In the past, the Curriculum Development course was not considered necessary for beginning teachers. It was assumed that they would use the curriculum provided by schools, which would be primarily taught through textbooks. In recent years, teachers have been seen as curriculum decision-makers who need to understand both the ‘how’ and the ‘why’ of curriculum design. If teachers understand how a curriculum has been developed, they are likely to be more prepared to make it educationally fruitful for their students. Moreover, if adaptations are necessary, they will reflect an understanding of the overall goals, purposes, and design principles inherent in the curriculum they are teaching. In many cases, teachers may find themselves creating unique curricula to meet the context-specific needs of their students and the communities in which they are situated.
A. Curriculum is to run a race
The origin of the word curriculum was from the Latin word “currere” which means to run a race. In educational usage, “the course of the race”. This means that once children start to learn, they begin to run the race. This is comprehensive in nature (Offorma, 2014) because, in the course of race, children or the learners encounter a lot of experiences, which may be intellectual, social, moral, spiritual or physical. These experiences are provided to produce individuals that are socially effective and responsible. This also implies that one of the functions of a curriculum is to provide and design experiences which enable learning to take place.
The experiences may be formal and planned or informal and unplanned. The curriculum that is written and published, for example the one that was given to the teachers by the DepEd as K-12 Curriculum guide, is the official or formal curriculum. The official curriculum can also be distinguished from the hidden, unofficial or counter curriculum. The hidden curriculum describes those aspects of the educational environment and student learning (such as values and expectations that students acquire as a result of going through an educational process, like developing patriotism among the students in teaching English language) which are not formally or explicitly stated but which related to the mission and vision of the institution. This tells that the process of learning is as important as its product, and as teachers we need to be aware of both the formal and informal factors which affect learning.
In the course of the race, the child may also encounter some obstacles which he must overcome either through his efforts or by the assistance of someone else to enable him in attaining the expectations of the society. With all of these, it is clear that learners are the main focus of the curriculum. They are the runners and to be able for them to reach the finish line, we, the stakeholders must do all the efforts to help them.
B. Definitions of Curriculum
The definition of curriculum depends on the purpose of education and the types of products they expect to have. Curriculum makers consider the goals and objectives of the education before they design all the learning experiences and contents to be learned by the learners. In this case, the total education is guaranteed to focus in the development of the learners.
Curriculum can be defined as the document, plan or blue print for instructional guide (Offorma, 2014), which is used for teaching and learning to bring about positive and desirable changes in learners’ behavior. This definition refers to the formal curriculum (as discussed at the first part, is planned ahead of time). It considers the characteristics of the curriculum recipients, the philosophy and goals of education, the environment, the resources, methods of teaching, and evaluation procedures. It is the road map towards attainment of the goals of education.
The definition of curriculum as a structured series of learning experiences intended for the education of the learners is related to the above definition. It is a course of studies offered in the school for the education of the learners, and which students pursue in order to get a degree, a certificate, a diploma or any other forms of academic awards. Learning experiences are embedded in courses taught to the learners in schools. The learning experiences are learner oriented, goal oriented; and they can be physical or mental activities, observable or unobservable (Offorma, 2002). Wheeler (1978) distinguishes learning experiences from the content. He sees learning experiences as the activities engaged by the learners and learning content as the knowledge they are exposed to. Curriculum content is made up of the subject matter to be taught, body of knowledge, topics, ideas, concepts, symbols, facts and cognitions, presented to the learners.
Curriculum is a programme. This includes programme of studies, programme of activities and programme of guidance. One can not talk about curriculum without referring to the programme of studies which is seen in form of contents, subject matters and bodies of knowledge. The programme of activities is made up of all the learning experiences presented to the learners. Learners learn through activities and so the programme of activities facilitates the learning of the content of studies. Programme of guidance is the assistance given to the young and inexperienced members of the society by more experienced person to help them solve their educational, career or vocational, and socio-personal problems.
As a whole, curriculum is a general plan of the content or specific materials of instruction that the school should offer to educate the learners. It is an instrument of which schools seek to translate the hopes of the society in which they function into concrete realities. It is planned and sequenced. It is a vehicle through which education is attained. The essence of education is the ability to transfer the knowledge, facts, skills, values and attitudes learnt from one situation to solving problems in another situation, and this is done through curriculum.
C. Traditional vs. Modern Curriculum
It is evident, nowadays, that the world is being governed by the modern technologies. Most of us now have gadgets and are using these every time, from waking up every morning up to going down to bed every night. We have Smartphone applications and features that help us in doing our household chores, making our work easily done in our office or even make us entertain and surpass our boredom. The information can be easily accessed. It is just fingerclick-ready online. It offers vast information, ranging from a video demonstration on how to cook up to locating someone using online map projected by the satellites.
This is a point to describe that we are now in the Knowledge Age (Trilling, 1999). In this age, knowledge is no longer being taught as something to be retained or stored in the minds of learners. Instead, it is now taught for them to apply the knowledge they acquire, just like electricity that flows and forms a system of networks – the knowledge should be in active use. But it is dismaying and irritating that some learners do not know bits of information they ought to know – missing knowledge as they call it.
With all these current issues of education, it will be better to differentiate the traditional and modern curriculum. This will help us to see the best curriculum suitable to meet the needs of the modern learners.
Traditional schools defined curriculum as a group of subjects arranged in a certain sequence particular to the subject field itself for the purpose of instruction. This definition is based on the assumption that the role of education is to fit the individual for his place in society. The modern dimension of curriculum consists of all experiences for learning which are planned and organized by the school (Whitefield, 1971). Curriculum is composed of the actual experiences and activities of the learners inside or outside the classroom under the guidance of the teacher and for which the school accepts responsibility (Osmundo, 1965).
Some authors define curriculum as “the total effort of the school to bring about desired outcomes in school and out-of-school situations” or “a sequence of potential experiences set up in school for the purpose of disciplining children and youth in group ways of thinking and acting (Taba, 1962).
D. Characteristics of Desirable Curriculum
Curriculum encompasses all learning opportunities provided by the school. This broader concept of curriculum implies that it exists not in the textbooks, nor in the course of study, nor in the lesson plans of the teachers but in the experiences of the learners. To elaborate further, the following are the desirable characteristics of a curriculum:
- A curriculum is flexible when it provides differences in ability, in rate of growth and variability in all kinds of activity in every school day and then provision for teacher to arrange learning opportunities flexibly for adaptation to particular situation and individual is considered. It makes the curriculum desirable because it helps the educator adjust to the learning abilities of the learners, since they are the main focus in the curriculum.
- A curriculum is ever changing when it emerges in new and varied developments like inclusion of modern educational technology in instruction for the benefits of students to compete on national and global levels. According to Cheryl Lemke (1999), technology accelerates and enriches basic skills. Students tend to have a better grasp of the material with the access of technology, and as such are able to absorb the information more quickly. She said that the electronic materials, when used in education, can be more stimulating and interactive for children.
- A curriculum is inclusive when it fosters the total development of students. This includes mental, physical, social, spiritual and emotional integrated development – holistic development. It must also be consistent when it reflects adequately the accepted philosophy of education and the goal and objectives of the society. A curriculum has to be democratic. It must foster democratic citizenship, and experiences that develop democratic attributes in behavior. Lastly, a curriculum needs to be spontaneous to provide a progressive comprehensive knowledge of pupils needed for lifelong learning.
E. DEVELOPMENT
Development is the specific word that connotes change. Change means any alteration or modification in the existing order of things. However, change may not necessary result in development. Only positive change brings about development, it must have the following characteristics:
- Change must be professional. Purposeful change is change that is intentional or directional. There must be clearly specified targets or objectives. This kind of change is something that one wills or causes to happen without thinking. It is therefore subsumes control over or responsibility for the effects brought about changes.
- Change must be planned. Planning in this case means two things. First, there is a series of systematic and sequential steps leading to a target. Secondly, there are executed over a period of time. Planned change then takes time. It requires an orderly progression of schedule activities and tasks. It allows no shortcuts. It demands a disciplined execution.
- Change must be progressive. Positive change brings about improvement. It takes a person or a group to higher levels of perfection.
II. CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
Curriculum development then should be concerned with the drawing up of plans for teaching and learning activities in classroom situations that will bring about positive changes in the lives of the learners. It is based on the school mission and goals and identifies ways of translating these into a coherent and coordinated program of meaningful experiences and condition eliciting responses that will lead to the transformation of the learners into authentic, warm and humanistic being. It deals with the arrangement of curriculum materials to facilitate implementation. Ivowi (1994) sees curriculum development as curriculum planning, when he distinguishes the three angles of curriculum: 'planning or development, curriculum implementation and curriculum evaluation'. Curriculum development precedes curriculum planning. It involves all stakeholders in the education of the learners and takes into account everything that will make the curriculum recipients functional members of their society.
In developing a curriculum, a number of factors are considered, and these factors are the elements that can promote or destroy curriculum implementation if not taken cognizance of in the beginning. The elements include the learners, who are the curriculum recipients; the teachers who are the curriculum implementers; the society (culture) from where the learners come and where they will function after schooling; the philosophy of education, on which the goals of education hinge; psychology of learning, which is the embodiment of the principles for effective teaching and learning (methods); the economy of the society, which determines how robust the curriculum is and its effective implementation; resources, which are the paraphernalia of effective curriculum implementation and without which curriculum development becomes worthless; and values of the society, which is the essence of education.
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Internet Sources:
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http://omni.ac.uk/browse/mesh/detail/C0013631L0013631.html
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/280554159
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