UNIT 2: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

UNIT 2: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

UNIT 2 OUTLINE
Basic Issues in Curriculum
Curriculum Determinants
Basic Process of Curriculum Development
Curriculum Development Models

BASIC ISSUES IN CURRICULUM
◦Goal
◦Scope
◦Organization
◦Teaching Strategies
◦Individual Needs
◦Evaluation
◦Curriculum Improvement

GOAL
•National educational goals: universal basic education
•Nature of educational goals and
•Role of the school in achieving these goals.
Questions such as the following will have to be addressed:
◦What does the nation seek to achieve through education?
◦Who determines the role of the school; what distinctive part will the school play in achieving the educational goals?

SCOPE OF CONTENT/SUBJECT MATTER
What is to be covered by the curriculum, that is, what to teach in terms of knowledge, understanding, skill and experiences to provide learners. Two major problems exist with respect to scope:
◦ First, there is more material to put into the school curriculum than time permits.
◦ Second, people have different opinions about what belongs in the school curriculum •Accuracy: rooted in empirical or non-empirical data

•Breadth and Depth: horizontal and vertical relationship. Often breadth is preferred and emphasized
•Source of information? For example, teachers, parents, books, journals.

ORGANIZATION/SEQUENCE
The order in which content will be delivered.
• It determines how students will learn; whether in-class or outside the class experiences. •Whether knowledge will be built on vertically or horizontally. In other words, the logical arrangement of the subject matter or the deepening and broadening of content as it moves along the educational levels.
TEACHING STRATEGIES
How to teach, that is, what methods and procedures to use in delivering the content.
• Organization of the learning environment.
• Resources needed for the lesson.
• Furniture and seating arrangement, good ventilation and lighting.
• Balance to create between theory and practice and between verbal and non-verbal experiences to provide.
INDIVIDUAL NEEDS
The curriculum has its primary target to be the learners no matter the type (be it learner-centered or teacher-centered) and the needs of these individual learners, ideally, have to be met at all cost.
•The question here is, ‘who is to be taught what?’ as individual needs vary and thus differences in what they require.
•Provision has to be made for exceptional individuals (highly talented & highly weak students).
•When should general and specialized education be introduced?

EVALUATION
The general essence of education may be said to be cognitive, psychomotor and affective growth of learners. To determine whether this has taken place, evaluation has to occur.
Questions such as the following need to be answered:
◦Who is / Which people are going to do the evaluation? Teachers, learners, other officials?
◦What evaluative measures or methods will be used in assessing students? Eg, formative – quizzes, test, assignments, summative – exams.
◦How frequent if it is formative?
CURRICULUM IMPROVEMENT
• It refers to gradual or evolutionary change of certain aspects of the curriculum without a radical rethinking and reorganization of its fundamental components.
•How often shall the existing curriculum be improved.
•Who will be involved in the improvement process?
•What procedure will be used to ensure effective change?
•What right, responsibilities and roles will students have in this process?
•What learning approaches will be used, individual or group work?
•Will more emphasis be laid on in-class work or work outside the class.