Unit 3

3 Curriculum Development
INTRODUCTION
Every successful concept and project in life requires a proper framework and planning.
This relates to all processes, including education. Whenever we embark on any new plan
or procedure, we need to make sure that we have all the plans drawn up. What is on
offer, what are the resources that we have, what are the steps which we need to take and
what are the goals that we need to achieve are some elements that need to be looked
upon. A similar set of constraints when applied to education in schools and colleges gives
birth to curriculum. Curriculum transaction is an effective and desired implementation
of the curriculum contents on the basis of aims and objectives listed in the curriculum.
Curriculum Transaction incorporates effective planning for providing learning experiences
for its learners, organisation of planning, administration/implementation of the organised
planning and evaluation of the implementations by the implementer and the experts in the
relevant field. Education prepares future generation to take their due place in the society.
It becomes essential that substandard educational goals, materials and methods of
instruction are not retained but updated in consonance with the advances in social cultural
and scientific field. It is also important to ascertain how different educational institutions
and situations interpret a given or prescribed curriculum. Including the various types of
models and strategies curriculum evaluation are important of the curriculum enhancing.
Curriculum Development
The curriculum development process systematically organises what will be taught,
who will be taught and how it will be taught. Each component affects and interacts with
other components. The curriculum provides the guidelines for how the program will be
delivered and the goals within it that are evaluated for effectiveness. The text focuses on
curriculum development and evaluation and not on instructional design and strategies
that are used to deliver the program. Some major theories and concepts that relate to
both curriculum development and instructional strategies are discussed but only in light of
their contributions to the mission and philosophy of the educational program (e.g. learning
theories, educational taxonomies, critical thinking). Curriculum development includes a
variety of activities around the creation of planned curriculum, pedagogy, instruction and
delivery methods for guiding student learning.
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Meaning:
Curriculum development is planned, purposeful, progressive and systematic process in
order to create positive improvements in the educational system. Every time there are
changes or developments happening around the world, the school curricula are affected.
There is a need to update them in order to address the society’s needs.
Definitions:
Following are the definitions of curriculum development:
1) Rogers and Taylor:
"Curriculum development describes all the ways in which training or teaching
organisation plans and guides learning. This learning can take place in groups or with
individual learners. It can take place inside 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."
2) Dela Cruz:
“Curriculum development is involves general aims, which the schools are to pursue
and about which the more specific objective of instruction are attained.”
Principles of Curriculum Development:
Different educationists have expressed their own views about the fundamental principles
of curriculum, the difference being created by their different philosophies of education.
Briefly, the principles of curriculum development are as follows:
1) Principle of utility:
T. P. Nunn, the educationist, believes that principle of utility is the most important
principle underlying the formation of a curriculum. He writes, "While the plain man
generally likes his children to pick up some scraps of useless learning for purely
decorative purposes, he requires, on the whole, that they shall be taught what will be
useful to them in later life and he is inclined to give 'useful' a rather strict interpretation."
As a general rule, parents are in favour of including all those subjects in the curriculum
which are likely to prove useful for their child in his life and by means of which he can
be made a responsible member of society.
2) Training in the proper pattern of conduct:
According to Crow and Crow, the main principle underlying the construction of a
curriculum is that through education the educand should be able to adopt the patterns
of behaviour proper to different circumstances. Man is a social animal who has to
constantly adapt himself to social environment. Therefore, education must aim at
developing all those qualities in the educand which will facilitate this adaptation to the
social milieu. The child is by nature self-centered, but education must teach him to
attend to the needs and requirements of others besides himself. One criterion of an
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educated individual is that should be able to adapt him to different situations with which
he is confronted. In this context, the term conduct must be understood in its widest
sense. Only then can this principle of curriculum construction be properly understood.
All our activities in social, economic, family, cultural environment constitute behaviour
or conduct and it is the function of education to teach us how to behave in different
situations.
3) Synthesis of play and work:
Synthesis of Play and Work of the various modern techniques of education, some try
to educate through work and others through play. But a great majority of educationists
agree that the curriculum should aim at achieving a balance between play and work.
In other words, the work given to the educand should be performed in such a manner
that the child may believe it to be play. There is difference between work and play.
That is why parents want to engage the child in work instead of allowing him to play
all the time, but the child is naturally inclined to spend his time in playing. Keeping this
in view, T. P. Nunn has written, "The school should be through of not as a knowledge
monger's shop but a place where the young are disciplined in certain forms of activity.
All subjects should be taught in the "play way", care being taken that the "way" leads
continuously from the irresponsible frolic of childhood to the disciplined labours of
manhood."
4) Synthesis of all activities of life:
In framing a curriculum, attention should be paid to the inclusion, in it, of all the various
activities of life, such as contemplation, learning, acquisition of various kinds of skill,
etc. In the individual and social sphere of life, every individual has to perform a great
variety of activities and his success in life is determined by the success of all these
activities. Hence, the curriculum should not neglect any form of activity related to
any aspect of life. A curriculum constructed on this basis will be both comprehensive
and closely related to life. In other words, it should include all the activities that the
educand is likely require in later life.
5) Principle of individual differences:
Modern educational psychology has brought to light and stress the significance of
individual differences that exist between one individual and another. It has been
discovered that people differ in respect of their mental processes, interests, aptitudes,
attitudes; abilities, skills etc. and these differences are innate. All modern education is
paidocentric, that is, it is centered on the child. Psychologists insist that the curriculum
should be so designed as to provide an opportunity for complete and comprehensive
development to widely differing individuals. One of the basic qualities of such a
curriculum is flexibility, for it must be flexible in order to accommodate educands of
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low, average or high intelligence and ability and to provide each one a chance to
develop all these abilities to the greatest possible extent.
6) Constant development:
Another basis for curriculum construction is the principle of a dynamic curriculum
based on the realisation that no curriculum can prove adequate for all times and in all
places. For this reason the curriculum should be flexible and changeable. This is all
the more true in the modern context when new discoveries in the various branches
of science are taking place every day. Hence, it becomes necessary to reshape the
curriculum fairly frequently in order to incorporate the latest developments.
7) Creative training:
Another important principle of curriculum construction is that of creative training.
Raymont has correctly stated that a curriculum appropriate for the needs of today and
the future must definitely have a positive bias towards creative subjects. And one of
the aims of education is to develop the creative faculty of the educand. All that is finest
in human culture is the creation of man's creative abilities. Children differed from each
other in respect of this ability. Hence, in framing a curriculum attention must be paid to
the fact that it should encourage each educand to develop his creative ability as far as
possible.
8) Variety:
Variety is another important principle of curriculum construction. The innate complexity
of man and the many facets of his personality make it necessary that the curriculum
should be varied, because no one kind of curriculum can develop all the faculties of
an individual. Hence, at every level the curriculum must have variety. It will, on the
one hand, provide an opportunity for developing the different faculties of the educand,
while on the other; it will retain his interest in education.
9) Education for leisure :
One of the objectives ascribed to education is training for leisure, because it is believed
that education is not merely for employment or work. Hence, it is desirable that the
curriculum should also include training in those activities which will make the individual's
leisure more pleasurable. A great variety of social, artistic and sporting activities can
be included in this kind of training. Besides, educands should be encouraged to foster
some or the other hobby, so that they can put their leisure to constructive and pleasant
use.
10) Related to community life:
Curriculum can also be based on the principle that school and community life must be
intimately related to each other. One cannot forget that the school is only a miniature
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form of community. Hence, the school curriculum should include all those activities
which are performed by members of the larger community outside the boundaries of
the school. This will help in evolving social qualities of the individual, in developing
the social aspect of his personality and finally helping his final adaptation to the social
environment into which he must ultimately go.
11) Evolution of democratic values:
The construction of a curriculum in a democratic society is conditioned by the need to
develop democratic qualities in the individual. The curriculum should be so designed
that it develops democratic thinking and creates a positive faith in democratic values.
The programme devised in the college should lead to the development of the individual
and social qualities in the educand so that he may be able to participate usefully
and successfully in democratic life. In all the democratic societies of the world, this
is the chief consideration in shaping the curricula for primary, secondary and higher
education. It is evident from the foregoing account of the various bases of curriculum
construction that this should be duly conditioned by careful thinking on all aspects
individual and social, variety, play and work, earning of livelihood, leisure etc.
Importance of Curriculum Development:
Importance of curriculum development is given below:
1) Broad scope of a society:
Curriculum development has a broad scope because it is not only about the school the
learners and the teachers. It is also about the development of a society in general.
2) Vital role of a country in economy:
In today's knowledge economy, curriculum development plays a vital role in improving
the economy of a country. It also provides answers or solutions to the world's pressing
conditions and problems, such as environment, politics, socio-economic and other
issues on poverty, climate change and sustainable development.
3) Development of society:
There must be a chain of developmental process to develop a society. First, the school
curriculum particularly in higher education must be developed to preserve the country's
national identity and to ensure its economy's growth and stability. Thus, the president
of a country must have a clear vision for his people and for the country as well.
4) Development of working sector:
For instance, in the Philippines, if President Aquino would like the country as the
Asia-Pacific's tourism hub, then the school curriculum must be developed along that
line. Curricular programs for higher education can be crafted in such a way that it
will boost the tourism industry and work into different models on edu-tourism, eco-
tourism, cultural tourism, medo-tourism, biz-tourism, techno-tourism, agri-tourism,
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archi-tourism among others.
5) Improve the people's way of life:
The country's economy can improve the people's way of life through curriculum
development and in order to develop it, curriculum experts or specialists should work
hand in hand with the lawmakers, the local government officials, such as governors,
mayors and others; the business communities and industries and stakeholders to set
implementing rules and policies for educational reforms.
Steps of Curriculum Development:
In developing either a teaching/learning unit or an integrated curriculum, varied decisions
are made to work out a realistic curriculum by incorporating all the principles of good
curriculum. The methodology to plan either a unit or total curriculum is to break down
the systematic steps to ensure orderly thinking to make possible a systematic study of
the elements that compare such a plan and to provide for a precise and careful study
and application of the relevant principles and facts. According to Hilda Taba, the steps
followed in developing a unit or curriculum is as follows:
A) Step 1: Diagnosing needs:
Before planning the curriculum, diagnosis helps in general analysis of problems,
conditions and difficulties. The purpose is to generate a new emphasis and new ideas
about the curriculum, by knowing thoroughly from various sources such as students
cumulative records teachers` recordings, parents, interviews, children's cases and
their IQ achievement. This kind of analysis of various aspects would lead to come out
with a new conception of curriculum. Diagnosis leads to understand the prime needs
at different stages of curriculum.
B) Step 2: Formulating specific objectives:
The above diagnosis will provide some clues to formulate necessary objectives and
lead to generate richer learning. The objectives will be very comprehensive on the
following:
1) Concepts or ideas to be learnt.
2) Attitudes, sensitivities and feelings to be developed.
3) Ways of thinking to be reinforced strengthened or initiated.
4) Habits and skills to be mastered.
Based on the diagnosis, the specific objectives are related to the concepts, ideas
necessary to learn at a stage, particular aspect of thinking, attitudes and skills and so
on.
C) Step 3: Selecting the content:
Based on the diagnosis of needs and tentative projection of objectives, it is much easy
to go for the content selection. The objectives and needs provide a basic idea and
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guidance to select the relevant content. While selecting the content, the following to
be planned meticulously:
1) Selecting the topics.
2) Selecting the basic ideas.
3) Selecting the specific content.
The first task is to select the relevant topics through which the objectives formulated
can be achieved unit by unit; the topics have to be finalised. What are the different
topics which can be covered under each subject, class and level? Then the idea needs
to pay attention to incorporate into the broad content. To suit the idea and topics, the
specific content is planned to finalise the broad areas under the curriculum.
D) Step 4: Organising the content:
Once the content is finalised, the content has to be organised systematically by
keeping in view the following:
1) Sequential order.
2) Concrete to abstract.
3) Simple to complex.
4) Known to unknown.
5) Immediate to remote.
6) Easy to difficult.
In other words, it should follow inductive logical arrangement of the content and a
psychological al sequencer. There should be connection between ideas, tacts and
relationships.
E) Steps 5 and 6: Selecting and organising learning experiences:
With the content in hand, it is easy to plan for learning experiences or activities. The
criteria with which the content is drawn should provide/plan/visualise what students
need to experience in order to acquire certain behavioural competencies and
sequence of` the experiences. Care must be taken to include a variety of learning –
reading, writing, observing doing research analysing, discussing, tabulating painting
and absorption. The learning experiences are expected to be:
1) Introduction opener, orientation:
Generally, viewing at learning experiences, at least three main stages should be
involved. The learning strategies/activities introduced are essentially (i) Introductory.
(ii) For opening up and (iii) for orientation. These include the following activities as
below: Provide diagnostic evidence for the teacher:
a) Help the students make a connection with their own experience.
b) Arouse interest.
c) Provide concrete descriptive data.
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d) Create involvement and motivation.
By following the above approach, learning experiences can be selected and organised
to facilitate learning. While teaching any unit, students can be involved actively and help
them to make a connection to their personal experiences, connect to the community or
share the experiences of their parents. Thus, the teacher plans learning experiences
by allocating tasks which are useful for the students and discusses the methods by
which to do.
2) Development:
Here the teacher plans learning experiences by developing various dimensions of the
subject. For instance. reading, researching, then analysing the data, studying various
kinds and finding the answers to their questions planned for their study,
3) Generalisation:
After developing the skills of analysis and study, students will be able to generalise
by putting together all the ideas and reformulate them in their own way. For instance,
by studying the tribal culture and the migration of that population, they come out with
certain generalisations about the ethnic groups.
4) Applications, summary and culmination:
Finally, the activities are designed to apply what has been learnt to asses and evaluate
and set into a larger framework.
5) Rhythm of learning activities:
In some of the curriculum patterns, some or the other mental activity is defectively
developed that creates problems in intake period, assimilation without integration,
inhibits new learning and burdens memory. A balanced curriculum is one where
learning is balanced, which offers opportunities for mastery of knowledge and helps
in internalisation. It requires disciplined knowledge, analysis and reflection. Thus, the
rhythm of building feelings and meanings is also important. For instance, while climbing
the staircase there is a need to balance the foot while going upwards; similarly, while
teaching a new skill, it is wise to use known material and when teaching new ideas it
is wise to use familiar skills. Thus, the curriculum decisions based on good diagnostic
evidence meet students interests and needs more adequately than do students own
unenlightened insights.
F) Step 7: Evaluating:
As we know evaluation is determining the objectives, diagnosis or establishment of
baseline for learning and appraising progress and changes there are varied approaches
and methods of evaluation to know the progress of the child. Mostly, evaluation is in a
way continuous diagnosis along with the comparison of results. Even several informal
devices can also be used to evaluate the outcomes of the unit and curriculum on
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the whole. Finally, whether the objectives of curriculum are achieved needs to be
evaluated.
G) Step 8: Checking for balance and sequence:
After completing unit by unit and the whole curriculum, it is necessary to check the
overall consistency among its parts or individual aspects. Every aspect needs to be
checked whether the core ideas are reflected in the content, whether the suitable
learning experiences are planned for the content and whether the overall achievement
of objectives is planned for the overall progress of the topic. On the whole, a proper
sequence is maintained logically and there is balance in the overall design of the
curriculum. Thus, these are the basic steps necessary while designing a unit and on
the whole curriculum is related to a subject or discipline etc.
Curriculum Theories
Curriculum theory is the theory of the development and enactment of curriculum.
Within the broad field of curriculum studies, it is both a historical analysis of curriculum
and a way of viewing current educational curriculum and policy decisions. There are
many different views of curriculum theory including those of Herbert Kliebard and Michael
Stephen Schiro, among others. Much confusion exists as to what curriculum theory is,
Part of this confusion grows out of the all too common assumption among many educators
that there is a curriculum theory. There is no one curriculum theory; there are a multiplicity
of curriculum theories-some very explicit, some implied-all of which have their disciples.
ln addition there is no one curriculum theory that is better than all of the others. A school
district or a department of a school may have developed a curriculum theory which was
reached through consensus, imposition or a variety of means, which seems to be right for
them. But this must be made clear; curriculum theory is laden with the normative.
Types of Curriculum Theory :
Even after a curriculum theory is asserted, the underlying assumptions are still there
whether recognised or not. In addition curriculum theory is confused with learning theory
and instructional theory, even administrative theory and admittedly, although these are not
mutually exclusive theoretical categories, each has distinctive characteristics.
1) Logical Bias Theory:
First, curriculum theory has an onto logical bias; its ultimate concern is with the "what"
or "why" of any educational enterprise. The primary concern is with neither teaching
nor learning but with knowledge itself, whether process or product knowledge.
2) Alternative Intellectual Structures Theory:
Second, curriculum theory deals with alternative intellectual structures for organising
knowledge. ln fact, each alternative structure assumes an answer to the question;
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What knowledge is of most worth'?
3) Microcosmic Curriculum Theory:
Third, curriculum theory moves to ward the universal and the abstract. Curriculum
theory is macrocosmic, more or less, to the microcosmic curriculum taught in each
individual classroom. For example, a teacher who lets a textbook, a curriculum guide, a
unit plan or a workbook determine the curriculum in his or her classroom is substituting
for a larger more comprehensive curriculum construct whether or not it is admitted or
recognised. Curriculum theory becomes a more viable concern of state departments
of education, school districts, curriculum councils and a less viable concern as one
moves to the practical and the operational. This does not mean, however, that theory
becomes less important for the classroom- teacher, but curriculum theory loses
its distinctiveness where a teacher is forced by the immediacy of the situation to be
concerned with methodology, motivation and content concomitantly.
Structures of Curriculum Theories :
Curriculum theory can be further clarified by briefly hitting some of the major curricular
structures. These constructs can range from the classical to the contemporary:
1) Logical Structure:
In this curriculum theory, knowledge is systematically organised as a whole. Curriculum
theory is based on the specialised disciplines. The best examples of this curriculum
theory are architectonics and zetetics where the emphasis is placed on the logical
structure, classification and organisation of knowledge. Curriculum theory becomes
a prerequisite to learning theory and instructional theory becomes an implied result.
The teacher transmits logically and the student learns. Architectonics has nine generic
classes of knowledge with three categories of extension and three categories of
intension. Zetetics has five zones and twelve sectors of knowledge.
2) Conceptual Structure:
Jean Piaget's descriptive rationale of internal mental processes is in essence a
curricular theory; he was not directly concerned with prediction or with the methodology
of teaching. His organisation structure of schema, assimilation, accommodation,
equilibrium is simply a classical epistemology. Only by assumptions built upon
assumptions can his conceptual structure be translated into instructional theory. The
real strength of his structure is its generative quality: it fosters hypothesising, learning
theory in Piaget's rationale is much like instructional theory in the logical structure
discussed earlier. It is the dark side of the moon. There is a genetically determinant
mode of conceptual development that operates throughout life and is unique to each
individual.
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3) Cognitive Structure:
Jerome S. Bruner has no definitive curricular theory except as it is assumed. One is
reminded of what whitehead asked Dewey-"Why don't you go ahead and build an
ontology?" Bruner can no more build a curriculum theory that is definitive than could
Dewey build a definitive ontology, yet Dewey conjectured an ontology of experiences.
So Bruner's curriculum theory cannot develop simply out of a logical, a priori structure.
Both logic and psychology are important. Curriculum theory cannot stand alone
curriculum theory must be a part of learning theory and instructional theory. As he
wrote, "I think a theory of development must be linked both to a theory of knowledge
and to a theory of instruction or be doomed to triviality." 'Does Bruner actually have a
curriculum theory? Yes. What is it? It depends on a multiplicity of factors-the situation,
the human goals, the hypothesising and the testing. His curriculum theory has to be
seen as intelligence operating in the real world.
4) Empirical Structure:
Activity analysis and job analysis popularised by Bobbitt, Morrison and Charters during
the1920`s and 30's is an example of using the scientific method, especially descriptive
survey methods, to study the adult community to determine the curriculum. This
curricular theory was based on the conservative assumption that the school should
reflect the adult society. Curriculum theory then was specified by discovering through
empirical data just what was necessary for an adult to know how to adjust well to the
social setting.
5) Existential Structure:
Paradoxically, to say that existential theory implies no structure says emphatically that
there is a structure. The point is that there is no institutionalised structure. Individuals
appropriate their own curricula. The existential structure is that individual meaning
comes from individual appropriation. Each individual will freely choose what myths he
or she wishes to live by.
Other curricular theory constructs could be pointed to a biological structure or
psychological structure, an ethological-ecological structure; but the five examples here
point toward the distinctiveness of curricular theory. A real value of curricular theory
lies not in the specificity of it, but in the questions it proliferates. Curriculum theory
dealt with in isolation goes nowhere. Curriculum theory leads to learning theory which
leads to instructional theory which leads to curriculum development which leads to
the classroom which leads to Johnny Jones whom all this is about.
Curriculum Organisation
Current curricular forms reward with good grades those students who assume an
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orientation towards merely reproducing the meaning of learning materials. Such curricula
will not produce a learning society.Curriculum Organisation are as following points.
Patterns of Curriculum Organisation
The patterns of curriculum organisation are as follows:
1) Subject Centered Pattern of Curriculum:
These types of curriculum is organised in terms of subjects. This curriculum includes
different branches of knowledge and subjects like history, language and mathematics
etc. Subjects are included in accordance with the level of various stages. For instance
economics, psychology and sociology are introduced at the secondary and senior
secondary stages of schooling. The contents of the subjects are also included in
accordance with level of understanding at various stages. Following assumptions are
made while organising the subject centered curriculum.
i) The school has a major role in passing on cultural heritage from one generation to
another through the medium of various subjects.
ii) Various disciplines or subjects would allow for the accommodation of the expansion
of knowledge.
iii) Each subject with an internal order in itself can be presented in a sequence.
iv) The vast amount of knowledge in the world can be grouped into various subjects.
v) Subjects can be presented in suitable units or branches. Historically the curriculum
was first conceived in terms of subject matter materials and even to-day many people
view it as materials or textbooks that are used in schools.
2) Student Centered Pattern of Curriculum:
This emphasises the students as the center of focus in any program and around them
and for them, should be established the curricula. Traditionally, this type of design was
mostly used at the elementary level but it is gradually gaining popularity to attract of
other levels of education and training as well. A curriculum centering on the learner
can also be outcome-based, integrated or standard-based curriculum. It is outcome-
based if it specifies the outcomes that students are expected to achieve in specific
subjects or learning areas by the end of specific stage of schooling. The focus is more
on the development of skills or understandings than covering the required content.
It is integrated curriculum if it seeks to enable students apply different skills in an
operational way; acknowledging the social dimension of learning and knowledge as
not merely "school-based" activities. Here, skills and knowledge are developed in
more than one area of study, defining the meaningful connections between different
aspects. It is standard-based if student performance is measured against the defined
standard rather than performance of other students. Standard-based curriculum
militate the use of criterion referenced assessments.
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3) Activity/Experience Centered Pattern of Curriculum:
This design focuses on student interests and the integration of content from any subject
field. This approach might be considered more a teaching method than a curriculum
design because it can be used in conjunction with several other design models. The
emphasis is on learning as an active, dynamic process. Learners are encouraged to
use problem-solving skills and methods and to set their own tasks. Subject matter is
drawn upon as needed for a particular task. Specific skills and knowledge are acquired
on an as-needed basis. The needs and interests of the learners determine what will be
studied. Thus, one often sees this design in private schools or in alternative schools
where students have had difficulties adjusting to a more structured classroom. The
school library has be heavily used in this design and can become the major vehicle for
"delivery" of the curriculum. The major disadvantage of this design is that it is difficult
to build a systematic system of knowledge. In practice, efforts to take this kind of
information into consideration for any type of curriculum planning are encouraged. The
diagram below shows how the learner's needs and interests drives the curriculum.
The dotted lines connecting subjects and skills suggest that learning in these areas
may not receive consistent attention.
4) The Broad Fields Curriculum Design:
The broad fields design combines two or more related subjects into a single broad
field of study for example, Language Arts combines the separate but related subjects
of Reading, Spelling, Writing, Speaking, Listening and Composition. The Broad
Fields, commonly found in elementary and middle grades, is an attempt to overcome
the fragmentation and compartmentalisation characteristic of the subject-centered
design. The intent is to achieve a greater integration of learning experiences. Use
of the broad fields a design cut down on the amount of factual detail often found
in subject-centered designs but still allows little integration between the broad fields
themselves. The design stresses content coverage and acquisition of information. The
school library will be used more extensively than in the subject-centered design and
can help reinforce the interrelationships among the subject areas within a broad field
of study.
5) Correlated Pattern of Curriculum:
Correlation design is similar to broad-field design in that it is focused on integration.
The difference is that correlation design combines only two subjects while broad-
field will combine several subjects. In many ways, one could say that correlation
design is a simplistic version of broad-field design. Some examples of correlation
design includes biochemistry, which is the combining of biology and chemistry. Other
examples include social psychology, which is sociology and psychology; bio-statistics,
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which is biology and statistics; and music technology, which focuses on music and its
use through technology. Generally correlation design is found at the university level
where students need expertise in specific subjects. The advantages of correlation
design are that it fills in the gaps within curriculum of two subjects that are related. The
two subjects are combined in innovative ways and the students are able to see the
connections between the two of them. The disadvantages are that few teachers have
enough expertise in the two subjects to successful correlate them in a curriculum. In
addition, few teachers have the time to collaborate with their peers on a project such
as this. Despite these issues, correlation design is an option for teachers interested in
creating a unique curriculum for the needs of their students.
6) Integrated Pattern of Curriculum:
Integrated curriculum is described as one that connects different areas of study by
cutting across subject-matter lines and emphasising unifying concepts. Integration
focuses on making connections for students, allowing them to engage in relevant,
meaningful activities that can be connected to real life. Can you imagine how an
integrated curriculum can benefit your students? Understanding the benefits and
how to effectively integrate curriculum can help teachers and students become more
successful in the classroom. As professionals in the education field, we recognise
that teaching has become increasingly more complex. Because of the considerable
amount of educational restructuring, numerous innovations have surfaced,
including integrated curriculum. An integrated approach to teaching supports that
when themes or projects are combined, students are able to make meaningful and
relevant connections between the different disciplines. In addition to creating a more
profound understanding of the material, repetition between the subjects decreases.
Integrated curriculum supports a belief that an individual's direct experience is crucial
to purposeful learning. Therefore, an integrated curriculum is a viable way to enable
meaningful learning to become a reality. The ideas and belief system that comprise an
integrated curriculum tend to shift from the traditional structure of schools. Integrated
curriculum supports that universal truth is not a possibility. Instead, many different
possibilities exist and there are a variety of ways to reach a desired outcome, such
an approach adopts a post-modern attitude. Supporters of integrated curriculum have
placed a greater amount of emphasis on the fact that student experience is essential
for meaningful learning to occur. Integrated curriculum seems to be the best vehicle
for empowering students, parents and teachers (Vars, 1991). Yet, many schools are
structured where students move from one subject area to the next, information is
disconnected and the ability to make material relevant to the lives of the students
is lost. Progressives were opposed to the "factory-like efficiency" model, on which
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schools depended. Progressives believed that school learning was so unlike the real
world that it had little or no meaning to the average child, (Ellis and Fouts 1997). Such
speculation about the very nature of education is foundational to integrated curricular
efforts
7) Core Pattern of Curriculum:
This design focuses on the set of learning experiences that are felt to be essential for
all students. Its underlying purpose is to create a universal sense of inquiry, discourse
and understanding among learners of different backgrounds and aspirations. Broad
areas of concern are examined and set of learning experiences intended to promote
a common body of knowledge are carefully prepared. We use such an approach in
SILS as do most professional schools In K-12 schools, a general education is the
goal of the core curriculum. Integration and unification of learning is stressed and
accomplished by the systematic correlation of subject matter around themes drawn
from the contemporary problems of living. Problem solving through reflective thinking is
encouraged. Examples of possible themes include: civic responsibility, an understanding
of economic systems and how people relate to one another within these systems,
family relationships, informed consumerism, development of aesthetic appreciations,
proficiency in spoken and written language. The school library media center can be an
essential component in providing the wide variety of learning experiences expected
in the core curriculum design. Subject matter lines are cut across and attention given
to the needs of the learner. Learner respect for one another is promoted. Learners
have the opportunity to test their own values and ideas. Cooperative teacher-student
planning is emphasised and learners are grouped homogeneously. A wide range of
ability levels can be accommodated because the problems being investigated are
considered to be universally significant.
Planning of Curriculum:
A good understanding of curriculum planning is essential for good teaching. This lesson will
help student learn what curriculum planning is, give a sense of why planning is important
and help to get ready to plan of curriculum. Curriculum planning is a process which
involves activities characterised by interrelationships individuals and groups as they work
together in studying, planning, developing and improving the curriculum, which is the total
environment planned by the school. Curriculum planning is sort of like playing a puzzle
game. There are various pieces in this game: needs of society, needs of the disciplines,
student's interest, student’s abilities, school's educational philosophy, school resources,
financial limitations, time constraints, teacher's attitudes, other subjects, the objectives,
classroom activities, materials, assessed outcomes and unanticipated outcomes. The
rule of the game is to piece together these various piece with good thinking. The only
3.15
Curriculum Study
difference is a puzzle game usually has a pre-determined final/target pattern whereas the
game of curriculum planning is without a definite end point.
Curriculum Designing:
Designing a curriculum is ideally something that is first of all effective and matches
assessment with what is taught on a course. However, it also aims to give students a
broader perspective. This approach to design is not only shaped by knowledge of your
subject but by the many internal and external influences that impact on the academic
content of the University’s modules and programmes. Curriculum design is about how
a person envisions what a curriculum should be. There are several standard models of
curriculum design. One of the most prominent is the subject-centered design. The subject-
centered designer divides the curriculum into nice and neat subjects such as maths,
science, history, literature etc. This structuring of the disciplines is for practical reasons. It
organises the curriculum into basic concepts that are combined based on what they have
in common. The essential knowledge of each area is gathered together to be taught to
students. The curriculum should be designed on the basis of the following principles:
1) Challenge and enjoyment:
Children and young people should find their learning challenging, engaging and
motivating. The curriculum should encourage high aspirations and ambitions for all. At
all stages, learners of all aptitudes and abilities should experience an appropriate level
of challenge, to enable each individual to achieve his or her potential. They should
be active in their learning and have opportunities to develop and demonstrate their
creativity. There should be support to enable children and young people to sustain
their effort.
2) Breadth:
All children and young people should have opportunities for a broad, suitably weighted
range of experiences. The curriculum should be organised, so that they will learn and
develop through a variety of contexts within both the classroom and other aspects of
school life.
3) Progression:
Children and young people should experience continuous progression in their learning
from 3 to 18 within a single curriculum framework. Each stage should build upon
earlier knowledge and achievements. Children should be able to progress at a rate
which meets their needs and aptitudes and keep options open so that routes are not
closed off too early.
4) Depth:
There should be opportunities for children to develop their full capacity for different types
of thinking and learning. As they progress, they should develop and apply increasing
3.16
intellectual rigour, drawing different strands of learning together and exploring and
achieving more advanced levels of understanding.
5) Personalisation and choice:
The curriculum should respond to individual needs and support particular aptitudes
and talents. It should give each child and young person increasing opportunities for
exercising responsible personal choice as they move through their school career.
Once they have achieved suitable levels of attainment across a wide range of areas of
learning, the choice should become as open as possible. There should be safeguards
to ensure that choices are soundly based and lead to successful outcomes.
6) Coherence:
T aken as a whole, children and young people's learning activities should combine to
form a coherent experience. There should be clear links between the different aspects
of children and young people's learning, including opportunities for extended activities
which draw different strands of learning together.
7) Relevance:
Children and young people should understand the purposes of their activities. They
should see the value of what they are learning and its relevance to their lives, present
and future.
Curriculum Transaction:
Curriculum transaction is central to the quality of secondary education, for that matter, any
stage of education. The effectiveness of all components in terms of learning achievement
depends on the planned manipulation of these components to achieve the ultimate goal of
optimum learning achievement. It is viewed as a dynamic process of “the scientific basis
of the art of teaching". Research on teaching effectiveness provides the scientific basis for
curriculum transaction and its visualisation in local specific context of individual students
in unique institutional environments represent its art dimension. Curriculum transaction is
to be viewed in the context of an emerging global trend. The base of secondary education
in developing countries like India is expanding as a consequence of increased enrollment
and retention at the elementary stage in pursuit of the goal of basic education for all.
Difference between curriculum transaction and curriculum development:

The difference between curriculum transaction and curriculum development is as follows:
Basis Curriculum Transaction Curriculum Development
Concept It is a broad concept and area It is a specific and narrow con-
of curriculum cept of curriculum.
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Curriculum Study
Process Transaction of curriculum is Curriculum development is a

done at initial stage of introduc- cyclic process use for improving
tion of new courses at school and modifying the courses at
stages and higher levels. particular state of level.
Implications Transaction of curriculum It is a cyclic process using the
Steps employs the following steps: following four steps: 'Objectives,
Planning, Organizing, Adminis- Instructional. methods, Evalua-
tering, Guiding and, Controlling tion method, Feedback.
Implication Dif- Transaction of curriculum is a It is used for specific course for
ficulties much more difficult task be- specific stage. Relatively it is an
cause it involves planning and easy and simple task.
preparing the course of disci-
pline at school and university
level.
Authority Curriculum transaction is one Curriculum development is done
by boards of study and boards by board of studies. The new
of education. In some disci- courses and content are also
pline councils plan and control. included it revised curriculum.
At university level there are On that basis of try out the new
Boards of studies for different courses.
subjects.
Aspects It is based on theoretical as- It is a continuous process based
pect. on practical aspect of curriculum.
Curriculum and Learning Experiences

Learning outcomes are what students will learn if they follow the curriculum successfully
(i.e. if they complete the programme or unit and pass the assessment). Sometimes the
phrase 'intended learning outcomes' is used to refer to the anticipated fruits of completing
the planned 'journey'.
Selection of Curriculum and Learning Experiences :
In the construction of curriculum for any course of study, objectives are formulated first and
then appropriate learning experiences are selected for the attainment of these objectives.
There are various problems we encounter in the process of curriculum experiences and
learning experiences. They are the problem of :
1) Rational Selection.
2) Establishing Criteria.
3) Validity and Significance of Content.
3.18
4) Consistency with Social Realities.
5) Balance of Breadth and Depth.
6) Provision for Wide Range of Objectives.
1) Rational Selection:
While selecting any content, the problems of rational selection arises: whether the
content is suitable, because of many changes that are taking place in various fields,
development of technology, scientific innovations etc. The content also has to look
for appropriateness, unity, depth, or sequence for learning. What are the needs of the
society or demands of the society? For instance, while selecting the causes the present
demand for computer knowledge is more relevant. So it is necessary to go for a rational
selection of curriculum and learning experiences.
2) Establishing Criteria:
i) Both content and learning experiences should be fruitful and a clear distinction
should be made between them.
ii) The content prescribed in the curriculum should satisfy the present needs as well
as future expectations of the students. It should be limited but self-explanatory and be
helpful in learning with fewer and concise topics.
iii) Problem of misconception about the role of subjects in disciplined thought as the
direct function of the mental operations has been employed while learning.
iv) Desired objectives can be reflected in selection of content and subject.
v) Selection and organising the concepts depends on the type of society.
3) Significance of Content:
The content selected should help students increase their knowledge, provide meaningful
experiences, develop skills needed to solve the problems faced in day to day life.
The curriculum improvement, change and also introduction of new disciplines and
interdisciplinary areas etc. must need appropriate validation of included contents. Those
contents must also show significance in the current trends.
i) Validity :
The curriculum must need appropriate validation of included contents. The
appropriateness of the contents selected for pupils' learning to achieve the stated
objectives. The curriculum contents should be factual, authentic and conforming to the
objectives.
ii) Utility :
Prescribed content should be of practical use and helpful to students for the present and
also for the future. It should pose a challenge to the intellect of the student, help in the
development of innate potentials and prepare him for facing the problems of life.
3.19
Curriculum Study
iii) Kindling of Interest :
Interest is always related to pupiIs' background knowledge, abilities and current
events. Subject matter of the curriculum should connect the students' interests with
the new learning experiences.
iv) Feasibility or practicability :
Curriculum content should not be utopian, but keep in view the ground realities.
Availability of resources, time limit, expertise of the teaching staff, prevailing social
and political conditions and rules and regulations in force should be kept in mind while
carefully selecting the curriculum content. If such care is taken, the curriculum will
meet failure.
v) Learn Ability :
Students age and development level should be borne in mind while selecting the
content. It should neither be too easy nor too difficult for the stage.
4) In-depth Content :
The contents must have in-depth knowledge and satisfy all the criteria it needed.
There should be balance in all the areas. The prescribed content and ideas must
introduce proper understanding of the concepts. The innovative contents must provide
the path for thinking.
5) Objectives :
The curriculum must help in higher order thinking, developing desirable attitudes,
interests, skills development and significant behavioral change in habits. According
to Taylor, the curriculum must provide an enriched environment, which stimulates an
assimilation of desired attitudes and provide experiences, which evoke feeling of a
desired type. The curriculum has to provide opportunities for the intellectual analysis
to develop insights into the consequences of the events, ideas or possibilities for
desired behaviour.
Apart from the above all criteria it should also include ability to learn and adaptability
to experiences of the students and their important needs, interests of the students.
Selection of Curriculum Experiences and Learning Experiences highlights the
importance of the target group by understanding the abilities of the learners and also
needs of the learners.
Organisation of Curriculum Content and Learning Experience :
Oganisation of Curriculum Content and Learning: Curriculum organisation is a difficult
and complex process. The organisation of curriculum consists of
1) Establishing Sequence
2) Determining the Focus
3) Integration of Content and Skills
3.20
4) Logical and Psychological Requirements
5) Varieties in Modes of Learning
6) Continuity
1) Establishing Sequence:
According to Smith and Shore four basic principles are involved in sequencing the
curriculum.
i) From Simple to complex :
The content is organised from the simple components to the complex components by
creating an interrelationship between each other.
ii) Expository order :
It starts with simple specific concepts to the whole material organisation. For instance
while organising the content on principles, laws in physics, grammar, geometry, etc.
From whole to part: It starts with whole and goes to individual parts. In science first a
flower is introduced as whole and then individual parts are shown.
iii) Chronological :
Here the content/ subject matter is organised in a time sequence varies from subject
to subject.
2) Determining the Focus:
i) The units, topics of the subject.
ii) The core ideas of the topic as focusing centers.
iii) Core ideas can be used as coverage.
iv) Focusing centers as the threads for either a vertical or horisontal integration.
3) Integration of Content and Skills:
Integration and specialisation of knowledge is presumed as very important one. This
means seeing relationships between experiences or knowledge. The integration could
be horisontal or vertical.
4) Logical and Psychological Requirements:
In the process of organisation of curriculum it should preserve both logic of the subject
matter and psychological sequence of learning experiences. For more effective
organisation both of them need to be considered.
5) Varieties in Modes of Learning:
Students that have learning disabilities have one commonality, a processing deficit
that interferes with their learning. Nevertheless, it is important to remember that every
individual learns differently and thus has a unique learning style. Auditory learners
tend to benefit most from traditional teaching techniques. Many teachers use a
lecture-style forum, presenting information by talking to their students. Regulating
voice tone, inflection and body language will help all students maintain interest and
3.21
Curriculum Study
attention. Some students rely upon a visual learning style. As research and teacher
in servicing continue, classrooms will continue to integrate more of these techniques.
Once students understand their learning styles, they can better adapt to their learning
environment. Throughout the educational process, students enter many arenas.
6) Continuity:
Special schools should appropriately adapt the mainstream curriculum by means of
simplification, abridgement, reorganisation, extension and selection. Teachers should
be given a free hand in this process. At the beginning of each term, schools should
call cross-subject curriculum meeting to ensure continuity and coherence of the whole
curriculum. The actual curriculum tailoring should then be systematically conducted as
designed by the well-experienced personnel.
Models of Curriculum Development
Each curriculum describes several and different approaches which reflect the
developer's view of reality, philosophy, history, psychology, social issues and the
domains of knowledge. For every approach, it expresses an orientation or perspective
about curriculum development which impacts on the design of the curriculum, the role of
schools, administrators, teachers, learners, curriculum specialists and requirements for
implementation and evaluation such as instructional materials, equipment and facilities.
There are two classifications of Curriculum Approaches
1) Technical-Scientific Approach
2) Non-Technical/ Non-Scientific Approach
Technical-Scientific Approach of Curriculum Development :
It views curriculum development as something similar to engineering or architecture.
The basis for the procedure is the scientific method which involves a logical step-by-step
procedure of problem solving. The procedure is guided by well-defined objectives which
are formulated based on the analysis of normative needs as defined by developmental
and other psychological theories, rather than individual needs and interests. It is a way
of planning curricula to optimise students' learning and to allow them to increase their
output. According to Ornstein and Hunkins, the roots of technical-scientific approach are
found in the turn of Twentieth Century when schools attempted to "adapt the principles of
bureaucracy to the methods that could be considered scientific.
A) Tyler Model of Curriculum Development :
Ralph W. Tyler's long and illustrious career in education resulted in major contributions
to the policy and practice of American schooling. His influence was especially felt in the
field of testing, where he transformed the idea of measurement into a grander concept
that he called evaluation; in the field of curriculum, where he designed a rationale
for curriculum planning that still has vitality today and in the realm of educational
3.22
policy, where he advised U.S. presidents, legislators and various school leaders on
new directions and improvements for public schooling.
After starting his career in education as a science teacher in South Dakota, Tyler
went to the University of Chicago to pursue a doctorate in educational psychology.
His training with Charles Judd and W.W. Charters at Chicago led to a research focus
on teaching and testing. Upon graduation in 1927, Tyler took an appointment at the
University of North Carolina, where he worked with teachers in the state on improving
curricula. In 1929 Tyler followed W. W. Charters to the Ohio State University (OSU). He
joined a team of scholars directed by Charters at the university's Bureau of Educational
Research, taking the position of director of accomplishment testing in the bureau.
He was hired to assist OSU faculty with the task of improving their teaching and
increasing student retention at the university. In this capacity, he designed a number
of path-breaking service studies. He made a name for himself at OSU by showing the
faculty how to generate evidence that spoke to their course objectives. In this context,
Tyler first coined the term evaluation as it pertained to schooling, describing a testing
construct that moved away from pencil and paper memorisation examinations and
toward an evidence collection process dedicated to overarching teaching and learning
objectives. Because of his early insistence on looking at evaluation as a matter of
evidence tied to fundamental school purposes, Tyler could very well be considered
one of the first proponents of what is now popularly known as portfolio assessment.
The years Tyler spent at OSU clearly shaped the trajectory of his career in testing and
curriculum development. His OSU ties brought him into the company of the Progressive
Education Association and its effort to design a project dedicated to the reexamination
of course requirements in American high schools. Known as the Eight-Year Study,
the project involved thirty secondary schools that agreed to experiment with various
alternative curricula approaches. The purpose of the study was to help colleges and
high schools better understand the effects of the high school experience on college
performance and other post-high school events. Tyler was chosen as the director
of evaluation for the study, recommended for the job by Boyd Bode, who witnessed
Tyler's work with faculty at OSU. Tyler designed methods of evaluation particular to the
experimental variables of the Eight-Year Study. The details of this work are captured
in Tyler and Smith's 1942 book on the evaluative component of the Eight-Year Study.
The finding of the Eight-Year Study threw into question the tradition of supporting only
one set of high school experiences for success in college and opened the door for
more alternative thinking about the secondary school curriculum.
For Tyler, the Eight-Year Study not only provided a venue for his creative perspective
on evaluation but it also forced him to think about a rationale for the school curriculum.
3.23
Curriculum Study
Answering a call from the participating schools in the study for more curriculum
assistance, Tyler designed a curriculum planning rationale for the participating schools.
After moving to the University of Chicago in 1938 to take the position of chairman in
the Department of Education, Tyler continued to cultivate his ideas on the rationale,
using it in a syllabus for his course on curriculum and instruction and eventually
publishing it in 1949, under the title Basic Principles of Curriculumand Instruction.
In the rationale, Tyler conceived of school action as moving across a continuum of
concerns that speaks to school purposes, the organisation of experiences and the
evaluation of experiences. His basic questions are now famous:
1) What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?
2) What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to attain these
purposes?
3) How can these educational experiences be effectively organised?
4) How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?
The rationale also highlighted an important set of factors to be weighed against the
questions. Tyler believed that the structure of the school curriculum also had to be
responsive to three central factors that represent the main elements of an educative
experience:
i) the nature of the learner (developmental factors, learner interests and needs, life
experiences, etc.);
ii) the values and aims of society (democratising principles, values and attitudes);
and
iii) knowledge of subject matter (what is believed to be worthy and usable
knowledge).
In answering the four questions and in designing school experience for children,
curriculum developers had to screen their judgments through the three factors.
Tyler's rationale has been criticised for being overtly managerial and linear in its
position on the school curriculum. Some critics have characterised it as outdated and
atheoretical, suitable only to administrators keen on controlling the school curriculum
in ways that are unresponsive to teachers and learners. The most well-known criticism
of the rationale makes the argument that the rationale is historically wedded to
social efficiency traditions. Tyler offered no substantive response to these criticisms,
believing that criticism of his curriculum development work required some discussion
of an alternative, which none of the critics provided.
Tyler's reputation as an education expert grew with the publication of Basic Principles
of Curriculum and Instruction. Because of the value Tyler placed on linking objectives to
experience (instruction) and evaluation, he became known as the father of behavioral
3.24
objectives. This led many to again characterise his work in the tradition of the social
efficiency expert aiming to atomise the curriculum with hyper-specific objectives. Tyler,
however, claimed no allegiance to such thinking. To him, behavioral objectives had to
be formed at a generalisable level, an idea he first learned in graduate school under
Charles Judd, whose research focused on the role of generalisation in the transfer of
learning. And although Tyler understood that schooling was a normative enterprise,
he showed great regard for the exercise of local prerogatives in the school and cited
a concern for "children who differ from the norm" as an educational problem needing
attention.
Advisory Role :
Tyler also exercised enormous influence as an educational adviser. Rising to the
position of Dean of Social Sciences at the University of Chicago, Tyler assisted
Robert Hutchins in restructuring the university's curriculum in the late 1940s and in
founding the university's Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions. During this
time Tyler also started his career as an education adviser in the White House. In
1952 he offered U.S. President Harry Truman advice on reforming the curriculum at
the service academies. Under Eisenhower, he chaired the President's Conference
on Children and Youth. President Lyndon B. Johnson's administration used Tyler to
help shape its education bills, most notably the Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 in which he was given the responsibility of writing the section on the
development of regional educational research laboratories. In the late 1960s Tyler
took on the job of designing the assessment measures for the National Assessment
of Education Progress (NAEP), which are federally mandated criterion-reference tests
used to gauge national achievement in various disciplines and skill domains.
After leaving the University of Chicago in 1953, Tyler became the first director of the
Advanced Center for Behavioral Science at Stanford University, a think tank for social
scientists that Tyler founded with private monies. He formally retired in 1967, taking on the
position of director emeritus and trustee to the center and itinerant educational consultant.
Given the longevity of his career in education and wide-ranging influence of his work in the
policy and practice of public education, especially in the realm of curriculum development
and testing, Tyler could very well be seen as among the most influential of figures setting
the course for the American public school during the second half of the twentieth century.
B) Saylor and Alexander Model of Curriculum Development :
Galen Saylor and his associates (1981) adopt an administrative approach to curriculum
development. They describe and analyse curriculum plans in terms of the relations of
ends and means, the attention to pertinent facts and data and the flow of activities
or procedures from beginning to end. Fig. 1.1 depicts their conceptual model of the
3.25
Curriculum Study
curriculum development process.
Fig 3.1 : Designing the curriculum-an administrative approach.

As shown in Fig. 1.1, the selection of educational goals and objectives is influenced by
1) external forces, including legal requirements, research data, professional associations
and state guidelines and
2) bases of curriculum, such as society, learners and knowledge. (Note the similarity to
Tyler's sources.) Curriculum developers then choose the combinations of curriculum
design, implementation strategies and evaluation procedures that are calculated to
maximise the attainment of goals; review feedback from the plan in effect through
instruction; and re-plan the elements of the curriculum as indicated by the data.
Curriculum design involves decisions made by the responsible curriculum planning
group(s) for a particular school center and student population. Having collected and
analysed essential data and identified goals and objectives, curriculum planners
create or select a general pattern-a curriculum design-for the learning opportunities
to be provided to students. Among their alternatives is a subject design utilising
specific studies in the specified curriculum area, a scope and sequence plan built
around a selection of persistent topics or themes, an analysis of the essential skills
necessary for knowledge and competence in the subject area and a selection of
problems (in cooperation with students) related to the area of study. The design
plan ultimately anticipates the entire range of learning opportunities for a specified
population. Curriculum implementation involves decisions regarding instruction.
Various teaching strategies are included in the curriculum plan so that teachers have
options. Instruction is thus the implementation of the curriculum plan. There would
3.26
be no reason for developing curriculum plans if there was no instruction. Curriculum

plans, by their very nature, are efforts to guide and direct the nature and character of
learning External forces Legal requirements Research data Professional associations
State guidelines Goals and objectives Curriculum design Curriculum implementation
Curriculum evaluation Bases of curriculum Society Learners Knowledge Feedback
opportunities in which students participate. All curriculum planning is worthless unless
it influences the things that students do in school. Saylor argues that curriculum
planners must see instruction and teaching as the summation of their efforts.
Curriculum evaluation involves the process of evaluating expected learning outcomes
and the entire curriculum plan. Saylor and his colleagues recognise both formative
and summative evaluation. Formative procedures are the feedback arrangements that
enable the curriculum planners to make adjustment and improvements at every stage
of the curriculum development process: goals and objectives, curriculum development
and curriculum implementation. The summative evaluation comes at the end of the
process and deals with the evaluation of the total curriculum plan. This evaluation
becomes feedback for curriculum developers to use in deciding whether to continue,
modify or eliminate the curriculum plan with another student population. The provision
for systematic feedback during each step in the curriculum system-and from students
in each instructional situation-constitutes a major contribution to Saylor and associates
administrative model of curriculum development.
C) Taba Model of Curriculum Development :
Hilda Taba 1962 reversed the commonly accepted procedure for curriculum
development by suggesting that instead of developing a general plan for the school
program as the scholars in the tradition of deductive models do, it would be more
profitable to begin with the planning of teaching-learning units. In such a system,
teaching-learning units would provide the basis for the curriculum design. Thus, the
curriculum would emerge from the instructional strategies. Taba developed a Grades
1 through 8 social studies curriculum organised around teaching-learning units. In
the process, a curriculum model evolved that is applicable to many types of curricula
and that can be used in many different kinds of school settings and school levels:
elementary school, middle school and high school. The model includes an organisation
of and relationships among, five mutually interactive elements-objectives, content,
learning experiences, teaching strategies and evaluative measures-so that a system
of teaching and learning is represented. The model is depicted in Fig. 3.2
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Curriculum Study
Fig. 3.2 : Designing the curriculum-an instructional strategies approach.

Taba's model contains within it a number of innovative aspects: specificity in determining
objectives and content; learning experiences selected and organised in accordance
with specified criteria; teaching strategies that specify a variety of methods and
technology; and an elaborate array of evaluative procedures and measures. Factors
external to the model that may affect its internal components are also represented.
Such factors include
1) the nature of the community in which the school is located-its pressures, values
and resources;
2) the policies of the school district;
3) the nature of a particular school-its goals, resources and administrative strategies;
4) the personal style and characteristics of the teachers involved; and
5) the nature of the student population. Objectives help to provide a consistent
focus for the curriculum, to establish criteria for the selection of content and learning
experiences and to guide and direct evaluation of learning outcomes. At the same time
that objectives, content and learning experiences are being selected and organised,
teaching strategies must also be planned and developed. The process of determining
3.28
objectives begins with the development of overall goals originating from a variety of
sources (for example, the demands of society, the needs of students and the social
science disciplines); is broken down into behavioral statements, classified in terms
of the kinds of student outcomes expected (for example, the development of thinking
skills, the acquisition, understanding and use of important elements of knowledge and
the like); and justified on the basis of a clearly thought out rationale.
The content for each grade level in the curriculum is contained within a number of
teaching-learning units, all emphasising to some degree a yearly theme. Each unit
consists of three kinds of knowledge: key concepts (for example, interdependence,
co-operation, cultural change and social control), main ideas (that is, generalisations
derived from key concepts) and specific facts (that is, content samples chosen to
illustrate, explain and develop the main ideas). The content contained in the units
within a year's work is incorporated into learning experiences selected and organised
in accordance with clearly specified criteria (for example, justifiability, transferability,
variety of function, open mindedness, etc.). Care is taken to ensure that the learning
experiences develop multiple objectives: thinking, attitudes, knowledge and skills.
Especially designed teaching strategies that identify specific procedures that teachers
may use are included within the curriculum. (This makes Taba's model unique.) Some
have been designed to encourage students to examine their individual attitudes and
values. Particularly innovative are certain strategies that promote the development
of children's cognitive skills, such as comparing and contrasting, conceptualising,
generalising and applying previously learned relationships to new and different
situations. A variety of objective format devices have been prepared to measure the
effectiveness of the curriculum in helping students to explain or recognise causal
relationships, apply in new settings important generalisations developed in the
curriculum and to interpret social science data. Several open-ended devices have been
designed to measure the quality of students' generalisations, the flexibility and variety
of students' conceptualisations and the variety and nature of the content that students
use in response to open-ended questions. A coding scheme has been developed and
used to analyse teacher-student discussions as to the levels of thinking that they
exhibit, similar to Bloom and others' taxonomies (Durkin, 1993).
D) Hunkins Model of Curriculum Development :
Hunkins (2009) emphasis that curriculum development encompasses how a 'curriculum
is planned, implemented and evaluated, as well as what people, processes and
procedures are involved..'. Curriculum models help designers to systematically and
transparently map out the rationale for the use of particular teaching, learning and
assessment approaches. Hunkins suggests that although curriculum development
3.29
Curriculum Study
models are technically useful, they often overlook the human aspect such as the
personal attitudes, feelings, values involved in curriculum making. Therefore they are
not a recipe and should not be a substitute for using your professional and personal
judgement on what is a good approach to enhancing student learning. Hunkins model
is accepted as decision-making model with the following 7 action-steps:
1) Curriculum conceptualisation and legitimisation In this stage participants are
demanded to engage in deliberation regarding the nature of the curriculum. This stage
stresses understanding the nature and power of curriculum. It also confronts the
various conceptions of curriculum. In order for this deliberation to be successful, social
contexts, such as power politics, social and cultural views, have to be understood and
deliberated. At this stage views of curriculum and its purposes must be legitimised.
This is not any easy process; but is the most important.
2) Diagnosis This stage has two major tasks; translating needs into causes and
creating goals and objectives from the needs. To begin this process educators develop
needs analysis depending on the curriculum and the needs of the students. The needs
analysis is derived from student data. When a curriculum is approved and becomes
acceptable goals and objectives are generated to serve as guidelines.
3) Content selection The Curriculum Development Content Selection deals with the
"what" that is to be taught or learned. The content refers to the "stuff" of the curriculum.
Content or the "what" refers to the procedures students learn to apply knowledge and
skills dealing with facts, concepts, principles, theories and generalisations.
4) Experience selection The next step in the Hunkin's Decision- Making Model is
Experience Selection. In this section the emphasis is placed on instruction. Here is
where the decision of how the content will be taught or experienced. At this stage
teachers will decide what materials will be utilised.
5) Implementation After the objectives/goals, content and instruction have been
approved implementation is the next stage Curriculum Implementation has two stages.
The first stage is initial piloting to work out any minor problems and the second stage
is the final diffusion stage. The final diffusion of the program is where a management
system is set up to ensure the curriculum is ready to be delivered and experienced by
the student.
6) Evaluation Once the program has been implemented then it can be evaluated.
Evaluation is the next stage. This stage continues as long as the program is in effect.
The purpose of evaluation is to furnish data to continue to modify or discontinue the
program.
7) Maintenance The final stage of the model is Curriculum Maintenance. Curriculum
Maintenance is the methods and means by which the implemented program is managed
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to assure its continual functioning. iPro 540097-LLP-1-2013-1-BG-ERASMUS-EQR
The Hunkin's Decision-making Model has a unique feature called the feedback and
adjustment loop. This loop allows decision makers to refer back to previous stages to
make changes and any modifications. This loop contextualises the process of creating
and implementing curriculum. This aspect of the model addresses many critics of
technical models who say that technical models are not related to the times or context
in which decisions about curriculum are made.
Non-Technical/ Non-Scientific Approach of Curriculum Development :
These approach emphases on following points:
1) Curriculum evolves rather than being planned.
2) Is flexible and less structured without predetermined objectives to guide the learning-
teaching process?
3) Is based on the progressive Philosophy where the needs and interests of individual
learners and the need of the society are the priority concerns?
4) It considers that the curriculum evolves rather than being planned precisely.
5) Is influenced by the educational vision of Jean Jacques Rousseau which is that,
teachers should provide the pupil opportunities to observe and discover nature and learn
on his own.
6) Considers the artistic, imaginative, self-reflection and self-actualisation efforts of the
learners as important aspects of the curriculum
7) It emphasises the relevance of curriculum in family life, social activities in school and
community life and individual life adjustment concerns.
8) It goes beyond the formal, prescribed and specified plan and includes a informal and
non-specified curriculum.
9) Stress the subjective, personal, aesthetic, heuristic and transactional.
10) Stress the learner through activity-oriented approaches to teaching and learning.
11) The persons most involved with the curriculum (learners) are involved in the planning.
12) Focuses on individual's self-perceptions and personal preferences their own
assessments of self-needs and their attempts at self-integration.
Non-Scientific/Non-Technical approach also consists as Humanistic approach. Some of
major non-scientific approaches are follows :
A) Glathorn Naturalistic Model :
Glathorn feels it is not possible to go with systematic and incentive to the politics of
curriculum where to meet ends and to means is possible.
This model goes with the eight steps :
1) Assess the Alternatives :
Before planning the curriculum, there is a need to go into systematic examination of
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Curriculum Study
the alternatives to suit the curriculum. They have to reflect critically on the existing
practices.
2) State out the Territory :
At this stage. the designer has to define the scope in terms of its course parameters.
learners and learning activities. The tentative course progress depends on the
audience for whom it is designed-whether it is required or how it can be related to
the existing courses in the school.
3) Develope a Consistency :
The designer should not go with any personal convictions and should know their
own beliefs. Even if some of them oppose they should be convinced about the
soundness of the programme being created, thus they need to create a group
which promotes the programme.
4) Build the Knowledge Base :
As discussed in the earlier stage, after developing a team support rather than
the required knowledge base has to be created, which includes content, student
data, faculty data, skill and receptivity to the programme, community willingness to
support the innovation Also collect the research evidence for the programme.
5) Block in the Unit :
Generally, curriculum designers decide the number of units and topics and organise
them in the sequence and would be bothered about the learners achievement of
the objectives Here, no one particular sequence is suggested. instead they go
with several avenues which are sensitive to the learner’s interest. styles of learning
and other differences.
6) Plan Quality-Learning Experiences :
Here, after blocking the units learning experiences are framed which will address
general objectives. Do not emphasise subject/content. Here, certain problems
are encountered where the learning experiences suggest. It is rather going with
technical approach. However, they plan with various objectives with numerous
triggered out drivetrain outcomes.
7) Develope the Course Examination :
This is a naturalistic approach and it has all divergent approaches of testing. Both
teachers and students are involved in recording whether the quality of learning
happened or not Here, student portfolios biographic and other alternate forms of
assessment are accepted.
8) Developing in Learning Scenarios :
Here, it is not going to make any standard guides instead it creates learning
scenarios a detailed account of the unit, unit objective, suggested lessons and a
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list of learning experiences, which need to be applied to their own field. Although to
some extent it goes in a sequential way like technical model it focuses on qualitative
dimension.
B) Weinstein and Fantini Model :
This is a curriculum of affect Western and Fantini believe that education should have a
human focus and the objectives should address student’s concerns both personal and
interpersonal.
Humanitarian curriculum provides space to develope students’s self-concepts and
mature images of themselves as a citizen and a member of a human family.
In this model, the basic focus in on the individual or individuals in curriculum Basic ideas
in this curriculum content organisation are student’s concerns. It is not in response to
child-centric approach.
This model follows the different stages such as the following :
1) First stage It Determines who are the Learners :
i) At this stage model address students concerns. Here, demographic and cultural
data of the learners audience are taken.
ii) It also attends to the development and psychological levels.
iii) Teaching is done in groups.
2) Second stage :
It deals with particular concerns common to the group. Here, three major concerns
are identified.
i) Self-image.
ii) Discontentedness.
iii) Control over one’s life.
iv) Students can have even other concerns.
3) Third stage :
It deals with diagnostics. After identifying the concerns the reasons for them are
diagnosed. Teachers develope suitable instructional approaches to address these
concerns.
4) Fourth Stage :
It deals with organising ideas Decision makers select the organising ideas. Such
ideas are selected with particular content ideas concepts, generalisations. The
ideas are selected in such a way that it will cut across the disciplines.
5) Fifth Stage :
Actual selection of content vehicles takes place and content vehicles are organised
around three personal and social themes.
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Curriculum Study
Fig 1.3 : personal and social themes.

6) Sixth Stage :
It deals with learning skills necessary to deal with content could be
i) reading, writing and arithmetic and
ii) Social awareness.
Here, learners are in touch with peers, themselves and adults, The emphasis is to say
special skills are equally important as cognitive skills.
7) Seventh Stage :
It deals with teaching procedures. What are important and appropriate skills and
content for power over one’s lives? This depends on the styles of their learning.
Here, by interaction with peers and adults teachers will realise their self-worth.
Teachers have to considers learners with different needs. Observe the impact or the
consequences on them. Here, concrete data in quantitative terms are collected and
can be analyses statistically. Then on the basis of the obtained results judgement
is made on the programme and the decisions are taken about the implementation
of the programme. For example, it a child/programme fails, they just declare on the
criteria which they have used to measure and declare the results.
C) Post-Positivistic Model of Curriculum Development:
1) This model causes curriculum makers to assume an openness to process, an eye for
the unexpected and a willingness to let individuals interact with curricular matters as they
evolve.
2) Proponents of this approach to curriculum believe that the actual planning process
assumes its own ethos. Ends are transformed into new beginnings; people in the process
re altered; students, teachers and even course materials are changed as the dynamics
and chaos unfold.
3) The aim of curricula designed from this view point is not to have students arrive at
understandings, but essentially to realise that they have more work to do, to continually
maker their understandings new.
4) Curriculum becomes a process of development to be experienced in unique and the
first unimagined ways, rather than a static body of knowledge to be presented within a
3.34
strict time table.

5) Curriculum participants are engaged in a critical dialogue with themselves and others
in the planning process and interact with an evolving content of the curriculum. This
approach to curriculum creation can never be articulated with a universal precision.
6) “If you gather together to create a curriculum, it will emerge.”
National Curriculum Framework-2005

NPE 1986 assigned a special role to NCERT in preparing and promoting NCF. Yash Pal
Committee Report, ‘Learning without Burden (1993) observes that learning has become a
source of burden and stress on children and their parents. Considering these observations,
Executive Committee of NCERT decided at its meeting of 14th July 2004, to revise the
National Curriculum Framework. The process of development of NCF was initiated
in November, 2004 by setting up various structures like National Steering Committee
Chaired by Prof. Yash Pal and twenty-one National Focus Groups on themes of curricular
areas, systemic reforms and national concerns. Wide ranging deliberations and inputs
from multiple sources involving different levels of stakeholders helped in shaping the draft
of NCF. The draft NCF was translated into 22 languages listed in the VIII Schedule of the
Constitution. The translated versions were widely disseminated and consultations with
stakeholders at district and local level helped in developing the final draft. The NCF was
approved by Central Advisory Board on Education in September, 2005.
A curriculum is never static; a curriculum has to be an enabling document. A curriculum
is a vision. Therefore, National Curriculum Framework 2005, having passed through
various bodies including the CABE, is an official document laying down the needs of
the school system of India envisioning the Constitution of India upholding all its tenets.
Curriculum debates of 1968, 1986 and 2000 provided a forum to interact with people and
the documents were prepared after much interaction. The 2005 document was drafted
after an analysis of inputs and deliberation with a large number of organisations including
NGOs and institutions of higher learning. The main purpose of this exercise was to reduce
the curriculum load, remove the anomalies in the system and to create a consensus with
the help of new syllabi in the form of a thematically organised body of knowledge. The
new syllabi mark a sharp departure from existing practices in our country and others.
Basic Tenets of the National Curriculum Framework 2005:
The five basic tenets of the national curriculum framework 2005 are:
1) Connecting knowledge to life outside the school.
2) Ensuring that learning shifts away from rote methods.
3) Enriching the curriculum so that it goes beyond textbooks.
4) Making examinations more flexible and integrating them with classroom life and
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Curriculum Study
5) Murturing an overriding identity informed by caring concerns within the democratic
polity of the country.
Recommendations:
In order that education may be relevant to the present and future needs, NCF 2005
recommends that:
1) Subject boundaries be softened leading to integrated knowledge and understanding.
2) Textbooks and other material should incorporate local knowledge and traditional skills.
3) School should provide a stimulating environment that responds to the child's home
and community environment.
Vision and Perspective:
Vision and Perspectives of national curriculum framework are as follows:
a) To uphold values enshrined in the Constitution of India.
b) To reduce of curriculum load.
c) To ensure quality education for all.
d) To initiate certain systemic changes.
Guiding Principles:
Guiding Principles of national curriculum framework are as follows:
a) Connecting knowledge to life outside the school
b) Ensuring that learning is shifted away from rote methods
c) Enriching curriculum so that it goes beyond text book
d) Making Examination more flexible and non-threatening
e) Discuss the aims of education
f) Building commitment to democratic values of equality, justice, secularism and freedom.

3.36
 Review Questions 
Q.1. Write Long Answers: (15 marks)

1) What is mean by curriculum development? Describe the importance of curriculum
development.
2) Discuss the various principles of curriculum development.
3) Explain the different stages of curriculum development.
4) Discuss the Taba model of curriculum development.
5) State the Tyler model of curriculum development.
6) Technical-Scientific Approach of Curriculum Development
7) Discuss the National curriculum framework-2005.
Curriculum Organisation
Q.2. Write Short Answers: (5 Marks)

1) Write note on ‘Curriculum Planning’.
2) Describe the principles of curriculum designing.
3) Write note on Curriculum transaction.
4) Explain the Non-Technical/ Non-Scientific Approach of Curriculum Development.
5) State the Selection of Curriculum and Learning Experiences.

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Curriculum Study
3.38

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3 Curriculum Development

Difference between curriculum transaction and curriculum development:

Process Transaction of curriculum is Curriculum development is a

Curriculum and Learning Experiences

curriculum development process.

Fig 3.1 : Designing the curriculum-an administrative approach.

be no reason for developing curriculum plans if there was no instruction. Curriculum

Fig. 3.2 : Designing the curriculum-an instructional strategies approach.

Fig 1.3 : personal and social themes.

strict time table.

National Curriculum Framework-2005

Q.1. Write Long Answers: (15 marks)

Q.2. Write Short Answers: (5 Marks)

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