Curriculum Development Process
By Dr.Sultan Muhammad
Keywords: Situational analyses in Curriculum
Development Process; Formulation of objectives in Curriculum Development
Process; Selection of
content/Scope and sequence in Curriculum
Development Process; Methods/
Strategies/Actives in Curriculum
Development Process; Evolution
in Curriculum Development Process; The judgmental process; The analytical
procedure; The consensual
procedure;The experimental procedure
An effective programme can only be successful if it is organized
properly. Curriculum being a backbone of educational programme, needs proper
designing. Tyler points out that, “It is important as a part of comprehensive
theory of organization to indicate just what kinds of elements will serve
satisfactorily as organizing elements. And in a given curriculum, it is
important to identify the particular elements that shall be used (Herrick and
Tyler; 1950, P, 64).
The curriculum
process consists mostly of five elements or phases.
3.1 Situational analyses.
3.2 Formulation of objectives.
3.3 Selection of content/Scope and sequence.
3.4 Methods/ Strategies/Actives.
3.5 Evolution.
3.1
Situational Analysis:
In
order to follow any procedure of Curriculum Organization, the curriculum
planners must know the realities of the situation. The curriculum reflects the
traditions, environment and ideals of the people of concern society. The main
purpose of education system is to adjust the curriculum to actual needs of the
society. Moreover one of the functions of curriculum is to preserve and
transmit the cultural heritage. Our cultural heritage is, in large measure, the
tradition of our eastern civilization. Our language, our social needs, our
political and religious conditions must be considered while developing
curriculum. Some important aspects of existing situation are as follows:
1.
Geographical condition of the country.
2.
Religious condition.
3.
Cultural and social needs.
4.
Economical conditions.
5.
Pattern of curriculum to be followed.
6.
National and international trends.
7.
Age, level and interests of the learners.
8.
Teacher training programmers.
9.
System of examinations etc.
The
identification of the above mentioned aspects help the planner in the selection
of objectives, selection and organization of material (learning) and in
suggesting appropriate evaluation procedure.
3.2
Formulation of Objectives:
The
tasks of curriculum planners have to organize such a curriculum which helps in
the achievement of desired broad goals. These goals are primarily concerned
with the international or national demands. In order to reach these goals the
experts (curriculum planners) have to state the aims which are related to
various fields of studies or subject areas. Then the problem arises to move
from general aims to specific instructional objectives of the classroom. The
objectives are the initial targets to be achieved by the teacher and learner in
class-room. The achievement of these objectives ultimately leads the learner
to-wards various categories of life activate, such as:
§ Citizenship: Participation
in local, national, and world-wide civic, recreational, economic and religious
groups.
§ Home
responsibilities: helping each other, respecting the elders, rearing children
physical health, mental health and other related activities and experiences,
such as food, rest, social and individual recreation.
§ Vocational
effectiveness: Ability to contribute to the economic assets of society and to be
able to earn livelihood.
§ Continued
learning: Intellectual and other interests such as ability to read, think,
analyses, synthesize and interpret effectively.
It
is concluded that the curriculum must be the best possible selection and
arrangement of stimuli to experience, which will result in the maximum growth
toward that kind of person who will function effectively in the areas indicated
by a sound statement of the objectives of education.
a.
Validation of Educational Objectives:
The following general principles are
to be kept in view while stating valid objectives for curriculum.
§ Consistency
with the ideology of a nation.
§ Fulfillment of
basic human needs.
§ Consistency and
non-contradiction of educational objectives.
§ Behavioristic
interpretation.
§ Consistency
with social condition.
§ Democratic
ideals/relationship.
1.
Consistency with the ideology of a Nation:
Every
nation has got certain ideological system. The ideology of Pakistan is based
upon Islam. The educational objectives in our country at all levels must be
consistent to the teaching of Islam. The validity of educational objectives in
Pakistan largely depends upon their relationship with Quran and Sunnah.
2.
Fulfillment of basic human needs:
Man
seeks to maintain himself in a state of equilibrium. The absence of equilibrium
gives rise to an impulse for example an imbalance called hunger gives rise to
an impulse which becomes channeled in search of food to restore the balance.
The thing which is required to restore the equilibrium is termed as need.
Although all objectives are based ultimately upon some conception of human
needs, there are practical difficulties in using basic needs. Among the basic
needs that have be4en identified are food, clothing, shelter etc. The
objectives must help in fulfillment of these needs.
3.
Consistency and non-contradiction of education objectives:
Educational
objectives must be consistent and non-contradictory with one another. If one
objective is logically compatible with another, as teaching, the desirability
of obedience in logically compatible with teaching the students how to obey
their elders, this relationship is consistent one.
In
the same way if there is an objective in relation to inculcate certain Islamic
value and at the same time there is another objective which is to develop skill
in the system of “Interest” and to apply it in life situation, gives us an
example of contradictory objectives.
It
is therefore important that the curriculum workers set educational objectives
keeping in view their relationships.
4.
Behaviouristic interpretation:
Objectives
expressed in terms of student behavior are called as behavioral objectives. To
make the objectives valid, clear and achievable, the curriculum planners have
to express these objectives as the development of integrated personalities,
self realization, economic efficiency, problem solving ability, critical
thinking, understanding of rights and responsibilities and appreciations are
misunderstood until they are expressed in terms of concrete and meaningful
behavior. Objectives that are not put in terms of human behavior are invalid.
5.
Consistency with social conditions:
Since
the objectives of an educational programme are derived from the culture, they
will always be related in some degree to the social circumstances. In a society
that is undergoing little or no change, objectives usually are closely related
to conditions as they now are.
However,
when a society ideas and practices tend to lag behind new ways of doing things.
This is because of the fact that personal contacts are reduced due to
advancement of science and development of technology in communication. Mass media
of communication has grown. Computers are replacing the manpower. These are new
social realities. But the knowledge of the present state of affairs does not
necessarily mean that objectives formulated on the basic of these facts will be
socially adequate. Curriculum planners sometimes seek to avoid the danger they
see in present day society by appealing to ideals and virtues. They believe to
be eternal or to belong to a historical period superior to the current one.
Hence the curriculum developers have to formulate such type of objectives which
are valid with respect to changing needs and those aspects of past culture
which they feel essential to preserve as heritage.
6.
Democratic ideals relationship:
It
is a well known fact that the democratic system permits the fulfillment of all
the basic human needs more completely than any other ideology. Form the
practical point of view. Also, the important fact is that the democratic
ideology is the only one that can be used in validating educational objectives
in Pakistan.
Application
of the democratic value system requires that the curriculum planners must
relate the objectives with the democratic values and principles. As the
principles of democracy are very complex so no condensed statements of these
can be used effectively in the validation of educational objectives. If the objectives
are based upon critical thinking and effective reasoning, they can have a
direct relation with the democratic principal and can also be termed as valid.
3.3
Selection of Content/Scope and Sequence:
Selection
of content means the selection of content for a subject. Traditionally, the
Principal of complete coverage was dominant. If a subject was to taught in the
past, it was to be covered thoroughly.
As
knowledge with in each subject field expanded the new topics were inserted into
each subject, gradually the number, weight and bulk of content become such that
the achievement of total coverage became difficult.
As a
result of explosion of knowledge, the principal of coverage was modified by
selecting representative content topics from subject fields. Curricula are now
constructed in that way. However the basis upon which representative topics are
selected, varies from subject to subject. The common principles of subject
matter selection are as under:
§
Curriculum organization must assimilate the best information from
all sources.
§
The subject matter if offered to the learners, the teachers must
have information about psychology of that age group. And if a teacher is
teaching chemistry or biology, he must have knowledge and information to
integrate these subjects to a life situation.
a.
General Principles of Subject Matter Selection
1.
The course content selected, must be significant in the field of
knowledge to which it belongs:
This
is principle presupposes programme of studies consisting of specialized courses,
with each course being followed by a more advanced course.
2.
The subject matter selected must possess the principle of survival:
Acceptance
of the “Old and Tried” in due to the belief that the things that have come up
from the past are the product of generations and even centuries of
experimentation. If such content is satisfying the aspirations of mankind has
been survived in spite of cultural and social changes, it is fulfilling the
need of the principle of survival.
3.
The subject matter must have the principle of interest:
If
the learners are motivated to learn more, if they take interest to get more and
more knowledge in a specific field, it means that the subject matter is
interesting and it meets the principle of interest.
4.
The content or subject matter must be utilized:
It
means that the knowledge presented in any subject must be utilized in life
situation otherwise it will not help in achieving the desired goals.
5.
The course content should contribute to the development of an
Islamic society:
The
content in each subject should help in the development of true Muslims i.e the
subject matter in various fields must equip the learners with the ideals,
values and skills required for an Islamic society. There should be no such
content which is against our religion. Beside the above mentioned broad
principles, there are some more considerations for the curriculum organizers.
i.e.
§
Is the subject matter selected on the basis of its possible
contribution to the objectives of the relevant course?
§
Is the subject-matter a mean to an end and not an end in itself?
§
Dose the subject matter consist of a variety of physical and mental
activities.
§
Is the subject matter helpful in the development of creative
abilities?
§
Is the subject-matter divided into various units?
§
Is there a logical sequence in various units of a subject?
§
Dose the subject-matter demand active teaching-learning situation?
b.
Procedure of Content Selection:
There
are various procedures adopted for content selection. The most important
procedures are:-
1.
The judgmental procedure.
2.
The analytical procedure.
3.
The consensual procedure.
4.
The experimental procedure.
1.
The judgmental procedure:
Since
this procedure has not been reduced to a set of techniques, successful use of
it depends upon the point of view of the curriculum planner. If he is so occupied
with the past that he cannot appreciate the present, nor see its potentialities
for the future, the judgment of curriculum planner will hardly lead to the best
selection of subject matter, the most objective selection of content by this
procedure requires that his interests, knowledge, and ideals rise above special
social groups and is according to the common good of people. Actually this
procedure demands broad social vision.
2.
The analytical procedure:
The
analytical procedure is one of the most widely know method of content selection.
It has been closely identified with the criteria of utility. It consists of
various techniques which can be followed to collect information regarding
subject matter selection. The techniques are:
i.
Collecting information by conducting interviews.
ii.
Collecting information with the help of questionnaires.
iii.
Collecting information through documentary analysis.
iv.
Collecting information by observing the performance of people.
3.
The consensual procedures:
It
is way of collecting people’s opinion about what they believe the curriculum
should be. The results of the consensual procedure are expressed in terms of
the number of persons of a particular community who recommend a specific
content to be included in the curriculum. The persons whose opinions are to be
sought are selected because they are;
§
Outstanding leaders in the fields of industry, business,
agriculture etc.
§
Experts and specialists such as physicians, engineers, teachers and
artists etc.
§
Representatives of the community the procedure adopted to collect,
tabulate and interpret the data is just like the scientific method.
3.4 Methods/Strategies/Activates:
This
is the fourth important element of curriculum development process. The
achievement of desired objectives depends largely upon the methods adopted in
the classroom. This phase includes:
1.
Teacher’s activities.
2.
Student’s activities.
The
curriculum planners are supposed to suggest appropriate methods of teaching
after suggesting the subject matter. There are various methods of teaching such
as lecture, lecture demonstration, problem solving, project, programmed
learning etc. All those methods which are based upon teacher’s delivery only,
considered to be ineffective. As learning is an active process so innovative
approaches are to be followed in order to initiate interest and develop
creativeness among the youth.
Bases
for Selecting Instructional Methods:
Within
this wide array of teaching methods, teachers are faced with the problem of
selecting the method or methods which are most suited to a curriculum plan. As
it is desirable to use a number of content organizing designs according to the
objective, so it is in the selection of instructional methods. Some important
guidelines for the selection of instructional methods are given below:
1.
Achievement of objectives:
Achievement
of the instructional objectives is the first consideration in planning for
teaching. The objectives postulated for a course, activity, or unit of work
should therefore be the primary factor in planning instruction. A general
objective may be attained by a wide range of teaching methods, but specific
objectives for instruction once determined narrow the choices considerably.
2.
Principles of learning:
While
selecting a method of instruction the teacher should know the theories and
principles of learning which underlie a certain method of instruction. This
would help him adapt the method to the individual needs and methods of learning
of a larger number of students.
3.
Individual learning styles:
Lee
Cronback and Richard Snow believe the most effective learning takes place when
the interactive process (teaching) is one that is best suited to the individual
student in terms of his learning style. A learning environment that is “optimal
for one person is not optimal for another”. The Rand Corporation Study (1971)
supports these findings by asserting 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 might be ineffective when working with another method.
The effectiveness of a teacher, or method, or whatever varies from one
situation to another”.
4.
Self-fulfilling processes and educational stratification
Opinion
of the teacher about a student’s abilities or capabilities is based on
performance in the classroom, influence the ways in which the teacher will work
with the student, both with regard to interactive process (teaching) and the
content of instruction. Psychologists believe that children differ in their
learning abilities and processes. On the basis of these differentiated,
educational processes should also be differentiated. But Cronback and Snow are
against this differentiation which is on the basis of contrived tests,
observation or past achievement of school programme, and that which results in
educational stratification. As 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
only acceptable prophecy that should be self fulfilling among teachers today is
that every child has precious talents and potentialities that should be
developed to the utmost. The school’s responsibility is to provide the child
the opportunities for such development.
5.
Facilities, equipment and resources
Instructional
planning is often influenced by the available facilities that may be used, and
the administrative organization and structure of the school. Whatever restrictive
influence the facilities, equipment and resources may have on the instructional
planning, a teacher should be as imaginative and resourceful as possible in
using methods that involve student in a highly active role.
6.
Accountability
Teachers,
administrators and others employed to provide education have always been held
responsible for the quality of their work. In as much as curriculum plans
related to accountability.
The
accountability means that someone has to report, explain or justify to someone
else. Thus accountability is a master servant, employee employer relationship,
that is, some party answering another party. It involves assessment, appraisal
and evolution whichever is appropriate. It is
a part and parcel of the whole systems approach to educational planning
with great emphasis on results, costs of producing these results, and
alternative possibilities weighed on the basis of costs. Lossigner observes
that we judge a school, or ought to judge it, by whether its students gain
certain skills and knowledge that can be measured against some set of students
or judgment, and by the cost of producing the gains.
It
is also to be kept in view that method is a descriptive term used for the teacher’s
actions to present the organized subject matter. Methods are always derived
from the nature of such subject matter. Some professionals consider pupil
behaviors as the source of methods. According to Shepherd and Regan (1982; p
127).
1.
“Methods are content free and not derived from organized subject
matter.
2.
Methods
are pupil’s behavior free and are not from organized or unorganized pupil’s
behavior. 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 in reading or mathematics but
the organized subject matter is different. 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 methods are derived from the personality of the
teacher. It seems evident that some teachers are more comfortable with certain
methods than others, and this is probably a function of personality. It also
seems evident that methods are created, selected and adopted by teachers for
purposes of incurring learning. The attention of the teacher is upon the
pupil’s learning.
3.5 Evolution:
Assessment
of student’s achievement means to evaluate the student’s academic achievement. Evolution
system may be defined as the tools, techniques and processing of defining,
gathering, displaying and interpreting data relevant to the goals and objectives
of the curriculum. An evaluation system contains and yields both a product and
a process the product of evolution system is the valid, reliable, and
functional date utilized in the decision-making activates. The process of evolution
system is the involvement of personnel in the cycle of selecting goals,
identifying objectives, defining relevant date, gathering data, displaying
data, interpreting data and decision making activates. Evaluation is the
quality control of the processes and outcome of educational programme. There
are two types of evolution, formative and summative.
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