Chapter II: Foundations, Designs, and Models of Curriculum PDF

Chapter II Foundations, designs, and Models of Curriculum 16 The commonly accepted foundations of curriculum include: - Philosophical - Historical, - Psychological - Social. 1- Philosophy provides educators, teachers and curriculum makers wi...

Chapter II Foundations, designs, and Models of Curriculum 16 The commonly accepted foundations of curriculum include: - Philosophical - Historical, - Psychological - Social. 1- Philosophy provides educators, teachers and curriculum makers with framework for planning, implementing and evaluating curriculum in schools. It helps in answering what school are for, what subjects are important, how students should learn and what materials and methods should be used. In decision making, philosophy provides the starting point and will be used for the succeeding decision making. Philosophy to Curriculum. Educators, curriculum makers and teachers must have espoused a philosophy or philosophies that are deemed necessary for planning, implementing, and evaluating a school curriculum. The philosophy that they have embraced will help them define the purpose of the school, the important subjects to be taught, the kind of learning students must have and how they can acquire them, the instructional materials, methods and strategies to be used, and how students will be evaluated. 2- Historical Foundations of Curriculum. Curriculum is not an old field. Majority of scholars would place its beginning. In 1918 with the publication of Franklin Bobbit’s book The Curriculum. Philippine education came about from various foreign influences. Of all foreign educational systems, the American educational system has the greatest influence on our educational system. 3- The Influence of Psychology to Curriculum. Curriculum is influenced by psychology. Psychology provides information about the teaching and learning process. It also seeks answers as to how a curriculum be organized in order to 17  achieve students’ learning at the optimum level, and as to what amount of information they can absorb in learning the various contents of the curriculum. The following are some psychological theories in learning that influenced curriculum development: ‫ﺑﺗرﻛز أﻛﺗر ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻣﺣﺗوى)اﻟﻣﺎدة( اﻟﺗﻌﻠﯾﻣﻰ أﻛﺛر ﻣن اﻟطﺎﻟب‬ - Behaviorism. Education in the 20th century was dominated by behaviorism. The ‫ﺳﯾطرة‬- ‫ﺗﻣﻛن‬of the subject matter is given more emphasis. So, learning is organized in a mastery ‫ﺗدرﯾﺑﺎت‬ step-by-step process. The use of drills and repetition are common. For this reason, many educational psychologists viewed it mechanical and routine. Though many are skeptical about this theory, we can’t deny the fact the influences it had in our educational system. MCQ ‫ﺑﺗرﻛز ﻋﻠﻰ اﻟﻣﻌﻠوﻣﺔ وطرﯾﻘﺔ ﺗوظﯾﻔﮭﺎ‬ - Cognitive. Cognitive theorists focus on how individuals process information, monitor and manage their thinking. The basic questions that cognitive psychologists zero in on are: How do learners process and store information? mcq How do they retrieve data and generate conclusions? How much information can they absorb? With their beliefs, they promote the development of problem-solving and thinking skills ‫ﺣدﺳﻰ‬ and popularize the use of reflective thinking, creative thinking, intuitive thinking, discovery learning, among others. - Humanism is taken from the theory of Gestalt, Abraham Maslow’s theory and Carl Rogers’ theory. This group of psychologists is concerned with the development of human potential. ‫اﻟطرﯾﻘﺔ‬ In this theory, curriculum is after the process, not the product; focuses on personal needs, not on the subject matter; and clarifying psychological meanings and environmental 18 mcq  ‫ ﯾﺿﻊ‬- ‫ﯾطرح‬ situations. In short, curriculum views founded on humanism posits that learners are human beings who are affected by their biology, culture, and environment. 4- Sociology and Curriculum. There is a mutual and encompassing relationship between society and curriculum because the school exists within the societal context. Though schools are formal institutions that educate the people, there are other units of society that educate or influence the way people think, such as families and friends as well as communities. Since the society is dynamic, there are many developments which are difficult to cope with and to adjust to. But the schools are made to address and understand the changes not only in one’s country but in the world as well. ‫إﺑداﻋﻰ‬ Therefore, schools must be relevant by making its curriculum more innovative and interdisciplinary. A curriculum that can address the diversities of global learners, the explosion of knowledge through the internet, and the educational reforms and policies. Curriculum design Types of curriculum designs: There are many types of curriculum design, but here we will discuss only the few. Types or patterns are being followed in educational institutions. 1- Subject Based Curriculum. Subject matter is the most used and accepted curriculum Design, it is also the oldest curriculum Design. In a subject base curriculum, every subject is separate unit. In this kind of curriculum four or five subject are placed in curriculum and each subject has a separate teacher. Every teacher tries to teach his own subject, no one intervene in the subject of other teacher. 2- Learner-Cantered Curriculum. The supporters of learner-cantered Curriculum give importance to individual development and they want to organize the curriculum 19  according to the needs and interest of learners, there are fundamental differences in this approach and the subject-cantered design. It is a fundamental principle of education that the beginning of each instruction it shall be connected with the previous experience of learners. The purpose is that the experience and the capacities that have been developed in early lessons, it should provide a starting point for further learning. The aim of using the learner-cantered curriculum on the part of curriculum planners to interpret the needs and interests design as one based on common needs and interests of learners rather than on those of the particular population to be served. Reflected in curriculum plans, this interpretation could and sometimes did, become the rationale for teaching. Research on learner cantered curriculum in recent years made it possible for curriculum planners to develop a better learner-cantered curriculum. Modern learning theories and dissatisfaction of students and parents from the old curriculum are moving curriculum and instruction toward a design that focus on real student needs and interests. Models of Curriculum design Curriculum design is a complex but systematic process. This unit describes a variety of models of curriculum design in order to make this complex activity understandable and manageable. It is important for you as a teacher to understand how the curriculum you are using in your school was designed. 1- The objectives model of curriculum design contains content that is based on specific objectives. These objectives should specify expected learning outcomes in terms of specific measurable behaviors. This model comprises four main steps: agreeing on broad aims which are analyzed into objectives, constructing a curriculum to achieve these objectives, refining the curriculum in practice by testing its capacity to achieve ‫اﻷھداف اﻟﻌﺎﻣﺔ‬ 20  ‫ﺑﯾﺣط اﻟﻣﺣﺗوى اﻷول وﺑﻌدﯾن ﯾﺷوف اﻷھداف اﻟﻠﻰ ﺣﯾﺣﻘﻘﮭﺎ‬ its objectives, and communicating the curriculum to the teachers through the conceptual framework of the objectives. (Gatawa, 1990) 2- The Process Model. Unlike the objectives model, this model does not consider objectives to be important. Using this model presupposes that: Content has its own value. Therefore, it should not be selected on the basis of the achievement of objectives. Content involves procedures, concepts and criteria that can be used to appraise the curriculum. Translating content into objectives may result in knowledge being distorted. Learning activities have their own value and can be measured in terms of their own standard. For this reason, learning activities can stand on their own. (Gatawa, 1990) 3- Tyler’s model for curriculum designing is based on the following questions: What educational purposes should the school seek to attain? What educational experiences can be provided that is likely to attain these purposes? How can these educational experiences be effectively organized? How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained? mcq The model is linear in nature, starting from objectives and ending with evaluation. In this model, evaluation is terminal. It is important to note that: Objectives form the basis for the selection and organization of learning experiences. Objectives form the basis for assessing the curriculum. Objectives are derived from the learner, contemporary life and subject specialist. To Tyler, evaluation is a process by which one matches the initial expectation with the outcomes. 4- Wheeler’s model for curriculum design is an improvement upon Tyler’s model. Instead of a linear model, Wheeler developed a cyclical model. Evaluation in mcq 21  Wheeler’s model is not terminal. Findings from the evaluation are fed back into the objectives and the goals, which influence other stages. Wheeler contends that: Aims should be discussed as behaviours referring to the end product of learning which yields the ultimate goals. One can think of these ultimate goals as outcomes. Aims are formulated from the general to the specific in curriculum planning. This results in the formulation of objectives at both an enabling and a terminal level. Content is distinguished from the learning experiences which determine that content. 5- Kerr’s Model. Most of the features in Kerr’s model resemble those in Wheeler’s and Tyler’s models. However, Kerr divided the domains into four areas (Urevbu, 1985) objectives, knowledge, evaluation, and school learning experiences. Evaluation in Kerr’s model is the collection of information for use in making decisions about the curriculum. School learning experiences are influenced by societal opportunities, the school community, pupil and teacher. 22