Curriculum Development Process Overview

Curriculum Definitions

• Traditional Perspective: A structured set of subjects established by teachers for student learning.
• Curriculum Development Process: Involves selecting, organizing, executing, and evaluating student learning experiences.
• Factors Affecting Curriculum Development:
  • The needs, abilities, and interests of learners.
  • The characteristics of society.
• Written Curriculum: Formal documents, syllabi, and course outlines created by curriculum experts.
• Taught Curriculum: Planned classroom activities designed to achieve the objectives outlined in the written curriculum.
• Supported Curriculum: Material resources like textbooks, technology, and laboratory equipment that facilitate curriculum implementation.

Curriculum as a Process

• Classroom Learning: The teacher utilizes the content to achieve specific learning outcomes.
• Teaching and Learning: Teachers prioritize critical thinking, meaning-making, and hands-on experiences.
• Process-Based Approach: Focuses on how content is taught, emphasizing instruction, implementation, and teaching strategies.
• Key Principles:
  • Teaching methods are tools for achieving specific goals.
  • There is no single best teaching method.
  • Curriculum should stimulate learners' desire to develop cognitively, affectively, and psychomotorically.
  • Curriculum should accommodate different learning and teaching styles.
  • Curriculum should result in measurable learning outcomes.
  • Curriculum should be flexible and adapt to the needs of learners.
  • The processes of learning and teaching are vital.

Curriculum as a Product

• Essential Outcome: Equip students with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to function effectively and efficiently.
• Behavioral Change: The aim of education is to induce significant shifts in students' behaviors.
• Emphasis on Behavioral Objectives: Curriculum development involves formulating clear ILOs or desired outcomes.

Philosophical Foundations of Curriculum

• Guiding Principles: Provide a framework for educators to understand the purpose of education and shape their approach to curriculum.
• Key Questions
  • The purpose of education.
  • How students should learn.
  • What materials and methods are most effective.
  • The importance of teaching and learning processes.
  • The role of values and beliefs in the curriculum.
• Major Educational Philosophies
  • Perennialism: Emphasizes enduring ideas and values that have stood the test of time.
  • Essentialism: Focuses on the "essentials" of academic knowledge and character development, emphasizing traditional values.
  • Progressivism: Believes in hands-on experiences, student-centered learning, and relevance to current society.
  • Reconstructionism: Advocates for critical thinking and social action to address social injustices.

Psychological Foundations of Curriculum

• Influence on Teaching and Learning: Provides insights into how students learn and process information.
• Key Figures
  • Jean Piaget: Cognitive development theory, emphasizing stages of learning.
  • Lev Vygotsky: Sociocultural theory emphasizing social interactions in learning.
  • Ivan Pavlov: Classical conditioning, association of stimuli with responses.
  • Burrhus Frederic Skinner: Operant conditioning, reinforcement to modify behavior.
  • Albert Bandura: Social learning theory, observational learning and modeling.

Socio-Historical Foundations of Curriculum

• Historical Influences on Education: The evolution of education has been shaped by cultural norms, social changes, and political events.
• Early Colonial Period: Education was limited to Spanish students and focused on religious instruction and Spanish language skills.
• Philippine Revolutionary Period: Free and compulsory primary education was established.
• American Occupation: American teachers introduced democratic values, progress, and the importance of play in education.
• Japanese Occupation: Education aimed to integrate the Philippines into the East-Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere.
• Post-1986: Bilingual policy, higher education reforms, and strengthening of technical education.
• Key Considerations for Curriculum Development:
  • Transmission of culture.
  • Addressing social problems.
  • Responding to economic challenges.

Legal Foundations of Curriculum

• Constitutional Provisions: The 1987 Philippine Constitution guarantees the right to quality education and prioritizes education funding.