Understanding Curriculum NOTES

 

Module 1:  Understanding Curriculum Concepts, Theories and Issues

Learning Units:

1. Understanding Curriculum Concepts
2. Examining Different Curriculum Development Models
3. Discussing Stages in Curriculum Development
4. Analyzing Issues in Curriculum Centralization and Decentralization

Unit 1:  Understanding Curriculum Concepts

q  Definition of curriculum

-        It is not easy to define the concept curriculum; it is one of the most challenging concepts to define in education.

-        It has different meanings to different individuals; it has got very diverse conceptions and definitions.

-        The following are some selected conceptions and definitions of curriculum:

Cont…

1.            Curriculum as a set of objectives

-        Curriculum is seen as a means of achieving specific educational goals and objectives.

Definitions

1. Popham and Baker (1970) defined that curriculum is all planned learning outcomes for which the school is responsible…. Curriculum refers to the desired consequences of instruction.

Cont…

2. Unruh and Unruh (1984) defined curriculum as a plan for achieving intended learning outcomes, with what is to be learned and the results of instruction.

Cont…

2.  Curriculum as content

-        curriculum is simply seen as the content or subject-matter taught by teachers and learned by students in a course.

-        An instrument to assist student to learn within the subject.

-        Accumulated wisdom acquired through a study of academic subjects e.g., History, Geography, Economics, English and so on.

Cont…

Definitions

1. Good (1959) defined curriculum as a general over-all plan of the content or specific materials of instruction that the school should offer the student by way of qualifying him for graduation or certification or for entrance into a professional or vocational field.

Cont…

2. Wood and Davis (1978) suggested that curriculum can be considered as a totality of courses that constitute a course of study offered by an institution or followed by a student.
3. McBrien and Brandt (1997) argued that curriculum may refer to all the courses offered at a given school, or all the courses offered at a school in a particular area of study.

Cont…

3.  Curriculum as a plan for instruction

-        Curriculum can be seen as a plan, or a sort of blueprint for systematically implementing educational activities.

-        It is characterized by pre-determined aims, goals and objectives to produce a direction for an identifiable population, to implement the curriculum in a specific school.

Cont…

Definitions

1. Taba (1962) defined curriculum as a plan for learning.
2. Tom (1984) suggested curriculum as a plan for teaching or instruction.
3. Pratt (1994) conceived curriculum as a plan for a sustained process of teaching and learning.

Cont…

4.  Curriculum as document

-        Curriculum is associated with the official written programs of study published by ministries or departments of education, local authorities or boards of education, and commercial firms or teams of educational specialists.

-        The presentation of the curriculum document tends to provide teachers with a model to follow in the curriculum process.

Cont…

Definitions

1. Brady (1995, as cited in Su, 2012) viewed curriculum as a document--an outline of a course program that is written on a piece of paper.
2. Tawil and Harley (2004) observed that curriculum may be expressed in a series of documents including legislative decrees, policy documents, curriculum frameworks or

Cont…

                guidelines, standards frameworks, syllabi, textbooks and other instructional materials.

Cont…

5.  Curriculum as experience

-        Curriculum is seen as a set of experiences learners encounter in educational context.

-        It includes a wide range of classroom activities such as experiments, role plays etc.

Definitions

1. Marsh (1997) posits of curriculum as “an interrelated set of plans and experiences which a student completes under the guidance of the school”.

Cont…

2. Caswell and Campbell (1935) defined curriculum as all the experiences children have under the guidance of teachers.
3. Ragan (1960) defined curriculum as all experiences of the child for which the school accepts responsibility.
4. Hass (1987) defined curriculum as the set of actual experiences and perceptions of the experiences that each individual learner has of his or her program of education.

Cont…

5. Moore (1998) defines curriculum as all the planned and unplanned learning experiences that students undergo while in school setting.

Cont…

6.  Curriculum as a cultural reproduction

-        Curriculum is regarded as a selection of studies or subject-matters designed to maintain the existing order.

-        Curriculum reflects the culture of a particular society

-        The role of the school- to pass on values used by one generation to the succeeding generation

Cont…

Definition

1. Lawton (1975) viewed curriculum as a selection from the culture of society certain aspects of our way of life, certain kind of knowledge, certain attitudes and values regarded as so important that their transmission to the next generation is not left to chance.

q  Types of curriculum

1. Recommended curriculum

-        Also called ideal curriculum or ideological curriculum.

-        Proposed by individual scholars and professional associations including the curriculum requirements of policymakers.

-        It is a curriculum that identifies the skills and concepts that ought to be emphasized, according to the perceptions the sources.

Cont…

2.  Intended, overt, explicit, planned, official, formal, mandated or written curriculum

-        It is planned curriculum and expressed through curriculum frameworks and other formal documents such as syllabi, textbooks and teachers’ plans.

-        It is intended primarily to ensure that the educational goals of the system are being accomplished; it is a curriculum of control.

-        It is much more specific and comprehensive than the recommended curriculum.

Cont…

-        It is developed by state and local education authorities and by subject matter organizations/experts.

-        It gives teachers a basis for planning lessons and evaluating students.

-        For administration, it is a basis for supervising teachers and holding them accountable for their practices and results.

Cont…

3.  Implemented, enacted, ongoing, practiced or taught curriculum

-        It is the delivered curriculum; it  is what actually happening or taught or implemented in schools, inside and outside classrooms.

-        It includes the subjects actually timetabled and taught in schools as well as the hidden curriculum.

Cont…

-        It also includes extra-curricular activities such as games, sports and hobbies, clubs and societies that are promoted by the each  school.

Cont…

4.  Assessed or tested curriculum

-        It is the evaluated curriculum.

-        It is that set of learning that is assessed in teacher-made classroom tests (at the duration and end of the teaching episodes); in district-developed tests, curriculum-referenced tests; and in standardized tests.

Cont…

5.  Received, achieved, attained, learned, actual or experienced curriculum

-        What students actually learned as a result of interacting with the implemented curriculum.

-        Refers to learning outcomes achieved by the students which can be cognitive, affective or psychomotor.

-        Those things that students actually take out of the schools; content and experiences that are truly learned and remembered.

Cont…

6.  Hidden, implicit or covert curriculum

-        It refers to all the various implicit values, norms and practices in the educational system.

-        They are not deliberately part of the planned curriculum, but may influence learners experience significantly.

-        For example, peer influence or pressure, school environment, physical condition, teacher-learner interaction, mood of the teacher etc.

Cont…

-        Hidden curriculum involves the messages communicated by the school or education system concerning values, beliefs, behaviours and attitudes.

Cont…

7.  Core curriculum

-        Core curriculum refers to those aspects (content and experiences) of curriculum required of all the students as opposed to those which are electives.

Cont…

8.  Null curriculum

-        What is not taught.

-        This may be due to mandates from higher authorities, to a teacher’s lack of knowledge, or to deeply inbuilt assumptions and biases.

Cont…

9.  Electronic curriculum

-        Those lessons learned through searching the Internet for information, or through using e-forms of communication (Wilson, 2004).

-        It may be formal or informal, overt or covert, bad or good, correct or incorrect.

-        It involves the use of blogs, wikis, chartrooms, on-line conversations, or personal e-mails and sites like Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

q  Curriculum orientations

What is curriculum orientation?

-        A belief, way of thinking, or philosophy about the ultimate purpose of the curriculum.

-        A belief about what a school curriculum should achieve and how teaching, learning and assessment should occur (be carried out).

-        A way of thinking or belief as to the very nature and purpose of education.

Cont…

-        Eisner and Vallance (1974) and Eisner (1985) noted that beliefs about the purpose of curriculum (education) fall into five common orientations, namely:

Academic rationalism

Development of cognitive processes

Personal relevance

Social reconstruction

Curriculum as technology

1.  Academic rationalism

-        One of the oldest and basic orientations to curriculum.

-        Major function of school is to foster intellectual growth including rational thinking in subject matters/areas that are most worthy (most important) of study.

-        Since schools cannot try to teach everything, their genuine function is to help cultivate students’ intellect to acquire the most powerful products of human intelligence.

2.  Development of cognitive processes

-        Considers the purpose of the curriculum to be the development and refinement of students’ cognitive processes/skills (e.g., problem solving, synthesizing, conceptualizing, evaluating, dealing with ambiguity, analyzing etc.)

-        Major functions of school are to help children learn how to learn and to provide them with opportunities to use and strengthen variety of intellectual faculties that they possess.

Cont…

-        Unlike the academic rationalism orientation, the cognitive process orientation stresses on the learning process (the “how” of education) rather than curriculum content (the “what” of education). Thus, it is critical of academic rationalism.

-        In this view, the curriculum is not to emphasize content, but process; teaching is not to impart, but to help students learn to inquire.

3.  Personal relevance

-        Emphasizes the primacy of personal meaning (self-actualization/self-fulfilment).

-        The purpose of curriculum is to provide each student with intrinsically rewarding experiences that contribute to personal liberation and development.

-        Under this orientation it is believed that students should be the crucial source of all curricula.

Cont…

-        In this view, students play an important role in choosing what and how to study/learn and in generating their own educational goals.

-        The school/teacher’s role is to create a resource-rich environment where learning is not directed but explored in an open, communicative, and non-threatening environment, which promotes educational development and personal growth of the individual learner.

4.  Social reconstruction

-        Views the purpose of the curriculum as a vehicle to facilitate societal change.

-        Schools are seen as institutions essentially created to serve the interests of the society. As such their mission is to locate social needs and to provide the kinds of programmes that are relevant for meeting those identified needs.

-        The role of the school is to maintain the status quo.

Cont…

-        For example, if society needs more engineers, doctors, teachers, skilled blue-collar workers, the school is regarded as the agency through which they will be provided.

-        Students are provided with learning opportunities to develop levels of critical realization and responsibility for analyzing social problems and to do something about them in order to build a new and healthy society.

Cont…

-        The purpose of the curriculum is to facilitate the construction of a new and more just society.

-        The analysis of the society provides the base for the curriculum; teaching should stress societal needs over individual needs.

-        The teacher’s role is to include important topics to help students understand the problems confronting a society (e.g., pollution, corruption, and unemployment) .

5. Curriculum as technology

-        Views curriculum planning as a technical task (a means-ends approach).

-        Conceptualizes the function of the school curriculum as essentially one of finding efficient means to a set of predetermined ends (learning objectives).

-        This orientation, like the cognitive process orientation, focuses on process (the “how” of education).

Cont…

-        However, it differs from the cognitive process orientation in its focus of attention.

-        It is concerned not with processes of knowing or learning, but with the technology by which knowledge is communicated and learning is facilitated.

-        It is concerned with developing a technology of instruction.

       Questions and reflections

1. There are very divergent views about the nature of curriculum. What conception of curriculum do you support? Justify your choice.
2. From different conceptions and definitions of curriculum you have studied, what do you think are the essential elements of curriculum?

Cont…

3. From the curriculum conceptions you have studied, identify weaknesses per each conception as discussed by Tanner and Tanner (2007) in the book titled “Curriculum development: Theory and practice”.
4. Taking experience from any secondary school in Tanzania, discuss with examples how different types of curriculum are practiced.

The end of the first learning unit

Unit 2: Curriculum Development Models

What is curriculum development?

-        It can be defined as the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating curriculum that ultimately results in a curriculum plan.

-        It is a comprehensive process that involves planning, designing, implementing and evaluating the elements of curriculum.

-        One way of developing a curriculum plan is through modeling.

Cont…

What is a model?

-        Model is essentially pattern that serves as guideline to action. It is a simplified representation or version of reality (real object/thing).

-        Model tends to provide a picture for examining the variables that constitute reality as well as their inter-relationships.

Cont…

-        Models can be found for almost every form of educational activity.

-        The education profession has models of administration, of supervision, of instruction, of evaluation, and others. There are models of curriculum development as well.

-        Using a model to develop curriculum can result in greater efficiency and productivity (Oliva, 2009).

Cont…

-        By examining models for curriculum development, we can analyze the phases essential to the process.

-        Thus, models for curriculum development enable curriculum developers to visualize curriculum elements, their relationships and the process of planning, implementation and evaluation.

Cont…

-        There are different models or approaches for developing a curriculum which can be classified/categorized into three:

•       Rational/objective models

•       Cyclic models

•       Dynamic/interaction models

Rational/objective models

-        Examples are Tyler’s Model (1949) and Taba’s Model (1962).

-        They are linear models; they involve a certain order or sequence of steps from beginning to end.

-        Linear models need not be immutable sequences of steps; that is, they  emphasize the fixed sequence of curriculum elements.

Ralph Tyler’s Model (1949)

-        One of the best known models for curriculum development.

-        It was introduced by Ralph Tyler in his book “Basic principles of curriculum and instruction” published in 1949.

-        Tyler stated his curriculum rationale in terms of four fundamental questions which must be answered in any curriculum development process. He stated these as follow:

Cont…

1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?

2. What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these purposes?
3. How can these educational experiences be effectively organised?
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?

Cont…

-        These four basic questions may be reformulated into a simple four-step process involving:

Statement of objectives

Selection of learning experiences

Organization of learning experiences

Evaluation

-        Thus, the Tyler’s model may be represented diagrammatically as follows:

Tyler’ s Model

Cont…

-        Apparently, the Tyler’s model is linear in nature, starting from objectives and ending with evaluation.

-        It tends to instill in curriculum developers a more logical, systematic, meaningful approach to their task.

-        The Tyler’s model is based on the objective-oriented theory; that is, it takes curriculum as a means of aiming toward educational objectives. For that reason, it is sometimes

Cont…

                called means–objective model or approach.

-        Notably, “educational objectives become the criteria by which materials are selected, content is outlined, instructional procedures are developed and tests and examinations are prepared” (Tyler, 1949, p. 3).

-        Tyler argued that educational objectives originate from three sources: the learners, the contemporary life outside the school, and the subject specialists.

Cont…

-        The tentative objectives from these three sources are filtered through two screens: the philosophical screen and psychological screen, which results in a final set of educational objectives (precise objectives).

-        Once the first step is accomplished, the rationale proceeds through the steps of selection and organization of learning experiences, and, finally, evaluation (see the following Tyler’s conceptual framework).

Tyler’s Conceptual Framework

The philosophical screen

-        It is a school’s philosophy: values, habits and practices to which the school is committed to serve. For examples:

-        Does the school accept democratic values, material values and success (materialism), or spiritual values?

-        Does the school develop children to fit into the society as it is or does it have a revolutionary mission to develop children who will seek to improve the society?

The psychological screen

-        It involves the use of knowledge of psychology of learning in ensuring that the suggested educational objectives are in conformity with conditions intrinsic in learning.

-         Knowledge of the psychology of learning enables to distinguish changes in human beings that can be expected to result from a learning process from those that can not.

Cont…

-        Knowledge of the psychology of learning enables to distinguish goals that are feasible from those that are likely to take a very long-time or are almost impossible of attainment at the age level contemplated.

-        Psychology of learning gives some idea of the length of time required to attain an objective and the age levels at which the effort is most efficiently employed.

Selection of learning experiences

-        The term learning experience is not the same as the content  nor the activities performed by the teacher. It refers to the interaction between the learner and the external conditions in the environment; They are the learning activities that provide opportunities for students to reach the specified objectives.

-        For proper selection of learning experiences Tyler proposed several general principles to be met including:

Cont…

1. Students must have experiences that give him/her an opportunity to practice the kind of behaviour implied by the objective.
2. Experiences must enable students to gain satisfaction from carrying on the kind of behaviour implied by the objective.
3. Experiences should be appropriate to the students’ present attainments, his predispositions and the like.

Organization of learning experiences

-        In the organization of the learning experiences, Tyler insisted on examining their relationship over time (i.e. vertical relation/organization whereby each learning experience should be built upon earlier ones) and also from one area to another (i.e. horizontal relation/organization whereby learning experience should be reinforced by activities in other subjects).

Cont…

-        Moreover, for effective organization of the learning experiences, Tyler proposed three major criteria to be met: continuity, sequence and integration.

-        Continuity refers to vertical reiteration of major curriculum elements (e.g., concepts, values, skills, abilities and habits). This means that over time the same kinds of skills will be brought into continuing operation.

Cont…

-        Sequence goes beyond continuity. It emphasizes the importance of having each successive experience build upon the preceding one but to go more broadly and deeply into the matters involved.

-        Integration is the horizontal relationship of curriculum experiences; a concept from one field can help to understand a related concept in another field.

Evaluation

-        The final step in Tyler’s model is evaluation: the process of determining to what extent the educational objectives are being realized by the curriculum.

-        Stated another way, the statement of objectives not only serves as the basis for selecting and organizing the learning experiences, but also serves as a standard against which the programme of curriculum and instruction is appraised.

Cont…

-        Thus, according to Tyler, curriculum evaluation is the process of matching initial expectations (objectives) with outcomes achieved by the learner.

Strengths of the Tyler’s Model

-        The very nature– its logical, sequential structure – provides it with a useful base for planning and devising curricula. It provides a recipe-type approach; it has simplified what is a confusing to many prospective curriculum developers.

-        By emphasizing the role and value of objectives, this model forces curriculum developers to think seriously about their task by providing a consistent focus for the curriculum.

Cont…

-        It provides a straightforward, time-efficient approach to meeting the curriculum task.

Weaknesses of the Tyler’s Model

-        Studies of the learner, society and subject matter depend so heavily for their standing as sources on the philosophical screen that it is actually the philosophical screen that determines the nature and scope of the objectives. This is to say so little about the process of selecting objectives as to be almost meaningless.

Cont…

-        The simplistic notion that evaluation is a process of matching objectives with outcomes leaves much to be desired. It ignores what may be the more significant latent outcomes in favor of the manifest and anticipated ones, and it minimizes the vital relationship between ends and means.

-        Tyler’s model seems lack a procedure between evaluation and organization, and this procedure is execution.

Hilda Taba’s Model (1962)

-        The Taba’s rationale is presented in her book “Curriculum Development: Theory and Practice” published in 1962.

-        The main idea to this approach is that the needs of the students are at the forefront to the curriculum and that the teachers, who teach the curriculum, should participate in developing it.

-        Taba’s model reflects the teacher’s approach.

Cont…

-        Taba believed that teachers are aware of the students’ needs; hence they should be the ones to develop the curriculum and implement in practice.

-        Another name for Taba’s is the grass-roots approach.

-        Taba was of the opinion that the Tyler’s model was more of an administrative model (top-down approach); the greater part of curriculum decisions were made by

Cont…

                administrators in the central office. Taba felt that a curriculum should be designed by the users of the programme; hence she advocated an inductive approach to curriculum development. This means starting with the specifics and build up to a general design as opposed to the more traditional deductive approach of starting with the general design and then working towards the specifics.

Cont…

-        She felt therefore that teachers should begin the process by creating specific teaching-learning units for their students in their schools rather than by engaging initially in creating a general curriculum design.

-        She thus noted seven major steps to her inductive model in which teachers would have major input.

-        The steps include:

Cont…

Step 1. Diagnosis of needs

Step 2. Formulation of objectives

Step 3. Selection of content

Step 4. Organization of content

Step 5. Selection of learning                                                experiences

Step 6. Organization of learning                                          experiences

Cont…

Step 7. Determination of what to                                      evaluate and of the ways and                    means of doing it

-        As these seven steps show, this model is somewhat similar to Tyler’s model; however, it further divides into two parts – content  and learning experience.

Strengths of Taba’s Model

-        Apart from inheriting all the identified advantages in Tyler’s model, the Taba’s model goes further by giving teachers a greater role to play by not just making them implementers of the curriculum but also developers. The model notes that teachers are aware of the students’ needs therefore they are the ones that should develop the curriculum.

Cyclic models

-        Cyclical models are basically an extension of the rational models in that they are essentially logical and sequential in approach.

-        Cyclical models present the curriculum process as a continuing activity, which is constantly in a state of change as new information or practices become available. In this way the cyclical model is responsive to needs and indeed it is argued that these

Cont…

                needs are ongoing, necessitating constant updating of the curriculum process.

-        cyclical models view elements of the curriculum as interrelated and interdependent; Instead of regarding them as rigidly separate categories, cyclical models more realistically accept a degree of interaction between the various curriculum elements.

Cont…

-        The cyclical models being less rigid in their application, are more relevant to school situations and hence are more appropriate to curriculum development by teachers.

-        Examples of cyclic models are Wheeler’s model published in his book “Curriculum Process” (1967), and A. and H. Nicholls’ model published in their book “Developing a Curriculum: A Practical Guide” (1978).

Wheeler’s Model

Nicholls’ Model              

Dynamic models

-        The interactive or dynamic models offer an alternative view of the process of the curriculum development.

-        Proponents of these models argue that the curriculum process does not follow a linear, sequential pattern. Rather, curriculum development can commence with any curriculum element and proceed in any order.

Cont…

-        It should be noted that the dynamic models have emerged from a more descriptive approach to curriculum where researchers have observed the behaviour of teachers and developers as they devise curricula.

-        Several writers have produced interpretations of dynamic models of the curriculum process including Decker Walker (1971) and Malcolm Skilbeck (1976).

Walker’s Model (1971)

-        Walker (1971) contended that curriculum developers do not follow the prescriptive approach of the rational sequence of curriculum elements when they devise curricula. Rather, they proceed through three phases in their preparation of curricula:

Platform

Deliberation

Design

-        The phases are presented in the next figure:

Walker’s model

Cont…

-        Walker’s model is sometimes called naturalistic model in the sense that it was constructed to represent phenomena and relations observed in actual curriculum projects; this model is primarily descriptive.

-        Walker argues that in the first stage (platform) curriculum developers recognize statements (a set of ideas, preferences, points of view, beliefs and values) that are held about the curriculum.

Cont…

-        These statements may not be defined clearly or even logically, but they form the basis or platform upon which future curriculum decisions are made by curriculum developers.

-        “The platform includes an idea of what is and a vision of what ought to be and these guide the curriculum developer in determining what he should do to realize his vision” (Walker, 1971, p. 52)

Cont…

-        Once the interaction between individuals begins, they are then said to enter the deliberation phase.

-        During this phase individuals defend their own platform statements. Together these events provide a situation where developers seek to clarify their ideas and reach a consensus.

-        The deliberation phase is not precisely laid out in a series of steps, It is a complex

Cont…

                randomized set of interactions before the actual curriculum is designed.

-        The final phase of Walker’s model is “design”. In this phase developers make decisions about the various process of curriculum elements; the culminating activity is the creation of the curriculum which may include whatever specific subjects, instructions, teaching materials or activities the group believes worthwhile.

       Questions and reflections

1. Discuss the importance of models in curriculum development process as presented by various curriculum scholars.
2. In comparison to the Tyler’s objective model (1949), what are the strengths and weaknesses of Wheeler’s cyclic model on curriculum development?
3. Discuss the differences between objective/rational models and dynamic models of curriculum development.

Cont…

4. Describe the objective and cyclical models of curriculum process, bringing out their distinctions.
5. Explain with examples from your teaching subject why situation analysis and needs assessment are important initial stages in the curriculum development rather than starting with the curriculum intent.

Cont…

6. From different curriculum development models you have studied, what do you think are the essential practices to be done so that effective curriculum can be developed?

The end of the second learning unit

Unit 3: Stages in Curriculum Development

-        Curriculum development is a complex and continuous process which is carried out systematically with the involvement of interested parties including subject area specialists, teachers, students, inspectors of schools, religious leaders and representatives of other relevant organizations.

-        In most Anglophone countries, the curriculum development process goes through the following steps/stages:

Cont…

1. Policy decisions
2. Conceptualization
3. Planning
4. Development of instructional materials
5. Try out/pilot of the new curriculum
6. Curriculum implementation
7. Quality control
8. Curriculum evaluation

Policy decisions

-        Policy decisions are concerned with general education issues or with proposals for development of specific subjects.

-        Matters of general policy include national aims and goals of education, structure of the education system, place of technical education and curriculum areas of different levels.

-        Education policies are normally used as guidelines by curriculum development teams.

Conceptualization

-        During this stage the project team conducts a needs assessment whose main objective is to determine student’s, teacher’s, parents’ and community leader’s views about exiting and intended curricula.

-        After the baseline surveys, national workshops are held. The main aim of the workshops is to define needs and problems and create a consensus.

Planning

-        Using data from baseline surveys, the situation analysis and the national workshops, curriculum development teams develop a plan of the curriculum.

-        It is during this stage that curriculum designs and syllabuses are drafted and presented to the course panel and academic board for approval.

Development of instructional materials

-        During this stage, pupil’s books and teacher’s guides are developed by teams of writers including teachers, teacher educators, quality assurance and standards officers, teachers advisory tutors, curriculum developers and other professionals.

Try out/pilot of the new curriculum

-        After the material have been developed, and evaluated and the necessary modifications made, they are piloted in selected educational institutions.

-        At this stage the curriculum materials, teaching strategies and activities are tried out among a sample of learners for whom the curriculum is being developed.

Curriculum implementation

-        After the new curriculum material have been thoroughly evaluated and revised, they are implemented nationally.

-        Curriculum implementation refers to the stage when the curriculum is put into effect or operation. It entails putting into practice the officially prescribed courses of study, syllabuses, subjects and learning experiences.

Quality control

-        During this stage, quality assurance and standards officers, and teacher advisory tutors organize courses for teachers in local centres and nationally.

-        In addition, the curriculum is continuously monitored and evaluated to determine its effectiveness.

Curriculum evaluation

-        Curriculum evaluation is the process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting data for the sake of facilitating decision making at various stages of the curriculum development and implementation processes.

-        Evaluation of curriculum materials, such as syllabuses, textbooks, teacher’s guides and radio programmes, goes on all the time throughout the curriculum development process.

Cont…

-        Curriculum developers are expected to systematically gather evidence during all stages of the curriculum development and implementation processes for the purpose of improving the curriculum and reviewing aspects of the curriculum that are too difficult for the learners to comprehend.

q  Some major problems in curriculum                       development

-        The factors which militate against confidence building in school curricula and also against more effective and efficient curriculum planning, implementation and evaluation are many and vary from country to country.

-        Many stem from a general lack of understanding of the process of curriculum development and the major factors which tend to contribute to the effectiveness of the school curriculum.

Cont…

      From such an introduction, in group or individual, discuss some major problems in curriculum development process in most African countries and proffer possible solutions.

       Question and reflection

1. Explicate the way through which curriculum development process is conducted in Tanzania.

The end of the third learning unit

Unit 4: Issues in Curriculum Centralization                          and Decentralization

-        The process of curriculum designing and development differs from country to country. In some countries the curriculum is centrally developed while in some other countries local authorities or individual states develop the curriculum.

-        One should recognize however that no country is completely centralized or completely decentralized (McGinn & Welsh,

Cont…

                1999). The issue to be discussed is in fact which decisions (decision-making locations) should be decentralized and which ones should be centralized.

-        In the sector of education, there are possible decision-making locations involving issues such as financing of education, decisions about curriculum, about school organization, about human resources, and about external relations.

Cont…

-        As for decisions about curriculum, they concern selection of subjects, selection of content, selection of textbooks, textbook provision, language policy, instructional methods, evaluation of teachers (McGinn & Welsh, 1999, as cited in Ziba, 2011).

-        They also concern curriculum standards, personnel (teachers) qualifications, students admission decisions, sequence of subjects, and assignment of students to classes.

q  Curriculum centralization

-        Curriculum centralization refers to the designing and developing pattern in which the authority for decision-making locations about curriculum is vested in the central national office (central government).

-        A result of curriculum centralization is a centralized or national curriculum.

-        Curriculum centralization pattern or system, according to Gatawa (1990) and Urevbu (1985), involves the following characteristics:

Cont…

1. The subject content is decided upon centrally. National syllabuses are produced with national goals and philosophies as well as suggested general learning objectives.
2. Subject content evaluation instruments are developed centrally and decisions on when and how to administer these instruments rest with the Ministry of Education or the Examination Board that has been assigned the responsibility.

Cont…

3. Subjects to be offered by schools are determined centrally. Schools choose their subjects from a given list.
4. All learners taking the same subject write the same examination and are assessed in the same skills. However, adjustments in testing are made for students who may have certain disabilities.

Cont…

5. Certification is centrally controlled. The certification indicates what has been learned by the student and how well the student has performed compared to others taking the same course.
6. Generally, textbooks must be approved by the Ministry of Education before any school uses these books.
7. Normally, there are curriculum development teams at different levels.

Cont…

8. An inspectorate or standards control division is put in place to monitor the learning and teaching activities.
9. It takes a long time to write and approve the final curriculum document.

Some advantages of curriculum centralization

1. It makes it easy to achieve national goals, since all schools use the same documents.
2. Learners can transfer from one school to another without being disadvantaged.
3. Entry requirements for universities and colleges can be centrally determined and parity can be ensured.
4. Communication to schools regarding academic requirements is easy, since the Ministry of Education is directly involved.

Cont…

5. Learning materials can be mass-produced, making them less expensive for both producers and consumers.

Disadvantages of curriculum centralization

1. The process takes a long time before the final document is produced.
2. The design is insensitive to the needs of some groups within the country.
3. There is limited participation by various members of the community, resulting in little commitment during the implementation stage.

Cont…

4. It stifles creativity and initiative on the part of the teacher and other community members.

q  Curriculum decentralization

-        The curriculum decentralization occurs when the local authorities or individual states or regions draft their own curriculum. This type of designing is common in developed countries.

-        Curriculum decentralization involves the following characteristics:

1. Local communities initiate the changes to suit their local needs.

Cont…

1. Teachers work with the parents to determine the content. The learning experiences are based on what is available.
2. Subjects in schools could be the same, but the content will vary from school to school, state to state, or local government area to local government area.
3. Each school, state or region has its own syllabus that is produced locally.

Cont…

4. Generally, the textbooks may not have been centrally approved.
5. Each school, state or region has its own form of evaluation.
6. Very few people are involved in curriculum designing.

Advantages of curriculum decentralization

1. The curriculum addresses local needs.
2. The local community is directly involved and is committed to its implementation.
3. The system encourages creativity and initiative on the part of the teacher.
4. It takes less time to produce the curriculum than it would take when a centralized pattern is used
5. Students learn what is relevant to the local community.

Disadvantages of curriculum decentralization

1. There is no guarantee that national goals will be achieved.
2. Learners cannot easily transfer from one school to another when their families move.
3. There is generally a problem in developing or accessing teaching materials which, if available, are expensive to produce.
4. There may not be adequate expertise in the local community to develop part of the curriculum.

       Questions and reflections

1. Discuss the rationale for curriculum centralization.
2. Discuss the rationale for curriculum decentralization.

The end of the fourth learning unit
and
the end of the first module

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

•       Aims, Goals and Objectives

•       Curriculum aims, goals and objectives as terms are used interchangeably in normal English

•       In education, the terms are standard and mean specific curriculum components

•       However, they all refer to educational intent of running a curriculum

•       Curriculum Aims

•       These are statements that describe expected life/work outcomes

•       They are broadly phrased statement of educational intent

•       They are developed for a general level of education and by society

•       In stating the aims philosophy and ideology of the country are considered

•       They are written with a degree of timelessness

•       They give both shape and direction to a set of more detailed intentions for the future

•       They are written in general terms using non-measurable verbs (e.g. understand, appreciate, acquire, become etc…)

•       They are long term in nature as they cover a time span of many years, even the entire school life of a child.

•       They are societal expectations and desires to be achieved by the curriculum

•       Petty (2004)-aims are like compass directions, indicating the general direction in which the teacher wishes to travel (how about learners?)

•       They point you in the right direction, but they don’t‘ tell you how to get there, or when to arrive

•       They are broad and general statements of what should be accomplish/learned by the end of a particular educational/training course

•       They are derived from various curriculum aims

•       They focus on learners’ achievements with an emphasis on content, skills and attitudes

•       Curriculum Goals Cont…

•       They guide institutions/schools within the society in facilitating the attainment of educational aims

•       They are written with a degree of timelessness

•       Thus curriculum aims become goals when they address what a particular school or school system  has to do with specific subject area of the curriculum

System level goals/ national level

                                                                      

School level goals

Course/ Program level goals

Instructional level goals

•       System level goals: set by the board of education

•       School level: set by a school

•       Course/program level goals: Set by groups of teachers or subject personnel for each subject or unit of instruction or field of study

•       Instructional level goals: set by individual teachers for daily planning

•       Objectives are specific statements of curriculum intention explaining either general or specific outcomes

•       They state what learners will be able to do or the behavior they will exhibit by the end of instruction

•       They are the expected outcomes that learners will exhibit as a result of the experiences they receive from the curriculum

•       They are stated precisely by using technical quantifiable  words with time bounds

•       They are Immediate, specific outcomes of instruction, daily taught and assessed.

•       They are devised by teachers, or group of teachers for use within a school or group of educators within the education institution.

•       They are short term in nature

•       General objectives: are used in developing curriculum documents

•       Specific objectives/instructional objectives: are appropriate for the daily classroom teaching

•       Behavioral Terms Classification

•       A learning objective is a statement that specifies in behavioral (measurable) terms what a learner will be able to do as a result of instruction.

•       The behavioral terms fall/classified into three major domains

•       The three domains by Benjamin bloom (1956)  called  “Bloom’s Taxonomy of Instructional Objectives”

v  Cognitive domain

v  Affective domain

v  Psychomotor domain

•       Cognitive Domain

•       Cognitive domain emphasizes thinking (Brain)

•       It deals with the recall or cognition of knowledge and the development of intellectual ability

•       They provide means of expressing qualitatively different kinds of thinking

•       They Provide a way of organizing thinking skills into six levels (most basic-more complex)

•       Six Levels of Cognitive Domain

•       Knowledge

•       Comprehension

•       Application

•       Analysis

•       Synthesis

•       Evaluation

•       Bloom’s cognitive taxonomy as revisited by Lorin Anderson in 1990s

•       Cognitive Domain

•       Knowledge: remembering of learned material; terminology; facts

•       Examples of action verbs used are: recite, list, define, describe, identify, name, outline, select, state     

•       Cognitive Domain Cont…

•       Comprehension: Grasping/understanding the meaning of materials

•       Examples of action verbs used are: translate, interpret, predict, generalize, defend, distinguish, explain, generalize, give examples, summarize         

•       Cognitive Domain Cont…

•       Application: Use of learned information in new and concrete situations to solve problems that are limited to single or best answers.

•       Examples of action verbs used are: apply, demonstrate, modify, prepare, produce, show, solve, use     

•       Cognitive Domain Cont…

•       Analysis: Breaking down into components, examining the organizational structure of learned materials

•       Examples of action verbs used are: analyze, diagnose, investigate, differentiate, distinguish, illustrate, select, separate             

•       Cognitive Domain Cont…

•       Synthesis: putting together into new or original whole creatively or divergently

•       Examples of action verbs used are: create, categorize, devise, design, explain, organize, plan    

•       Cognitive Domain Cont…

•       Evaluation: Judging the value of material based on personal values/opinions (not necessarily real right or wrong answers)

•       Examples of action verbs used are: appraise, compare, contrast, criticize, describe, explain, justify, interpret, support               

•       Affective Domain

Affective domain emphasizes attitudes and feelings (Heart)

•       Receiving

•       Responding

•       Valuing

•       Organization

•       Characterization

•       Affective Domain Cont…

•       Receiving -          awareness, willingness to                                                                            receive, selected attention

•       Responding -     willing responses, feelings of                                                      satisfaction

•       Valuing -              acceptance, preference,                                                                              commitment

•       Organization-     conceptualization of values,                                                        organization of a value system

•       Characterization - reflects a generalized set of                                                   values, a philosophy of life

•       Psychomotor domain

Psychomotor domain emphasizes doing (Hand)

•       Reflex Movements

•       Fundamental Movements

•       Perceptual Abilities

•       Physical Abilities

•       Skilled Movements

•       Non-discursive Communication

•       Psychomotor domain cont…

•       Reflex Movements - muscle movements

•       Fundamental Movements - walking, running, jumping, pushing, pulling, manipulating

•       Perceptual Abilities - kinesthetic, visual, auditory, tactile, coordination

•       Physical Abilities - endurance, strength, flexibility

•       Skilled Movements - games, sports, dance, art

•       Non-discursive Communication - posture, gestures, facial expressions, creative movement

•       These are precise statements of educational intent and relate to a small amount of manageable time.

•       Instructional objectives state what the learner will be able to do by the end of instruction and learning activities

•       They describe how the learner is to be like when he/she has successfully completed a learning experience

•       Focus on performance to be demonstrated by each student in the classroom

•       They are written by teachers for the curriculum instruction or for the students.

Characteristics/components of good Instructional objectives

A:SMART Method

Objectives should be:    S - Specific

                                                                                                M - Measurable

                                                                                                A - Attainable

                                                                                                R - Realistic

                                                                                                T - Time Bound

•       SMART Objectives

•       Specific:               -tell who, what,

-Use only one action verb (activity)

-Avoid verb with vague meaning

(the > the specificity, the >the measurability)

•       Measurable:-quantify the expected change

                -You can not determine the objectives attainment unless they can be measured

•       SMART Objectives

•       Achievable:        -attainable within a given time                                   frame and resources.

•       Realistic:             -address the scope of the                                                            problem/programmatic steps

                                -Must directly relate to the program       goal for achieve  

•       Time-phased:    -provide a time frame when                                       should the objective be met

B: ABCD  Method

Objectives should include the following:

                                                A - audience

                                                B - behavior,

                                                C - conditions

                                                D - degree/standard

The ABCD method of writing educational objectives helps to assure that all the important components are included.

A- Audience: -the “WHO”

                                -The audience is always the learner,       and not the instructor

B- Behavior:       -What a learner is expected        to be able to do or the product or result                of the doing. 

                                -Here action verbs are of                                                              concern

                                -bloom’s taxonomies provide the stem                 for the behaviors to be performed

C-Condition: -circumstances under which                            the behavior is to be performed

                                                -specifies the circumstances,                                      commands, directions, etc., that                               the student is given to initiate the                    behavior.

 D-The degree: -the or standard/ level of                                                              performance

                                                                -describes how well the                                                                learner has perform

•       Importance of Objectives

•       Instructional objectives provide basis and guidance for the selection of instructional content and procedures.

•       They also help in evaluating the success of the instruction.

•       However, for effective learning, instructional objectives should be learner focused

•       Importance of Objectives Cont…

For students:

•       Objectives emphasize major points and reduce non-essential material.

•       They simplify note taking and cue the students to emphasize major points.

•       They assist students in organizing and studying content material.

•       Importance of Objectives Cont…

•       They guide the students to what is expected from them and help them to study important information.

•       They assist the student in studying more efficiently.

•       As examination items mirror objectives, students can use the objectives to anticipate test items.

•       Examples of Aims, Goals, Objectives

•       Aim: to appreciate the importance of Tanzanian culture

•       Goal: students will analyze different cultural practices in Tanzania

•       General Objective: by the end of the course/topic a student should understand different cultural practices in Tanzania

•       Examples of Aims, Goals, Objectives Cont…

•       Specific objective: by the end of the lecture/lesson/ each student should be able to list five cultural practices of the Yao

•       By the end of 40 minutes each student should explain two religious phenomenon from the story about the Sukuma worship styles

•       Objectives across domains

•       By the end of the lesson, having studied different types of plants, each student will explain three differences between monocotyledons and dicotyledons

•       By the end of the lesson, having studied different types of plants, each student will chose the best two plants for land cover protection

•       By the end of the lesson, having studied different types of plants, each students will have to separate five plant seedling from the garden seedbed

THANK YOU FOR LISTENING

MODULE 3: APPROACHES TO CURRICULUM DESIGN

Learning Units:

1. The concept of curriculum design and its dimensions
2. Models of curriculum design

Unit 1: Curriculum Design and its Dimensions

q  The concept of curriculum design

-        Curriculum design refers to the organization of various elements of curriculum during the process of developing it.

-        It concerns with the arrangement of the components of the curriculum (aims, goals, objectives, content, learning activities and evaluation) into a coherent pattern.

q  Dimensions of  curriculum design

-        Curriculum design manifests itself along the following dimensions or parameters:

Scope

Sequence

Continuity

Integration

Articulation

Balance

Scope

-        Simply said, scope refers to the coverage of the curriculum.

-        It is the depth and breadth of the curriculum content, topics, and learning experiences.

-        Scope answers the question or issue relates to what should be taught or learned; what to include in the curriculum.

-        Since curriculum is time-bound, the appropriate scope should be provided. 

Sequence

-        The logical arrangement of the subject matter. It refers to the deepening and broadening of content or learning experience as it is taken up in the higher levels.

-        It provides continuous and cumulative learning, a vertical relationship among the elements of the curriculum.

-        Content and experiences are arranged in hierarchical manner.

Cont…

-        Smith, Stanley and Shore (1957) introduced four principles for sequence:

1. Simple to complex; i.e. from concrete to abstract, easy to difficult or known to unknown.
2. Prerequisite learning; i.e. fundamental things are learned ahead.
3. Whole to part learning; i.e. the overview before the specific content or topics.

Cont…

4. Chronological learning; i.e. the order of events from most recent to the distant past or vice versa.

-        On the other hand, Posner and Rudnitsky (1994) presented the following principles:

1. World-related sequence

-        What relationship exists among people, objects or events of the world?

Cont…

-        How can content and experiences be arranged so that they  will be consistent with the world?

                Sub-principles:

1. Space – Spatial relations determine the basis for sequence. E.g., closest to farthest, bottom to top or east to west.
2. Time – This is similar to the chronological principle of smith et al.

Cont…

3. Physical attributes – Physical characteristics of the phenomena such as age, shape, size, brightness and others.

2. Concept-related sequence

-        The arrangement reflects the organization of the conceptual world, how ideas are related in a logical manner.

Cont…

                Sub-principles:

1. Class relations – Arranging the characteristics of the class ahead of the characteristics of the members of the class.
2. Propositional relations – Sequence is arranged so that evidence is presented ahead before proposition.

Cont…

3. Inquiry-related sequence

-        Sequence is based on scientific method.

-        Content and experiences are sequenced logically and methodically.

4. Learning-related sequence

-        Sequence is based on the psychology of learning and how people learn.

Cont…

                Sub-principles:

1. Empirical prerequisites – Sequence is primary based on empirical studies where the prerequisite is required before the next level.
2. Familiarity –  What is familiar should be taken up first before the unfamiliar.
3. Difficulty – Easy content or experience is taken ahead than the difficulty one.

Cont…

4. Interest – Content and experiences that stimulate learning interests are presented first.

Continuity

-        It is a vertical manipulation or repetition of curriculum components. It is a continued application of the acquired knowledge, skills, attitudes or values so that they are used in daily lives. This process enables the learners to strengthen the permanency of learning and development of skills.

-        Gerome Bruner calls this “spiral curriculum” in which topics are revisited repeatedly over the years at increasingly greater levels of sophistication.

Integration

-        It is the horizontal connection of subject areas that are similar so that learning will be excited to one another.

-        It relates to what you do in your subject to what is going on in others subjects?

-        Not only that but also it concerns with how are you doing to relate what you do in your subject to what is going on in your students’ home lives, and their community life?

Articulation

-        It can be done either vertically or horizontally.

-        Articulation means each level of subject matter should be smoothly connected to the next so that the glaring gaps or wasteful overlaps in the subject matter should be avoided.

Balance

-        Equitable assignment of content, time, experiences and other curriculum elements.

-        Curriculum components should be fairly distributed in depth and breadth of the particular learning area or discipline. This ensures that the learning level or area is not be overcrowded or less crowded.

The end of the first learning unit

Unit 2: Models of curriculum design

-        This unit, explains different models or approaches or forms of designs by which curriculum has been fashioned out.

-        These different curriculum design models largely reflect differences in the organization and focus of the curriculum.

-        There are three major curriculum design models: subject centered design, learner centered design and problem centered design.

1. Subject centered design model

-        It utilizes content as a basis for curriculum organization. Other components like aims, goals and learning experiences/activities have little impact on their organization.

-        There are several types of subject centered curriculum design including:

1. Subject design
2. Correlation design
3. Broad field design

a. Subject design

-        It is the oldest and so far the most familiar design for teachers, parents and other laymen.

-        It is traditional since most schools organize their curriculum along this design.

-        This design organizes the curriculum into a variable number of subjects, each of which represents a specialized and homogenous body of content e.g., physics, chemistry, biology and mathematics.

Cont…

-        Most schools particularly primary and secondary schools tend to operate in this fashion or design

Characteristics

-        It is expository in nature.

-        Adults select and organize the content before it is presented to the learners.

-        Each subject is in its “ a compartment” with little genuine concern for things outside its walls.

Cont…

-        Emphasis is on the processes of absorption and memorization; listening to lectures, studying the textbooks and studying for examination are all practices that show influence of subject design.

Advantages:

-        It is easy to deliver and administer.

-        Complementary books are written and support instructional materials are commercially available.

Cont…

-        Teachers are better familiar with the format because most them passed through this design i.e. specialization.

-        It is possible and desirable to determine in advance what all children will learn in various subjects and grades (classes).

Disadvantages:

-        Sometimes learning is so compartmentalized ignoring the students’ needs and placing the textbook and teacher at the center.

Cont…

-        Students become simply the empty vessel that receive the information or content.

b. Correlation design

-        This design focuses on correlating separate two subjects in order to reduce fragmentation.

-        Subjects are related to one another but each subject maintains its identity. Therefore, this design leads to neither the whole separation of subjects nor a wholly dependent interdisciplinary design.

-        However, this design requires teachers of two subjects to work collaboratively.

C. Broad field design

-        It is also known interdisciplinary design.

-        It is the variation of the subject design.

-        This is out to cater for fragmentation of knowledge which the subject design is accused of.

-        In this design the related subject matters are grouped together and organized with emphasis on large fields or areas rather than on separate subjects.

Cont…

-        Examples, Social Studies (composed of History, Geography, Economics and Civics) General Science (composed of Chemistry, Physics and Biology) and Languages (comprised of Grammar, Literature, Linguistics, Spelling and Composition).

Advantages:

-        It develops some kind of synthesis for entire branch of knowledge

Cont…

-        It saves time on the school timetable.

Disadvantages:

-        It may not be applied well in teaching as it requires a teacher who is competent in all subjects of the field.

-        It lacks depth and cultivates shallowness; It provides only bits and pieces of information from a variety of subjects.

2. Learner centered design model

-        Learner centered design emphasizes individual or human growth, development and learning. Curriculum organization, therefore, grows out of the needs, interests and purpose of students rather than content.

-        What is said here is that the children's mind should not be a dumping ground of knowledge but the knowledge must be one that is carefully selected and tested and of interest and use to the learner.

Cont…

-        Therefore, instead of society fitting its children to the school curriculum, the curriculum should be tailored to the child’s own experiences, needs and interests.

-        This type of design requires a lot of resources and manpower in order to cater for the variety of needs. Hence, the design is more commonly used in the developed countries, while in developing world the use is limited.

Cont…

Advantages:

-        The needs and interests of students are considered in the selection and organization of content.

-        The resulting curriculum of the design is mostly relevant to the students world.

-        The design allows students to be active and encourages student exploration of concepts and world they live.

Cont…

Disadvantages/Criticisms:

-        The needs and interests of students may not be valid or long lasting. They are often short-lived.

-        The design is expensive with regard to  time and resources. The design would work effectively with unlimited resources.

-        Highly individualized.

3. Problem centered design model

-        This design focuses on the problem of individual and social problems of living which are very general, broad and all embracing.

-        Various problems are given emphasis including those center on life situations, contemporary issues e.g., socio-politics, socio-economics reconstruction of society, environmental related issues and community health.

Cont…

-        This design emphasizes on group welfare i.e. social needs rather than individuals.

q   Guidelines for curriculum designs

-        It must respond to the rapid knowledge and technical change and encourage students to do the same.

-        It must be guided by the outcome to be achieved

-        It should promote innovation, creativity and professionalism.

-        it is accessible to a wide range of students

-        It should be relevant

The end of the second learning unit
and
the end of the third module

•       Module 4

FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION

•       Curriculum development

•       It is a continuous process, which concerns with planning, preparation and changing learning practices in institutions.

•       Taba (1962) explains that curriculum development is a complex undertaking that involves many kinds of decisions

Ø  Curriculum development is a long process that involves planning, structuring, implementation and assessment

•       Curriculum evaluation

•       Is the process of assessing the curriculum to check the extent to which standards have been met.

•       It checks whether the planned set of courses have been conducted well in the actual learning and teaching

•       It helps to point out some weaknesses in order to improve the curriculum

•       Factors Influencing Curriculum Development and Evaluation

•       Curriculum development and evaluation can be influenced by various factors in any of its four fundamental elements:

Ø  Curriculum/educational objectives

Ø  Subject matter/content

Ø  T/L activities/Methodology

Ø  Evaluation of outcomes

•       Factors Influencing…….

•       The direction of curriculum change and implementation is a reflection of the competing interests from within and outside the educational mainstream.

•       The major influences include:

•       Factors Influencing…….

•       These factors can be categorized into

Ø  Societal

Ø  Psychological,

Ø  Philosophical and

Ø  Institutional factors

•       We will discuss some of these in detail.

•       Societal factors

•       These include the social, economic and political factors.

•       Individuals and organized groups in and outside the country have their own civilization that automatically or purposeful influence the curriculum development and evaluation

•       Social factors ….

1. Special interest groups, (youths, women, disabled, street children, etc.)

•       They may campaign for inclusion of particular book, course, subjects, adoption of new teaching method. etc…

•       They may have their own agenda that they may wish to be followed by schools.

•       Social factors ….

Examples of special groups line of focus

•       Youths – employability and entrepreneurship education.

•       Women – gender awareness issues,

•       Disabled – availability of specific resources/ communication media,

•       Street children – child rights, etc….

Instructional objectives, content, materials, methods, and evaluation should consider special groups in society

•       Social factors …

2. Religious institutions in a given country can influence the curriculum.

•       Subject such as sex education, technology education etc may face opposition by religious institutions.

3. Parents participating in school boards and committees.

•       They can utilize the opportunity to induce whatever they think can benefit their children

•       They can also reluctantly participate in expected involvement.

•       Economic factors

1. Economic strength of the country determines the availability and absence of resources required by curriculum development and evaluation

•       It also determines the quality of such resources

•       Economic pressure periods call for immediate reforms in curriculum

•       Economic factors …

2. Economic activities of which are fundamental in the nation determines the society needs.

•       These may be business, agriculture and manufacturing industry

•       As such activities change, the schools/curriculum responds by modifying the subjects’ content and methodology

•       Economic factors …

3. Employers need graduates with specific skills to meet their organization personnel performance

Ø  Schools have to provide content and employ activities that foster employee-needed skills

Ø  Curriculum development and evaluations are focused in preparing graduates with such skills.

•       Economic factors …

4. Globalization needs peoples to have knowledge that can be used elsewhere

•       Internationalization of curriculum activities and subject matter may be a concern.

•       Local/land specific knowledge may be left out of the curriculum

•       Economic factors …

5. Labor market shifts over time

Ø  One field may require more people today than the other, a situation which is dynamic

Ø  Curriculum may be forced to turn its focus on producing people as per market/employment trends

•       Political influences

1. State organs such as ministries and ministers have absolute power to make decisions on the curriculum.

•       The ministry can decide on the subjects to be taught or omitted. E.g. the abolition of sports in school in 2000

•       Budget on education can greatly be affected by politics

•       Political ……

2. Publishers and published materials control the whole process of teaching and learning.

•       Even reformers, sometimes use the materials in their attempt to change what to be studied in schools.

•       Unfortunately, publication are made on what sells regardless of the quality.

•       Thus, publishers influence the way subject matter will be taught in schools

•       Publishers cont….

•       The widespread reliance on textbooks as basic teaching resource makes publishers to be powerful in curriculum development

•       Publishers determine the curriculum content, as they propose what is to be learned by students

•       Important thing is to scrutinize new books to determine whether they meet the quality criteria

•       Political ……

3. Mass media reach a lot of people and can bear a special educational agenda

•       Media has the power to control the way people think or should consider important

•       Different individuals and groups may use the media to influence the curriculum

•       E.g. the return of FTNA and availability of national curriculum. 

•       Political ……

4. NGOs play a big role in educational research

•       They can also based on evidence critically analyze educational trends.

•       Various criticisms on educational performance by the government have been raised.

•       Some special groups have found spokespersons from NGOs

•       Reforms may be made based on such critics and research data.

•       Psychological factors

•       Learning is the key purpose of educational enterprise.

•       Understanding how students learn enhances the attainment of educational objectives.

•       Educational psychology provides well founded learning theories that explain how students learn.

•       Behaviorism

•       Ivan Pavlov, Classical conditioning.

•       Edward Thorndike, connectionism of S-R: subdividing curriculum content/activities and arranging them in a sequence allowing additive learning to complex issues.

•       Thorndike laws of effect, readiness, and exercise.

•       Behaviorism cont…

•       B.F. Skinner, operand conditioning: reinforcement of the response increases the probability of the response happening again.

•       John Watson and Edwin Guthrie, classical conditioning with similar responses to same stimuli.

•        Curriculum has to involve arrangement of content/activities that can result into desired response due to use of appropriate stimulus. (learn by doing, ie reading by reading, writing by writing)

•       Behaviorism cont…

•       Behaviorists guide formulation of educational objectives at macro and micro-curriculum levels.

•       They suggest that learning process should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Realistic and Time bound).

•       Cognitive

•       Cognitive theories emphasize making learning meaningful and taking into account learners’ perceptions of themselves and their learning environments (Schunk, 2012).

•       Instructional factors alone do not fully account for students’ learning.

•       Other important things in learning are: what students do with information, how they attend to, rehearse, transform, code, store, and retrieve it.

•       Cognitive cont…

•       Cognitive theories emphasize the role of learners’ thoughts, beliefs, attitudes, and values.

•       Learners should trust their capabilities to learn.

•       Teachers need to consider students’ thought processes in their lesson planning.

•       Cognitive cont…

•       Cognitive theories place greater emphasis on presenting materials such that learners can organize it, relate it to what they know, and remember it in a meaningful fashion.

•       Social cognitive theory (observational learning) by Albert Bandura

–      people can learn new actions merely by observing others perform them without having to perform the actions at the time of and without any reinforcement,

•       Philosophical Factors

•       Philosophy is a discipline concerned with questions of ethics, logic, epistemology and metaphysics.

•       Some concepts of philosophy are used to explain important issues in education.

•       Philosophy of education is a set of related beliefs that influences what and how students are taught.

•       Philosophy of education-purpose of schooling, a teacher's role, what should be taught and by what methods.

•       Purpose of philosophy in curriculum

It enables educators:

•       Philosophy serves as source and an influence for educational objectives and curriculum development process.

•       To understand goals and objectives of education

•       To understand nature of learners within the context of their environment

•       Purpose of philosophy cont …

•       To recommend on the subjects to be taught

•       To understand better the nature of society in which education is taking place

•       To select appropriate content, approaches to teaching and teaching resources

•       To evaluate educational processes critically

•       Conflicting philosophies

•       There are many diverse and conflicting philosophies of education that may be classified as conservatism and progressivism polarity.

•       Teacher-centered/conservartive philosophies: more authoritarian and conservative, and emphasize the values and knowledge that have survived through time.

•       The major teacher-centered philosophies of education are essentialism and perennialism.

•       Conflicting philosophies Cont…

•       Student-centered/progressive philosophies: focus on individual needs, contemporary relevance, and preparing students for a changing future.

•       The major learner-centered philosophies of education are Progressivism, social reconstructionism, existentialism and pragmatism

•       Others are: Idealism, realism, …..

•        Idealism

•       Idealism is a philosophical approach that has as its central principle that ideas are the only true reality, the only thing worth knowing.

•       Soul is fully formed prior to birth and is perfect and at one with the Universal Being.

•       Education requires bringing latent ideas (fully formed concepts) to consciousness.

•        Idealism Cont…

•       The aim of education is to discover and develop each individual's abilities and full moral excellence in order to better serve society.

•       The curricular emphasis is subject matter of mind: literature, history, philosophy, and religion.

•       Teaching methods focus on handling ideas through lecture, discussion, and Socratic dialogue.

•       Realism: reality exists independent of the human mind.

•       The ultimate reality is the world of physical objects and truth is objective-what can be observed.

•       Curriculum: subject matter of the physical world, particularly science and mathematics.

•       Content should be organized systematically within a discipline, demonstrating use of criteria in making decisions.

•       Students: think critically and scientifically using observation and experimentation.

•       Perennialism

•       Perennialism focuses on the universal truths that have withstood the test of time.

•       It advocates cultivation of intellectual virtues through the permanent studies and constitute our intellectual inheritance

•       They argue that education should not be misdirected towards meeting contemporary needs that are only temporal

•       Students should read the Great Books and develop their understanding of the philosophical concepts that underlie human knowledge.

•       Essentialism

•       Essentialism focuses on teaching the essential elements of academic and moral knowledge.

•       Education should address the basics especially the strong core curriculum and high academic standards.

•       They advocate this heritage to be directed at modern needs through the fundamental academic disciplines of Language, Mathematics, Science etc…

•       Progressivism

•       Progressivism: lessons must be relevant to the students in order for them to learn.

•       The curriculum should be built around the learners personal experiences, interests, and needs. 

•       Social Reconstructionism

•       Social reconstructionism: focus on more direct and immediate attention to societal ills.

•       The learning should be combined with social action.

•       Education can and should go hand in hand with ameliorating social problems.

•       Subject matter is concerned with contemporary national and global problems, such as war, diseases, poverty, crime etc.

•       Existentialism

•       Existentialism: Individual choice and individual standards are central

•       Derived from a powerful belief in human free will, and the need for individuals to shape their own futures.

•       Students should control their own education.

•       Students are encouraged to understand and appreciate their uniqueness and to assume responsibility for their actions. 

•       Experimentalism (Pragmatism)

•       Pragmatism, only those things that are experienced or observed are real and reality is constantly changing.

•       Teaching methods focus on hands-on problem solving, experimenting, and projects, often having students work in groups.

•       Learners should apply their knowledge to real situations through experimental inquiry.

•       This prepares students for citizenship, daily living, and future careers.

Thanks for Listening

MODULE 5: EVALUATING THE CURRICULUM

LEARNING UNITS:

1. BASIC CONCEPTS IN CURRICULUM EVALUATION
2. CURRICULUM EVALUATION MODELS
3. INSTRUMENTS OF CURRICULUM EVALUATION

Unit 1: Basic Concepts in Curriculum Evaluation

-        Curriculum evaluation is a necessary and important aspect of any national education system.

-        It is an essential phase of curriculum development.

-        Before defining it, we should first consider some basic concepts which are often used synonymously in curriculum evaluation, yet there are significant differences in what they imply. 

Cont…

-        The concepts are measurement, assessment and evaluation.

Measurement

-        Measurement is an act or process that involves the assignment of numerical values to whatever is being assessed.

-        It is a process of quantifying the degree to which someone or something possesses a given characteristic or quality.

Cont…

Assessment

-        Assessment is a systematic, continuous process which involves the ways instructors gather data about their teaching and their students’ learning

-        The ways include tests, homework, assignments, class projects, class presentations, class participation, interviews and observation.

Cont…

-        Therefore, assessment is a purposeful process in the classroom to collect data, both qualitative and quantitative. Hence it is broader than measurement.

Evaluation

-        Bachman (1990), quoting Weiss (1972), defines evaluation as “the systematic gathering of information for the purpose of making decisions” or value judgments.

Cont…

-        According to Marsh and Wills (2007), the terms assessment and evaluation are often used synonymously in education, yet there are significant differences in what they imply.

-        Essentially, the process of evaluation is an attempt to weigh and appropriately value something. It is the process which can be made in terms of merit (how well something is done) and worth (importance of doing something).

Cont…

-        In contrast to the broad process of evaluation, the term assessment implies a much more narrow and technical process of determining how much a student has learned.

-        Therefore, evaluation is a comprehensive and inclusive term.

-        It is a process that involves measurement as well as assessment processes.

What is curriculum evaluation?

-        There are several possible ways towards defining curriculum evaluation.

-        Curriculum evaluation may be defined as the process of making value judgments about the merit or worth of a part or the whole of a curriculum.

-        It is the process of determining the quality, effectiveness or value of the programme, process, and product of the curriculum.

-        Curriculum evaluations involves studying how teachers and students interact with

Cont…

                each other and with curriculum in a particular setting.

-        Curriculum evaluation is not confined to investigating only what students have learned. Rather it involves examination of the goals, rationale and structure of the curriculum; a study of the context in which the curriculum occurs; and an analysis of the interests, motivation and achievements of the students experiencing the curriculum.

What to evaluate?

-        Marsh and Wills (2007) identified the following four curriculum commonplaces to provide the answer to the above question: teacher, learner, subject matter and milieu.

-        On the other hand, Gatawa (1990) identified the following criteria for evaluating school curriculum: objectives, content as outlined in the syllabuses, materials and process or methodology used by teachers and administrators.

Purposes/functions of curriculum evaluation

At national level

-        To find out the extent to which the central goals and objectives are being achieved.

-        To determine whether the curriculum is functioning and using the best materials and the best methods.

-        To determine whether the products of our schools are successful in higher education and in jobs.

Cont…

-        To determine whether student can meet challenges in daily life and contribute to our society

-        To determine whether the education programme is cost effective, and the people are getting the most of it.

At institutional level

-        A basis for school marks or grades by teachers which are obtained through formal examinations and regular assignments

Cont…

-        As means of informing parents on the performance of their children

-        For promotion to a higher class.

-        For pupils motivation.

-        To assess the effectiveness of the teaching strategies.

-        For employment purposes.

-        To respond to dissatisfaction with school procedures.

Types of curriculum evaluation

-        There are three types or forms of curriculum evaluation: diagnostic evaluation, formative evaluation and summative evaluation.

Diagnostic evaluation

-        It deals with judging the merit and worth of the curriculum before the programme activities begin. Its purpose is to anticipate potential learning problems and, in many cases, to place students in the proper course or unit of study (placement evaluation).

Cont…

-        It reminds teachers that they must maintain instruction at levels appropriate to their students.

-        Diagnostic evaluation include pre-tests and interviews.

Formative evaluation

-        It is a method of judging the merit and worth of the curriculum while the program activities are happening.

Cont…

-        It involves collection of continuous feedback from participants in a programme in order to revise the programme as needed.

Summative evaluation

-        It is the method of judging the merit and worth of the programme at the end of programme implementation. Its major interest is on the outcome of the particular programme.

The end of the first learning unit

Unit 2: Curriculum Evaluation Models

-        Curriculum evaluation models are useful as general outlines of how evaluation can be conducted.

-        Several evaluation models have been  developed to describe or prescribe how curriculum evaluations might be planned and undertaken.

-        The following are some examples of most cited curriculum evaluation models:

Cont…

1. Objective model
2. Cronbach model
3. Goal free evaluation model
4. Countenance model
5. Illuminative model
6. Educational connoisseurship and criticism model
7. Context-Input-Process-Product model

1. Tyler’s objective model

-        The objective evaluation model was developed by Ralph Tyler and follows directly from the curriculum model he put forward in 1949.

-        Tyler’s objective model is also often referred as to as the “Goal attainment model”.

-        The model involves a careful formulation of educational goals and then transforming these goals into instructional objectives.

Cont…

-        At the end of instructional programme based on the formulated instructional objectives, assessment of students is undertaken in order to determine the degree to which the stipulated objectives were achieved.

-        The task of evaluator is not to inquire into the merits of such curriculum objectives but to determine the extent to which the student behaviours stipulated in the objectives are realized.

Cont…

-        It become clear that Tyler regarded testing as the key aspect of evaluation.

-        Tyler insists that evaluators must strive for precision and objectivity. Therefore, the tests selected by the evaluators should meet conventional standards of objectivity, reliability and validity.

-        He also insists that they (tests) be used on a pre/post basis in order to measure changes in student behaviours.

Cont…

-        Diagrammatically, Tyler’s Goal attainment model can be presented as shown below:

Cont…

Strengths

-        Its logic and practical simplicity make it attractive to curriculum developers and to some teachers. It is relatively easy and to understand and apply.

-        It was a major advance over the ordinary practices of the 1940s which were confined to measuring only the academic achievement of students and then only through standardized, norm-referenced tests (Fraser, 1981)

Cont…

Criticism

-        It checks only on the attainment of stated objectives without considering the contribution of other elements which together constitute the curriculum.

-        The model gives the notion that the philosophy of education can be used to screen objectives is not accepted since, philosophy is value laden and varies greatly between individuals.

Cont…

-        It does not suggest how the objectives themselves should be evaluated.

-        It seems to place undue emphasis on the pre-assessment and post-assessment, ignoring completely the need for formative assessment.

2. Cronbach model

-        This evaluation model is known as a Utility Approach and it was developed by Cronbach in 1963.

-        Cronbach was amongst the earliest to doubt the completeness of the Tyler’s objective approach.

-        Cronbach emphasized three major types of decisions for which evaluation data may be used. These are for:

Cont…

1. Course improvement by deciding on what instructional materials and methods are satisfactory and where change is needed.
2. Making decisions about individuals by identifying the needs of the pupils for planning instruction and acquainting the pupils for their own progress and deficiencies.
3. Administrative regulations in judging how good the school system is and how good individual teachers are.

Cont…

-        According to Cronbach evaluation should be regarded as “the collection and use of information to make decisions about an education programme”

-        Therefore, the utility approach stresses that people should not engage in evaluation exercises if at the end of the exercise the information gathered is not going to be used in making at least one or all of the three types of outlined decisions.

3. Goal free evaluation (GFE) model

-        This model was developed by Michael Scriven (1972).

-        Scriven forward several notions with regard to evaluation. Three of these are: evaluation of goals, goal free evaluation and formative and summative evaluation.

-        On the notion of goal free evaluation, Scriven argued that the evaluator begins by deliberately avoiding the teacher’s or curriculum goals.

Cont…

-        Thus, goal free evaluation entails any evaluation in which the evaluator conducts the evaluation without particular knowledge of or reference to stated or predetermined goals and objectives of the programme, person, or product.

-        The evaluator observes and measures actual processes and outcomes.

-        The logic behind this is to prevent tunnel vision at the risk of overlooking many positive and/or negative unintended effects.

Cont…

-        GFE evaluator asks: what does the programme actually do? Rather, what does the programme intends to do?

Strengths

-        It may identify unintended positive and negative side-effects and other context specific information.

-        it is less subject to bias introduced by intentionally or unintentionally trying satisfy the client..

4. Context-Input-Process-Product (CIPP) model

-        The model was originally developed by Daniel Stufflebeam in the 1960s

-        It is a comprehensive framework for conducting formative and summative evaluations of projects, personnel, products and organisations.

-        It emphasizes the need  of producing evaluation data for decision making. Stufflebeam strengthened the relationship made by Cronbach between evaluation and decision making.

Cont…

-        The model is based upon the view that the most important purpose of evaluation is to improve the functioning of a programme.

-        Stufflebeam proposed four types of evaluation which are:

Context evaluation

Input evaluation

Process evaluation

Product evaluation

Cont…

Context evaluation

-        It involves continuously assessing needs and problems in the context to help decision makers determine programme goals and objectives.

-        It involves questions such as: How was the needs assessment conducted? What needs were identified in the relevant community? How important are the needs to the relevant community?

Cont…

Input evaluation

-        It is designed to assess the extent to which the program strategies, resources and activities support the goals and objectives identified in the needs assessment

-        This helps decision makers choose optimal means for achieving those goals.

Cont…

Process evaluation

-        It seeks to assess the implementation of programme.

-        It involves questions such as: To what extent are the various procedures and activities being implemented as originally planned? To what extent are the procedures have been modified or they should be modified, and why?

Cont…

Product evaluation

-        The purpose is to measure, interpret and judge the extent to which the programme has achieved both intended and unintended short-term and long-term goals of the programme.

-        It involves questions such as: Has the programme successfully achieved its short-term and long-term goals? What has been the impact of the programme to the participants, relevant community and so on?

The end of the second learning unit

Unit 3: Instruments of Curriculum Evaluation

-        There are several tools used in curriculum evaluation.

-        They include tests, interviews, questionnaires, rating scales, observations etc.

The end of the third learning unit
and
The end of the fifth module