The Teacher and the Curriculum NOTES-

INTRODUCTION TO CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Definition of Terms and Concepts

1. Education
It is the process of acquiring desirable knowledge, skills and attitudes.
Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and
habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. It occurs through
any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts.
In its narrow technical sense, education is the formal process by which society
deliberately transmits its accumulated knowledge, skills, customs and values from one
generation to another e.g. instructions in schools.
*The word “education” is derived from the Latin word Educare meaning to ‘nourish’ or to
‘raise’.
According to Oluoch (1982), education is the process of acquiring and developing
necessary knowledge, skills and attitudes to make one a useful member of the society.
– Education is a process – Since it is life long and continuous activity that never ends.
– Developing – means that acquisition of knowledge, skills and attitudes do not happen
at once, but that the acquisition of more and more knowledge is necessary to advance
what one already has acquired in general, therefore, education can be defined as the
sum of all processes that enable the learner to acquire and develop relevant knowledge,
skills, attitudes and values which will make him or her a useful productive, creative and
practical member of the society.

Types of Education

Education can be divided into three types, namely;

i) Formal Education: Refers to education carried out in institutions, with specific goals
and a well stated curriculum, venues, well defined teachers and learners.
– It is the process of training and developing people in knowledge, skills, mind, and
character in a structured and certified program.
ii) Informal Education: It is the unstructured education where learning takes place
through imitation, observation and participation.
– It is the life-long process by which every person acquires and accumulates
knowledge, skills, attitudes and insights etc from daily experience and exposure to the
environment at, home, school, at work at pay.
– It is generally unorganized and often unsystematic.

iii) Non-formal Education: It is any organized systematic educational activity carried on

outside the framework of the formal system to provide selected types of learning to
particular sub-groups in the population adult as well as children.
– It is organized – has syllabus in place
– It is systematic – already structured
– It happens outside the education system.
2. Curriculum
It has its origin in the running/chariot tracks of Greece. It was, literally, a course. In Latin
curriculum was a racing chariot; curere was to run.
Curriculum is defined as “All the learning which is planned and guided by the school,
whether it is carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the school (Kelly
1999).”

Key features

– Learning is planned and guided. We have to specify in advance what we are seeking
to achieve and how we are to go about it.

Cole(2003) defines curriculum as a policy statement about education and the ways of
realizing the policy through a programme of action.
Oluoch (2006) explains curriculum as all that is planned to enable the student acquire
and develop desired knowledge, skills and attitudes.
Saylor and Alexander (1974) define curriculum as a set of learning activities and
experiences for children planned by the school to attain the aims of education.
On further analysis and consolidation of the above definitions of curriculum, it can be
said that curriculum acts as a guide to the process of education. It gives lanes and
boundaries to the process of education.

Some nations that are important in the understanding of curriculum include:

a) Planned learning programme with activities, experiences, materials and resources.

b) Useful in the acquisition of knowledge skills, values and attitudes.
c) Aims at attaining the goals and objectives of education.
d) Contains Content to be covered, learning experiences, methodology and ways and
means of ascertaining whether educational goals are achieved.
In conclusion, the term curriculum can be said to be a programme, a course of action
with learning objectives, content activities, experiences, materials, resources,
methodology and means of evaluation used to attain the goals of education.

Types of Curricula

Cole (2003) identified three types of curricular.

a) Curriculum on paper – refers to what the syllabus says and what should be taught.
b) Curriculum in action – which is the curriculum implemented in schools or educational
institutions.
c) Curriculum that is actually learned is the knowledge, skills and attitudes and values
which the children acquire in the teaching and learning in a classroom setting.
Andrew (2005) identified four types of curricula, namely;
a) Official Curriculum: Which refers to a planned course of study that has been adopted
by the government e.g. the Kenya Institute of Education has a curriculum for – ECDE
-Primary Education
-Secondary Education
It is sometimes known as the national curriculum that guides production of educational
material in a country.
b) Hidden Curriculum: Which consists of all that is learned during school activities, out
of the designated official curriculum. These includes:
– How learners should sit
– How to greet the teacher
– Role of the teacher and prefect
– How to relate with the teachers, fellow students and other people at school.
– Values such as hard work, respect, obedience, co-operation, value for others,
empathy etc.
c) Observed Curriculum: refers to the curriculum that can be used in the teaching-
learning process in class. Observed curriculum may differ in terms of teaching methods
and strategies employed by the teacher in class.
d) Curriculum as experienced: which refers to children’s experience in the teaching-
learning process
In Kenya, there is an official curriculum that is developed by the KIE to be used in
schools. Education field officers visit schools to evaluate the implementation of the
developed official curriculum.
3. Syllabus
New Cambridge Advanced learners’ dictionary (2003) defines a syllabus as “a plan with
subjects to be studied in a course.”
It is an outline or other brief statement of the main points of a discourse, the subjects of
a course of lecturers, the contents of a curriculum, etc.
It outlines the goals and objectives of a course, prerequisites, the grading/evaluation
scheme, materials to be used (textbooks, software), topics to be covered, a schedule,
and a bibliography.
A syllabus can be said to be a plan with subjects to be studied in a course by a
particular group of people (learners) within a given period of time. This places the
syllabus at a very important position of breaking down the curriculum for its effective
and efficient implementation.
4. Subject
A subject can be defined as a specific area of knowledge that is studied in a school,
college, or any learning institution. E.g. of subjects (1) Kiswahili, Mathematics, English,
Chemistry, Physics, Biology.
5. Curriculum Development
Curriculum development is the process of creating curriculum materials for use by
educators and children that are product of curriculum planning.
It is difficult to give a definition for curriculum development, because it will always be
affected very strongly by the context in which it takes place. We can think of curriculum
development as a continuous process, which is relevant to the situation where it takes
place, and flexible, so you can adapt it over time.
Curriculum development describes all the ways in which a training or teaching
organization plans and guides learning. This learning, can take place in groups or with
individual learners. It can take place inside a classroom or outside a classroom. It can
take place in an institutional setting like a school, college or training centre, or in a
village or a field. It is central to the teaching and learning process. (Rogers and Taylor)
1988).
Typically, curriculum development involves four main elements.
(i) Identify what learning is needed and decide on the type of training you need to
provide to meet these learning needs.
(ii) Plan the training carefully, so that learning is most likely to take place.
(iii) Deliver the training so that learning does take place.
(iv) Evaluate the training so that there is evidence that learning has taken place.
Curriculum Development involves the sum total of all the processes which determine
how curriculum construction proceeds, from the conceptualization stage to the
evaluation stage.
Curriculum development may entail re-writing or reviewing the existing curriculum or a
total overhaul or writing a completely new curriculum and development of new
materials. A good example is when there was a change of the education system in
Kenya from 7-4-2-3 to 8-4-4.
TOPIC 2
ELEMENTS/COMPONENTS OF THE CURRICULUM
Elements/components are the basic principles of the curriculum. The nature of the
elements and the manner in which they are organized may comprise what we term as
curriculum design.
COMPONENT I
a) CURRICULUM AIMS, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES.
1. Aims of Education
The term aims is often used interchangeably with the terms, goals, ends, functions,
general objectives, and purposes. However there are differences amongst them.
McClellan defines aims as general statements that provide both shape and direction to
the more specific actions designed to achieve some future product of behavior.
Aims are starting points that allow educators to rally behind them.
Aims serve the crucial functions of guiding education, but they cannot be directly
observed or evaluated.
Aim is an expression of a long-term purpose, usually over the course of one or more
years.
The aims of education comprise philosophical dispositions toward educational
functioning. They serve as starting points or as statements of ideas, or aspirations that
express the views of:
– Educators
– Politicians and policy makers
– Certain interest groups in society.
– The lay public
– Students
Educational aims deal with and guide curriculum planners in four main dimensions of
schooling:
i) Intellectual dimension: This dimension deals issues of the acquisition of knowledge,
comprehension of knowledge and love and desire for knowledge.
ii) Social dimension: Aims in this area relates to person to person interaction person to
world interaction, and person to self interaction.
iii) Personal dimension: aims of education should provide guidance to planners so that
they can in turn plan for experiences which can enhance self actualization in individuals.
iv) Productive dimension: Aims should provide guidelines to the school system so that
these systems can organize the types of educational encounters that will help the
individual to become a productive member in the society.
Educational aims only provide a broad framework of what should be put into the
education programme. They establish the philosophy that will guide the teaching
programme in the schools.
Educational aims also express the kind of values society generally expects from those
who benefit from education.
They constitute the first stage at which the objectives of an educational programme or
curriculum are planned.
2. Goals of Education
At a lower level than aims are curriculum goals to guide the educational planners in the
task of curriculum planning.
Whereas aims provide guidance as to direction they do not indicate the actual
destination itself, but goals does.
Goals delimit educational activities so that particular ends or purposes are achieved.
Goals are statements of end points or outcomes of education – i.e. statements of
purpose.
Goals are derived from various aims and thus provide teachers and curriculum decision
makers with broad statements of what they should accomplish in terms of student
learning as a result of a particular subject or educational program.
How goals originate
Different pressure groups in society advance their own goals for consideration.
Groups within the economic sector also recommend goals to which the schools should
adhere.
Teachers are charged with responsibility of implementing the curriculum. Their
knowledge of goals originates from the curriculum contexts through the ministry of
education.
Teachers receives such information/communication from KIE through ministry of
education’s inspectorate. The ministries document are in the form of teachers guides,
advice on relevant textbooks for various courses offered as well as report, on the
approach to individual subject areas. Public opinions can influence the nature of goals
for the educational system.
Importance of Goals of Education
Goals help both the curriculum planner and the teacher in decision – making in various
ways.
i) To select the general programme content.
ii) To decide on relevant subject areas for the courses already identified for realizing the
broad aims of education.
iii) To decide on specific subject content, experiences and related exposures in a
subject area so as to promote the understanding of that subject at a relevant level of the
school system e.g. form 2 English.
iv) To decide on specific instructional experiences for a single lesson or through other
exposures within the framework of the school timetable.
3. Objective of Education
Within the context of educational aims and goals, objectives are formulated. They
indicate in more specific terms the outcomes of the curriculum or project being
considered.
Educational objectives can be of two sorts; those that describe school – wide outcomes
and those that are more specific and describes behaviors to be attained in a particular
unit, a subject course, or a particular grade level program.
Objectives are statements that enable curriculum decision makers – curriculum decision
*makers – curriculum developers, teachers, and even students to identify the particular
intents of a particular action.
A meaningful objective is one that communicates effectively to the reader the
instructional intent or behavior of the objective as well as specific learning outcomes.
Behavioral Education Objective
A behavioral objective describes a measurable outcome for a task in terms of
observable behavior expected of student after instruction. Behavioral objectives
contains three parts
i) The behavior
ii) The condition
iii) The criterion.
Each of these gives specific information; so that, if another instructor reads the
objectives he or she would know and could measure the behavior without having any
additional information.
The behavior describes what the learners are going to do; this must be observable.
The condition, describes how or when the learner will perform the behavior.
The criterion describes the mastery level of the behavior/degree of performance
required. E.g. of a behavioral objective.
By the end of the lesson students should be able to:
State 5 stylistic devices used by the writer in the novel.
– Behaviour – Stating (state)
– Condition – Reading the novel
– Criterion/degree of performance – 5 stylistic devices.
COMPONENT II
Curriculum content or subject matter.
Saylor (1981) defined content as those facts, observations, data, perceptions,
discernments, sensibilities, designs, and solutions drawn from what the minds of men
have comprehended from experience and those construct of the minds that reorganize
and those construct of the minds that reorganize and re-arrange these products of
experience into lore, ideas, concepts, generalizations, principles, and solutions.
The word content is used interchangeably with terms such as subject matter,
knowledge, concepts, and ideas.
The question what? Shall be included for purposes of learning are what is termed as the
appropriate content, knowledge, theories all the information to be learned.
COMPONENT III
Curriculum experience/learning experience.
It answers- what instructional strategies – resources and activities will be employed.
Instructional strategies and methods are the core of the curriculum. These instructional
strategies and methods will put into action the goals and use of the content in order to
produce an outcome.
These would convert the written curriculum to instruction.
Mastery is the function of the teacher direction and student activity with the teacher
supervision.
COMPONENT IV
Curriculum Evaluation
Evaluation is a process or cluster of processes that people perform in order to gather
data that will enable them to decide whether to accept, change, or eliminate something.
i.e. the curriculum in general or an educational text book in particular.
In evaluation, people are concerned with determining the relative values of whatever
they are judging.
They are obtaining information that they can use to make statements of worth regarding
the focus of evaluation.
They are interested in conducting evaluation to determine whether the expected or the
planned for has occurred or is occurring in relation to the intended.
Evaluation focuses on discovering whether the curriculum as designed, developed, and
implanted is producing or can produce the desired results.
Evaluation serves to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum before
implementation and the effectiveness of its delivery after implementation. The purpose
of gathering such data about strengths and weaknesses is to allow curriculurists to
either revise, compare, maintain, or discontinue their actions and programs.
Evaluation enables them to make decisions, to draw conclusions and to furnish data
that will support their decisions regarding curriculum matters.
Functions of Evaluation in Education
1. To diagnose
2. To revise curricular
3. To compare
4. To anticipate educational needs
5. To determine if objectives have been achieved.
Approaches to Curriculum Evaluation
1. Scientific & humanistic approach
2. Intrinsic & pay-off evaluation
3. Formative & summative evaluation
Formative and Summative Evaluation
a) Formative Evaluation.
This is the evaluation which guides and promotes the development of the programme.
Formative evaluation encompasses those activities undertaken to improve an existing
program. It takes place at a number of specified points during the curriculum
development process.
The process of formative evaluation has flexibility for e.g. a teacher may opt to give an
abrupt CAT covering a particular skill he/she has taught to determine whether his/her
objectives have been achieved. Oral questions, discussions, observations are some
example of formative evaluation.
Formative evaluation allows the teacher and others involved in the evaluation not only
to determine what intended effects are occurring, but also to record and examine the
presence of unintended effects.
It was the process of feedback and adjustments and thus keeps the curriculum
development process “open.”
b) Summative Evaluation.
This type of evaluation obtains evidence of the “summed” effects of various components
or units in a particular curriculum.
It aims at getting the “total” picture of the quality of the produced curriculum. It is usually
undertaken after the project has been completely developed and after it has been
implemented school wide.
It focuses on the effectiveness of the total curriculum or the total course within the
curriculum.
Summative evaluation’s major purpose is to enable the involved parties to draw
conclusions about how well the curriculum or particular curriculum unit has worked. E.g.
of summative.
TOPIC 3
DETERMINANTS OF EDUCATIONAL OBJECTIVES
1) The Contemporary Society
This comprises the demands of culture, the general social set ups and lifestyle,
including all the social institutions. From all these we can determine the needs of the
society.
The school owes its existence to the society, it is considered as the ultimate source of
ideas for the curriculum.
We look at the issues and problems facing the society; environmental issues, cultural
issues, social economic issues and all these are included in the curriculum.
2) The Local Environment
The immediate environment of schools, including the pupils homes will provide us with
further ideas for possible objectives.
Knowledge of the socio-economic and physical situation of school surroundings, and
the attitude towards education of the pupil’s sub-culture can help us to determine the
objectives of education.
3) The Learner
Societal needs should not blind us to the individuality of the pupils.
Pupils are independent entities with their own needs, interests and aspirations which
must receive special attention when we are formulating objectives.
4) The School Itself
Curriculum implementation is a controlled interaction between students, teachers, time,
space, facilities, materials and equipment, content and learning activities.
All these will have some influence on objectives and have therefore to be considered
while formulating objectives.
The school climate, the attitude of the teachers, the attitudes of the learners and their
relationship between them could exert significant influence on the curriculum.
Bound up in all this, is the teacher’s own philosophy of education; what he holds as
priorities in education.
5) Knowledge
There is influx of knowledge and it is only fair that we look at the school disciplines or
the nature of subject matter and the types of learning that can arise from a study of the
subject matter.
Meaningful objectives are formulated in light of the available knowledge because to
achieve any objective there must be positive interaction between the learner and some
kind of knowledge.
It is necessary to avoid formulating objectives which cannot be achieved because of the
absence of appropriate knowledge content.
It is also here that we need advice of the subject specialist on the value and application
of knowledge in their subject areas.
6) Philosophy
To select a few but highly important and consistent objectives, it is necessary to screen
further heterogeneous collection of objectives in order to eliminate those that are
unimportant and contradictory.
The education and social philosophy of the community can serve as a useful screen for
e.g. when we talk of good life or a good society there are values which go with such life
or society.
Only those objectives that address such values will stand. The rest will have to be
excluded.
7) Psychology
The psychology of learning which includes theories both of learning and child
development form an important screen or source for selecting objectives.
Educational objectives are educational ends or results to be achieved through learning,
so those ends must be in conformity with conditions intrinsic in learning if at all they are
going to be achievable and worthwhile.
Tyler (1949)emphasized the specific importance of a knowledge of the psychology of
leaning in generating educational objectives:
– It makes us distinguish in human beings between changes that can be expected to
result from a learning process and those that cannot.
– Enables us to distinguish between goals that are feasible and those that are likely to
take long time or are almost impossible to attain at a certain age.
– It helps us form objectives in grade placement which are educationally attainable, and
which recognize the length of time required to attain an objective and the age levels for
which the effort is most efficiently employed.
– It helps us to determine conditions requisite for the learning of certain types of
objectives. For example there are psychological findings that reinforcement takes place
when things learned are integrated, coherent and consistent with each other.
TOPIC 4
NATIONAL GOALS OF EDUCATION
These are educational aspirations of a country. They are broad and long-term. National
goals are further formulated into level and subject general objectives.
The specific objectives are formulated through which the desired knowledge, skills,
attitudes and practices will be achieved.
Education should;
1. Foster nationalism, patriotism and promote national unity.
Though Filipino people belong to different communities, races and religions, they must
be able to live and interact as Filipinos.
It is a paramount duty of education to help the youth acquire a sense of nationhood by
promoting positive attitudes of mutual respect and remove conflicts. This will enable
them to live together in harmony.
Teachers should also foster patriotism in order to make a positive contribution to the
nation.
2. Promote the social, economic, technological and industrial needs for national
development
Education should produce citizens with skills, knowledge, expertise and personal
qualities that are required to support a growing economy which is need of adequate
domestic manpower.
On technological and industrial needs, education should produce learners with the
necessary skills and attitudes for industrial development.
Curriculum should include learning activities that enable children to acquire basic
technological knowledge, skills and attitudes. These skills include exploration,
discovery, initiative and creativity.
3. Promote individual development and self-fulfillment
The curriculum should provide opportunities for learners to identify their abilities and
talents and apply them in their daily lives for individual and societal fulfillment.
Curriculum development should integrate the learners’ needs, group needs and provide
experiences for individual development and self fulfillment.
It should identify children’s needs individually and in groups and provide learning
experiences that enable them to develop to their fullest.
4. Promote sound moral and religious values.
Moral and religious (Spiritual) values are necessary for a disciplined, reliable and
responsible member of the society. It is the role of education, through the curriculum to
provide opportunities for the acquisition and development of relevant knowledge, skills,
and attitudes associated with sound morals and spiritual values.
The curriculum should instill in children religious and moral values such as patience,
humility, love, respect for others, kindness and mercy.
The curriculum should not only focus on intellectual development of learners but it
should also emphasize moral and spiritual development of the learner.
5. Promote social equality and responsibility
For a country to develop, its entire citizenry, irrespective of gender, race, ability or ethnic
background, should be given an opportunity to contribute to its development.
Education through the curriculum, should promote equality and foster a sense of social
responsibility in learners.
It should address social disparities and challenges that exist in the society to foster
social equality.
Curriculum should be designed in such a way that children are provided with
experiences that give them opportunity to be responsible.
It should also develop in them a sense that nobody should consider him/herself superior
or more important than the others, based on his/her background, ability, religion, origin,
tribe, or race.
6. Promote respect for and development of the rich and varied culture.
Education through the curriculum should instill in the learners an understanding of past
and present cultures and their valid place in the contemporary society.
The learners should also be able to blend and learn to accept the diversity of our
cultural heritage and use this diversity to create a cohesive stable and modern society.
Curriculum development should identify the positive aspects of culture that should be
transmitted to the learners and ignore negative ones.
Learners should be provided with varied activities and experiences to help them learn
and appreciate their cultural heritage.
7. Promote international consciousness and foster positive attitudes towards other
nations.
Philippines is part of the international community. Education therefore should lead the
learners of a country to accept and strengthen memberships in the national community
with all the obligations and responsibilities, rights, benefits that this membership entails.
8. Promote positive attitude towards good health and environmental protection
Education, through the curriculum, should inculcate in the learner the value of good
health in order to avoid indulging in activities that may lead to physical or mental ill
health.
It should also foster a positive attitude towards environmental development and
conservation. It should help learners to appreciate the need for a healthy environment.
TOPIC 5
FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM
Definition
– Foundation of curriculum is defined as the values, traditions, factors and forces which
influence the kind, quantity and quality of the experience the school offers its learners.
– There are four major foundations of curriculum.
These are:
i) Historical foundations
ii) Sociological foundations
iii) Philosophical foundations
iv) Psychological foundations
v) professional foundations
The curriculum scholars have professional foundations which have a lot in common with
the social foundations.
1. HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM
Definition
These refer to those influences on the curriculum that are derived from developments in
the past. They form the basis for decision making and systematic growth of the
education system.
Relevant aspects in discerning the Historical Foundations of Curriculum
i) Early Christian Education
ii) The Renaissance
iii) The Reformation
iv) The scientific movement
v) The progressive Education Movement
i. Early Christian Education
The values of early Christian education were a blend of Greek, Roman and Hebrew
ideals. The early Christian schools taught the liberal arts and also concerned
themselves with inducting new believers into church membership.
The Curriculum of the early Christian schools comprised the teaching of discipline,
church, doctrine, moral standards, Christian theology, science, mathematics and
astronomy.
ii. The Renaissance
Following increased quest for knowledge and thirst for adventure ‘humanistic schools’
were established.
The curriculum of the ‘humanistic schools’ emphasized the study of man as a
prerequisite to understanding man’s role and contribution to society.
Humanistic schools received inspiration from traditions in the Roman grammar schools.
The curriculum in ‘humanistic schools’ included good manners, morals, rhetoric
composition, sports, games and dance.
Due to increased degree of enlightment during the renaissance period, there arose a
need for people with certain vocational skills related to international and national trade.
As a result the curriculum of the school started to have an increasing amount of
vocational studies in the form of book-keeping, business arithmetic, general
correspondence and the keeping of committee minutes and records.
The height of the Renaissance saw the development of the university in response to the
need for a higher cadre of professional people with special faculty specializations.
H.G.Good (1960) states that the university then developed faculties to cater for:
– Studies in liberal arts
– Law studies
– Medicine
– Theology
iii. The Scientific movement
The campaigns of Martin Luther, led to the publication of biblical and other materials in
the vernaculars so that every person should read for themselves and independently
interpret the bible.
The humanistic curriculum was enriched with the study of science, mathematics, history
and gymnastics.
Ignatius of Loyola developed an expanded and advanced curriculum as a counter
movement to the reformation in Jesuit schools.
The reformation contributed further to educational growth by inciting the church into
greater activity in elementary, secondary and higher education (cubberley 1968)
iv. The Scientific Movement in Education
Educators and philosophers of the sixteenth century were concerned more with
observation regarding the working of the universes.
This was led by Francis Bacon among others. It led to the philosophy of realism which
has three district phases, with various implications of the curriculum.
These are Humanistic Realism, Social Realism and Sense Realism.
a. Humanistic Realism
Advocated student mastery of form and content of the old literature as a basis for
improving the present world.
The humanistic realist curriculum drew upon classical literature to cope with the
problems and needs of the 19th Century.
b. Social Realism
Social Realism aimed at meeting the purposes of the contemporary world.
It was class conscious as a result it advocated an elicit education for the aristocracy.
It emphasized private tuition in the home, using paid tutors.
It aimed at producing a polished gentleman of high society.
c. Sense Realism
It was concerned with problems of the current real world and emphasis on an
instructional approach based on sense perception
v. The Progressive movement in Education
The advocates of the progressive movement were reacting against the shortcomings in
the traditional school system.
They argued
i) The curriculum content of the traditional system included a great deal of meaningless
and needles content.
ii) The traditional curriculum did not give utility education. It mainly emphasized
academics
iii) The traditional methods of teaching introduced the child to subject matter of no
practical value
iv) The traditional curriculum was rigid and did not cater for the individual needs of
particular students.
The progressive education curriculum instead emphasized five approaches to the
teaching/learning process.
i) Teacher- pupils planning of curricular activities
ii) Flexible curriculum and individualized instruction
iii) Non-formal curriculum activities and physical training in areas such as games and
relatd hobbies.
iv) Learner centered methodology
v) Selection of study material in line with expressed interests and concerns of the
learner.
All these allowed children maximum self direction and reduced teacher domination of
the teaching/learning process.
2. SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM
The social foundations encompass the systematic study of groups and institutions in the
culture with reference to their contribution to the process and growth of the educational
system as well as the established practices in the school system.
In the sociological Foundations, the curriculum designer is actually dealing with cultural
values, societal needs and the learners’ backgrounds.
The institutions and forces which make up the culture and related analytical techniques
determine the curriculum or programme of education schools will follow.
The curriculum should be able to examine and clarify obstacles prevalent in society
which make change in positive direction difficult.
In designing a curriculum based on social foundation the following distinct levels should
be considered
i) Purpose of the curriculum
ii) Pressure influencing the curriculum
iii) Characteristics of the students experiencing the curriculum
iv) Role and contribution of other social institutions such as the family and religious
institutions.
3. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM
Philosophical or value foundations constitute the values and beliefs that make up the
philosophies of life and of education and have a permeating influence on the other
foundations.
Statements of educational philosophy point to methodical efforts by philosophers to:
i) Examine values in society
ii) Derive meanings from facts
iii) Organize experiences in a manner useful to educational practitioners and the pupils
in the school system.
iv) Justify one or some educational beliefs over others.
v) Develop new proposals of educational practice for translation into action.
In utilizing knowledge of philosophy in curriculum, the curriculum planner is seeking to
establish ideas and notions that will indicate a priority of values in selecting experiences
for the curriculum.
The value or philosophical orientations which the educational system is charged with
promoting form an integral part of the culture of a nation.
Philosophical Schools
They include:
i) Traditional school represented by perennialism and Essentialism
ii) The progressive school represented by progressivists
The three schools have advanced three theories of subject matter as shown below

The perennialists
They believe subject matter should be taught for its own sake.
They also believe that permanence of curriculum content and experiences is more
important than change
Subject matter has a value which is inherent in the subject being taught
It’s also their belief that educational system should be stable and its purposes steady.
Perennialists Approaches to subject matter
i) Emphasis is laid on the classical subjects. These are subjects valuable in their own
right and any educated person was expected to have had exposure to them.
ii) Emphasis is laid on the desire to make children literate and moral to enable them
earn a living as well as find a useful place in society.
Principles of perennialists
i) Human nature remains the same
ii) Man’s highest attribute is rationality
iii) Students should be taught certain basic subjects
The Essentialists
To the essentialists subject matter should be taught for use. They maintain that there
are certain essentials that each student in school ought to know.
The essentialists devote their time to:
i) Re-examining curricula matters
ii) Distinguishing the essential and the non-essentials in school programmes
iii) Re-establishing the authority of the teacher in the classroom
To the To the essentialists and perennialists agree on certain fundamental principles
such as:
i) Learning involves hard work often couple with unwilling application.
ii) The teacher’s role is to mediate between the adult world and the world of the child.
iii) The heart of the educational process is the assimilation of prescribed subject matter.
iv) The school should retain traditional methods of mental discipline.
.
The Progressivists
They believed that subject matter is a medium for teaching life processes and skills.
They take the pragmatist view that change, is the essence of reality.
Educators must be ready to modify methods and policies in light of new knowledge and
changes in the environment
To progressivists, a good school is not a place of compulsory instruction but a
community of old and young engaged in learning by co-operative experience.
Progressivists’ principles
i) Education should be life itself not a preparation for living
ii) Learning should be directly related to the interests of the child
iii) Learning through problem solving should take precedence over the inculcating of
subject matter
iv) Teachers have to advise not direct pupils
v) The school should encourage co-operation as opposed to competition
Philosophical positions
The three prominent philosophical positions that are closely related to perenialism and
progressivism are Idealism, Realism and Pragmatism.
Idealism
It is largely a traditionalist view which is a carry over from Plato’s writings
Idealism uses deductive reasoning in its quest for answers to current day problems.
They believe in the independence of truth from the individual or the society.
There is over emphasis on the intellectual aspects.
Idealism stresses the role of education in the transmission of the cultural heritage as
handed through the ages from the past. Hence it is a preserving function.
It allows the concurrent study of liberal and vocational education, as a means to living
completely through understanding life.
Realism
The realist believes in the existence of a real world, divorced from the imaginations of
the perceiver.
To the realist, the real world is the physical world of the physical matter of man and has
a specific role to play in daily routine and actions.
Here, the problems of man in life are approached through the inductive method by
which data is gathered to form a basis for new principles and generalizations.
Realism accepts God as the motive cause of all existence.
Realism argues that education should induct learners into their culture and help them to
adjust to the natural order of things in order to live in harmony with the universe.
Teachers act as guides: making children aware of the true nature of real world.
Realists advocate a study of physical and social sciences which are instrumental to
explaining natural phenomena.
Mathematics is also encouraged.
Advocates of realism include John Amos Comenius, John Locke and John Herbart.
Pragmatism
It is a progressivist position that sees reality as being in a state of flux or constant
change.
Pragmatists employ the realist approach in gathering information and facts, and idealist
approach in generalizing about the facts gathered.
Pragmatism seeks meaning in the immediate situation
According to pragmatists education
– Should enable the learner to experience situations in practice
– Is a means for recreating, controlling and redirecting, experience.
– Should help learners to solve their problems and is to be considered an integral part
of life.
Systematic sequencing of learning experiences is emphasized by pragmatists.
Teachers should provide an atmosphere in which learners identify the problems and
seek solutions to them.
Teachers should also arrange an environment that provides experience for learners.
The curriculum should be organized on the basis of the learners’ interests and the
subject matter selected should help the learner to solve problems.
4. PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF CURRICULUM
These are insights gained from psychology which have a bearing on the learning
process.
Psychologists believe that learning experiences have to be introduced to the learner
when such exposure is most effective and most beneficial to him.
The following issues should be taken into account when dealing with learning
experiences in the curriculum.
– Capability of the learner
– Maturational level of the learner
– Students’ rate of learning as well as how they learn
Psychology as a discipline helps the curriculum designer and the teacher to reach
decisions in relation to:
– Sequence – in the stages of development
– Organization – grouping of learning experiences for optimal effect.
– Methodology – dealing with the question of what methods and approaches are likely
to promote and guiding learning most effectively.
Psychology also contributes to:
– Formulation of appropriate educational goals
– Decisions regarding the scope of curriculum
Theoretical Branches of psychology
i) Behavioral Psychologists
They have contributed to decision making in curriculum through their findings and
theories regard.
ii) Connectionist Psychologists
The work of connectionists like E.L. Thorndike (1931) has established the phenomenon
of the relationship between environmental stimulus in a learning situation and the
response to such stimulus and that repeated connection of pairing of the environmental
stimulus and the response embeds skills so learnt in the learner’s mind.
iii) Gestalt and Organismic Psychologists
Also called Field Theory psychologists.
They stress the understanding of the relationship between the physical world and the
world of experience.
They believe learning takes place more efficiently when the learner is given the
opportunity to view a complete learning situation from which he/she proceeds to make
response choices as opposed to the piecemeal presentation of isolated elements in the
problem situation.
iv) Mental Health Practitioners
psycho analysts and other mental health practitioner have helped to explain many
issues regarding human behavior especially that which is related to stress condition
their findings ,educational authorities are now in a better position to deal with crisis
situations that come up now and then in a school setting and which have an effect on
the learners level of concentration at the tasks provided by the learning environment.
An understanding of certain basic psychological principles will enhance the
effectiveness of planning design and development of the curriculum in a number of
ways.
a. The physical, health and physiological status of the learner in the classroom has a
bearing on the rate at which he will learn.
b. The learner’s nervous condition also has an effect on his mental readiness
c. Curriculum should be planned in accordance to different age groups corresponding to
different age- grade levels.
d. Different age groups have unique problems which require that curriculum is planned
according to such.
e. Like adults, learners have their own interests and aspirations and this should
determine curriculum structure.
f. Effects of rewards and punishments on the process of learning should be considered.
TOPIC 6
CURRICULUM MODELS
What is a model? It is a three dimensional representation of a person or thing or of a
proposed structure, typically on a small scale than the original.
Curriculum models are based on a body of theory about teaching and learning.
They are targeted to needs and characteristics of a particular group of learners.
They outline approaches, methods and procedures for implementation.
Curriculum development theories and models provide concepts, issues, explanations,
proportions and frameworks that give curriculum development directions.
DEF: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT THEORY
Can be said to be a formal set of ideas that are intended to explain the elements and
processes of curriculum development.
A curriculum development model is a simple description of a curriculum development
system using a diagram.
Curriculum development theories and models provide foundations for curriculum
development, implement and evaluation.
They provide foundations for curriculum implementation review and construction.
RALPH TYLER’S CURRICULUM THEORY AND MODEL
Ralph Tyler was an American scholar and educationist. In 1949, Tyler published his
book; Basic Principles of curriculum and instructions.
Tyler identified four basic questions that should be answered by curriculum developers.
i) What educational purposes should the school seek to attain.
– By purposes Tyler was referring to objectives.
– He indicated that curriculum planners should identify general objectives by gathering
data from three sources:
a) Subject matter
b) The learner
c) Society
– After identifying these general objectives curriculum planners were to refine them by
filtering them through two screens – the philosophy of the school and the psychology of
learning.
– What results is instructional objectives
ii) What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these
purposes?
– Learning experiences had to take into account both the previous experiences and the
perception that the learner brings to a situation.
iii) How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?
– Tyler talked about the organization and sequencing of these experiences.
– He suggested that the ordering of the experiences had to be systematic so as to
produce a maximum cumulative effect.
– A curriculum developer should look at the activities that should be given to learners in
term I, II, and III and organize them for the realization of the set objectives.
iv) How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?
– The last question emphasizes the role of curriculum evaluation as an important
element, in the curriculum development process.
– A curriculum developer has to consider the means, method and strategies that will be
used to determine whether the desired purposes/objectives are being achieved or have
been achieved.
TYLERS CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT MODEL
Discussion of Tyler’s curriculum theory and model.
1. He put more emphasis on the objectives to guide curriculum development.
– According to him the sources of curriculum objectives are:
a) A study of the learners needs in relation to the needs of the society.
b) A study of contemporary issues and society’s life.
c) Seeking suggestions of subject specialists through consultation.
2. Ralph Tyler’s model provided the basis for other curriculum development models.
However it is considered simplistic as it ignored the complex process involved in
curriculum development.
– It does not offer the relationship between various curriculum elements.
– It was found to deal shallowly with the issue of curriculum evaluation which is an
important aspect of curriculum development.
Hilda Taba’s Curriculum Theory and Model (1962)
Hilda Taba was born in 1902, she was a curriculum theorist, Educator and reformer.
Hilda Taba believed that those who teach curriculum should participate in developing it.
She believes that teachers should develop curriculum and that curriculum should not be
handed down from higher authorities. She advocated what has been termed as the
“grass-root approach.”
She advocated that teachers take an inductive approach to curriculum development
starting with specific s and building to a general design –as opposed to Ralph Tylers
more traditional deductive approach starting from general to specifics.
Hilda Taba noted seven major steps in the process of developing a curriculum.
i) Diagnosis of needs
ii) Formulation of objectives
iii) Selection of contents
iv) Organization of contents
v) Selection of learning experiences
vi) Organization of learning experiences
vii) Evaluation and means of evaluation
i) Diagnosis of needs
The teacher starts the process by identifying the needs of the students for whom the
curriculum is to be planned.
ii) Formulation of objectives.
Objectives formulation should encompass the following areas:
a) Concepts or ideas to be learned.
b) Attitudes, sensitivities, and feelings to be developed.
c) Ways of thinking to be reinforced, strengthened or initiated
d) Habits and skills to be mastered.
iii) Selection of Content
The objectives selected or created suggest the subject matter or content of the
curriculum unit subject.*
– Subject matter should be related to the grade level of the student.
iv) Organization of Content
– A teacher cannot just select content, but must organize it in some type of sequences
taking into consideration the maturity of the learners, their academic achievement, and
their interests.
v) Selection of learning experiences
Content must be presented to pupils or pupils must engage in an interaction with the
content. To select learning experiences, Taba suggests that the teacher should ask a
number of questions. For example;
a) Is the experience appropriate for learning the main ideas?
b) Does the experience promote “Active learning?”
c) Is the experience appropriate to the students’ maturity level?
Taba also felt that learning experiences should reflect a variety of experiences,
including, “reading, writing, observing, doing research, analyzing, discussing, tabulating,
painting, constructing and dramatizing.
vi) Organization of learning experiences.
Taba outlines a sequence for organizing learning experiences: –
– Introduction
– Development
– Generalization
– Application or summary
Introduction involves developing student interest and proving diagnostic evidence for
the teacher.
Development or study consists learning activities that are designed to develop various
aspects of the subject and to provide needed factual material. These activities include
“reading, research, analysis of data, committee work and study of various kinds.
Generalization refers to students attempts to put ideas together. E.g comparing and
contrasting and exploration of the reasons for similarities and differences.
Application or summary is the stage at which the student applies generalization to a
larger framework.
vii) Evaluation and Means of Evaluation
Involves determining whether objectives have been met, diagnosis of the curriculum
plan, and assessment of any changes in student behavior.

TOPIC 7
PATTERNS OF CURRICULUM ORGANIZATION
Curriculum organization of the curriculum content means the process of selecting
curriculum elements from the subject, the current social life and the students’
experience, then designing the selected elements appropriately so they can form the
curriculum structure and type.
Definition
Curriculum organization is the process to change the content into students learning
experiences intentionally, and make learning experiences sequential, integral,
successive after curriculum ideology has been determined, curriculum goal set,
curriculum goal been selected.
Patterns of curriculum are also referred to as curriculum design; which refers to the
arrangement of the elements of a curriculum into a substantive entity.
Those components or elements that are arranged in a curriculum designs are:
1.) Aims, goals and objectives
2.) Subject matter
3.) Learning experiences
4.) Evaluation approaches
Curriculum components can be organized in numerous ways. However, all curriculum
designs are modifications and/ or integrations of three basic design types:
1) Subject centered designs
2) Learner centered designs
3) Problem centered designs
1. Subject centered designs
This subject centered designs category comprises several examples, i.e.
– Subject design
– Discipline designs
– Broad fields designs
– Correlations designs
Subject centered designs are by far the most popular and widely used curriculum
designs. This is because knowledge and content are well accepted as integral parts of
the curriculum.
i) Subject design
It is the oldest school design and the best known to both teachers and lay people,
because this is what has been employed over years in educating them.
It is popular because it corresponds to textbook treatment and how teachers are trained
as subject specialists.
This design is based on a belief that what makes humans unique and distinctive is there
intellect; the searching for and the attainment of knowledge are the natural fulfillment to
that intellect.
In the subject matter design, the curriculum is organized according to how knowledge
has been developed in the various subject areas e.g. History, Geography, English, and
Mathematics.
ii) Broad fields designs
The broad fields design, another variation of the subject centered design, appeared as
an effort to correct the fragmentation and compartmentalization caused by the subject
design.
This design permits the melding of the two or more related subjects into a single broad
or fused field of study. It is what we term today as integrated studies e.g. Integration of
English literature.
One reason for its continued popularity is that it dissolves subject boundaries in ways
that makes the information more useful and meaningful to the pupils. It allows the
teacher to have more flexibility in choosing content.
By integrating separate subjects, it enables, learners to see relationships among the
various subjects of the curriculum.
iii) Correlation design
It is a design employed by those who do not wish to go as far as creating a broad fields
design, but who do realize that there are times when separate subjects require some
linkage in order to reduce fragmentation of curricular content.
Correlation is an attempt to eliminate the isolation and compartmentalization of subjects
without radically overhauling the subject curriculum. For example a Science teacher
may collaborate with the social studies teacher by having students write papers dealing
with the history of some particular scientific theory.
2. Learner centered designs
All curricularists are concerned with creating curricula that are valuable to students, or
where students are the center or focus of the program.
Weimer (2002) described five learner centered practice areas that need to change to
achieve learner – centered teaching;
– The function of the content
– The role of the instructor
– The responsibility for learning
– The process and purpose or assessment
– The balance of power.
The function of the content in learner-centered teaching include building a strong
knowledge foundation and to develop learning skills and learner self awareness.
The role of the instructor should focus on student learning. The roles are facilitative
rather than didactic.*
The responsibility of learning shifts from the instructor to the students. The instructor
creates learning environments that motivate students to accept responsibility for
learning.
The processes and purposes of assessment shift from only assigning grades to include
constructive feedback and to assist with improvement. Learner-centered uses
assessment as part of the learning process.
3. Problem centered designs
Problem centered design focuses on the problems of living – on the perceived realities
of institutional and group life – both for the individual and for society in general.
Problem centered curriculum designs are organized to reinforce cultural traditions and
also to address those community and societal needs that are currently unmet.
Though these designs place the individual in a social setting, they are unlike learner
centered designs in a major way. Problem centered designs are planned before the
arrival of students.
Topic 8
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
K.I.E. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT CYCLE
TOPIC 9
CURRICULUM INNOVATION AND IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES
Definition of key terms
INNOVATION is understood to be a social activity which aims at changing in four
dimensions.
i. Social practices.
ii. The belief
iii. The understanding.
Underpinning these social practices, materials, instruments, layout a space etc. and
IV. The social and organizational structures in which the practices are embedded and
which themselves are associated with systems of resources, power and
sanctions/gratification.
An innovation can also be understood to be a new idea or method, introduction of new
ideas or methods.
An innovation is usually characterized through some materialized plan which describes
the intended practices, and aspired ways of changing them and argues the theories
which justify the rationale. It uses some materials other resources ( time/money ) and
specific social structures e.g. steering groups, peer observation, debriefing session,
regular appraisal- to make people act in another way.
Its real test lies in being put into practice. Thus innovation is a practice to change
practices (fulllan et al, 1991).
CURRICULUM INNOVATION Is a medium type of change which is planned and
organized by the curriculum agencies. It includes the addition or removal of key aspects
in the curriculum because of one reason or the other.
IMPLEMENTATION Is the process of putting into practice an idea, programme or set of
activities new to the people attempting or expected to change.
This is the stage at which the planned curriculum is introduced into all schools and
colleges which are ready. Sub-processes to be considered here include scheduling of
implementation; the in-servicing and orientation of teachers and other educational
personnel; provision of other support services; provision of the necessary facilities;
introduction of any necessary organizational changes within the schools system;
introduction of the process of informing the general public about the new curriculum and
its implementation.
STRATEGIES are means or ways to achieve an objective.
Like planned organizational change, curriculum innovation change is based on theories
derived from social science. Group dynamics is very crucial in curriculum change there
are two approaches and these are
1. restricted approach
2. democratic or open approach
1.Restricted Approach
This where decision making is limited to few people in power so that information leaves
from one source and goes direct to the consumer. The change strategies in this
approach are based on the centre-periphery model of disseminating an innovation.
Dissemination is centrally controlled and managed. The innovation is planned and
prepared in details prior to its dissemination which is one way traffic from the centre out
to the consumer on the periphery. For example, In Kenya, this would be the case if the
information were to leave the Kenya Institute of Education and go directly to schools.
The strength of this approach depends on the central resources and the number of
destinations in the periphery and their distance from the centre. Power-coercive
strategies involve
– The use of power to alter the conditions within which other people act by limiting
alternatives
– shaping consequences of acts and directly influencing actions
In its very nature educational end cannot be achieved without the commitment/
involvement of the stake holders. Hence, more open and democratic approaches are
advocated.
2.Democratic (open) Approach
The source of information is decentralized and the entire community is involved in
decision making. It draws from various models recently developed to cope with new
notions in education which rotate around the emphasis on the child as the centre of
education and the learning process.
They include:
– Democratization of education
– Active participation of the learner
– Group dynamics
– The whole idea of individual freedom
The main characteristics of this approach are:
i. Decentralization of the sources of the sources of information-achieved by proliferation
of centres through creating secondary centres to extend the reach and improve the
efficiency of the primary centres.
ii. shifting of centres- instead of having fixed centres in the capital city and district
headquarters,these can shift to other cities and other parts of the district. This allows for
more direct involvement and faster adoption.
iii. social interaction between the members of the adopting groups- this is vital since the
success of dissemination is determined by the social climate of the
receiving body.this helps to bring the stakeholders together.
iv. problem solving approach- the consumer should identify and understand the problem
and should eventually initiate the innovation so that the process is one in which he
recruits outside help. It recognizes that the school is the most crucial consideration in
the planning of curriculum change.
v. promoting change through research – it involves linking the innovative process with
research and development,and making intellectual appeal through the demonstration of
the greater effectiveness of some idea or practice over the existing ones.
The open approach helps to improve rather than eradicate the traditional approach.
The seven stages in any planned change include:
1) diagnosis of social needs and relationships.
2) Target setting
3) Survey feedback and experimentation
4) Team training and workshops
5) Emphasis on inter-personal relationship
6) Patience and increased data-flow between the participants.
7) Use of expert consultants.

TOPIC 10
Read further about the curriculum approaches

Learner centered
Experiential learning
Interdisciplinary approach, like broadfields, correlated, interdisciplinary, intradisciplinary,
multidisciplinary