QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Teacher Education

Bachelor of Elementary Education
…promoting pedagogical excellence

Module 5 CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT: PROCESSES AND MODELS

Lesson 1
Competencies At the end of the module, the students should be able to:

1. explain and summarize the curriculum development process

and models

Discussion
Curriculum is a dynamic process. In curriculum development,
there are always changes that occur that are intended for improvement.
To do this, there are models presented to us from well-known
curricularists like Ralph Tyler, Hilda Taba, Galen Saylor and William
Alexander which would help clarify the process of curriculum
development.

There are many other models, but let us use the three for this
lesson.

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS

Curriculum development is a dynamic process involving many

different people and procedures. Development connotes changes which
is systematic. A change for the better means alteration, modification or
improvement of existing condition. To produce positive changes,
development should be purposeful, planned and progressive. Usually it
is linear and follows a logical step-by-step fashion involving the
following phases: curriculum planning, curriculum planning, curriculum
design, curriculum implementation and curriculum evaluation.
Generally, most models involve four phases.

1. Curriculum planning considers the school vision, mission and

goals. It also includes the philosophy or strong education beliefs
of the school. All of these will eventually be translated to
classroom desired learning outcomes for the learners.

2. Curriculum designing is the way curriculum is conceptualized

to include the selection and organization of content, the selection
and organization of learning experiences or activities and the
selection of the assessment procedure and tools to measure
achieved learning outcomes. A curriculum design will also include
the resources to be utilized and the statement of the learning
outcomes.

3. Curriculum implementing is putting into action the plan which

is based on the curriculum design in the classroom setting or the
learning environment. The teacher is the facilitator of learning,
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Teacher Education
Bachelor of Elementary Education
…promoting pedagogical excellence

and together with the learners, uses the curriculum as design

guides to what will transpire in the classroom with the end in view
of achieving the intended learning outcomes. Implementing the
curriculum is where action takes place. It involves the activities
that transpire in every teacher’s classroom where learning
becomes an active process.

4. Curriculum evaluating determines the extent to which the

desired outcomes have been achieved. This procedure is on-
going as in finding out the progress of learning (formative) or the
mastery of learning (summative). Along the way, evaluation will
determine the factors that have hindered or supported the
implementation. It will also pinpoint where improvement can be
made and corrective measures, introduced. The result of
evaluation is very important for decision making of curriculum
planners, and implementors.

Curriculum Development Process Models

1. Ralph Tyler Model: Four Basic Principles

Also known as Tyler’s Rationale, the curriculum development

models emphasizes the planning phase. This is presented in his book
Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. He posted four
fundamental principles which are illustrated as answer to the
following questions:
I. What education purposes should schools seek to
attain?
II. What educational experiences can be provided that
are likely to attain these purposes?
III. How can these educational experiences be
effectively organized?
IV. How can we determine whether these purposes are
being attained or not?

Tyler ‘s model shows that in curriculum development, the

following considerations should be made:
I. Purposes of the school
II. Educational experiences related to the purpose
III. Organization of the experiences
IV. Evaluation of the experience

2. Hilda Taba Model Classroom Approach

Hilda Taba improved on Tyler’smodel. She believed that teachers

QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Teacher Education
Bachelor of Elementary Education
…promoting pedagogical excellence

should participate in developing a curriculum. As a grassroots

approach, Taba begins from the bottom, rather than from the top as
what Tyler proposed. She presented seven major steps to her linear
model which are the following:
I. Diagnosis of learners’ needs and expectations of the larger
society
II. Formulation of learning objectives
III. Selection of learning contents
IV. Organization of learning contents
V. Selection of learning experiences
VI. Determination of what to evaluate and the means of doing
it

3. Galen Saylor and William Alexander Curriculum Model

Galen Saylor and William Alexander (1974) viewed curriculum

development as consisting of four steps. Curriculum is “a plan for
improving sets of learning opportunities to achieve broad
educational goals and related specific objectives for an identifiable
population served by a single school center.”

I. Goals, Objectives and Domains. Curriculum planners begin

by specifying the major educational goals and specific
objectives they wish to accomplish. Each major goal
represents a curriculum domain: personal development,
human relations, continued learning skills and
specialization. The goals, objectives and domains are
identified and chosen based on research findings,
accreditation standards, and views of the different
stakeholders.

II. Curriculum Designing. Designing a curriculum follows after

appropriate learning opportunities are determined and how
each opportunity is provided. Will the curriculum be
designed along the lines of academic disciplines, or
according to student needs and interests or along themes?
These are some of the questions to be answered at this
stage of the development process.

III. Curriculum Implementation. A designed curriculum is now

ready for implementation. Teachers then prepare
instructional plans where instructional objectives are
specified and appropriate teaching methods and strategies
are utilized to achieve the desired learning outcomes
among students.
QUIRINO STATE UNIVERSITY
College of Teacher Education
Bachelor of Elementary Education
…promoting pedagogical excellence

IV. Evaluation. The last step of the curriculum model is

evaluation. A comprehensive evaluation using a variety of
evaluation techniques is recommended. It should involve
the total educational programme of the school and the
curriculum plan, the effectiveness of instruction and the
achievement of students. Through the evaluation process,
curriculum planner and developer can determine whether
or not the goals of the school and the objectives of
instruction have been met.

All the models utilized the processes of (1) curriculum planning,

(2) curriculum designing, (3) curriculum implementing, and (4)
curriculum evaluating.