Types of Curriculum design Models

There are many ways of looking at curriculum and designing one. For our own purposes, let us focus on
the most widely used examples.
1. Subject-Centered Design This is a curriculum design that focuses on the content of the curriculum.
The subject centered design corresponds mostly to the textbook because textbooks are usually written
based the specific subject or course. Henry Morrison and William Harris are the few curricularists who
firmly believed in this design. As practiced, school hours are allocated to different school subjects such
as Science, Mathematics, Language, Social Studies, physical Education, and others. This is also practiced
in the Philippines, because a school day is divided into class period, a school year into quarters or
semester. Most of the schools using this kind of structure and curriculum design aim for excellence in
the specific, subject discipline content. Subject-centered curriculum design has also some variations
which are focused on the individual subject, specific discipline and a combination of subjects or
disciplines which are a broad field or interdisciplinary.
1.1.Subject design
What subject are you teaching? What subject are you taking? These are two simple questions that the
teacher and the learner can easily answer. It is because they are familiar with the subject design
curriculum.
Subject design curriculum is the oldest and so far the most familiar design for teachers, parents and
other laymen. According to the advocates, subject design has an advantage because it is easy to deliver.
Textbooks are written and support instructional materials are commercially available. Teachers are
familiar with the format, because they were educated using also the design. In the Philippine
educational system, the number of subjects in the elementary education is fewer than in the secondary
level. In college, the number of subjects also differs according to the degree programs being pursued.
For each subject, a curriculum is being designed.
However, the drawback of this design is that sometimes, learning is so compartmentalized. It stresses so
much the content and forgets about students’ natural tendencies, interests and experiences. The
teacher becomes the dispenser of knowledge and the learners are the simply the empty vessel to
receive the information or content from the teacher. This is a traditional approach to teaching and
learning.
1.2.Discipline design This curriculum design model is related to the subject design. However, while
subject design centers only on the cluster of content, discipline design focuses on academic disciplines.
Discipline refers to specific knowledge learned through a method which the scholars use to study a
specific content of their fields. Students in history should learn the subject matter like historians,
students in biology should learn how the biologists learn, and so with students in mathematics, who
should learn how mathematicians learn. In the same manner, teachers should teach how the scholars in
the discipline will convey the particular knowledge.
Discipline design model of curriculum is often used in college, but not in the elementary or secondary
levels. So, from the subject centered curriculum, curriculum moves higher to a discipline when the
students are more mature and are already moving towards their career path or disciplines as science,
mathematics, psychology, psychology, humanities, history and others.
1.3.Correlation design
Coming from a core, correlated curriculum design links separate subject designs in order to reduce
fragmentation. Subjects are related to one another and still maintain their identity. For example, English
literature and social studies correlate well in the elementary level. In the two subjects, while history is
being studied, different literary pieces during the historical period are also being studied. The same is
true when science becomes the core, mathematics is related to it, as they are taken in chemistry,
physics, and biology. Another example is literature as the core with art, music, history, geography,
related to it. To use correlated design, teachers should come together and plan their lessons
cooperatively.
1.4.Broad field design/Interdisciplinary
Broad field design or interdisciplinary is a variation of the subject-centered design. This design was
made to cure the compartmentalization of the separate subjects and integrate the contains that are
related to one another. Thus, subjects such as geography, economics, political science, anthropology,
sociology and history are fused into one subject called social studies. Language arts will include
grammar, literature, linguistics, spelling, and composition. Sometimes called holistic curriculum, broad
fields draw around themes and interrelation. Interdisciplinary design is similar to thematic design, where
a specific theme is identified, and all other subject areas revolve around the theme.

2. Learner-Centered Design Among the progressive educational psychologists, the learner is the center
of the educative process. This emphasis is very strong in the elementary level; however, more concern
has been placed on the secondary and even the tertiary levels. Although in high school, the subject or
content has become the focus and in the college level, the discipline is the center, both levels still
recognize the importance of the learner in the curriculum. Here are some examples of curriculum
designs which are learner-centered.
2.1.Child- centered design.
This design is often attributed to the influence of John Dewey, Rouseau, Pestallozi and Froebel. This
curriculum design is anchored on the needs and interests of the child. The learner is not considered a
passive individual but one who engages with his/her environment. One learns by doing. Learners
actively create, construct meanings and understanding as viewed by the constructivists. In the child
centered design, learners’ interest with the teachers and the environment, thus there is a collaborative
effort on both sides to plan lessons, select content and do activities together. Learning is a product of
the child’s interaction with the environment.
2.2. Experience- centered design.
This design is similar to the child-centered design. Although the focus remains to be the child,
experience-centered design believes that the interests and needs of learners cannot be pre-planned.
Instead, experiences of the learners become the starting point of the curriculum, thus the school
environment is left open and free. Learners are made to choose from various activities that the teacher
provides. The learners are empowered to shape their own learning from the different opportunities
given by the teacher. In a school where experience-centered curriculum is provided, different learning
centers are found, time is flexible and children are free to make options. Activities revolve around
different emphasis such as touching, feeling, imagining, constructing, relating and others. The
emergence of multiple intelligence theory blends well with experience-centered design curriculum.
2.3.Humanistic design.
The key influence in this curriculum design is Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Maslow’s theory of self-
actualization explains that a person who achieves this level is accepting of self, others and nature; is
simple, spontaneous and natural; is open to different experiences; possesses empathy and sympathy
towards the less fortunate among the many others. The person can achieve this state of self-
actualization later in life but has to start the process while still in school. Carl Rogers, on the other hand,
believed that a person can enhance self-directed learning by improving self understanding, the basic
attitude to guide behavior. In humanistic curriculum design, the development of self is the ultimate
objective of learning. It stresses the whole person and the integration of thinking, feeling and doing. It
considers the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains to be interconnected and must be
addressed in the curriculum. It stresses the development of positive self-concept and interpersonal
skills.
3. Problem-Centered Design
Generally, problem-centered design draws on social problems, needs, instead and abilities of the
learners. Various problems are given emphasis. There are those that center on life situations,
contemporary life problems, areas of living and many others. In this curriculum, content cuts across
subject boundaries and must be based on the needs, concerns and abilities of the students. Two
examples are given for the problem-centered design curriculum.
3.1 Life-situation design.
What makes the design unique is that the contents are organized in ways that allow students to clearly
view problem areas. It uses the past and the present experiences of learners as a means to analyze the
basic areas of living. As a starting point, the pressing immediate problems of the society and the
students’ existing concerns are utilized. Based on Herbert Spencer’s curriculum writing, his emphases
were activities that sustain life, enhance life, aid in rearing children, maintain the individual’s social and
political relations and enhance leisure, tasks and feelings. The connection of subject matter to real
situations increases the relevance of the curriculum.
3.2 Core problem design.
Another example of problem-centered design is core design. It centers on general education and the
problems are based on the common human activities. The central focus of the core design includes
common needs, problems, and concerns of the learners. Popularized by Faunce and Bossing in 1959, it
presented ways on how to proceed using core design of a curriculum. These are the steps:
Step 1. Make group consensus on important problems.
Step 2. Develop criteria for selection of important problem.
Step 3. State and define the problems.
Step 4. Decide on areas of study, including class grouping.
Step 5. List the needed information for resources.
Step 6. Obtain and organize information.
Step 7. Analyze and interpret the information.
Step 8. State the tentative conclusions.
Step 9. Present a report to the class individually or by group.
Step 10. Evaluate the conclusions.
Step 11. Explore other avenues for further problem solving.
These are some examples of curriculum designs there are many more which Are emerging and those
that have evolved in the past. The example given may be Limited, however, for our purposes, they can
very well represent curriculum designs.