Curriculum Development
Process
An effective educational program
can only be successful if it is prepared appropriately.
Curriculum is the backbone of
educational program which needs proper designing.
The curriculum process consists
mostly of five elements or phases.
1 Situational analyses.
2 Formulation of objectives.
3 Selection of content/Scope and
sequence.
4 Methods/ Strategies/Actives.
5 Evaluation.
Situational analyses
In order to develop a procedure
of Curriculum Organization, one must keep in mind the realities of the
situation. The curriculum is the mirror of the traditions, environment and
ideas of the concern society. The main purpose of education system to prepare a
curriculum to the actual needs of the society. The main functions of curriculum
is to preserve and transmit the cultural heritage to next generation. Language, social needs of the society,
political and religious situation must be considered while developing
curriculum.
The identification of the areas
mentioned here help the planner in curriculum development and the selection of
objectives, learning material (learning) and appropriate evaluation procedure.
Important aspects of existing
situation are as follows:
Ø Geographical
condition of the country.
Ø National
and international trends.
Ø Cultural
and social needs.
Ø System
of examinations etc.
Ø Economical
conditions.
Ø Age,
level and interests of the learners.
Ø Pattern
of curriculum to be followed.
Ø Religious
condition
Ø Teacher
training programmes.
Determination and
formulation of learning outcomes-sources of learning outcome
Formulation of Objectives
Validation of Educational Objectives:
The work of the curriculum
planners to identify such Goals and objectives which fulfill the desires of the
society and according the need of national and international demands. In order
to reach these goals the curriculum planners clearly state the aims which are
related to various fields of studies or subject areas and even related to
classroom management and teaching.
Teachers and learner are the first
who have the responsibility to achieve the initial targets in class-room. The
achievement of these objectives ultimately leads the learner to-wards various
categories of life activities, such as:
Continued learning:
motivation toward Learning and create thinking skills in learner
Citizenship:
Prepare a good citizen who contribute in the economic, local, national, and
international level,
Vocational effectiveness:
To help the individual on the vocational aspect and made him an economic assets
of society
Home responsibilities:
Inculcate the sense of responsibility in the Learner to help each other,
respect people, and take care of elders and other related experiences, such as
food, social and individual activity.
Validation of Educational
Objectives
General principles for stating
valid objectives for curriculum.
1. Consistency with the ideology of a nation.
2. Consistency and non-contradiction of educational
objectives.
3. Behavioristic interpretation.
4. Consistency with social condition.
5. Democratic ideals/relationship.
- Fulfillment
of basic human needs.
(Reman.M,
2000)
Consistency with the ideology
of a Nation
Every nation has certain beliefs
and the philosophy of Pakistan is based upon Islam therefore the objectives of
our educational system must be regarding the teaching of Islam. The validity
and foundation of educational objectives in Pakistan depends upon Quran and
Sunnah.
Fulfillment of basic human needs
Man Need the fulfillment of basic
needs in life to maintain equilibrium. The objective must help in the
attainment of these needs. E.g. Among the basic needs that have been identified
are food, clothing, shelter etc...
Consistency and
non-contradiction of education objectives:
Educational objectives must not
be contradictory to each other. There should be consistency in the objectives
at all levels. The objectives must inculcate certain Islamic value and skill in
the individual to help him in the real life situation.
Behavioristic interpretation:
Objectives expressed in terms of
student behavior are called as behavioral objectives. To create valid, clear
and achievable objectives, the curriculum planners have to articulate these
objectives for the development and integration of the personalities, economic
efficiency, self realization, critical thinking, problem solving ability,
understanding of rights.
The objectives that are not put
in terms of human behavior are invalid.
Consistency with social
conditions:
The objectives of an educational programme are always related to social
and culture realities of a nation. In a develop society that is undergoing
little or no change, objectives usually are closely related to conditions of that time (updated) , And when a society ideas
and progress is slow in adopting new ways of doing things, because of the
repaid advancements in the field of science and technology and inability of a society to cope with time.
The fact is that Mass media of
communication has grown and Computers are replacing the manpower which is new
social realities of life. The old objectives formulated on the basis of old
realties now need a revisit and need modification according to the new social
and scientific conditions.
Curriculum planners sometimes avoid
the new conditions and they feel no need to improve educational objectives with
changing time resulting put the development of a society in danger. Hence the
curriculum developers have to formulate such type of objectives which are valid
with respect to changing needs and the aspects of past culture which they feel
essential to preserve as heritage.
Democratic ideals
relationship:
Only the democratic ideology fulfills the basic needs of a society and
this is the only one that can be used in validating educational objectives in
Pakistan.
To apply the democratic values in a society the curriculum planners must
relate the objectives and keep in view democratic values and principles.
As the principles of democracy are very difficult so no summarized
statement of these can be used successfully in the justification of educational
objectives.
But if the objectives are directly related to democratic principles based
upon reasoning and critical thinking then they are also called valid.
Selection and organizing of Learning
experiences (Content)
Selection of course content for a
subject to teach. The subject should encompass all the possible experiences a
learner need at that level. All the material which was taught in past and now
should be the part of the subject. With the expansion in knowledge new topics
emerged with time, they must be incorporated into each subject. With the
expansion of knowledge the principle of complete coverage was replace with the
principle of representative content because the attainment of total coverage
became difficult.
The principles of subject
matter selection
1. The course content must be
significant in the same field of knowledge:
This is principle for program of
studies consisting of specialized courses, with each course being followed by a
more advanced course (from simple to complex).
2. The subject matter
selected must possess the principle of survival:
The subject matter should have
the ability to survive. Those subjects content survived for long which inspire
people and benefit mankind, to fulfill the need of the society in spite of
continues change in society and culture
3. The subject matter must have
the principle of interest:
Keep in view the principle of
interest to motivate the learners to learn more.
4. The content or subject matter
must be utilized:
(The Principle of Utility)
The Principle of Utility means
that the knowledge presented must be helpful in real life situation and the
society well benefit from the outcome of the subject content.
5. The course content should
contribute to the development of an Islamic society:
The content selected should
helpful in the development of character of Muslims. It should inculcate the
ideology and values of a true Muslim. It should inculcate the required skills
which is beneficial for an Islamic society. There should be no such content
which contradict Islamic values
Some common Considerations for
the curriculum organizers
•
Subject matter should consist of physical and
mental activities.
•
the subject Content should be helpful in the
development of creative abilities in individual
•
logical
sequence from simple to complex
•
the subject Content Help in the attaining of the
objectives of the relevant course
•
incorporate the best information from all
sources in Subject matter
Procedure of Content
Selection:
Different procedures for content
selection.
The judgmental procedure
The analytical procedure
The consensual procedure
The experimental procedure
The judgmental procedure:
This procedure is all about the
vision of the curriculum planner, the success or failure depends upon the
curriculum planner. The curriculum planner should have the vision of past,
present and future to see the potentialities of all three dimensions. It is
very hard that the judgment of curriculum planner will lead to the best
selection of subject matter, for that the curriculum planner must be objective
in the selection of content and have knowledge for the benefit of others.
The analytical procedure:
The analytical method is the most
commonly used method of content selection. It consists of various techniques to
collect information regarding subject matter selection:
- Conducting interviews
- Collecting information through questionnaires
- Gathering information through documentary analysis.
- Observing the performance of people.
The consensual procedures:
It is the opinion of the people
in society who reached to some level of expertise in a field; excellent in the
fields of business, industry, agriculture and Experts as teachers, physicians,
engineers, and artists etc. these are the people who represent the society.
The experimental procedure
In this method the content is
selected after applying different test;
1. Selection of content matter
against some standard criterion (say interest).
2. Hypothesis is formulated that
the selected content matter meets the criterion (interest)
3. Hypothesis is tested after
gathering information from students and teachers and tested with instrument.
Teaching
Methods/Strategies
Teaching Methods/Strategies
Teaching method play a very
important role in the process of curriculum development, this element of
curriculum development process help in the attainment of desired objectives. It
is the dynamic side of the curriculum because without proper teaching methods
one can’t think of achieving the targets goal of education planner, it’s largely
depends upon the methods adopted in the classroom for teaching learning process.
This process includes:
Teacher’s activities.
Student’s activities.
This is also the work of
curriculum planners to suggest proper teaching methods for the suggested
curriculum because during planning curriculum they have to keep the methodology
in mind, one can’t include such topics in curriculum which are difficult to
teach and for such curriculum, and the curriculum planner must have some proper
method in mind.
There are various methods of
teaching but the curriculum have to keep financial restraint in mind so for that
reason they have to suggest such methods which are applicable in classroom .
There are methods as lecture, lecture demonstration, problem solving, project,
programmed learning etc. For achieving
the aims and objectives of the curriculum the curriculum planner must suggest
and impose the innovative and active approaches of teaching and learning to
initiate the interest of students and teacher as well as the parents.
Bases for Selecting
Instructional Methods:
As discuss earlier there are multiple methods of teaching/ instruction,
teacher always face the problem of to adopt which method for different lessons.
Therefore it is the work of curriculum planner to suggest such methods in
advance so the teacher has no problem to search for it.
Guidelines for the selection
of teaching / instructional methods:
Achievement of objectives:
For the teacher to adopt a method
for teaching learning he must keep in mind the objective of the curriculum, how
to get that objective, instructional objectives is the first consideration in
planning for teaching. Such a general objective could be achieved through
multiple ways, but specific objectives like the student will be able to write
an easy on a given topic narrow the choices considerably.
Principles of learning
The teacher should have the
knowledge of individual differences, principles and theories of learning while
selecting a teaching method for instruction. It would help him in the
adaptation of proper method for teaching learning process in the classroom for
a larger number of students with different IQs.
Individual learning styles:
Researchers believes that the
most effective learning takes place when the teacher used interactive techniques in teaching learning process, the
method that suited to the individual student keeping in view the individual
differences of the students and impart knowledge to the learner according to
his mental ability. “Optimal for one person is not optimal for another”. Cont….
The Rand Corporation Study (1971)
supports these findings by stating that “teacher, student, instructional
method, and perhaps, other aspects of the educational process interact with
each other. Thus a teacher who works well (is effective) with one type of
student using one method, he might be ineffective when working with another
method. The effectiveness of a teacher, or method, or whatever varies from one
situation to another”.
Self-fulfilling processes and
educational stratification
The teachers know about the
potentialities of the students in classroom
and the fact that every child differ from other in the learning process
, keeping in view this, the teacher adopt such methods which help all the
students in their own way of learning .
B.F Skinner stated “we need to find practices which permit all teachers to
teach well and under which all students learn as efficiently as their talents
permit”
The teacher should try to develop
the potentialities of students which they already have and give them
opportunities to develop those potentialities to the utmost level.
Facilities, equipment and
resources
The teacher know what he has in
hand in the form of equipment, audio-visual aids, resources and facilities,
therefore he should plan Instructional planning In the light of available
resources. It is the ability of a teacher to use minimum resources, equipments
of school and achieve maximum outcome, using methods and activities that
involve student in a highly active role with the minimum resources.
Accountability
Accountability is also very
important factor in the curriculum development process, Teachers,
administrators and others who has the responsibility of the education held
responsible for the quality of education
The process of accountability
means that someone has to justify his work and responsibility to someone else,
so it is the circle of accountability where everybody is answerable to other. It
involves continued evaluation, review of the people in the process.
It demands results, costs of
producing these results. All the stockholders observe and judge the school,
the teachers, the administrators and the supervisors whether
the students gain certain skills
and knowledge for which curriculum are developed, and what methods
are they adopting for imparting knowledge
of different subjects to students.
Some professionals consider pupil
behaviors as the source of methods
According to Shepherd and Regan (1982; p 127)
“Methods are content free and not derived from organized subject matter.
It has been argued that methods
are derived from an analysis and application of learning theories. The actions,
procedures and manipulations of the teacher are not different during
instruction or reading or teaching mathematics. Method is like a vehicle, which
is empty but can carry a variety of subject matter. This vehicle is created and
constructed from generalizations, principles and assumptions”.
Some, professionals feel that every
teacher has its own unique method of teaching which represent a form of his
personality. Teachers used those methods which they found easy, as It
evident from the everyday practice of
teachers, even some teacher create their own methods in the classroom to teach,
keeping in view the behavior of the students and the situation of that time
Assessment:
Assessment is very important
process of the curriculum development. Assessment of student’s academic
achievement for the purpose of evaluation of the overall progress of education.
Evaluation gives curriculum planner the tools, techniques and processes for
defining, gathering and interpreting data relevant to the goals and objectives
of the curriculum.
Evaluation helps on all aspects
of curriculum planning, administrating and evaluation of the curriculum. it
tells, to what extent the curriculum is good and what are the weaknesses of the
curriculum and implementing the
curriculum, what need to be done to improve the curriculum development
process , the administrating process and the teaching methods of the teacher
and where system lack the resources .
