflecting different approaches.
• Ornstein and Hunkins specify five basic definitions of curriculum.
• Curriculum can be a plan for achieving goals, exemplified by Tyler and Taba.
• J. Galen Saylor defines curriculum as "a plan for providing sets of learning opportunities for persons to be educated."
• David Pratt writes "curriculum is an organized set of formal education and or training intentions".
• Curriculum conveys different meanings, ranging from a specific course to all planned experiences offered by a school.
• Curriculum can be defined as prescriptive, descriptive, or both.
• Prescriptive curriculum outlines what "ought" to happen, often in a plan or expert opinion.
• Descriptive curriculum goes beyond prescription, considering how things are in real classrooms, and includes experience.
• Experienced curriculum provides "glimpses" of the curriculum in action.

Prescriptive Definitions of Curriculum

• 1902 –John Dewey: Curriculum is continuous reconstruction from the child's present experience, equating studies with experience.
• 1918- Franklin Bobbitt: Curriculum encompasses all experiences, directed and undirected, unfolding individual abilities.
• 1927- Harold O. Rugg: Curriculum is a succession of life-like experiences helping learners meet and control life situations.
• 1970- James Popham & Eva Baker: Curriculum is all planned learning outcomes for which the school is responsible, referring to the desired consequences of instruction.
• 1997- J.L Mc Brien & R. Brandt: Curriculum refers to a written plan of what students will be taught, including all courses offered.
• 2010- Indiana Department of Education: Curriculum is the planned interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials, resources, and processes for evaluating attainment.

Descriptive Definitions of Curriculum

• 1935- Hollis Caswell & Doak Campbell: Curriculum is all experiences children have under the guidance of teachers.
• 1941- Thomas Hopkins: Curriculum includes learnings each child selects, accepts, and incorporates into subsequent experiences.
• 1960- W.B. Ragan: Curriculum is all experiences of the child for which the school accepts responsibility.
• 1987- Glen Hass: Curriculum is the set of actual experiences and perceptions of experiences each individual learner has.
• 1995 Daniel Tanner & Laurel Tanner: Curriculum is the reconstruction of knowledge and experience enabling learners to grow in controlling subsequent knowledge.
• 2006- D.F. Brown: Curriculum encompasses all student school experiences to improve critical and creative thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, communication, writing, reading, and research skills.
• 2009 – E. Silva: Curriculum should emphasize what students can do with knowledge in the 21st century.

Types of Curricula

• Allan Glatthorn described seven types of curriculum operating in schools.
• Recommended curriculum is endorsed by scholars and organizations like DepEd, CHED, and DOST, emphasizing "oughtness" in skills and concepts.
• Recommended curricula are typically broad policy recommendations.
• Written Curriculum ensures the educational goals of the system are met; it controls for that.
• It is more specific and comprehensive, indicating rationale, goals, objectives, sequence, and learning activities.
• Written curriculum should be delivered as a loose-leaf notebook with a scope-and-sequence chart, research review, course objectives, and material lists.
• Written curriculum builds the ability to read, write and think effectively through authentic literacy.
• Taught curriculum is the curriculum an observer sees in action as the teacher teaches, delivered day by day.
• Supported curriculum includes resources like textbooks and software.
• Assessed curriculum is represented in tests and performance measures.
• Learned curriculum is the actual learning by students i.e. changes in values, perceptions, and behavior from school experiences.
• Hidden curriculum is the unintended curriculum, deriving from the environment, policies, and procedures.

Characteristics of a Good Curriculum

• Evolving, adapting to the present through continuous monitoring and evaluation.
• Based on the needs of the people i.e. individual and society.
• Democratically conceived through the efforts of different societal sectors.
• Result of a long-term effort in planning, management, evaluation, and development.
• A complex of details including instructional equipment, student-teacher relationships, guidance, health services, etc.
• Provides logical sequence of subject matter, ensuring continuity of experiences.
• Complements and cooperates with community programs.
• Has educational quality through developing intellectual capacities.
• Has administrative flexibility, ready for necessary changes.
• Purpose of the curriculum is to enable each child or young person to be a successful learner, confident individual, responsible citizen, and effective contributor.

Distinction Between Curriculum and Other Related Terminologies

• Syllabus is the content of school subjects in a curriculum, narrower in scope.
• It normally contains what students will learning in various school subjects in a year or longer.
• Scheme of work is a breakdown of what students are expected to learn in a given period ( systematic arrangement of subject matter).
• Course of study is an educational program leading to a certificate.
• Lesson note (or plan) assists teachers for orderly presentation.
• The classroom is the implementation point of the program of learning.

Major Foundations of Curriculum

• Philosophical
• Historical
• Psychological
• Social

Philosophical Foundations of Curriculum

• Philosophy provides a framework for planning, implementing, and evaluating curricula, answering questions about the purpose of schools, important subjects, learning, and materials.
• Philosophy is used for the succeeding decision-making process
• Four educational philosophies that relate to curriculum are connected to aim of education, role of education, focus in curriculum, and related curricular trends.
  • Perennialism: (rational person; cultivate intellect)
    • Teachers help students think with reason based on the Socratic methods
    • classical subjects, literary analysis, constant curriculum.
    • Use of great books and return to the liberal arts.
  • Essentialism (competent person)
    • Teacher is sole authority, focusing on essential skills, science, history, math, and foreign language.
    • Curriculum excellence, back to basics, and cultural literacy.
  • Progressivism (social living)
    • Knowledge leads to growth and development of lifelong learners
    • Interdisciplinary, integrative, interactive.
  • Reconstructionism (education is for change.)
    • Teachers act as agents of change and reform.
    • Curriculum includes present and future national/international issues
    • Equality and access to global education.

Historical Foundations of Curriculum

• Philippine Education was influenced by the American educational system.
  • Franklin Bobbit (1876-1956): viewed curriculum as a science emphasizing student needs for adult life, Objectives are grouped and sequenced.
  • Werett Charters (1875-1952): curriculum is a science emphasizing student needs, matching objectives with activities.
  • William Kilpatrick (1871-1965): Child-centered curricula with the purpose of child development. Project method.
  • Harold Rugg (1886-1960): Child-centered curriculum to develop the whole child, emphasizing social studies.
  • Hollis Caswell (1901-1989): Curriculum is organized around social functions or themes, learner's experiences.
  • Ralph Tyler (1902-1994): Curriculum as science based on student needs, related to instruction.
• Curriculum focuses on problem-solving and educating generalists, not specialists.
• Development reflects changes in educational philosophy, psychology, and pedagogy.

Psychological Foundations of Education

• Psychology provides a basis and addresses the optimum level of students' participant for learning process.
• Behaviorism dominated 20th-century psychology, theories such as:
  • Edward Thorndike (Connectionism.)
  • Ivan Pavlov (Classical Conditioning.)
  • B.F Skinner (Operant Conditioning)
  • Albert Bandura (Modeling and Observation theory)
  • Robert Gagne (Hierachical Learning / Sets of behavior): intellectual skills, information, cognitive strategies, motor skills, and attitudes.
• Listed learning outcomes overlap with cognitive, affective and psychomotor Behaviorist emphasizes mastering subjects.
• Cognitive Psychology examines information storage, retrieval, and conclusion generation. Advocates of cognitive psychology/ theories include:
  • Jean Piaget (Development stages)
  • Lev Vygostky (Social constructivism.)
  • Howard Gardner (Multiple Intelligences)
  • Felder and Silverman (Learning Styles)
  • Daniel Goleman (Emotional Intelligences)
• Humanistic Psychologists concentrate with human potentials (Carl Rogers, Abraham Maslow), focusing on process, personal needs, meanings, and situations.
• Psychology profoundly impacts the curriculum; humans are biological beings affected by biology and culture.

Social Foundations of Education

• Schools exist within social contexts, with buildings and organization reflecting societal culture.
• Schools, homes, families, and communities educate society, with schools providing formal institutions.
• Schools are intended to help adapt with the constant changes as agents of change, addressing diversity, school reforms, and education for all.
• Curriculum and society are mutually encompassing, reflecting and preserving culture while incorporating changes brought by schools.

Elements/ Components of the Curriculum

• Aims, goals, objectives (what is to be done)
• Subject matter/ content (what subject matter is to be included?)
• Learning experiences (instructional strategies, resources, and activities?)
• Evaluation approaches (how methods and instruments assess results?)
• 3 Educational levels
  • primary and the secondary -Basic Education
  • Technical-Vocational Education
    • Post-secondary education
  • Higher Education
    • tertiary schools

The 1987 Philippine Constitution states all schools shall aim to

• Inculcate patriotism and nationalism, foster love of humanity, respect human rights, appreciate national heroes.
• Teach citizenship, ethical and spiritual values, develop moral character, encourage critical thinking, and broaden knowledge.

Aims of elementary education (EDUCATION ACT OF 1982)

• To provide knowledge and develop skills, necessary for living and contributing to society.
• Learning to increase responsiveness to society's changes.
• Promote knowledge, love for the nation, work orientation to learner

Aims of Secondary education

• To promote the elementary objectives
• Enhance the different aptitudes in order equip students with productive endeavor

Aims of teritary education

• To promote national Programs to promote national identity, cultural consciousness, moral integrity and spiritual vigor
• Skills required for national development
• Professionals for leadership
• Advance knowledge for research to improve in society

The school vision

• Each school must follow its vision, mission and goals
• They need to be translated into board students of intents
• In a curriculum, these goals are simple/ specific for each learner and is defined by Mager.
• The three big domains (bloom), Cognitive, Affective & Psychomotor.
• Cognitive
  • Knowledge, comprehension, Application, Analysis, Synthesis, Evaluation.
• Affectve domain of valuing, attitude and appreciation
• Psychomotor domain of the use of psychomotor attributes
  • Perception, set, guided response, mechanism, complex overt responses ,adaptation, origination

Curriculum Content & Subject Matter

• Curriculum has content, knowledge, facts, concepts, generalization, principles and theories to be used. The criterion for the content (Scheffler)
• Self-sufficiency: Learner can attain self-sufficiency learning in economy, more efficient
• Significance: can develop learning abilities, attitude with coginitive, affective, psychomotor skills.
• Validity: be be authentic and not become obsolete
• Interest: should be meaningful and be adjusted
• Utility: relative to the learner to be add meaning to my human potential
• *Learnability: subject matter must be arranged appropriately *
• Feasibility: content must be learned within the time, ressources, expertice of the teacher

The Selection of Learning Content

• frequently and commonly used in daily life.
• Suited to the maturity levels and abilities of students.
• Valuable in meeting the needs and the competencies of a future career.
• Related with other subject areas, and
• Important in the transfer of learning. -Curriculum includes instructional strategies and methods that realize the goals and facilitate learning
• Utilizes the various methods to implement the curriculum, use the objectives to translate and should stimulate the learners effectively.
• Every method should stimulate learning such as : Cognitive, effective ,Psychomotor.

Curriculum Evaluation

• All effective curricula have to have evaluation.

• Evaluation: quality, effectiveness or value.

  • CIPP Model
  • Context -Input- Process- Product

• Context assessment of the environment

• Input goals, and the materials available

• Process means of the curriculum

• Product is whether the objectives have been met and indicates if the objectives have been followed.