Chapter 3

Phases and Process of Curriculum Development

Objective: At the end of the chapter, you are expected to:

1.Demonstrate knowledge of curriculum planning, design and organization and
implementation of curriculum.

Introduction
In the designing of the curriculum, a reflection of how the parts are related to each other
needs to be emphasized. In here, a curriculum plan is needed to shape the organization of the
various parts, parts that would support the whole curriculum. As we design the curriculum, let us be
guided by the educational foundations that we adhere to, to come up with decisions agreeing with
our clientele, considering how they should learn and how they are to gain their knowledge.

Getting started. Activity:

Do you have any idea how a course program is developed?

Curriculum Planning and Elements of Curriculum Planning

 Involves the “form” design, pattern, or simply the arrangement of elements of
curriculum used; based on one dominant source of curriculum content
 Includes selection of content/subject matter/competencies/learning activities,
grade placement, time allotment, and sequence of content/activities
 Answers such questions as:
1) what is to be done?;
2) what subject matter is to be included?;
3) what instructional strategies, resources and activities will be employed?; and
4) what methods and instruments will be used to appraise the results of the
curriculum?

Curriculum Planning
 Curriculum planning is a complex process where faculty define intended learning outcomes,
assessments, content and pedagogic requirements necessary for student success across an entire 
curriculum.
Curriculum planning develops well-coordinated, quality teaching, learning and assessment
programmes which build students’ knowledge, skills and behaviours in the disciplines, as well as
their interdisciplinary and or physical, personal and social capacities.
Curriculum Planning is a process that involves situation analysis, goal setting and need
identification, budget determination, and decision-making regarding implementation and evaluation
details.

The Characteristic of a Good Curriculum:

The Curriculum has administrative flexibility. A good curriculum must be ready to
incorporate changes whenever necessary. The curriculum is open to revision and development to
meet the demands of globalization and the digital age.

Elements of Curriculum Planning

There is no consensus between the experts on elements of curriculum, but the most four 
common points of view concerning this issue are: objective, content, method and evaluation.

Component 1: Curriculum Aims, Goals and Objectives

Aims of Elementary Education
• Provide knowledge and develop skills, attitudes, values essential to personal
development
and necessary for living in and contributing to a developing and changing society.
• Provide learning experiences which increase the child’s awareness of and
responsiveness
to the changes in the society;
• Promote and intensify knowledge, identification with and love for the nation and the
people to which he belongs; and
• Promote work experiences which develop orientation to the world of work and
prepare the learner to honest and gainful work.
Aims of Secondary Education
• Continue to promote the objectives of elementary education and
• Discover and enhance the different aptitudes and interests of students in order to equip
them with skills for productive endeavor and or to prepare them for tertiary schooling.

Aims of Tertiary Education

• Provide general education programs which will promote national identity, cultural
consciousness, moral integrity and spiritual vigor;
• Train the nation’s manpower in the skills required for national development;
 • Develop the professions that will provide leadership for the nation; and
• Advance knowledge through research and apply new knowledge for improving the
quality of human life and respond effectively to changing society.

School Vision and Mission

Example of school’s vision:

• A model performing high school where students are equipped with knowledge, skills
and strength of character to realize their potential to the fullest.

Example of school’s mission:

 To produce globally competitive lifelong learners.
Domains
• Cognitive – knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis, evaluation
• Affective – receiving, responding, valuing, organization, characterization
• Psychomotor – perception, set, guided response, mechanism, complex overt response,
adaptation, origination.

Component 2 •Curriculum Content or Subject Matter

Subject-centered view of curriculum

1. Subject Design - The curriculum is organized in terms of subjects. Most of these
subjects are offered in the elementary level. The subjects are organized in a
fragmented manner. Connections between and among these subjects are not
emphasized in the subject design. Instead, the nature of the subject is highlighted in
this design to provide students with a general knowledge of each subject.
2. Academic Disciplines Design – Like the subject design, this type of design
organizes the curriculum in terms of disciplines like Algebra, Physics, Chemistry,
Literature, Economics, Philippine History and other disciplines. This type of design
is mostly used in high school or in college. The contents are highly specialized
particularly in the college level.
3. Integrated Design – This curriculum design is based on the principle that learners
learn in an integrated manner. Thus, this type of curriculum design tries to merge
two or more related subjects. There are three types of integration:
 a. Interdisciplinary – includes the merging of two related disciplines or
subjects. An example is the integration of Science and Health. Educators
believe that these two are naturally integrated. One needs science in order to
understand health concepts.
b. Multidisciplinary or broad fields – includes the integration of three or more
related disciplines. An example is the Social Studies curriculum.

c. Core – requires that all subjects or disciplines in the school curriculum be put
together using a single theme. Usually, this type of integrated curriculum
design is used in preschool where the subjects are combined using curriculum
themes.

COUNTRY

COMMUNITY

FAMILY

SELF

Learner-centered view of curriculum

• This design focuses on the needs, nature, and interests of learners in the curriculum.
The aim of these designs is to develop the potentials and abilities of the learners and
making the curriculum relevant and responsive to them.
a. Activity/Experience Design – This concentrates on activities that are meaningful and
interesting to the learners. In doing these activities, learners will develop various
skills like process skills, communication skills, problem solving, critical thinking,
and creativity that are important for the learners.
b. Humanistic Design – The curriculum is composed of topics and
learning experiences that focus on the holistic development of an
individual. It also addresses the needs and nature of the learners. The
 goal of this design is the development of a well-rounded individual.

Criteria used in selection of subject matter for the curriculum:

- Self-sufficiency – “less teaching effort and educational resources, less learner’s effort
but more results and effective learning outcomes – most economical manner (Scheffler, 1970) •
Significance – contribute to basic ideas to achieve overall aim of curriculum, develop learning
skills.
- Validity – meaningful to the learner based on maturity, prior experience, educational and
social value.
- Utility – usefulness of the content either for the present or the future.
- Learnability – within the range of the experience of the learners
- Feasibility – can be learned within the time allowed, resources available, expertise of
the teacher, nature of learner

Principles to follow in organizing the learning contents (Palma 1992):

1.  BALANCE– Content curriculum should be fairly distributed in depth and breadth of the
particular learning or discipline. This will ensure that the level or area will not be overcrowded
or less crowded.
2.  ARTICULATION – Each level of subject matter should be smoothly connected to the
next, glaring gaps or wasteful overlaps in the subject matter will be avoided. • Sequence – This is
the logical arrangement of the subject matter. It refers to the deepening and broadening of content
as it is taken up in the higher level.
3. The horizontal connections are needed in subject areas that are similar so that learning will
be related to one another. This is INTEGRATION.
4. Learning requires a continuing application of the new knowledge, skills, attitudes or values
so that theses will be used in daily living. The constant repetition, review and reinforcement
of learning is what is referred to as CONTINUITY.

Selection of content:
- Answers the question “What knowledge is most worth?”
- Content is the subject matter of teaching-learning process, includes knowledge, skills,
concepts, attitudes, and values, and significant only insofar as it is transmitted to the
student in some way (method)

Component 3 •Curriculum Experience/Activities

1. Instructional strategies and methods will link to curriculum experiences, the core and
heart of the curriculum. The instructional strategies and methods will put into action the
goals and use of the content in order to produce an outcome.
2. Teaching strategies convert the written curriculum to instruction. Among these are time
tested methods, inquiry approaches, constructivist and other emerging strategies that
 complement new theories in teaching and learning. Educational activities like field trips,
conducting experiments, interacting with computer programs and other experiential
learning
will also form part of the repertoire of teaching.
3. Whatever methods the teacher utilizes to implement the curriculum, there will be some
guide for the selection and use. Here are some of them: Teaching methods are means to
achieve the end there is no single best teaching method
4.Teaching methods should stimulate the learner’s desire to develop the cognitive, affective,
psychomotor, social and spiritual domain of the individual. In the choice of teaching
methods, learning styles of the students should be considered.
5.Every method should lead to the development of the learning outcome in three domains
Flexibility should be a consideration in the use of teaching methods

Component 4 •Curriculum Evaluation

- To be effective, all curricula must have an element of evaluation. Curriculum evaluation

refer to the formal determination of the quality, effectiveness or value of the program,
process and product of the curriculum. Several methods of evaluation came up.
- Regardless of the methods and materials evaluation will utilize, a suggested plan of
action for the process of curriculum evaluation is introduced.

ACTIVITIES:

1. How do you compare the planning of your life with the planning of a curricular program?
Highlight the similarities. ( 10 pts.)
2. What do we mean with “ administrative flexibility” in curriculum planning? Is it really
advisable to be flexible with the curricular offering of a course? Justify your answer. ( 5
pts.)
3. Explain: When you fail to plan, you plan to fail”. ( 5 pts.)