Principles and Theories of Curriculum Development

As for this unit, principles of curriculum development were tackled in order to answer the
questions; what should we teach, what should be the content of education and how should we
organize what we teach. And as those things were being discussed I got to realized again that the
development of the curriculum is very important since curriculum serves as a blueprint for both
educators and learners in their teaching and learning process as it is composed of various plans,
activities, outcomes, teaching and learning techniques and methods that would be of help to the
progress of the student’s learning.
The things I have learned regarding the principle of curriculum development is that when
we are developing a curriculum, we should think carefully about the learning experiences we are
about to give and provide to the learners that would fit and are right to their several ages and
grade levels. We should make sure that the activities, plans, learning outcomes and learning
methods and strategies included in the curriculum are appropriate according to their grade levels
and are hundred percent sure and possible that can be achieved and attained by the learners.
Designing and organizing the learning experiences in the curriculum should be done precisely
and accurately in order to conform to the learners needs and interests so that it would make them
motivated and inspired to learn and study more. Another thing I have learned is that in
developing the curriculum, it is necessary to have a systematic and sequential planning to enlarge
the sphere of the learning experience at each level by keeping in view the principles of
integration and correlation. In addition, I also got to know that there are various things that need
to be considered in developing the curriculum in order for it to be more efficient and effective.
Some of these are the curriculum should be environmentally centered, it has to be developed
according to the specific needs and interests of the students, it should be suitable to the age and
mental level of the children and many more. Through these things being mentioned, I realized
that developing and improving the curriculum is not that easy as it takes a lot of time, critical
thinking, considerations and wise decision making in making it for it to be precisely effective.
Theories of curriculum development were also included in this unit and these four
theories significantly made a contribution in molding, organizing and developing the curriculum.
These variety of theories were also utilized to define and describe the learning process of the
learners and through that curriculum developers would have a great idea on how to improve
more the curriculum that would meet the needs and interests of the learners which are a big help
for the learners to achieve the intended learning outcomes of the course.