THE UNIVERSITY OF ZAMBIA
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL TEACHERS’ COLLEGE
DEPARTMENT OF DISTANCE AND OPEN LEARNING
NAME
: KOTATI MWAPE MWELWA MWANSA
CLASS
: TMD13
ID NUMBER
: 21311
COURSE
: CURRICULUM STUDIES
ASSIGNMENT NUMBER
:2
LECTURER
: JERE, G.
TASK
: This essay is on what is involved in curriculum design and development
processes, significance of goals and objectives in curriculum design and
development and identifying key stakeholders in curriculum design and
development and explain the importance of their involvement.
A properly designed and developed curriculum is one that is able to suit the needs of a society
like a learning institution. In this case, suiting means that document will give a proper guide of
how activities will be done at each and every given time. To come up with a curriculum
document involves so many tasks to be done and things to be considered. This essay will look at
what curriculum design and development processes involve, the significance of goals and
objectives in curriculum design and development and will also identify the importance of the
involvement of various identified key stakeholders.
According to Richards (2001: 41) curriculum development refers to the “range of planning and
implementation processes involved in developing or renewing a curriculum.” Curriculum design
and development processes involves the following processes; needs analysis/assessment, setting
goals and objectives, course organization, selecting and preparing teaching materials and
evaluation. Curriculum development should be considered as a process which helps student
learning improved by meeting student needs. Much information must be gathered by curriculum
developers regardless of the model being followed. Needs analysis should include things such as
the expectations or desired outcomes of a high quality program, the role of assessment, the
current status achievement and actual program content. Setting of goals and objectives is
determined by asking fundamental questions such as Why learn a specific discipline? Upon what
guiding principle is our program built? What are our core beliefs about a specific discipline? And
how will we use assessment to improve the program and student learning? Answering these
questions leads to coming up with the goals and objectives. Evaluation of a curriculum should
always be the last step. This process involves determining the successes and failures of a specific
program. It helps curriculum designers and developer know where changes must be made in
order to improve on the effectiveness of the curriculum.
When designing and developing a curriculum, it is always necessary to set goals and objectives.
According to Oliva & Gordon (2013: 175-176), “a curriculum goal is a purpose or end stated in
general terms without criteria of achievement” while a curriculum objective “is a purpose or end
stated in specific, measurable terms.” From the two definitions, it clear that a goal is long-term
target while an objective is a short-term target. In curriculum designing goals will give the design
a clear picture of what the end product will be able to achieve or become at the end of a specific
program. Goals also help in use of appropriate material and selection and aligning of content in a
specific program. Specific objectives help designer to come up with the best modes of lesson
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delivery and the appropriate aids. In curriculum development, goals and objectives will help
developers to come up with an accurate time frame for the program and course/subjects and
lessons in the program. Goals serve as a criterion by which we can measure the output of the
educational system in a country. This being the renewal process, goals and objectives will act as
a guide to make amends after evaluating the effectiveness of the program.
Purita, P. B. et al. (2008: 56) define stakeholders as “individuals or institutions that are interested
in the school curriculum.” Some of the key stakeholders in curriculum design and development
include; learners, Teachers, managers and administrators, the government (ministry of
education), sponsors/collaborators and the local community/parents. According to Purita, P. B. et
al. (2008: 56), “learners in all levels can make or unmake the curriculum by their active and
direct involvement.” Though they are primary stakeholders, learners are the sow purpose as to
why a curriculum is designed and developed. In other words they are at the centre of any
curriculum. Every part of the curriculum document is designed to suit the needs of a learner. It is
without a doubt that the most important person in the curriculum designing, developing and
implementation process is the teacher. With their knowledge, experiences and competencies,
teachers are central to any curriculum development effort. In affirmation, Carl (2009:231), states
that “the curriculum development team has to consider the teacher as part of the environment
that affects curriculum.” Fullan (1991: 96) also supports this idea by stating that “the level of
teacher involvement as a center of curriculum development leads to effective achievement of
educational reform.” Therefore, the teacher is an important factor in the success of curriculum
development including the steps of implication and evaluation.” Therefore, to have a successful
and meaningful curriculum, the teacher involvement is important more especially them being at
the last stage of the curriculum development process because of being implementers. The teacher
implements the curriculum aligning the content of curriculum with students needs in the
classroom. Purita, P. B. et al. (2008: 57) sums up this issue of a teacher being a curriculum
stakeholder by stating that; “a teacher designs, enriches, and modifies the curriculum to suit then
learner’s characteristics.” Managers and Administrators are important in the designing and
development of a curriculum. Managers help in implementing the curriculum. According to
Purita, P. B. et al. (2008), this is achieved by recruiting new teachers, admit students, procure
equipment and other materials required for effective teaching and learning, supervising
curriculum implementation, plan for improvement of teaching and learning facilities and making
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final decisions about the curriculum. The government through the ministry of education offers
trained personnel such as teachers to schools and various education boards, building
administrative and school infrastructure, offering financial support and providing learning,
teaching materials such as books and other materials and does accreditation of all courses and
programs at the University. The government also creates various training platforms (workshops
and seminars) where officers go to train in order to be updated with changes in the curriculum.
Sponsors/collaborators play an important role in the design and development of a curriculum.
They offer financial support in building infrastructure and literature materials. An example that
can be cited is the World Bank who have and are still rendering support in building of secondary
schools in Zambia. The local society/parents are also an integral part in development of a
curriculum. Parents provide extra-curriculum resources such as paying of tuition fees. Parents
also provide support in terms of communication resulting in greater motivation and academic
achievement.
In conclusion, it is fair to state that curriculum design and development are complex activities
that require a lot of effort in terms of critical and care analysis by concerned parties. Various
stakeholders must be involved in this process. To come up with an effective curriculum for any
education system, all involved stakeholders must embrace one another because they are
interdependent.
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References
Carl, A. (2009) Teacher Empowerment Through Curriculum development theory into practice,
Cape Town: Juta & Company Ltd.
Fullan, M. (1991) The Meaning of Educational Change, New York: Teacher College Press.
Oliva, P. & Gordon, W. (2013) Developing the Curriculum, Boston: Pearson.
Purita, P. B., Paz, I. L., Tomasa, C. I. and Rodrigo, B. J. (2008) Curriculum Development,
Quezon: LORIMATOR Publishing Inc.
Richards, J. (2001) Curriculum Development in Language Teaching, New York, NY:
Cambridge University Press.
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