Q1: Critically examine the philosophical issues which can effect curriculum development?

Based upon fundamental beliefs that arise from one's philosophy of Education, curricular decisions
involve consideration of several topics and issues. Precisely for this reason, we consider philosophy one
of the major foundation areas in curriculum.
Philosophy and Curriculum
Studying philosophy helps us deal with our own personal systems of beliefs and values, i.e., the way we
perceive the world around us and how we define what is important to us. As philosophical issues have
always influenced society and institutions of learning, a study of the philosophy of education in terms of
Curriculum development is essential.
In essence, a philosophy of education influences, and to a large extent determines, our educational
decisions and alternatives. Those who are responsible for curricular decisions, therefore, should be clear
about what they believe. If we are unclear or confused about our own beliefs, then our curricular plans
are bound to be unclear and confusing. One important step in developing a personal philosophy of
education is to understand the various alternatives that others have developed over the years. Here we
shall look into the following four major philosophical positions that have, hitherto, influenced curriculum
development.
i ) Idealism
ii) Realism
iii) Pragmatism
iv) Existentialism

i ) Idealism
The doctrine of idealism suggests that matter is an illusion and that reality is that which exists mentally.
It emphasizes moral and spiritual reality as the chief explanation of the world and considers moral
values absolute, timeless and universal.
If we apply this view to education what would be the implications for the role of teachers and
curriculum in education?
Obviously, teachers would act as role models of enduring values. And the school must be highly
structured and ought to advocate only those ideas that demonstrate enduring values. The materials
used for instructions, therefore, would centre on broad ideas particularly those contained in great works
of literature and/or scriptures. Since it is based on broad ideas and concepts, idealism is not in line with
the beliefs of those who equate learning with acquisition of specific facts from various Proponents of
realism view the world in terms of objects and matter. They believe that human behavior is rational
when it conforms to the laws of nature and is governed by social laws. Applied to education, those ideas
begin to reveal a second possible philosophy of education.
ii) Realism
What kind of philosophy will that be? 'Realists' consider Education a matter of reality rather than
speculation. Application, The paramount responsibility of the teacher, then, is to impart to learners the
knowledge about the world they live in. What scholars of various disciplines have discovered about the
world constitutes this knowledge. However, like the idealists, the realists too stress that education
should reflect permanent and enduring values that have been handed down through generations, but
only to the extent that they do not interfere with the study of particular disciplines. Clearly, unlike the
idealists who consider classics ideal subject matter for studies, the realists view the subject expert as the
source and authority for determining the curriculum.
iii) Pragmatism
In contrast to the traditional philosophies, i.e., idealism and realism, Pragmatism gives importance to
change, processes and relativity, as it suggests that the value of an idea lies in its actual consequences.
The actual consequences are related to those aims that focus on practical aspects in teaching and
learning (Nash, 1995).
According to pragmatists, learning occurs as the person engages in transacting with the environment.
Basic to this interaction is the nature of change. In this sense, whatever values and ideas are upheld
currently would be considered tentative since further social development must refine or change them.
For instance, at a particular period of time it was generally believed that the earth was flat which was
subsequently disproved through scientific research.
To consider, therefore, what is changeless (idealism) and inherited the perceived universe (rea1ism) and
to discard social and/or perceptual change is detrimental to the overall development and growth of
children. You can now visualize how pragmatism would have influenced the framing of curriculum.
Curriculum, according to the pragmatists, should be so planned that it teaches the learner how to think
critically rather than what to think. Teaching should, therefore, be more exploratory in nature than
explanatory. And, learning takes place in an active way as learners solve problems which help them
widen the horizons of their knowledge and reconstruct their experiences in consonance with the
changing world. What then might be the role of the teacher? The role is not simply to disseminate
information but to construct situations that involve both direct experience with the world of the learner
and opportunities to understand these experiences.
Having seen three basic philosophical positions that have influenced curriculum development, let us
now look at the fourth one.
iv) Existentialism
This doctrine emphasizes that there are no values outside human beings, and thus, suggests that human
beings should have the freedom to make choices and then be responsible for the consequences of those
choices.
According to this philosophy, learners should be put into a number of choice-making situations, i.e.,
learners should be given freedom to choose what to study. It emphasizes that education must centre on
the perceptions and feelings of the individual in order to facilitate understanding of personal reactions
or responses to life situations. Of primary concern in this process is the individual. Since life is based
upon personal meanings, the nature of education, the existentialists would argue, should be largely
determined by the learner. Individual learners should not be forced into pre-determined programmes of
study. Whatever the learner feels he/she must learn should be respected and facilitated by the system.
An existentialist curriculum, therefore, would consist of experiences and subjects that lend themselves
to philosophical dialogue and acts of making choices, stressing self-expressive activities and media that
illustrate emotions and insights. The teacher, then, takes on a non-directive role. The tender is viewed as
a partner in the process of learning. As a professional, the teacher serves as a resource facilitating the
individual's search for personal meaning rather than imposing some predetermined values or interests
on learners.
Existentialism has gained greater popularity in recent years. Today, many educationists talk about
focusing on the individual, promoting diversity in the curriculum and emphasizing the personal needs
and interests of learners. Here, perhaps, we can recall the philosophy that underlies the open distance
education system. Learner-autonomy, which the existentialists seem to suggest, has been and remains
the prime characteristic feature of the distance mode of teaching-learning. Because of the explosion in
knowledge and tremendous growth in information technology, the curriculum of the past seems to be
obsolete.
To plug the gap between the needs of the learner, the society and the curriculum content, rethinking in
the area of curriculum development appears to be unavoidable. What might have been relevant in a
particular situation need not necessarily always be so. In essence, social changes demand changes in the
existing pattern of education. The inherent potentiality of the system of distance education enables it to
accommodate and cater to these changes. It should be clear from the above discussion that by and
large, in operational terms, both pragmatism and existentialism find ample expression in open distance
education.
.
Each of the four major philosophies just described begins with a particular view of human nature and of
values and truths, and then proceeds to suggest what such a view implies for curriculum development.
Before we conclude our discussion on the philosophical foundations of curriculum, we should make note
of a few educational philosophies in order to reinforce what has been said so far.

The most basic problem of philosophy of education is that concerning aims: what are the proper aims
and guiding ideals of education? What are the proper criteria for evaluating educational efforts,
institutions, practices, and products? Many aims have been proposed by philosophers and other
educational theorists; they include the cultivation of curiosity and the disposition to inquire; the
fostering of creativity; the production of knowledge and of knowledgeable students; the enhancement
of understanding; the promotion of moral thinking, feeling, and action; the enlargement of the
imagination; the fostering of growth, development, and self-realization; the fulfillment of potential; the
cultivation of “liberally educated” persons; the overcoming of provincialism and close-mindedness; the
development of sound judgment; the cultivation of docility and obedience to authority; the fostering of
autonomy; the maximization of freedom, happiness, or self-esteem; the development of care, concern,
and related attitudes and dispositions; the fostering of feelings of community, social solidarity,
citizenship, and civic-mindedness; the production of good citizens; the “civilizing” of students; the
protection of students from the deleteriouseffects of civilization; the development of piety, religious
faith, and spiritual fulfillment; the fostering of ideological purity; the cultivation of political awareness
and action; the integration or balancing of the needs and interests of the individual student and the
larger society; and the fostering of skills and dispositions constitutive of rationality or critical thinking.
All such proposed aims require careful articulation and defense, and all have been subjected to
sustained criticism. Both contemporary and historical philosophers of education have devoted
themselves, at least in part, to defending a particular conception of the aims of education or to
criticizing the conceptions of others. The great range of aims that have been proposed makes vivid the
philosopher of education’s need to appeal to other areas of philosophy, to other disciplines (e.g.,
psychology, anthropology, sociology, and the physical sciences), and to educational practice itself. Given
that consideration of education’s proper aims is of fundamental importance for the intelligent guidance
of educational activities, it is unfortunate that contemporary discussions of educational policy rarely
address the matter.
The most basic problem of philosophy of education is that concerning aims: what are the proper aims
and guiding ideals of education? What are the proper criteria for evaluating educational efforts,
institutions, practices, and products? Many aims have been proposed by philosophers and other
educational theorists; they include the cultivation of curiosity and the disposition to inquire; the
fostering of creativity; the production of knowledge and of knowledgeable students; the enhancement
of understanding; the promotion of moral thinking, feeling, and action; the enlargement of the
imagination; the fostering of growth, development, and self-realization; the fulfillment of potential; the
cultivation of “liberally educated” persons; the overcoming of provincialism and close-mindedness; the
development of sound judgment; the cultivation of docility and obedience to authority; the fostering of
autonomy; the maximization of freedom, happiness, or self-esteem; the development of care, concern,
and related attitudes and dispositions; the fostering of feelings of community, social solidarity,
citizenship, and civic-mindedness; the production of good citizens; the “civilizing” of students; the
protection of students from the deleteriouseffects of civilization; the development of piety, religious
faith, and spiritual fulfillment; the fostering of ideological purity; the cultivation of political awareness
and action; the integration or balancing of the needs and interests of the individual student and the
larger society; and the fostering of skills and dispositions constitutive of rationality or critical thinking.
All such proposed aims require careful articulation and defense, and all have been subjected to
sustained criticism. Both contemporary and historical philosophers of education have devoted
themselves, at least in part, to defending a particular conception of the aims of education or to
criticizing the conceptions of others. The great range of aims that have been proposed makes vivid the
philosopher of education’s need to appeal to other areas of philosophy, to other disciplines (e.g.,
psychology, anthropology, sociology, and the physical sciences), and to educational practice itself. Given
that consideration of education’s proper aims is of fundamental importance for the intelligent guidance
of educational activities, it is unfortunate that contemporary discussions of educational policy rarely
address the matter.
Q2: Critically examine the significance of situation analysis in the
curriculum development.
We have to discuss the critical view on impacts of some situational factors toward the
curriculum development. First of all we start discussion on curriculum, situation analysis and
critical views on Curriculumdevelopment. Curriculum is changing in line with the
challenging of contemporary era. Curriculum as a set of education which should be prepared
by considering some factors that influence the curriculum itself. Nowadays, school-based
curriculum (KTSP) has been implemented by state schools in Indonesia. KTSP is an overflow
of responsibility for schools (teachers) to plan, to develop, to implement, to evaluate, and to
redevelop curriculum which they use. As what have been mentioned above, there are some
situational factors that influence curriculum development, thus considering these situational
factors, it is vital for the schools or teachers, particularly, as what becomes the interest of
the writer, for the English teachers who are involved in the process of curriculum
development, to pay close and thorough attention on the betterment of English subject
curriculum. Related to KTSP, this topic is relatively crucial because teachers or curriculum
developers need to know factors that influence their product, namely, in this case is
curriculum. Those factors are societal factors, project factors, institutional factors, teacher
factors, learner factors, and implementation factors. By referring to related references, this
article provides comprehensible outlook on the issues of situational factors related to
curriculum.
Societal Factors
Since English becomes international language, English learning has been part of education
curriculum in every country in the world. English in some countries has status as second
language and some as foreign language. Such status makes those countries treat English
learning differently in terms of the curriculum. Regardless of this distinguishable status of
English as second or foreign language, in terms of the English learning curriculum, societal
factors which affect the curriculum need to be put into account.
Countries are different in terms of the role of foreign languages in the community, their
status in the curriculum, educational traditions and experience in language teaching, and
the expectations that members of the community have for language and learning.
Some of societal factors that affect curriculum development are:
a. The policies of language teaching which exist in the society created by the curriculum
developers should consider the policies of language teaching, whether it is from national law
or autonomous educational institution’s law.
b. The underlying reasons for the project and who support it: usually curriculum
development is supported by government and because of it; the content of curriculum will
be directed in line with the political views of the government. It is different from school
based curriculum development, which is developed independently by schools or teachers.
c. Language teaching experience and traditions: experience and tradition of language
teaching also affect the curriculum development. If a country has failed in implementing a
curriculum, then they will change their strategy for the next curriculum.
d. Society’ views: society’s views also affect the curriculum, because the curriculum will be
implemented to their children, even to them. Therefore, their views on the curriculum
should be considered.
e. Teachers’ views: Because the curriculum will be implemented by teachers, their views on
the curriculum are very important. Sometimes teachers complain the curriculum concept,
because they deal with some difficulties in implementing it. It is possible that the problems
are because the inappropriateness of the curriculum content and their experiences.
f. Employers’ and business community’s views: one of the education curriculum’s goals is
how to produce educated human that has industrial prospects. Thus, employers’ and
business community’s views are important to be considered.
g. Resources: available human resources (teachers’ ability) should be considered, because
the curriculum will be implemented successfully by qualified teachers. Moreover, natural
resources and media are also vital to be considered because those support the
implementation of the curriculum.
Societal factors affect the curriculum development; one of the questions is what society do
we want? (White, 2002). This short question has a deep meaning; one reason is curriculum
is created for educating pupils. The other question may appear is whether the curriculum is
suitable with the society? Values, culture or society’s believes are also a part of the societal
factors that affect the curriculum development. Every country or even regency has different
cultures and values that underlie the paradigm of people. For the example: One day Mr.
Amir teaches his students English (suppose that the students are people in a rural area in
Indonesia) by telling a story about Santa Claus (Sinterklas), it is very much possible that
the students will confuse because they are not familiar with such figure. Mr. Amir explains
that Santa’s carriage flies on the sky. It is so very possible that the students think that it is
impossible. This is happened because Mr. Amir teaches them without considering the
cultural background of the students. It will be different (and better) if Mr. Amir changes the
story. He can use local story, such as Gatot Kaca, to replace the unfamiliar figure of Santa.
This gives us understanding that curriculum construction should consider the values, culture
and society’s believes, where the curriculum will be implemented.
Project Factors
A curriculum development process is also affected by some factors related to the project
itself. As what we know that curriculum is produced by team and not by person. A team
always consists of some persons and every person may have differences each other. Project
factors means the factors exist when the curriculum is being produced. The developers’
commitment, time, resources needed, personnel are variables which have significant
impacts on the project.
To identify the project factors which affect a curriculum development, Richard mentions
some questions as follow:
a. Who constitutes the project group and how are they selected? The curriculum developer
can be teachers or administrators. It is depended on the model they use. Who select and
who are selected in this project are the first thing must be considered. The developer should
be selected by considering the skill, expertise, experienced, and commitment. The members
should respect to one another. They should not be selected by emotional relationship or
based on friendship factors. By considering this the developer will do the project full of
responsibility.
b. How are goals and procedures determined? The goals and procedures should be
determined based on the general consensus among the developers, of course it also
consider some related factors.
c. Who reviews the progress of the project and the performance of the team? The project
and the worker of the project should be reviewed by someone who is really the expert on
this field. Therefore the project progress can be observed accurately.
d. What resources do they have available and what budget to acquire needed resources?
Curriculum development should consider human resources, natural resources, and financial
resources that affect the planning and firstly in implementing the developed curriculum.
It is obviously seen that project factors which affect the curriculum development are
concentrated to the developer and who selected them, the importance of deliberation in
determining the goals and procedures, the supervisor or the reviewer of the project
progress and resources acquired. All decision taken must through a deliberation process.
Related to decisions, the developer should pay attention in determining the setting aims and
objective of the curriculum, the content and the strategies in implementing the curriculum
(Miller and Seller, 1985:12).
The following example will give us a view how important the togetherness of the curriculum
developers. An education institute decides to develop some major elements of the
curriculum. Mr. Sofyan (the head of the project) is the head master of the institute. He is
the oldest (in terms of age) among them and because of his position and his age, the other
members are reluctant to give any objection or idea. The members always agree on what
Mr. Sofyan has been proposed. In the action time, the teachers who use the curriculum deal
with some difficulties and the curriculum is not effective. This gives us a view that
togetherness in making decision is a vital aspect in curriculum development, which the
views of all members (by considering all related aspects) are distributed and support the
project successfulness.
Institutional Factors
Initially, people learn first language in their daily life, but foreign language is typically learnt
in an institution such as school, education or language institution (language course), as
what Dewey stated that school (institution) is a miniature of society (Lie, 2004:15) and
every society has culture. Every member in the institution has their own character and the
interactions among them create an environment, even culture. As Morris (in Richard,
2001:97) stated “Schools are organizations and they develop a culture…” by considering
this, it can be assumed that every institution has different culture.
Curriculum or set of education planning is produced in an institution which will use the
curriculum. Related to the KTSP, every school is given authority (responsibility) to produce
their curriculum based on several factors, and one of the factors which affect it is
institutional factors. Everything related to the institutional existence affects the curriculum,
for illustration “jelly form represents the place it produced”. A curriculum form will represent
the institution characteristics. Some institutions use textbooks as the core of the curriculum
and all teachers must use the prescribed texts, some other institution’s teachers use course
guidelines. These are examples how the institutions are different.
Again, Richard use questions to show how these factors should be considered:
a. What leadership is available within the institution to support change and to help teachers
cope with the change? Is it dictatorial or democratic? If the leadership is democratic, the
teacher will get more opportunities to take part in the curriculum development process, not
only in doing what is ordered but also considering what have to be done with the
development of the curriculum.
b. What is the role of textbooks and other materials? Textbooks sometimes become the core
of the curriculum. Therefore their curriculum will be different, although the goal of the
curriculum is similar. The teachers should be familiar with the textbooks or materials or
course guidelines used in the institution. If they are not, it will be a problem in
implementing the curriculum as what is scheduled.
c. What administrative support is available within the institution and how is the
communicational understanding between the teachers and the administration? Teachers and
administration should be in a line. The communication between them should create a
comfortable environment.
d. How committed is the institution in attaining excellence? Again, commitment of the
teachers or institution in attaining excellent achievement is demanded. The motivation and
commitment, by having the physical resources and human resources support of the
institution, can attain an excellent predicate and a good reputation for delivering successful
program.
An institution is a collection of teachers, groups and departments. Sometimes they function
in unison, sometimes with different components functioning independently and even
sometimes they function in a confrontation way. Teachers, supervisors and also
administrative should work cooperatively. For example: an English course wants to develop
its curriculum. Last week they had teacher recruitment. When they want to decide what and
how many textbooks will be used in teaching and somehow the new teachers deal with
uncertainties because they are not familiar yet with the textbooks, the new teachers should
have trainings or guidelines on how to employ the respected textbooks.
Beside the human side of the institution, the physical aspects of the institution are also
important. The curriculum should be appropriate with the resources which the institutions
have. For example: a school is developing an English curriculum and they want to utilize
CALL (computer assisted in language learning) but the school does not have computer lab,
of course this is a problem. Again, the curriculum should be compatible with the resource
which the school or institution has.
Teacher factors
Other factor which affects the curriculum development is teachers in which the curriculum
will depend on. Institution or school consists of administrator and teachers. In a school,
there are teachers having different characteristics, language proficiency, teaching
experience, skill and expertise, morale and motivation, teaching style, beliefs and principle.
Some teachers perhaps do not object to the change of curriculum because they are well
trained before or rich of experience, but there is uncertainty for some untrained teachers.
Some teachers who have time for teaching will not object when they get additional class but
some busy teachers perhaps object because it will be heavy loads for them.
The following questions help us to identify teachers’ factors which affect the curriculum
development process:
a. What kinds of teachers currently teach in the target school or institution? Teachers’
aspects such as their background, training, experience, moral and motivation should be
considered.
b. How proficient are they in English? The English teacher should have good proficiency in
English so they can master the materials in the English textbooks or other materials
resource.
c. What resources and methods do the teachers use? In teaching, teachers may use
prescribed textbooks or other materials resources; also teachers make their own materials.
These aspects should be considered to match the curriculum planning, whether they should
change their resources or the curriculum is developed in line with the current textbooks
used by teachers. Teachers’ teaching methods also should be considered.
d. What are the benefits for the teachers? Some teachers are motivated by professional
responsibility, but some teachers may be motivated by economic purpose. Therefore, the
offer should be clear for them.
Some institutions which disregard teachers who play the important role in the curriculum
practice often develop a curriculum without involving teachers. They also do not respect the
teachers factors that have impact to the curriculum. After curriculum is developed or
changed, the teachers are given the new curriculum. It is possible that the curriculum is
ready, but the teachers are not. Some experienced teachers can make adaptation soon, but
untrained or inexperienced teachers may need longer time. They perhaps do not master the
materials or textbooks used in the curriculum. Some teachers may complain because they
do not have more time and lesson loads which are very heavy for them (if the curriculum
also changes the lesson load). The students or learners may ignore these problems without
realizing that they are “sacrificed”. However, this cannot be happened, because the
institution or school must be responsible on the students or learners future.
Learner Factors
Learners or students achievements are indicators whether the curriculum is successful or
not, because to the students is the curriculum implemented. Based on the students’
success, the curriculum is evaluated. Therefore, it is essential to collect as much information
as possible about students before the project begins.
There are some kinds of curriculum, say teacher-centered and student-centered curriculum.
Most curriculums used in Indonesia is student-centered curriculum. In developing this
curriculum, the developer (whether it is administrative model or grass-root model) should
considers students’ backgrounds, expectations, beliefs, and preferred learning styles.
These questions will give us a view about the learner or student factors:
a. What are the learners’ past language learning experiences? Teachers should consider
learners’ experience in learning language before they learn English. Some learners or
students perhaps study other foreign language. This may affect their learning because
languages are different in some aspects (in terms of structure, grammar or pronunciation).
b. How motivated are the learners to learn English? Learners may be motivated by
integrative motivation or instrumental motivation. The teacher may treat different
motivation of the student with different method. The learners’ motivation is closely related
to their expectation and by considering these the teacher can decide what content they
prefer.
c. Are they homogeneous or heterogeneous group? Sometimes different cultures become
hinder in the class, thus the interaction in the class will not be good. As what Yule stated
that linguistics interaction needs good social interaction (Yule, 1996) the teacher can use
cooperative learning model to hold the heterogeneous class.
d. What type of learning approach do they favor? If the students are heterogeneous, the
teacher can divide the students in groups because they need to know their friends’ culture
or something else. If they are active students, the learning approach should be student-
focused.
e. How much time can they be expected to put into the program? Students should be
considered from the time aspect, for example young learner should not be taught in two
hours for a subject. It will bore students and of course they cannot concentrate if they are
tired.
f. What learning resources will they typically have access to? The curriculum developer
should consider what resources are the learner can access to, if the learners are realized not
qualified in computer yet, the curriculum should not be contained with CALL.
An institution’s principal just comes back from Australia and he wants to implement what he
has seen overseas. He does not consider the learners’ ability that is very different from
Australian. He decides to change the curriculum and utilize CALL, however the learners are
not able to operate internet. Finally, the learners do not pass of examination. The resources
the learners usually use are textbooks and some printed lesson material, when they are
requested to find journals and articles (and this will be assessed) by browsing in the
internet, and the teacher asks them to search by using a search engine named Google, they
might ask to each other, what is Google? This is really a problem.
Adoption Factors
Adoption factors are factors which exist when the curriculum is adopted by teachers. It is
closely related to the teachers factors explained above. When the curriculum is offered to
the teachers, by considering the changes in the curriculum, some teachers may be ready to
accept the changes while others might resist it, because the changes in the curriculum
perhaps affect the teachers’ beliefs and their principles in teaching students.
Some following questions should be considered:
a. What advantages does the curriculum change offer? When the curriculum is developed or
changed, the developer should match the changes in the curriculum and the teachers’
principles, whether it gives positive contribution or not.
b. How compatible is it? The curriculum should be developed by considering the consistency
between the changes and the existing beliefs, organization attitudes, and beliefs which exist
in the school or institution. The developers also consider the balance of the level of
difficulties and teachers / students ability to understand it. The curriculum should be tested
before it is applied.
c. Have the features and benefits of the innovation been clearly communicated to teachers
and institution? If the model used is administrative model, the curriculum should be clearly
communicated to the teachers in order to avoid the teachers misunderstanding on the
curriculum. By considering these, the curriculum will get reviews for new information,
critiques or suggestions from the teachers before it is applied. Teachers are the ones who
know their students; therefore, teachers can give more important information about
students. Thereby, the curriculum can be decided whether it can be applied in the classroom
or it cannot.

Q3: Discuss curriculum designs in term of the

reference to the relationships between
sources and elements?
Key elements within the curriculum and the relationships between them are shown in diagram 1 below.
Staff and students are at the heart of curriculum. The relationships between them are shaped by the
answers to key questions about
 assessment,
 content,
 learning interactions and
 the connections between those elements.
In the diagram the top question in each pair is a design question for staff. The lower set of questions is
commonly asked by students to shape their approach to learning. Curriculum design should help ensure
alignment between the answers staff build into their design and those that students find through their
experience of the curriculum.
These elements and relationships of course are all context bound. In current systemic approaches to
curriculum design, a major element of the educational context is the intended learning outcomes for
students of a topic or course.
Intended learning outcomes frame and influence the detail and alignment of assessment, learning
interactions and content (Biggs, 1999). Intended learning outcomes describe the characteristics that a
student should be able show on successful completion of a course or topic. Assessment gauges the
extent of students' achievement of the intended outcomes, learning interactions and content should help
to build towards students' achievement of those outcomes.

Alignment in the curriculum: outcomes influence internal elements – elements align towards students achieving
outcomes

Intended learning outcomes are formed under the influences of:

 education policy and regulations,
 the interests of the particular academic discipline,
 our understanding of the characteristics of students entering the course of topics,
 the expectations of society, professions and potential employers, and educational theory and
good practices.
 The sources of curriculum design are the same as a person’s
philosophy. How a person views the world and the experiences they
have had impacts how they design and conceptualize curriculum. There
are many sources of curriculum design and among them includes
science, morals, learner, knowledge, and society.
 Some see curriculum design as a scientific process and they focus on
quantifying the elements of the curriculum. This group often focus on
thinking strategies and elements of cognitive psychology.
 In contrast to this group, other see morals as a source of
curriculum. Morals are often derived from what people consider to be
spiritual authorities such as the Bible. For this source, lasting truth and
inequality in regards to the value of different subjects is part of adhering
to this source.
 The learner is another source. The student is where the curriculum
comes from. This source influences curriculum design by stressing
student-centered learning and activities. Students are not passive
 objects but active individuals who participate in their learning. The
student interacts with the curriculum rather than is feed the curriculum.
 The opposite of the student as a source would be knowledge as the
source. This is subject centered view in which a teacher needs to
decide what knowledge is most valuable. Knowledge should be
structured as a discipline with clear boundaries. As such,
interdisciplinary approach do not work with this view.
 Society as a source believes that curriculum design should include
collaboration. Designers should not ignore the diversity of human life as
seen in culture, ethnicity and social class. The curriculum should imbibe
this and meet the needs of each student.