│THE TEACHER AND THE

PROF. ED. 5 SCHOOL CURRICULUM

WEEK: _11_

AY 2021-2022

STUDENT’S NAME: __________________________________________

YEAR AND SECTION: __________________________________________

DATE & TIME RECEIVED: __________________________________________

DATE & TIME SUBMITTED: __________________________________________

TEACHER’S NAME: DR. JOVERT M. OFRACIO

 I. Overview

This module discusses the concept of curriculum innovation and presents different examples of curriculum
innovations across different levels of education from preschool to tertiary level.

II. Learning Outcomes

At the end of the module, you will be able to:

A. Discuss curriculum innovation.

III.Discussion and
Self-Assessment
Activities(SAA)

CURRICULUM INNOVATION
Innovation may mean a new object, new idea, ideal practice, or the process by which a new object, idea, or practice
comes to be adopted by an individual group or organization (Marsh & Willis, 2007). It may also mean the planned
application of ends or means, new to the adopting educational system, and intended to improve the effectiveness and
efficiency of the system (Henderson, 1985). Curriculum innovations are new knowledge about curriculum, new
curriculum theories, outstanding curricular practices, new curriculum, or new curriculum designs that are sometimes
developed out of a research in education or other studies from other disciplines and academic fields. It is associated with
curriculum change. A term in curriculum studies which means any changes in the curriculum that is either planned or
unplanned. It is a positive change or improvement that is happening in the education system particularly in the area of
curriculum.
A. Standards-based Curriculum – designed based on content standards as explicated by experts in the field
(Glatthorn et.al., 1998).Curriculum standards include general statements of knowledge, skills, and attitudes that
students should learn and master as a result of schooling (Marzano, 1996; Glatthorn et.al., 1998). Standards
generally include three different aspects: knowledge, skills, and dispositions.
1. Knowledge or Content Standards – describe what students should know. These include themes or conceptual
strands that should be nurtured throughout the students’ education.
2. Skills Standards – include thinking and process skills and strategies that students should acquire.
3. Dispositions – are attitudes and values that should be developed and nurtured in students.

B. Multicultural Curriculum – aims to promote cultural literacy and cultural understanding. Schools use different
strategies and approaches to develop cultural literacy and promote cultural understanding.
Banks (1994) identified five dimensions that schools could adopt when trying to implement multicultural curriculum.
These dimensions are very useful in developing cultural literacy and in promoting cultural understanding in schools.
1. Content Integration – deals with the extent to which teachers use examples and content from a variety of cultures
and groups to illustrate key concepts, principles, generalizations, and theories in their subject area or discipline.
2. The Knowledge Construction Process – consists of methods, activities, and questions teachers use to help
students to understand, investigate, and determine how implicit cultural assumptions, frames of reference,
perspectives, and biases within a discipline influence the ways in which knowledge is constructed.
3. Prejudice Reduction – describes the characteristics of students’ attitudes and strategies that can be used to help
them develop more democratic attitudes and values.
4. Equity Pedagogy – exists when teachers modify their teaching in ways that will facilitate the academic
achievement of students from diverse racial, cultural, ethnic, and gender groups.
5. An Empowering School Culture and Social Structure – involves the restructuring of the culture and organization of
the school so the students from diverse racial, ethnic, and gender groups will experience quality.

Bennett (1999) proposed a multicultural curriculum focusing on six goals: (1) develop multiple historical perspectives;
(2) strengthen cultural consciousness; (3) strengthen intercultural competence; (4) combat racism, sexism, and other
forms of prejudice and discrimination; (5) increase awareness of the state of the planet and global dynamics; and (6)
build social action skills.

C. Indigenous Curriculum
The idea of an indigenous curriculum was a product of a vision to make curriculum relevant and responsive to the
needs and context of indigenous people. The Author’s earlier studies on indigenous curriculum provided a framework for
linking indigenous knowledge with the curriculum and provided several dimensions that serve as a framework for the
development of an indigenous curriculum:
1. Construct knowledge – so that young children understand how experiences, personal views, and other peoples’
ideas influence the development of scientific concepts and scientific knowledge.
 2. Use instructional strategies – that promote academic success for children of different cultures.
3. Integrate contents and activities – that reflect the learners’ culture, history, traditions, and indigenous knowledge
in the curriculum.
4. Utilize community’s cultural, material, and human resources – in the development and implementation of the
curriculum.

D. Brain-based Education
Caine and Caine (1997) begin with brain-mind learning principles derived from brain research findings and apply
these principles in the classroom and in designing a curriculum. These principles are:
1. The brain is a whole system and includes physiology, emotions, imagination, and predisposition. These must all
be considered as a whole.
2. The brain develops in relationship to interactions with the environment and with others.
3. A quality of being human is the search for personal meaning.
4. People create meaning through perceiving certain patterns of understanding.
5. Emotions are critical to the patterns people perceive.
6. The brain processes information into both parts and wholes at the same time.
7. Learning includes both focused attention and peripheral input.
8. Learning is both unconscious and conscious.
9. Information (meaningful and fragmented) is organized differently in memory.
10. Learning is developmental.
11. The brain makes an optimal number of connections in a supportive but challenging environment; however, when
there are perceptions of threat, the brain may inhibit learning.
12. Every brain is unique in its organization.

E. Gifted Education Curriculum – designed to respond to the needs of a growing number of gifted learners and to
develop gifted potentials. There are several examples of gifted curriculum models presented as follows:
1. Schoolwide Enrichment Model (SEM) (Renzulli & Reis, 2009, 1997) is widely implemented as an enrichment
program used with academically gifted and talented students and a magnet theme/enrichment approach for
all schools interested in high-end learning and developing the strengths and talents of all students (Davis,
Rimm, and Siege, 2011). The major goal of the SEM is the application of gifted education pedagogy to total
school improvement.
2. Parallel Curriculum Model (PCM) evolved from a National Associationfor Gifted Children curriculum in 1998. A
group of scholars (Tomlinson, Kaplan, Renzulli, Purcell, Leppien, & Burns) collaboratively developed this
model. It is based on the premise that every learner is somewhere on a path toward expertise in a content
area. The four curriculum parallels in this model are:
A. Core Currriculum - focuses on the nature of knowledge that is embedded in the discipline. This includes
the core concepts, skills, and values that are unique for each discipline.
B. Curriculum of Connection – focuses on the integration or interconnectedness of knowledge across
different disciplines.
C. Curriculum of Practice – involves the application of knowledge to different real-life situations and the
methodology of a practitioner.
D. Curriculum of Identity – fits the learner’s values and goals and those that characterize practicing
professionals.
3. Autonomous Learner Model
The Autonomous Learner Model is divided into five major dimensions:
A. Orientation – acquaints students, teachers, and administrators with the central concept in gifted education
and the specifics of this model. At this level, gifted students work together in doing self-understanding
exercises that will help them be familiarized with each other. The students are expected to develop an
Advanced Learning Plan as part of their orientation experience that includes information about their
giftedness, various personal and academic needs, learning experiences they might need, and other things
that will help them succeed in school.
B. Individual Development – focuses more clearly on developing skills, concepts, and attitudes that promote
lifelong learning and self-directed learning.
C. Enrichment Activities – involve two kinds of differentiation of curriculum, namely (1) differentiation of
curriculum by the teacher and (2) differentiation by the students.
D. Seminars – designed to give each person in a small group opportunity to research a topic and present it in
seminar format to other people or to a group.
E. In-depth Study – one in which students pursue areas of interest in long-term individual or small group
studies. The students will decide what will be learned, the process of doing it, the product, how content
will be presented, and how the entire learning process will be evaluated.
4. Integrated Curriculum Model – this model is a popular way of organizing or designing different kinds of
curriculum. The Center for Gifted Education at the College of William and Mary developed its curriculum
based on this model and has trained many teachers around the world in using their curriculum materials
(Davis et.al., 2011). The model presented three dimensions based on the model of VanTassel-Baska (1987)
that guide the development of the curriculum.
A. Advanced Content Dimension – meets the needs of gifted students for acceleration by providing content
earlier and faster than same-age peers would normally receive it.
 B. Process/Product Dimension – incorporates direct instruction and embedded activities that promote higher-
order thinking skills and create opportunities for independent pursuit in areas of student interest.
C. Issues/Themes Dimension – where learning experiences are organized. Students are able to develop deeper
ideas and philosophies that ultimately promote understanding of the structure of knowledge learned.
5. Kids Academia Model – a program for young Japanese children ages 5-8, which was developed by Dr.
Manabu Sumida in 2010. The program is designed to provide excellent science experiences for gifted
children in Japan. The kids who participated in the program were rigorously selected using a checklist from
the Gifted Behavior Checklist in Science for Primary Children. Faustino, Hiwatig, and Sumida (2011) identified
three major phases that are followed in the development of the curriculum.
A. Group Meeting and Brainstorming Activities. The teachers and teaching assistants hold several meetings
and brainstorming activities to decide on the themes that will be included in the program.
B. Selection of Contents for Each Theme. The teachers and teaching assistants carefully select the lessons
and topics that are included in the theme. A rigorous study of the topic is done in this phase.
C. Designing Lessons – This phase includes the careful preparation of lesson plans and other instructional
materials needed for implementing each lesson.

F. Differentiated Curriculum – a curriculum that considers the unique characteristic, learning styles, thinking
preferences, intelligence, need, cultural backgrounds, interests, gender, and other unique characteristics of the
learners. It is a curriculum that enhances learning, making it learner-centered and dynamic. It enables teachers to
plan the curriculum based on the nature and needs of learners. It also enables fast learners and slow learners to
have equal opportunity to master the lesson and to develop holistically. According to Gayle Gregory and Carolyn
Chapman (2002), there are six steps in planning differentiated learning: (1) set standards; (2) define content; (3)
activate prior knowledge; (4) acquire new knowledge; (5) apply and adjust the learning; and (6) assess learning.

G. Technology Integration in the Curriculum – breaking the geographical barriers in education. It is creating a new
space for meaningful learning. There are several innovations from basic education to graduate education that are
associated or influenced by technology integration, Some of these innovations are: distance education; computer-
assisted instruction; online learning; teleconferencing; online libraries; webinars; online journals; and e-books.

H. Outcome-based Education – designed that ensures coherent, logical, and systematic alignment between and
among the different levels of outcomes. It also ensures connection among the essential elements of the
curriculum: intent, content, learning experiences, and evaluation. It seeks to ensure that the necessary
instructional support system, learning environment, administrative support system are in placed based on the
desired outcomes developed by HEI. It supports the quality assurance system.
According to Spady (1994), there are two common approaches to an OBE curriculum, namely:
1. Traditional/Transitional Approach – emphasizes student mastery of traditional subject-related academic
outcomes and cross-discipline outcomes.
2. Transformational Approach – emphasizes long-term cross-curricular outcmes that are related directly to
students’ future life roles.

I. Transition Curriculum – designed for special learners that are intellectually disabled and those that are
physically handicapped. It is designed to meet their special needs and respond to their specific interests. It is like
a care package that will empower the learners in their transition from home to school, or from post-elementary or
post-secondary to the world of work. In the transition program, the learners will also enjoy an education that will
enable them to become functional in their everyday lives.
The Transition Program in the Philippines could be expanded to many different possible points of entry
that will extend the scope of transition program from young children to adults. These may include the following
examples:
1. Transition to school life
2. Transition after post-secondary schooling
3. Transition from school to entrepreneurship
4. Transition from school to adult life
5. Transition to functional life

ACTIVITY:
How does Outcomes-based Education (OBE) support academic freedom?

IV. Summary/Key
Points

• Educators and curriculum workers are always encouraged to innovate in the curriculum.
• Curriculum innovations are essential changes in the curriculum that have positive results for the school and for
the students.
 • In proposing curriculum innovations, the curriculum worker should study the nature of the innovation in relation to
the social context of the learners and the school.
• Curriculum innovations could be introduced in any level of education – from the national level down to the school
level.
• Teachers and administrators play an important role in introducing and implementing curriculum innovations.
• The success of any curriculum innovation is based on the support of stakeholders and the government.
• Curricular innovations at the local school level are encouraged.

V. End of Module
Assessment (EMA)

In preparation for the Presentations of Video or Podcast lesson, you have to make a draft of your detailed
lesson plan in your specialization. Please see to it that you have a different MELC from the rest of your
classmates.
You can submit your draft of DLP in a Microsoft word.

VI. Looking Ahead

SELF-REFLECT
Why do you think curriculum evaluation is important?

VII. Self-Learning Module

Evaluation

Rate your learning experience in using this module according to the following scale.
Put a check mark on your response.
4 – I learned a lot from this module.
3 – I learned just right.
2 – I still need guidance on certain topics.
1 – I did not understand anything.

VIII. References

Book
Pawilen, Greg Tabios (2019). The Teacher and the School Curriculum. Rex Book Store, Manila, Philippines.