MODULE 5
Models in Curriculum Development
INTRODUCTION
Curriculum development is concerned with the drawing up of plans for
teaching and learning activities in classroom situations that will bring about
positive changes in the lives of the learners. It is based on the school’s mission
and goals and identifies ways of translating these into a coherent and coordinated
program of meaningful experiences and conditions eliciting responses that will
lead to the transformation of the learners into authentic, warm and sensitive
human beings (Palma, 1992). Moreover, the all-important process of curriculum
development has only one function, and that is, the formation of the “Ideal
Graduate.” This becomes the ultimate measure of the success or failure of the
total school enterprise. It should be pointed out, however, that the conception of
the “Ideal Graduate” will vary since it depends on the school’s peculiar clientele,
ecology and thrusts.
General Objective.
To know the different models of curriculum evaluation.
Specific Objectives. After reading this module, you should be able to:
1. Know and understand what is curriculum development.
2. Identify the different models in curriculum development
3. Know and understand the steps in curriculum development.
4. Answer the questions given at the last page of this module.
1. The Michaelis Model
The Michaelis model for curriculum development has been named after
the principal author of the book New Designs for Elementary Curriculum and
Instruction (2nd ed., 1975), by John U. Michaelis. His co-authors were Ruth H.
Grossman and Lloyd F. Scott. Although their book is oriented to the elementary
level, this model for curriculum development may be adapted to the secondary
and tertiary levels.
The Michaelis model includes the components generally recognized as
essential to curriculum development. It is designed for use in two ways. First, it
may serve as a guide to the development or revision of the curriculum. Second,
the model may serve as a guide for the review and analysis of the curriculum
(Aquino, 1986).
Components of the Michaelis Model:
(a) Foundations of curriculum development
There are five major sources of ideas that serve as the foundations for
curriculum planning. The historical foundations are useful in identifying the
problem issues, and perspective. An examination of the historical foundations of
the curriculum points up threads of continuity as well as instances of rejection of
precedents and illustrates the way in which the curriculum, at any point in time,
is also a production that time. The philosophical foundations may be drawn upon
to develop a framework of values and beliefs related to the goals, the selection
and use knowledge and means and methods and other dimensions of education.
The social foundations are sources of informations and societal values, changes,
problems, pressures and forces that merit consideration in curriculum planning,
the Psychological foundation contains ideas about child growth, development and
learning on which the program may be based. The disciplinary foundations serve
as sources of information about concepts, generalizations, supporting data and
modes, methods, and processes of inquiry that may be used in developing the
curriculum and planning instruction.
(b) Goals and objectives
Related to the analysis of the foundations of curriculum development are
the major goals of education that gives direction to planning at all levels and in
all areas of the curriculum, the objectives must be consistent with, but more
specific than goals so that immediate direction is obtained for intuitional planning
ad evaluation. The general goals should be cooperatively developed by school
personnel and lay persons and be generally acceptable to the community, the
objectives should be defended by school personnel with assistance from experts
in areas of the curriculum, evaluation, and formulation of objectives so that they
will be optimally useful in planning and appraisal activities.
Each area of the curriculum should be analyzed to identify its specific
contributions to the major goals. This step is helpful in developing a coherent
curriculum in which all areas or fields of study are viewed as contributing to the
common goals. This step is helpful in identifying the unique contributing that
each area can make to the goals and thus makes possible the design of a
complete and balanced program of instruction that incorporates aesthetic and
others.
The objectives of each area may be viewed as a detailed elaboration of
contributions to the major goals. Their function is to provide specific direction to
program planning. The four sets of interrelated objectives that include the
cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains are as follows: skill objectives,
and affective objectives. Special categories may be used to highlight the
contribution of some areas such as, for example visual/tactile objectives,
creative expression objectives and aesthetic judgment objectives, objectives in
art education within such special categories, however, one may find conceptual,
process, skill, and affective in behavioral or performance terms is done to
facilitate unit and lesson planning and to evaluate instructional out comes.
(c) Organization of the curriculum
Decisions must be made about the organization of the curriculum, the units
within particular areas of curriculum, unit organization, and unit planning
procedures, the scope or breadth of the curriculum must be determined and
special attention must be given to learning sequences that provide for cumulative
learning and the integration of learning. Other decision must be made about
curriculum development procedures, broad fields or other patens or organization
the roles of curriculum personnel, and the design of curriculum guides.
(d) Organization and extension of the learning environment
The school organization must be considered in terms both the movement
of students from level (vertical organization) and of the grouping of students and
the placement of teachers at the various levels (horizontal organization).
Attention also needs to be given to individualized and personalized instruction
organizing and sequencing of group work, and interaction analysis. Variety of
ways of extending the learning environment merits consideration, ranging from
open education to time and spatial extensions, and the use of the community as a
laboratory for learning.
Instructional media should be analyzed because of their fundamental
importance as key ingredients in the learning environment. The full range of
educational technology, including hardware such as equipment and software or
courseware such as instructional materials, should be examined and selected in
terms of multiple criteria. Provision should be made for instructional media that
are useful in all areas of instruction and for special media needed in particular
area. A variety of printed materials, audio-visual materials, community
resources, learning packages, multi-media sets of materials and multi-level
materials should be considered.
(e) Instructional support services
The implementation of new or revised programs of instruction requires a
variety of support services, the quality of leadership essential to sound
curriculum development is also essential to implementation. Consultant and
supervisory services are needed to help solve general problem and problems
related to areas of instruction, other needed services include those related to
instructional medial, special education programs the diagnosis and correction of
learning difficulties, evaluation, and the in-service education and the
instructional staff.
(f) Teaching strategies
A variety of teaching strategies should be selected or designed for us in
the instructional program. There is a need for inductive strategies that include
moves from the particular to the general and deductive strategies that include
moves from general to the particular. Discovery strategies in which the students
themselves find out on their own and teacher-directed strategies in which the
students are guided systematically to in stated objectives are needed, along with
strategies the call for varying degrees of teacher guidance, combinations of the
preceding strategies may be used to be develop and apply concepts, clarify
values, and attain other objectives as various media are used in different areas of
the curriculum. In additions, construction should be given to the guidelines or
principles of instruction for each area of the curriculum.
(g) Evaluation and accountability
Diagnostic, formative and summative evaluations are needed to determine
the needs of students assess progress towards objectives during instruction and
appraised the outcomes of instruction at the end of given periods. A brad and
comprehensive program of evaluation is needed in which a variety of instruments
and techniques are used to evaluate the conceptual, process, skill, and effective
outcomes of instruction.
2. The Tyler Model
One of the best known models for curriculum development with special
attention to the planning phases is Ralph W. Tyler’s in his classic little book,
Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction, “The Tyler Rationale”, a process
for selecting educational objectives, is widely known and practiced in curriculum
circles. Although Tyler proposed a rather comprehensive model for curriculum
development, the first part of his model, the selection of objectives, received the
greatest attention from other educators.
Tyler recommended that curriculum planners identify general objectives
by gathering data from three sources: the learner, contemporary life outside the
school, and the subject matter. After identifying numerous general objectives, the
planners refine these by filtering them through two screens: the educational and
social philosophy of the school and the psychology of learning. The general
objectives that successfully pass through the two screens become specific
instructional objectives. In describing general objectives, Tyler referred to them
as “goals”, “educational objectives”, and “educational purposes”.
The curriculum developer begins his or her search for educational
objectives by gathering and analyzing data relevant to student needs and
interests. The total range of educational needs, social, occupational, physical,
psychological, and recreational is studied. Tyler recommended observations by
teachers, interviews with students, interviews with parents, questionnaires, and
tests as techniques for collecting data about students. By examining the needs
and interest of students, the curriculum developer identifies a set of potential
objectives.
Analysis of contemporary life in both the local community and in society at
large is the next step in the process of formulating general objectives. Tyler
suggested that curriculum planners develop a classification scheme that divides
life into various aspects such as health, family, recreation, vocation, religion,
consumption, and civic roles. From the needs of society flow many potential
educational objectives. It is apparent that the curriculum worker must “be
somewhat of a sociologist to make an intelligent analysis of needs of social
institutions. After considering this second source, the curriculum worker has
lengthened his/her set of objectives.
For a third source, the curriculum planner turns to the subject matter, the
disciplines themselves. It should be remembered that many of the curricular
innovations of the 1950s the new math, audio-lingual foreign languages, and the
plethora of science programs came from the subject matter specialists. From the
three aforementioned sources, curriculum planners derived a multiplicity of
general or broad objectives which lack precision and which one would prefer to
call instructional goals. These goals may be pertinent to specific disciplines or
may cut across disciplines.
Tyler’s model emphasized the use of educational and social philosophy as
the first screen for the goals. He urged the teachers to outline their values and
illustrate this task by emphasizing four (4) democratic goals: (a) the recognition
of the importance of every individual human being regardless of his race,
national, social or economic status, (b) opportunity for wide participation in all
phases of activities in the social groups in the society, (c) encouragement of
variability rather than demanding a single type of personality, and (d) faith in
intelligence as a method of dealing with important problems rather than
depending upon the authority of an autocratic or aristocratic group.
The application of the psychological screen is the next step in the Tyler
model. To apply this, teachers must clarify the principles of learning that they
believe to be sound. “A psychology of learning,” Tyler said, “not only includes
specific and definite findings but it also involves a unified formulation of a
theory of learning which helps to outline the nature of the learning process, how
it takes place, under what conditions, what sort of mechanisms operate and the
like.” Effective application of this screen presupposes adequate training in
educational psychology and in human growth and development by those charged
with the task of curriculum development.
After the curriculum planner has applied this second screen, his/her list of
general objectives will be reduced, leaving those that are most significant and
feasible. Care is then taken to state the objectives in behavioral terms, which
turns them into instructional and classroom objectives.
After the selection of educational objectives, the Tyler’s model goes
beyond this process to describe three more steps in curriculum planning:
selection, organization, and evaluation of learning experiences. He defined
learning experiences as “the interaction between the learner and the external
conditions in the environment to which he can react.
Tyler posited four basic questions for the school, namely:
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 organized?
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained or not?
By addressing the assessment of curriculum development systematically,
Tyler introduced the concept of a structural cycle whereby evaluation can lead to
a reconsideration of purpose. Such a cycle reduces the somewhat cumbersome
process of planning and makes it possible to treat curriculum-making in a
systematic manner.
The three fundamental elements include: (a) purpose which indicates the
goals and directions the school should take, (b) means which suggest the learning
experiences and resources that are to be selected, organized, and implemented
in pursuit of the purpose, and (c) assessment of outcomes, which measures the
degree to which purposes have been met.
The following model (Figure 1) shows the systematic view of the
curriculum in graphic form:
PURPOSE
IDEAL
GRAUATE
MEANS
ASSESSMENT
Figure 1. System view of curriculum
The three subsystems – Purpose, Means, and Assessment - are enclosed
in a circle suggesting that they constitute the totality of curriculum. The circle is
also indicative of the continuous process of curriculum development. Curriculum
is far from being static. We can never speak of a “finished curriculum.”
Curriculum is always “tentative” and is meant to undergo a process of
development to bring it to ever higher levels of effectiveness. The concurrent
process of planning and implementing, evaluating and revising the curriculum
goes on in a never-ending cycle always taking into consideration the constantly
shifting needs of the learners, the emerging thrusts of the school and its
sponsors, the changing expectations of the larger society, and the exigencies of
the times.
The two-way arrows indicate the dynamic interaction and relationships
that should exist among the subsystems if the system is to function well. The
arrowheads in the outer circle going counter-clockwise indicate the normal
sequence in the process of curriculum planning and development. Logically, the
first step should be the determination of purpose and objectives. However, in
curriculum development it is possible that one can start with any step. One might
even begin with the assessment or evaluation phase. Using the result of this
evaluation or assessment, we can examine and make adjustments in the purpose
and the means of attaining this purpose.
The all-important process of curriculum development is the formation of
the “Ideal Graduate.”
3. The Stufflebeam CIPP Evaluation Model
According to Stufflebeam, evaluation is undertaken for the purpose of
acquiring fundamental knowledge about the [program, making decisions or
judgments, getting data or information as the basis of the program planning
intervention. Furthermore, evaluation helps one understand the factors which
make which make for success or failure with a view of finding out how the
program can be improved (Posner, 1995).
The Phi Delta Kappa National Study Committee on Evaluation, chaired by
Daniel L. Stufflebeam, produced and disseminated a widely cited model of
evaluation known as CIPP (Context, Input, Process, Product) model.
Comprehensive in nature, the model reveals types of evaluation, of
decision setting of decisions, and of change. In shaping their model, Stufflebeam
and his associates defined evaluation in the following way: “Evaluation is the
process of delineating, obtaining, and providing useful information for judging
decision alternative”. Stufflebeam clarified what was meant by each of the parts
of the definition as follows:
1. Process. A particular, continuing and cyclical activity subsuming many
methods and in using a number of steps or operations.
2. Delineating. Focusing information requirement to be served by evaluation
through such steps as specifying, and explicating.
3. Obtaining. Making available through such processes as collecting,
organizing, and analyzing, and through such formal means as statistics and
measurement.
4. Providing. Fitting together into systems or subsystems that best serve the
needs or purposes of the evaluation.
5. Useful. Appropriate to predetermined criteria evolved through the
interaction of the evaluator and client.
6. Information. Descriptive or interpretive data about entities (tangible or
intangible) and their relationships.
7. Judging. Assigning weights in accordance with a specified value
framework, criteria derived there from, and information which relates
criteria to each entity being judged.
8. Decision Alternatives. A set of optional responses to a specified decision
question.
The evaluation process, said Stufflebeam, includes the three main steps of
delineating, obtaining, and providing. These steps provide the basis for a
methodology of evaluation. In the flow chart form the model which consists of
rectangles (with small loops attached), hexagons, ovals, a circle, a fancy E, solid
and broken lines with arrows and three types of shading. Crosshatched, the
hexagons show types of decisions, hatched, the ovals, the circle, and the big E
depict activities performance; and mottled, the rectangle stands four types of
evaluation (Figure 4).
Four types of evaluation. The Phi Delta Kappa National Committee pointed
to four types of evaluation: Context, Input, Process, and Product, hence the name
of the model, CIPP.
Context evaluation is the most basic kind of evaluation. Its purpose is to
provide a rationale for determination of objectives. At this point in the model,
curriculum planner-evaluators define the environment of the curriculum, and
determine unmet needs and reasons why needs are not being met. Goals and
objectives are specified on the basis of context evaluation. Input evaluation is
that evaluation of the purpose of which is “to provide information for determining
how to utilize resources to achieve project objectives”. The resources of the
school and various designs for carrying out the curriculum are considered. At
this stage, the planner-evaluators decide on procedures to be used. Process
evaluation is the provision of periodic feedback while the curriculum is being
implemented. It has three main objectives – the first is to detect or predict
defects in the procedural design or its implementation stages. The second is to
provide information for programmed decisions, and the third is to maintain a
record of the procedure as it occurs. Product evaluation the final type, has as its
purpose “to measure and interpret attainments not only at the end of a project
cycle, but often as necessary during the project term”. The general method of
project evaluation includes devising operational definitions of objectives,
measuring criteria associated with the objective of the activity, comparing these
measurements with predetermined absolute or relative standards, and making
rational interpretations of the outcomes using the recorded context, input and
process information.
Four types of decision. The hexagons represent four types of decision:
Planning, Structuring, Implementing, and Recycling. Note that planning decisions
follow context evaluation; structuring decision follow input evaluation;
implementing decisions follow process evaluation; and recycling decision follow
product evaluation.
Three types of changes. In these setting, three types of changes may
results: neomobilistic, incremental, and homeostatic. Neomobilistic change occurs
in a setting in which a large change is sought on the basis of low information.
These changes are innovative solutions based on little evidence. Incremental
changes are a series of small changes based on low information is so rare that it
is not shown in the CIPP model. Homeostatic change goes back to structuring
decisions.
The model plots the sequence of evaluation and making from context
evaluation to recycling decisions. The committee has touched up the model with
small loops that lock like bulbs on the evaluation blocks to indicate that the
general process of delineating, obtaining, and providing information is cyclical
and applies to each type of evaluation. The ovals, the circle, and the E in the
model represent types of activities, types of change, and adjustment as a result
of the evaluations made and decision taken. The CIPP model presents a
comprehensive view of evaluation process. Said the Phi Delta Kappa Committee:
“To maximize the effectiveness and efficiency of evaluation, evaluation itself
should be evaluated…the criteria for this include internal validity,
expervasiveness, timeliness, and efficiency”.
5. The Taba Model
Taba took what is known as a grass-roots approach to curriculum
development. She believed that the curriculum should be designed by the
teachers rather than handed down by higher authority. Further, she felt 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. Taba, therefore, advocated an inductive approach to
curriculum development, starting with specifics and building up to a general
design as opposed to the more traditional deductive approach of starting with the
general design and working down to the specifics.
To improve and refine the Tyler model, Hilda Taba listed a five-step
sequence for accomplishing curriculum change, as follows:
1. Production by teachers of pilot teaching-learning units representative of
the grade level or subject area. Taba saw this step as linking theory and
practice. She proposed the following eight-step sequence for curriculum
developers who are producing pilot units:
(a) Diagnosis of needs. The curriculum developer begins by
determining the needs of the students for whom the curriculum is
being planned. Taba directs the curriculum worker to diagnose the
“gaps, deficiencies, and variations in students’ backgrounds.”
(b) Formulation of objectives. After students’ needs have been
diagnosed, the curriculum planner specifies objectives to be
accomplished. Interestingly, Taba uses the terms “goals” and
“objectives”.
(c) Selection of content. The subject matter or topics to be studied
stem directly from the objectives Taba pointed out not only must
the objectives be considered in selecting content but also the
“validity and significance” of the content chosen.
(d) Organization of content. With the selection of content goes the task
of deciding at what levels and in what sequences the subject matter
will be placed. Maturity of learners, their readiness to confront the
subject matter, and their levels of academic achievement are
factors to be considered in the appropriate placement of content.
(e) Selection of learning experiences. The methodologies or strategies
by which the learners are involved with the content must be chosen
by the curriculum planners. Pupils internalize the content through
the learning activities selected by the planner-teacher.
(f) Organization of learning activities. The teacher decides how to
package the learning activities and in what combinations and
sequences they will be utilized. At this stage, the teacher adapts
the strategies to the particular students for whom he or she has
responsibility.
(g) Determination of what to evaluate and of the ways and means of
doing it. The planner must decide whether objectives have been
accomplished. The instructor selects from a variety of techniques
and appropriate means for assessing achievement of students and
for determining whether the objectives of the curriculum have been
met.
(h) Checking for balance and sequence. Taba counseled curriculum
workers to look for consistency among the various parts of the
teaching-learning units for proper flow of the learning experiences,
and for balance in the types of learning and forms of expression.
2. Testing experimental units. Since the goal of this process is to create a
curriculum encompassing one or more grade levels or subject areas and
since teachers have written their pilot units with their own classrooms in
mind, the units must now be tested “to establish their validity and teachability and to set their upper and lower limits of required abilities.
3. Revising and consolidating. The units are modified to conform to
variations in student needs and abilities, available resources, and different
styles of teaching so that the curriculum may suit all types of classrooms.
Taba would charge supervisors, the coordinators of curricula, and the
curriculum specialists with the task of “stating the principles and
theoretical considerations on which the structure of the units and the
selection of content and learning activities are based and suggesting the
limits within which modifications in the classroom can take place.” Taba
recommended that such considerations and suggestions might be
assembled in a handbook explaining the use of the units.
4. Developing a framework. After a number of units have been constructed,
the curriculum planners must examine them as to adequacy of scope and
appropriateness of sequence. The curriculum specialist would assume the
responsibility of drafting a rationale for the curriculum which has been
developed through this process.
5. Installing and disseminating new units. So that the teachers may
effectively put the teaching-learning units into operation in their
classrooms, Taba called on administrators to arrange appropriate inservice training.
Taba’s inductive model may not appeal to curriculum developers who prefer
to consider the more global aspects of the curriculum before proceeding to
specifics. Some planners might wish to see a more comprehensive model that
includes steps both in diagnosing the needs of society and culture and in deriving
needs from subject matter, philosophy, and learning theory. Taba elaborates on
these points in her final text.
6. Palma’s Linear Model of Curriculum Development
Using Tyler’s Rationale and Taba’s paradigm, Palma (1992) formulated the
following linear model including four subsystems (Figure 2).
Curriculum
Component
Instruction
Components
Subsyste
m
1
Subsyste
m
2
Subsyste
m
3
Subsyste
m
4
Learning
Objectives
Learning
Content
Learning
Evaluation
Of Learning
Outcomes
Experience
s
Feedback loop
Figure 2. A Linear Model of Curriculum
The curriculum model above suggests end-means integration. This model
clearly shows that curriculum and instruction are not separate independent
components but contiguous parts of a continuum or system. They are two-sides
of the same coin, you cannot have one without the other.
The curriculum component represents the thought plan aspect of
curriculum development which includes the selection and organization phases
while the instruction component is the means-action part consisting of the
implementation and evaluation phases.
Subsystem I indicates the direction and intention of the educational effort.
This includes the School Vision or the set of unifying beliefs and values
according to which the school personnel behave and perform their roles
individually and collectively. This is eventually translated into the Mission
Statement and further delineated in the school-wide and level goals and finally
translated into learning objectives contained in the units of instruction and
individual lessons.
Subsystem 2 is the learning content. The learning goals are fleshed out in
a continuum or scope and sequence of learning content in terms of knowledge
and understanding, skills and competencies, attitudes and values which become
the basis of subject matter for instruction and mastery. As one student puts it
matter-of-factly, this is the “stuff that kids must learn in school.” The school
expects every student to master these basic requirements of school learning
content which define the standards against which every prospective graduate will
be measured.
Subsystem 3 is made up of learning experiences, activities and resources
which constitute the where-withal for attaining the learning objectives. Working
on the principle that “he who wants the end, wants the means,” the school
employs the most relevant and effective strategies and resources that will
ensure mastery of learning content. All these are indicated in a plan of
instruction, both on the unit and the lesson level, to be carried out in the
classroom.
Subsystem 4 has to do with measurement and evaluation of learning
outcomes. The evaluation reveals whether the objectives are being attained or
not and at what level. And more importantly, if objectives are not being met
according to acceptable levels or standards, why these are not being met and
what should be done about it. This is indicated by the feedback loop.
Curriculum Development for Higher Education in the Philippine Setting
The Rogelio V. Cuyno observed that life is by itself a curriculum. The
small day-to-day experiences add up to a total experience which make us what
we are. We learn from them. We become somebody because of these
experiences. A curriculum is like life. The only difference is that an educational
is purposive, designed by specialist and educators.
The day-to-day events and activities in our lives are largely shaped by
random forces which are beyond our control. Learning comes out of the
necessity to survive and to adapt to the demands and contingencies of the
external environment.
Such is not the case in a university environment. The experiences that
students are made up to undergo are not random but carefully structured and
planned towards meeting a goal, guided by theories and by tested principles.
A faculty curriculum design will reveal itself in performance of graduates
in the job market or world of work and in adult social life. Designing a curriculum
for higher education of the tertiary level in the educational hierarchy is hereby
presented. This unit is intended for university teachers, administrators and those
in the non-formal system of education who is or will be reviewing and revising a
specific course within a college curriculum or preparing a new curriculum.
The UP Mindanao Campus Experience
The aim of curriculum developers is to produce graduates who will behave
as the curriculum aimed them for, who will be relevant to the world of work, who
will be efficient and who will have flexibility and plasticity to withstand a shifting
job market and environment realities.
Specifically, this unit aims to make the participants:
1. Identify and discuss concepts in curriculum planning;
2. Cite and explain elements in a curriculum;
3. Formulate educational objectives following norms and practices in
education;
4. Identify and discuss the different factors to consider in curriculum
planning; and;
5. Outline and discuss the procedures in curriculum development.
Content
A. Concepts
1. Definition of curriculum planning
A curriculum is a series of planned experiences that a learner is made to
undergo in a given period to achieve a given goal. It involves direct teaching
where the teacher gives structured technical inputs on a face to face basis or
through assigned tasks. There are also educational experiences which are meant
not to impart a professional stock of knowledge and skills of a craft but to mold
the character, internalize universal moral values, hone social and organizational
skills, or appreciate the finer things in life. This is often called extra-curriculum
activities or those activities outside the formal courses. Even this is programmed
and deliberate rather than accidental or a product of afterthought.
Planning the curriculum involves determining the aim of education;
identifying the students to whom the system will be geared; deciding what to
teach and how these are sequenced; providing organizational and logistical
support so that the teaching process can be managed efficiently; and, insuring
that the curricular and extra-curricular component are interrelated.
2. Tripodal source of influence
The structured of a curriculum is formed in response to three sources of
influences: the learner’s systems; the teacher and knowledge system; and
society or the market for the products of the curriculum (Figure 3). For the
learner system, we need to know the entry level of the learners in terms of their
preparation in the prior educational level. A curriculum may be too difficult
resulting in failures if the curriculum of the previous lower school system where
students came from is deficient. On the other hand, the higher education
curriculum might be boring because the courses are too easy and familiar to
students who have covered the subjects sufficiently in the secondary level.
Learner System
TeacherKnowledge
System
The Market
and Society
Figure 1. Tripodal Influence in Curricular Design
The teacher-knowledge system refers to the stock of knowledge, tools
and skills in the discipline that an incoming professional is expected to posses.
Due to advances in research and practice of the profession and the changes in
educational objective, the present curriculum would be more updated than the
previous one.
Finally, due to changing technology being used at the world of work and
the new demands of employers, the market require that the curriculum be
realigned to these new realities. For example, nowadays, students need to be
computer literate because employers are requiring the skills. New medical
curricula for community practice have now to be more of a general practitioner
type than before. Those studying agriculture today have learn about
environmental sustainability, farming systems, food systems, agribusiness and
political economy, because society expects them to be enlightened on these
issues.
Learning Activity
With a colleague, discuss the issue of “how far should the
curriculum designer accommodate the demands of the market”.
3. Economy and Self-Sufficiency
The curriculum must be designed to enable the learner to assimilate the
subject sufficiently and as economically as possible. Scheffler (1958) wrote about
three types of economy:



teaching effort and resources
learners effort and resources; and
economy of subject matter
The last type needs further explanation. Economy of subject matter
refers to maximum generalizability or transfer value. To be economical in this
sense is to learn subjects to facilitate other learning. For example, math and
physics should facilitate learning chemistry and genetics. Not only that, content
should “enable the learner to take responsible personal and moral decisions”.
Learning Activity
Figure out another example of “economy of subject
matter” as explained above.
4. Integration of Subjects
Whitehead (Frankena, 1965) enunciated two commandments in curriculum
planning “Do not teach too many subjects” and “What you teach, teach
thoroughly”.
Teaching many subjects which are disconnected is fatal to further
learning. It could lead to passive reception of ideas and confuse the learners.
Thorough teaching could lead students to discern relationships and
application and the connection of the present to the past and the future. The
thorough learning of the scientific method, for example, could lead to discovery
of an inner logic which applies to problem-solving and decision making in the
field of management.
Learning Activity
Do you agree or disagree with the following statement?
“It’s better to load students with more subjects otherwise too
much free time will make them more lax in their studies.
5. Principle of Option
Most young people go to college without really knowing what they would
want to become later in life. Hence, besides the General Education subjects
outside the major field. Such subject may comprise what is known as the minor
or cognate or electives and which we shall term as option subjects.
The other function of option subjects is that the students can pursue fields
which are personally interesting and fulfilling and in the process develop certain
natural talents and inclinations.
The implication of all these in curriculum development is that it is better
to emphasize teaching of tools, collecting, organizing and processing information
rather than memorizing of facts and defining things.
6. Aim of Education
A curriculum is a means to achieve an educational goal. In the
normative theory of education, the content, activities and process of instruction
must serve the end goal. This will lead to us to the study of philosophy of
education.
To Dewey (Frankena, 1995), the aim of education is to promote growth.
According to him, growth is dependent on increased control by the self. It refers
to “having an end” instead of “being the end”. Possession of intellectual ability and
the knowledge of how to learn empower an individual to pursue personal growth.
Learning here is viewed as a lifelong process. Dewey defines education as a
continuous “reconstruction or reorganization of experience which adds to the deepening of
meaning of experience, and which increases ability to direct the course of subsequent
experience”.
Whitehead (Frankena, 1965) viewed the aim of education as “producing
men and women who posses both culture (including philosophy and art) and
expert knowledge in some special direction”. Whitehead believed that the learner
should be helped and made to experience the joy of discovery for that is what
life is all about. Whitehead was an exponent of problem focused learning. He
believed that the mind is an instrument that need to be sharpened and that it is
never passive but active in perpetuity, receptive and responsive to stimuli. The
mind can not be told “learn this now, you will need it later”. The implication in
curriculum design is that theory and practice and the mental and physical
components should be integrated.
Because education is “life in all its manifestations”, Whitehead advocate
wholeness in education which assumes that behind all living things is
interconnections.
Another educational philosopher worth noting for his thoughts on the goal
of education is Maratain (Frankena, 1965). He said that the aim of education is to
guide the learner to shape himself as “a human person-armed with knowledge,
strength of judgment, and moral virtues-while at the same time conveying to him
the spiritual heritage of the nation and civilization”.
Learning Activity
Figure out an answer to this question: For an
undergraduate education, which is better, a curriculum that
produces specialists or one that turns out generalist? Why?
B. Elements of a Curriculum
A curriculum has a structure which is made up of elements. For the
structure to take shape the elements must have harmony and internal
consistency. Otherwise, it will appear disjointed and discordant just like when
musical notes do not blend.
The elements of the curricular structure are:





Objectives;
Content;
Method of procedure;
Requirement; and
Extra curricular activities.
1. Objective
In contrast to educational aim or goal, the objective element of the
curriculum is more operational and observable. The objective can be found in the
analysis of the courses and in the various teaching units. At the end of the
teaching procedure, the teacher or any external evaluator can refer back to the
objective to determine if the procedure was effective. Objective is the learning
destination toward which the teacher tries to bring the learner to:
Educators use ABCD as guide on how to formulate a learning objective
stated from the side of the learner:
A = Stands for audience or the students. There is a need to direct or target the
objective towards a known participant, e.g., “For all the first year students to . . . . .
. .” B = Stands for Behavior or an overt/visible activity the students should be
doing if learning indeed has taken place. If stated in an overt behavioral terms, it
is easy to measure if change had taken place. E.g., “For first year students to
enter a statement in the computer . . . . . “
C = For condition or the assumption and parameters that have to be provided by
the teacher so that the students will feel the experience. E.g., given a working PC,
all first year students should be able to enter a statement in it.
D = For degree of visible achievement. This is commonly referred to as
quantifiable indicator of learning. E.g., Given a working PC, all first year students
must be able to enter a statement in the computer allowing 5% error.
2. Content
Content in a curriculum is the body of knowledge, tools, skills,
(psychomotor, manual and mental) and attitude that the teacher intends to pass
on to the students or wants the students to develop. Put concisely, content is
what is intended to be learned. A good curriculum is one which allows students
to explore and learned content beyond what is prescribed. As discussed earlier
in the section on philosophy of education, a course not only prepares a student
for a profession or job but to become complete human being and citizen of the
country. The choice of content should follow the aim of the curriculum.
Universities perform research to expand the knowledge-base of the
profession or widen the general state of the art, science and technology that will
catalyze and become the cutting edge of the economy. Such outputs of research
should also be channeled to and enrich content thus making the curriculum more
dynamic and up-to-date.
3. Method and Activities
Method is how the content element should be taught or how the
experience should structure so that the student will acquire and discover the
content. It is the procedure of instruction that can take place not only in school
but also outside-in the industry, society, community and at home.
Many educational philosophers, among them, Dewey and Whitehead,
believed that application of theory and principle should not be delayed to a much
later time but should be experienced here and now. They also believed that
activities must be relevant to the real world. The teaching procedure in a
curriculum should attempt to bridge academe with industry and society, theory
with practice. Thus there should be a reinforcement, supplementation and
complementation among the different methods of instruction such as; lecture,
discussion, apprenticeship, library work, independent study, individual and group
work.
Learning Activity
Figure this out- Given the choice, would you rather hire
teacher who is long in content but poor in method or vice versalong in method but short in content?
4. Integrative Requirements
The final requirements of a curriculum are usually in the form of thesis,
special project, internship, practicum, rural service and volunteer work. The
purposes of such requirement are: to provide opportunity for integration, for
deepening of knowledge and application, exposure to the real world or to
facilitate one’s induction to a profession.
5. Extra Curricular Activities
In our previous discussion, we referred to extra-curricular activities as
outside the curricular structure. But in terms of the principle of total learning
experience in higher education which we favor here, here is important to
consider extracurricular work as part of curriculum. Being a variable, extra
curricular activities influence attainment of the educational aim as they tend to
reinforce and strengthen teaching of content and values.
C. Factors in Curriculum Design
Earlier we cited and discussed the elements of a curriculum. This time
there is a need to identify the factors that influence how the elements will be
structured.
1. Industry
Young people to challenge because they eventually want earn and
make a living-either working for an employer or for themselves. In any case,
after college, they’ll have to belong to an industry. Industry is the market for
college graduates. Naturally, if the graduates have to fit the requirement of
industry, they have to be prepared for it through the courses in the curriculum
that they enroll in. If the needs of industry are for more practical skills, the
curriculum will pay more attention to practical skills; the curriculum will pay
more attention to practical skills. It is a simple case of demand and supply.
Learning Activity
What is the best way to be in tune with industry?
2. Economy
Industry and economy are closely linked. The economy has a direct way
of attracting certain skills and it creates expectations, hopes and aspirations. If
the economy is on the rise due to contribution of a certain sector, people would
move towards that sector. Economy provides ambience to a profession. Hence
the curriculum developers could not and should not ignore it. As an example,
there is a proliferation of computer schools, computer-related courses and the
field of information science because of the large contribution of this field of
information science of the large contribution of this field to the country’s
economy.
3. Competition
Competition has a way of extracting the best from the system. If
curriculum “A” is drawing students’ attention at the expense of curriculum “B”,
curriculum B has no choice but to shape up. Otherwise that curriculum will have
nothing but empty chairs and the school will go under. Schools go into self-
improvement or externally induced-improvement through curricular reviews.
Administrators than use the recommendation of the review group as leverage to
change or reform the curriculum.
4. Government Policy
In many countries, the Philippines included, some courses are required
to be part of the curriculum through legislation or force of law. Recently
the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) which oversees higher
education in the country received severe criticism from leaders in culture
a history including newspaper columnists. It was because of perceived
non-implementation or lack of heart to implement the teaching of “Rizal
and His Works” in the tertiary level of education.
5. Previous Level and Students Capability
The quality and the structure of the secondary level curriculum have an
impact on the tertiary level curriculum. If most of the in-coming freshman is
deficient in certain subjects like Mathematics or English or Science, the college
curriculum has to be adjusted to correct the deficiency. This can be done through
remedial courses or adding more subjects. Students with advanced proficiency in
Mathematics, science or English, on the other hand, are accelerated to higher
courses.
6. Culture
Education in a generic sense refers to the total social process by which
the individual acquire beliefs, acceptable behavior, standards and values, and a
way of living in society. Only a small portion of how one is educated actually is
due to the school system. Schools being one of the teaching institutions in
society have an obligation to help preserve, promote and enhance the culture of
a particular society which constitutes the bedrock of national identity and the
moral foundation of the people.
As pointed out earlier, a curriculum must have a common universal
content that has to be taught as part of the socialization process
and a means for social control. This must embrace the most crucial
and significant ideas and major themes in the national
consciousness.
A curriculum exists within a culture. The two, curriculum and
culture, therefore are interwoven. As culture undergoes
transformation in time, so must the curriculum. In this way, a
curriculum exists in the service of the nation and of society.
D. Professional, General and Post-Graduate Education
Many years back, educators and philosophers debated over whether
college education should be more for professional development or for liberal
education. The two aims of education were thought of as being on opposite
poles. That is, if the curriculum is slanted to general education, there is less
professional training and vice versa. If there is a bias for professional education,
something is taken away from general education.
At the University of the Philippines this was resolved with the institution
of General Education courses. General Education (GE) makes the individual a
whole person, able to cope with multi-dimensional aspects of life-relationship
with the natural environment, social life, economic well-being, cultural roots and
identity, developments and advances in science and technology, relationships
with political-legal institutions and contributing to political maturity and
responsiveness.
Moreover, GE trains the person to be a life-long learner and equips the
person with analytical and explanatory tools as well as methods of observing,
organizing of observations and then making decision and judgments. In other
words, the student learns to identify and solve problems and scientific way.
In the University of the Philippines Mindanao, where the author is the
Dean, we review our curricula as somewhere in the middle of the continuum of
general and professional education. Our aims are to prepare a person to be a
professional with continuing proficiency in his/her craft, and able to induce
productivity and growth of the enterprise. At the same time, the person should be
aware and must internalize social and political responsibility, conservation and
sustainability of natural endowment and feel his cultural heritage. He must not
neglected to appreciate the finer things in life-the “good and the beautiful” and
must contribute to make his surroundings a decent place to live in.
In the teaching of the craft or the tools, knowledge and skills in the
profession, we believe that the teacher must not only teach content but must
inculcate a liberal attitude to his craft. That is, being open minded, creative, a
problem-solver and change agent.
E. Procedures in Curriculum Development
As pointed out earlier, curriculum, culture, science and technology,
industry and the economy and legal-political reality are interwoven. The
curriculum, therefore, has to be dynamic. There must be a formal mechanism for
internal and external reviews.
Internally, the university/college must be sensitive to any discontinuity in
society. Globally it must be sensitive to new opportunities in the environment. All
these changes have to be watched, anticipated and even enhanced. A senior
official of the university must be made responsible for this function. Logically,
this task will fall on the Office of Academic Affairs or of Planning and
Development Office. A system wide recommendatory committee is usual
appointed to do a fact to environmental changes and opportunities.
External reviews need more time to prepare. In addition to
representatives from faculty, non-academic staff and students, representatives
from industry, government, NGO, and the professions as well as parents compose
this committee. The recommendation is usually validated in a forum with invited
reactors.
Curriculum Planning
What is curriculum planning? Objectives #4, under section 4, “declaration
of objectives” of the Education Act of 1982 that the educational system aims to
respond effectively to changing need and conditions of the nation through a
system of education planning and evolution”. Bernard M. Reyes (1974) explains
the nature and scope of educational planning as follows:
Education planning is an instrument for providing the needed coordination
and direction of the different components of an education system and ensures
that widely accepted long-term goals, such as universal primary education, are
approached more objectively. It provides realistic appraisal of the country’s
resources (material human and institutional) which is and important factor in the
successful implementation of the plan. Though education planning, a country
indicates its willingness to effect an orderly change or reforming its education
system by bringing into focus the shortcoming or needs that hitherto had been
ignored or unknown and so that appropriate action can be affected coupled with
the proper allocation of energies and resource to their sector.
Educational planning takes into account the past and present realities of
the country’s education and training programs. It is commonly preceded by
survey of the educational situation and needs. Well-organized statistics services
are necessary to provide essential and reliable data.
To ensure the full acceptance and implementation of the plan, person who
is to implant the plan, such as school administrators, supervisors, teachers, other
personnel, should participate in the formulation of the plan (Reyes, 1974).
Reyes attributes to Boquiren (1965) certain accepted principles on which
educational planning is based, among which are first, that planning is a high-
level staff function professional guidance of the authorities in the determination
of educational goals and the evolving of the educational goals and evolving of
educational policies and their execution; (2) that education planning involves all
levels of education of both public and private sector and the related economic
and financial agencies of the nation; (3) education planning must be a
comprehensive and continuous process and must be periodically evaluated
(Reyes, see Manuel, Guerrero, and Sutaria, 1974).
According to Reyes, the essential elements of educational planning are:
1. Quantitative planning. This covers all questions involved in the
expansion of educational facilities based on pedagogical, demographic,
geographical, economic, and social factors. Quantitative planning
makes references to school population (enrollment, drop out, and
promotion) the recruitment of teachers and supervisors, and the
provision of classrooms and equipment (furniture, laboratories, etc.).
2. Qualitative planning. This covers aims, content, and methods of
education, curricular planning (the levels and branches), teacher
training, educational guidance, research, and textbooks and other
teaching aids.
3. Administrative planning. This is concerned with the needs and assets,
costs, sources or finance or distribution or expenditures (recurrent
expenditures and capital investment), grants, and loans.
In education planning, two approaches are: involved the macro
approach and the minor approach. The macro approach refers to
the over-all planning which is primarily concerned with the
aggregates in the education system; e.g., new enrollment at the
various level, numbers of schools to be constructed, etc. the
macro approach, on the other hand, lays emphasis on the
individual component which go to make up the educational
system.
The essential steps in the planning process are: 1) statement of
objectives; 2) diagnosis of the present situation; 3) formulation of the plan; 4)
implementation; and 5) evaluation.
Varied terms used in the literature
There are varied terms used in the literature in connection with the
curriculum planning process. Among such terms are curriculum developing,
curriculum improvement, curriculum study, curriculum making, and of course
curriculum planning.
As far as the term curriculum development is concerned many authors
have used, and continue to use, this term. Bernardino and Fresnoza (1963), for
example, state that curriculum development involves three kinds of activities: 1)
planning the experiences to be utilized, 2) reorganizing them in program, and 3)
evaluating the curriculum thus developed. In doing all of these, they explain
further, attention is given to the ultimate purposes of education, to the more
immediate objectives, to the various aspects of child and to the other factors
associated with teaching (Bernardino and Fresnoza, 1963).
To Agoncillo (1977), curriculum development should be regarded as “a
practical inquiry” the outcome of which is to specify the means for carrying out
and educational intent or purpose. Such an inquiry should focus attention on
purposes, goals, and objectives on a continuum from levels of generality to
specify: on materials, media and resources to be employed on plans of action at
various levels and various educational situations; and finally, on the evaluative
measures for various specific purposes (Agoncillo, 1977).
By the very nature of the curriculum, its development is a
decision-making process for many people. It affects a number
of people, the pupil or learner, who is the focal point of the
entire endeavor, the teacher, who is the primary implementer,
the parents who after all will foot the educational bill; the
administrator/supervisor, who is responsible for the leadership;
and society in general, which will be the ultimate recipient of
the educational output (Socrates, 1977).
According to Socrates, there are many principles underlying curriculum
development, but one basic principle stands out namely that the curriculum
should be planned. In his own words: “there is simply no substitute to planningsystematic planning” (p. 3). Consequently, Socrates adds, if systematic planning
undertaken, there are other principles which answer four basic questions: 1) who
plans the curriculum? (principle of cooperation); 2) When is the curriculum
planned? (principle of continuity); 3) What are planned? (principle of
comprehensiveness); and 4) How is the curriculum planned? (the principle of
systematic approach).
In addition Socrates states that curriculum development has certain stages
or phases (a) identifying objectives; (b) structuring learning experience; (c)
deciding on content; (d) organization; and (e) evaluation.
Stratemeyer et al. (1957) state that there are at least three facets to
curriculum improvement: first, continuous appraisal of the existing program in
terms of emerging needs; second, changes where evaluation indicates they are
required; and third, the operation of and effective ongoing educational program
while making changes. Conceived in this manner, curriculum improvement is a
ceaseless process, flourishing in a dynamic, flexible educational environment in
which security and stability exist without complacency or crystallization. To
these writers, curriculum improvement is a process which suggests a continuous
study of programs.
Aquino presents the following as part of the considerations in curriculum
planning and organization:
INPUT
Available monies
(budget)
PROCESS
OUTPUT
Teacher style &
technique
Student:
Achievement
Characteristics of
Students (Prior
learning experience)
Administration Style
& technique
Attitudes
Community NeedPrograms
Program operation
Behavior
Facilities
Besides, in developing a curriculum consideration must be given to the
factors that should determine the nature of the education to be provided to the
children and youth in the schools. Next the educator faces the responsibility of
actually developing a curriculum. What kind of experience shall be planned for
pupils? How these units for experiences shall is organized? What kind of
curriculum should the school provide so that pupils may attain the objectives of
education it has defined?
These decisions become the curriculum plan. Such plan defines the nature
of the educational experiences to be provided pupils, the methods of selecting
and organizing the elements of the curriculum into coherence and unified
program of education, and the place in the education of the child and the
sequential arrangement in which the elements of the curriculum are to be
developed. A plan for the curriculum is essential efficiently to the attainment of
the outcomes sought for the pupils.
The curriculum of the school is encompassed within the following aspects
of educational program:
1. The class programs of the school, which utilize bodies of contend
selected and organized on some predetermined structure.
2. Extra classroom activities.
3. Services provide by the school, such as guidance, health, library, food,
and transportation services, and special services fro exceptional
children.
4. The social life of the school and the interpersonal relationships among
pupils and teachers.
5. Organizational policies and procedures for providing the instructional
program.
Organization of learning content
Curriculum design refers to how the curriculum content is organized and
laid for purposes of instruction; this is intended to accomplish orderly and
meaningful coverage of content so as to bring about the cumulative effect of
education in terms of residual or habitual leaning. This also ensures economy
through optimum use of time and effort, efficiency through and orderly and
systematic progression of learning and affectivity in obtaining the desired
learning outcomes. In organizing curriculum content we are usually guided by the
following complementary basic principles:
1. Balance. This refers to the equitable and fair distribution of content
among the different level of instruction to ensure that no level is
unduly overburdened or under burdened.
2. Articulation. This refers to provisions for establishing the vertical from
level to level. This way we can avoid the glaring “gaps” and wasteful
“overlaps” in subject matter and ensure and unbroken chain of
learning. Proper articulation promotes team work among the
instructional staff and will prevent the perennial “blaming syndrome”
so prevalent in schools where this principle is not observed.
3. Sequence. This term is used to describe the sequential and graded
arrangement of subject matter. It refers to a deepening and broadening
of content as it is taking up on the higher levels. The term Spiraling
has been used to denote this idea of sequence. For instance, a senior
high school class will take up paragraph writing but at a more
sophisticated and advanced level than a first year class.
4. Integration. This denotes the horizontal link or content in related
subjects’ areas. There is integration where an individual is able to
connect what he is learning in a subject area to a related content in
another subject area. Thus concepts and skill learned in Math (e.g.
geometric in science). The quality of schooling improves as learners
are able to integrate their learning instead of acquiring isolated
fragments of information. Ruing isolated fragments of information.
Integration helps a person to get a unified view of reality and to use it
to improve his total behavior pattern and outlook in life.
5. Continuity. This refers to a constant and consistent repetition, review
and reinforcement of major learning elements to bring about mastery
or “executive control” of subject matter. Learning is not a one-shot
activity and requires continuing application for the new knowledge,
skill or attitude or value to endure habitual use in daily living.
Conclusion: Thus, it is useful for leaders to consider the need of curriculum
development incorporated with,
implementing as pointed above.
planning,
articulating
and
developing,
Questions to Answer
1. Having taken a course in curriculum- instruction, you are now task to
enrich the existing curriculum/program of the school/agency where
you are employed, how do you go about it? Enumerate the steps and
discuss on how you are going to work on this task.
2. Due to changes taking place in the society in what considerations
would you provide in the curriculum to meet the needs of the day and
why?
3. Explain why in organizing the curriculum content, we should be guided
with the basic principles in organizing curriculum content and if not
considered what is likely going to happen?