Chapter 1:

The Need for a Curriculum

Framework
 The implementation of curriculum structure that is
sari-sari and developed through hula-hula, lakas
ng kutob or gaya-gaya, becomes problematic
because of the confusion that it creates, limiting
its effectiveness in producing the desired
outcomes.
 Taking into account the considerable expense for
major nationwide curricular reforms for basic
education, it is necessary to underscore the need
for curriculum developers to pay attention to a
multitude of concerns during the planning stage
to avoid wastage.
The Role of Curriculum
 Curriculum is a crucial factor in the teaching-
learning process.
 It means a written plan ( a degree program, a
syllabus, a textbook, a learning package, a
lesson)- which is prescriptive definition.
 Based on Dewey’s (1916) view= “as all the
experiences of the learner inside and
outside the school under the guidance of
the teacher, that is all encompassing.”
Cont. role of curriculum
 A written plan that is specific and
prescriptive indicates the objectives, defines
the scope and sequence of the content,
identifies the strategies and activities or
learning, selects materials and describes the
role of the learner and the teacher.
 Comprehensive plan include all learning
experiences that may or my not be
specifically written but supervised by the
school.
 Learning Experiences constitute
the:
EXTRA-
CURRICULAR
CO- CURRICULAR
( experiences not
(experiences directly directly related to
CURRICULAR related to classroom classroom lessons
(classroom lessons) lessons such as
but with educative
debates and science
contests) value such as
athletics and
leadership training)

The purpose of plan ( prescriptive or comprehensive ) is to

enable students to learn knowledge, skills, attitudes, values
and habits so that they can become competent and productive
members of society.
Cost- Effectiveness
 A need to maximize scare resources
allocated to the educational system for
obvious reasons.
Phases of Curriculum Development
Curriculum Dev’t- refers to process that produces a
written plan.
Phases:
1. The curriculum design or structure
2. The implementation scheme
3. The evaluation procedure

Curriculum Designs – are overall frameworks

which describe the interaction and congruence of
the four basic elements of aims: objectives,
content, organization, and evaluation.
--These frameworks become the bases for the
dev’t of textbooks, syllabi, and lesson plans.
Figure 1. Phases of Curriculum
Development

Plan
* Design ( objectives, content,
organization, evaluation)
Curriculum * Pilot Testing ( deficiencies,
operational problems)
Development
* Implementation ( roles, materials,
schedule)
* Evaluation ( effectiveness,
efficiency, impact )
Figure 2. Phases of Curriculum
Development (Inverted Model)
PHASES
* Lesson Planning ( individual
teachers )
* Lesson Try-outs ( individual
Curriculum
teachers )
Development
* Curriculum Design ( curriculum
committee )
* Implementation ( wide-scale)
* Evaluation ( effectiveness )
 Areas of Concern in Curriculum
Development
1. Shared philosophy, beliefs, behaviors, norms
and rules of Philippine society.
2. Knowledge of the nature of the learner in
terms of development level, learning style,
normative needs and other philosophical and
psychological concerns.
3. Knowledge of teaching-learning theories and
principles; and
4. The different domains of knowledge
(cognitive, affective, psychomotor).
Figure 3. Curriculum Development as a Process of Decision-
Making
Areas of Concerns
Knowledge of
Knowledge Teaching-
Learning Body of
Cultural of Learner
Theories & Knowledge
Values
Principles

Curriculum
Development

Pilot
Testing
Curriculum
Implementation Evaluation
Design

Decision Areas
Cultural Values
 A group of people in any given society may be
defined by its culture which is manifested by
both visible and non-visible dimensions.
 Visible dimension- rules, food, dress, language,
music, dance, means of livelihood, political
behavior, as well as family, community, and
institutional norms and practices.
 Non-visible- such as philosophy, beliefs and
value system which have far greater influence and
impact on the way of life of the people.
 Figure 4. The role of Education in Integrative
Development
Sustainable Spiritually uplifting
Equitable INTEGRATED Socially Integrating
DEVELOPMENT
C
Economic Growth O
M
E International Cooperation M
D
U
U
Environmental Protection N
C
I
A
Social Justice C
T
A
I
T
O Peace & Order
I
N
O
Health N

CULTURAL VALUES
Knowledge of the Learner
 The learners are beneficiaries of curricular
revision efforts, it is necessary to know their
needs and interests so that the curriculum
design can respond to their developmental
needs that impact on the growth of
knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and habits
as well as on their expectations in relation to
the socio- economic realities in their own
environment.
Cont…Knowledge of the Learner
 The Program For Decentralized Educational
Development Program (PRODED) and the
Secondary Education Development Program
(SEDP) intended to improve the quality of
elementary and secondary education
respectively are focused on the content rather
than on the learner and the learning processes
despite their expressed bias for humanist
orientation.
 Factoring of the Economic
Conditions of the Learners
 Poverty continues to be pervasive in the
Philippines.
 Because the basic needs for food, health,
and housing of majority of people are not
met, many children of school age are
malnourished and sickly.
 In the 80’s, UNICEF estimated that 1.35
million Filipino children were out of school.
 Recognizing Future Needs of
the Learners
 It is necessary to anticipate future needs
and expectations too, in order to train the
learners to live in and cope with the
demands of a world that will certainly be
unlike the present in many significant ways.
 Visions about the future outlined in
documents like Philippines 2000 provide
information on the kind of curriculum
needed in the next century.
 Knowledge of Teaching-
Learning Principles
 Understanding how human beings learn
requires knowledge of psychological
theories and principles.
 Behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and
cognitive- field psychology.
Behaviorism
 Behaviorism represents a philosophical and
scientific orientation which focuses on the
study of observable events through the use of
the senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching
and smelling).
Behavioral Theories

Classical • Constitutes the lowest level of learning which

is based on the scientific works of Ivan
Conditioning Pavlov (1927).

Contiguity • Takes places when stimuli are paired such as

what goes on with the drill instruction and
learning practice.

Instrumental / • Based on the work of B.F. Skinner

(1953),explains learning in terms of the
Operant effects of reinforcement which strengthens
Conditioning behavior.
Cognitive Development Psychology
 Cognitive Dev’t Psychology refers to a
philosophical and scientific orientation which
focuses on mental processes ( cognition) that
are non- observable.
 Cognition- represents the manner by which a human
being acquires, stores, processes and uses information
about the internal and external environment.
 According to cognitive psychologist, learning
takes place through the interaction between the
genetic factors (hereditary), and environmental
ones (nurture).
Cont…Cognitive Development
Psychologist
Jean Piaget • The development of the intellect occurring 4
stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete
(1948) operational, and formal operational.

Jerome • Intellectual dev’t in stages: from simple to

complex.
Bruner • Proposed that individuals represent in their
minds the world around them based on the
(1959) cognitive level they are in particular point in time.

Lev • Recognized cognitive dev’t as an effect of social

Vygotsky ( interaction: children learn from their interaction
with the people around them from birth.
1978)
Cont…relation to Classroom
Instruction
• C.I should proceed from simple ideas to
Jean Piaget complex ones, from concrete concepts to
abstract ones and in consideration of the stage
(1948) of the development of the learner.

Jerome • Children represents in their minds the world

around them at each stage through different
Bruner modes- enactive (through action), iconic
(through visual images), and symbolic (through
(1959) language and numbers).

Lev • Exposure and immersion strategies in the

teaching of many subjects are used by teachers.
Vygotsky ( • The social world is the source of all their
concepts, ideas, facts, skills, and attitudes.
1978)
Cognitive- field Psychology
 Based on the German concept of Gestalt that
connotes patterns, shapes, forms and
configuration._.....personal meanings or private
views referred to as perception.
 the theory was started by three German
psychologist: Koffka (1935), Wertheimer (1945),
and Kohler (1947). According to the theory, “what
individuals perceives and what they pay attention
to, determine the meaning they give to the field
(environment)”.
 The field represents how the individual perceives
himself in relation with the environment (perceptual
organization).
 Table 1. Comparison Among Behaviorism, Cognitive
Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology
Cognitive
Cognitive- Field
Behaviorism Development
Psychology
Psychology
Basis for learning Stimulus- Response (S- Interaction between Perception
R) genetic factors and the
environment

Philosophical Basis Realism Pragmatism Existentialism/

Phenomenology
Learning Mode Passive Interactive Interactive

Knowledge Linear Developmental Pattern

Structure
View about reality Congruent with what is Constructed Constructed
observed
Key Concepts Conditioning, Developmental stage, Insights, Mental
Reinforcement Interactions, Mental structures, Patterns
Measurable, Association structure or schemas of Relationship
View of the Whole Sum of all the parts Stage-bound Greater than the
sum of all parts
 Universal Development and the
Theory of Multiple Intelligences
 Piaget’s concept of universal dev’t may no
longer tenable.
 Sperry’s (in De Tagle, 1992) neuroscientific
research describes how the left and right
hemisphere of the brain for majority of
individuals.
 Howard Gardner (1983), proposed the theory
of Multiple Intelligences (MI)
 Figure 5. the Split-Brain Model and the Dominant
Characteristics for Each Hemisphere of the Human
Brain

LEFT BRAIN RIGHT BRAIN

(Analytic) (Global)
• Symbols (Letters, • Forms and Patterns
words, numbers, (gestalt)
formula) • Images and Pictures
• Logic • Rhythm, tune, and
• Sequence Harmony
• Linearity • Spatial Manipulation
• Analysis • Integration
• Scientific process • Scientific process
• Imagination and Intuition
 Figure 6. Paradigm Shift on the Concept of
Intelligence

Paradigm- a model or pattern for something that may be copied

Table 2. Abilities and Sensitivities of Each of the Seven Intelligences Based
on the Gardner Model

DOMAINS ABILITIES SENSITIVITIES

Logico- Reason logically and coherently, apply Pattern, sequence,
mathematico the scientific method in problem- system, order
solving
Linguistic Deal with verbal symbols Sounds, meanings, and
arrangement of words
Musical Produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch Musical expressiveness,
and timbre tone ,, rhythm
Spatial Perceive relations of objects in space Visual experiences
with precision, transform and create
visual experience
Bodily- Control body movements Coordinating between and
Kinesthetic among body parts
Interpersonal Discern and respond appropriately to Needs and feelings of
the moods, temperaments, others
motivations, and desires of others
Intrapersonal Understand personal feeling and draw Personal feeling and
upon them to guide behavior needs
A Proposed Emerging Learning
Paradigm
 The emerging paradigm suggest that’s
that it is the learner who has stellar role
in the learning process; the teacher’s
role although important is only a
supporting one.
Figure 7. the Emerging Learning
Paradigm

Context:
• Real- life Situation
• Learning
environments
Social Processes:
•Interaction
•Collaboration
•Transaction
•Group Dynamics

TEACHERS GOAL LANGUAGE

Body of Knowledge
 What knowledge is of most worth and therefore
should be taught…….since the time of Plato and
Aristotle.
 The early Romans decided that the ideal
curriculum to produce an educated man
consisted of the seven liberal arts: grammar,
rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy
and music.
 In modern times, as a consequences of
discoveries in science, new ideas about human
beings, nature and life, there had been a
tremendous explosion of knowledge that
necessitated the inclusion of other subjects in he
curricula.
Cont….Body of Knowledge
 Several branches in the field of science are
now included in the school curriculum.
 Social science courses which were not
deemed essential before are now standard
components of the curricula.
 As new knowledge and information as well
as technological inventions are introduced
and validated….
Decision- Making
 The concerns on cultural values, learner
characteristics, teaching- learning principles
and worthwhile knowledge guide the
curriculum developers in making decisions
regarding the curriculum design, on how to
conduct a pilot study of the curriculum to
determine deficiencies in the design that
should be corrected prior to its full
implementation, and on the procedure for
evaluation.
Source: Curriculum Development: The Philippine Setting by
Adelaida L. Bago, 2001.