PECI 211: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT THEORY

EDCI 211: PRINCIPLES AND THEORY OF CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

(NOTES IN ORDER)

(Prepared by Evelyn Mongina Okao, 2013)

Page 1 of 84
 TOPIC ONE: THE CONCEPT OF EDUCATION, CURRICULUM AND
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

MEANING AND AIMS OF EDUCATION

Education has been different meanings by different scholars. These include;
1. Oluoch G. P. (1982) has defined it as „attending a school, college or university‟.
 Therefore, anyone who has attended school regularly for a particular period of time
has being educated.
 His view is that it is wrong to make a child to repeat a class
2. Some define it as „the acquisition of knowledge‟. Thus, some defined amount of knowledge
should be acquired before a child is allowed to move to the next class.
 This definition assumes that knowledge will be acquired automatically as a result of a
child attending school.
 Allows for repetition of a class if child has not acquired the defined amount of
knowledge.
3. Some define it as „the passing of exams‟.
 Exams are very important in determining how much knowledge, skills and attitudes
passed exams is viewed as more educated.
4. To others, „it is the process of acquiring and developing desired knowledge, skills and
attitudes‟.
Note:
 The word process means that education takes place throughout one‟s life i.e. it
never ends with schooling.
 Develop knowledge skills and attitude. The acquisition of more knowledge, skills
and attitude is important in making what has already been acquired deeper and
wider knowledge, skills and attitudes acquired at lower levels became deeper and
wider as the child progresses to higher levels.

 What has been acquired should also be applied in all what an individual does.
This definition gives emphasis to the acquisition of knowledge skills and attitudes
that are desirable. The learner should as a result of being educated be able to
develop himself/herself and also ones society.

 The acquisition of desired knowledge, skills and attitudes occurs through the pupil
carrying out or engaging in learning activities (being actively involved in the
learning process).
Examples; Reading something, Practice something, listening to something, interacting with
something
5. Education has also been defined as „socializing an individual‟.
 Without community and group life, the socialization of an individual would have had
very little meaning.
 Education whether carried out inside or outside the school has always been that of
transmitting to the child the accumulated experiences of his people and their culture
and of training him to fit into the membership of the group.
 It is through this process that the society has managed to survive and gain increasing
knowledge over the environment.

Page 2 of 84
Faculty – any of the physical or mental abilities that a person is born with i.e. ability to think and
understand.

Conclusion
 Education can be defined as the process of acquiring and developing desired knowledge,
skills and attitudes.
 Education describes the total process of human learning where knowledge is imparted,
faculties trained and skills developed.

FORMS OF EDUCATION
1. Formal education

 Learning is carried out in built institutions e.g. schools and colleges.

 What is learnt is carefully structured through syllabuses and time tables.
 The teaching is supervised by an external administrative body e.g. quality assurance
officers. Achievements are recognized by award of certificates.

2. Non –formal education

 Learning is carried out outside the structure of formal school system.
 Learning is designed to meet specific learning needs of a particular groups of children
e.g. school clubs.
 What is learnt is less structured compared to formal i.e. there is less flexibility in places
and methods of learning.

3. Informal education
 No attempt of structuring
 Learning is unconscious i.e. could learn from family, friends, experience and
environment.
 No award of certificates
 It pursues its own course, at its own pace by its own means through each person‟s life.
 The effects of informal education are more permanent.
 Takes place through imitation, observation and participation.

AIMS OF EDUCATION
 As indicated already, Education entails the process of realizing certain individual and
social ideals. These ideals are enshrined in a body of values held dear by both the
communities and individuals within the society.
 In serving these ideals education fulfills both an individual and a social function.
 These ideals on a universal basis are generally referred to as the aims of education.
These are the broad general statements of the purposes of education in any one country or
nation. They are general statements of intention whose function is to provide shape and
direction to more specific actions.
 D. J. O’Connar (1957) delineate the generally accepted aims of education as being;

Page 3 of 84
 a) To provide men and women with a minimum of the skills necessary for them to
take their place in society and to seek further knowledge.
b) To provide men and women with a vocational training that will enable them to be
self reliant.
c) To awaken an interest in and a taste for knowledge.
d) To make men and women critical
e) To put men and women in touch with and train them to appreciate the cultural and
moral achievement of mankind.

 Within the general framework of universal views regarding the aims of education,
individual nations will define their own aims of education as influenced by the social,
economic and political contexts that are unique to them.

 At a lower level than aims are curricular goals to guide the educational planners in the
task of curriculum planning. They indicate the destination/ the end point of education.

 Goals are deduced from various aims statements and they provide the teachers with end
points of the educational program, course or subject.

 On attaining Republic status, the Kenya government in its manifesto outlined what it
considered to be the main functions of education. These are referred to as the national
goals of education summarized by the Ominde and subsequent reports as under.

NATIONAL GOALS OF EDUCATION (Ominde and subsequent reports)

Education in Kenya should:

1. Foster nationalism, patriotism and promote national unity

 Kenya's people belong to different communities, races and religions, but these differences
need not divide them. They must be able to live and interact as Kenyans. It is a
paramount duty of education to help the youth acquire this sense of nationhood by
removing conflicts and by promoting positive attitudes of mutual respect, which enable
them to live together in harmony, and foster patriotism in order to make a positive
contribution to the life of the nation.
 This is possible through access to education for all its citizens and the use of the two
official languages Kiswahili and English both in and out of school, among other ways.

2. Promote social, economical, technological and industrial needs for national development

 Education should prepare the youth of the country to play an effective and productive
role in the life of the nation. The link between education and the world of work, the
economy and national development is indivisible.
a) Social Needs

Page 4 of 84
  Education in Kenya must prepare children for the changes in attitudes and relationships,
which are necessary for the smooth progress of a rapidly developing economy.
 There is bound to be a silent social revolution following in the wake of rapid
modernization. Education should assist our youth to adapt to this change.

b) Economic Needs

 Education in Kenya should produce citizens with skills, knowledge, expertise and
personal qualities that are required to support a growing economy.
 Kenya is building up a modem and independent economy, which is need of adequate
domestic manpower.

c) Technological and Industrial Needs

 Education in Kenya should provide the learners with the necessary skills and attitudes for
industrial development. Kenya recognizes the rapid industrial and technological changes
taking place, especially in the developed world.
 We can only be part of this development if our education system deliberately focused on
knowledge, skills and attitudes that will prepare the youth for these changing global
trends.

3. Promote individual development and self- fulfillment

 Education should provide opportunities for the fullest development of individual talents
and personality. It should assist children to develop their potential, interests and abilities.
 A vital aspect of individual development is character building.

4. Promote sound moral and religious values

 Education should provide for the development of knowledge, skills and attitudes that will
enhance acquisition of sound moral values and help children to grow up into self-
disciplined, self-reliant and integrated citizens.
 Education and training shall inculcate moral and spiritual values, as well as, the valuing
of cultural differences within the unity of Kenya.
 It shall instill the importance of integrity, honesty, respect for others and hard work.
Further, it shall develop inter-personal skills and use the curriculum to instill these
values.

5. Promote social equality and responsibility

 Education is closely linked to culture. An educated person is not only one who has
sufficient knowledge and skills, but one who knows how to interact with others
courteously and harmoniously.
 Education and training shall therefore embrace equity issues and equal opportunity for all
- Education should promote social equality and foster a sense of social responsibility
within an education system which provides equal educational opportunities for all.
 It should give all children varied and challenging opportunities for collective and
corporate social services irrespective of gender, ability or geographical environment -
Page 5 of 84
  It is the duty of education and training to ensure that there is equal service delivery of
good quality education to nomadic, orphans and vulnerable groups especially girls
throughout Kenya.

6. Promote respect for and development of Kenya's rich and varied cultures

 Kenya„s diversity in culture and ethnic heritage is best demonstrated by her wealth of 42
indigenous tribes.
 It is through education and training that integration of Kenya„s tribes can be enriched.
Education should instill in the youth of Kenya an understanding of past and present
cultures and their valid place in contemporary society.
 The children should be able to blend the best of traditional values with the changed
requirements that follow rapid development in order to build a stable and modem society
 Education has to encourage non-formal curricula activities such as music, dance, games,
and debating among our schools across counties. In this way, schools will be transformed
into channels of cultural integration.

7. Promote international consciousness and foster positive attitudes towards other nations

 Kenya is part of the international community. It is a part of the complicated and

interdependent network of peoples and nations. Education should therefore lead the youth
of the country to accept membership in this international community with all the
obligations, responsibilities, rights and benefits that this membership entails.
 Information Communication Technology (ICT) has globalized education and made it
easier for people to learn from one another.

8. Promote positive attitudes towards good health and environmental protection

 Education should inculcate in the youth the value of good health in order to avoid
indulging in activities that will lead to physical or mental ill health.
 It should foster positive attitudes towards environmental development and conservation.
It should lead the youth to appreciate the need for a healthy environment.
 Education and training should for instance enlighten learners to the benefits of good
health by including in the curriculum knowledge of how to prevent and combat Malaria,
HIV AND AIDS and other diseases.

N.B
 The Task Force on the Re-Alignment of the Education Sector to the
Constitution of Kenya 2010, out in January 2012, has recommended that
these goals be retained.
 Kenya‟s education system has one fundamental goal that is to prepare and equip the
youth to be happy and useful members of society.
 These aims and goals of education assists those charged with the promotion of education
in the country to develop and organize appropriate programs of study.
 Such systematic programs of study are referred to as the curriculum of the school
system.
Page 6 of 84
 CURRICULUM
CURRICULUM
 Curriculum is a word which originated from the ancient Romans. It means a race course
i.e. a track followed by racing horses.
 Different scholars have defined curriculum in different ways.
 Franklin Bobbitt (1918) defined it as “those series of things which children and youth must
do to have an experience by way of developing ability to do things well that make up the
affairs of adult life.” Curriculum is therefore viewed as a set of experiences
 Beauchamp viewed curriculum as subjects and subject matter.
 Kansas (1958) defined curriculum as what happens to children in a school as a result of what
teachers do.
 Oluoch G.

Page 7 of 84
 P. has defined it as all that is planned to enable the student to acquire and develop desired
knowledge skills and attitudes.
 Ondiek P. E. defined it as all the experiences planned or guided by the school for children
while they are under the direct and legal jurisdiction of school authorities.
 Kern (1968) defined it as all the learning which is planned or guided by the school whether it
is carried on in groups or individual inside or outside the school.
 Farrant J. S. defined curriculum as all that is taught in a school including the time-tabled
subjects and all those aspects of its life that exercise an influence in the life of children.
 Other scholars have defined It is everything that is organized and planned to enable students
to acquire and develop desired knowledge skills and attitudes.
 School curriculum is a means by which a school enables the learners to change their behavior
in desired directions through skills and attitudes.
 A curriculum can be distinguished into;
i. Types – i.e. primary school curriculum, secondary, pre-school
ii. Subjects e.g. mathematics curriculum
iii. Grades e.g. standard one curriculum

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
 Is defined as the Process of creating curriculum materials for use by teachers and
students.
 It is the Process which determines how curriculum construction will proceed.
 It constitutes Planning of learning opportunities intended to bring about certain changes
in the learners.
 It involves the writing, trial and testing of instruction / plans and education materials.

Ondiek (1986) has defined it as the “planning of learning opportunities intended to bring about
changes in pupils” behaviours and the assessment of the extent to which these changes have
taken place.
 This definition does not specify whether in the process of planning learning
opportunities for students, changes are made to the existing curriculum or a
new one is developed.
Print (1993) defines curriculum development as “the process of planning learning opportunities
intended to bring about certain desired changes in pupils and the assessment of the extent to
which these changes have taken place.
Marsh & Willis (1999) define curriculum development as “a collective and intentional process
or activity directed at beneficial curriculum change.”
This definition emphasizes some change to an existing curriculum with an aim of
improving it.

o Curriculum development varies in purpose, scope and time; e.g. the purpose could either
be revision or alteration of an existing curriculum and this can be achieved by re-
arranging the content of the syllabus of a subject i.e. shifting some content from one
grade level to another or dropping it altogether; while the other could be when an entirely
different curriculum is produced on a large scale or nationwide basis or on small scale
affecting some subjects or courses.

Page 8 of 84
Key features of curriculum development
a) It is a continuing function which requires appropriate national permanent mechanism.
b) It is a continuous process i.e. dynamic as opposed to static.
c) Involves the planning of learning opportunities intended to bring about changes in pupils
behavior
d) The assessment of the extent to which these changes have taken place.

Note
 Curriculum development is a process which involves the planning, implementation and
evaluation of the program.
 In curriculum development, several questions are asked;
a. Who will be involved in curriculum construction?
b. What procedure and strategies will be used in curriculum construction? e.g.
formation of administration committees, training panels, consultancy etc.
c. How will the committees / panels be organized?
d. How will the curriculum be evaluated?

Components of curriculum development

1. Curriculum design – way in which the component parts or element of the curriculum
have been arranged in order to facilitate instruction.
2. Curriculum implementation – making real of what has been planned
3. Curriculum evaluation – involves use of various tools and methods to measure those
alternatives either directly or indirectly, analyzing and interpreting measurement data
assigning values and finally making a decision which could be either to accept, improve
or reject the curriculum or any of the alternatives.

Characteristics of curriculum
 Comprises the experiences of children for which the school is responsible.
 It has content
 It is planned
 It is a series of courses to be taken by students.

Curriculum considers the learners and their interaction with each other, the teacher and the
materials.
Elements of a School Curriculum
Elements – refers to the parts / components of a school curriculum. These are curriculum
objectives, learning activities / experiences and student assessment / evaluation.

Elements of curriculum
1. Curriculum Goals and Objectives
 Education was earlier defined as the acquisition of desired knowledge, skills and
attitudes. The word „desired‟ in the definition implies that there exist objectives at
which the learners are to aim. Hence need to state these objectives first.
 Objectives refer to the end results towards which the curriculum is oriented. The aims
should clearly be spelt out.
 These; Outline the goals and aims of the program.

Page 9 of 84
 o Are based on the social aspirations of society - Curriculum reflects the relevance
of whatever the society deems to be important.
Categories of goals and objectives include the following;
Cognitive – intellectual tasks
Psychomotor – muscular tasks
Affective – feelings and emotions
 The general aims of education are translated into more specific objectives or into
behavior changes that we expect to occur in the learners.
 The decisions on what objectives to include a political one i.e. objectives are given by
the political machinery that exists in a country. The curriculum workers then take the
given objectives and work on them.
Note
Curriculum developers and teachers should state clear objectives for the various aspects of
curriculum which should be consistent with the general aims of education e.g. the primary school
curriculum objectives should be in line with the aims of primary education and those of
education as a whole in Kenya. These objectives should appear in the syllabus, schemes of work
and lesson plans.

2. Content or subject matter

 Divided into bodies of knowledge e.g. English, mathematics, science etc.
 Outlines the desired attitudes and values.
 Includes cherished skills
 Is determined by prevailing theories of knowledge.
 Caters for ideological, vocational and technical considerations.
Curriculum content must provide solutions to the problems affecting the society which uses it.

3. Methods / learning experiences

 The acquisition and development of desired knowledge skills and attitudes occurs as a
result of the pupils / students carrying out learning activities.
 This element therefore involves the statement of the planned learning activities /
experiences through which desirable learning will be expected to take place.
 Learning experience is the interaction between the learner and the external conditions in
the environment e.g. people, facilities that provide opportunities for useful interaction e.g.
content, subject matter, teachers, resource persons, fellow learners, teaching method.
 Deal with teaching and learning experiences
 Involve organizational strategies

4. Evaluation / student assessment

Refers to the process of determining the extent to which the objectives of the curriculum have
been achieved.

Evaluation is used to;

 Find out whether objectives have been achieved or not.
 Making decision for changing building or improving the curriculum. This comes from
the data on evaluation.
 Select appropriate content based on the aims and objectives of the curriculum.
Page 10 of 84
  Select appropriate methods to address the content and purpose.
 Check the effectiveness of methods and learning experiences used.
 Check on the suitability and the appropriateness of the curriculum in answering social
needs.
 Give feedback to the planners, learners, teachers industry and society.
 Provide a rationale for making changes.

Note
In conducting evaluations judgements must be made regarding.
 Inputs
 Means
 Content
 Outputs
 Outcomes of the whole learning process

Interaction of the Elements

Purpose
- Goals
- objectives

Methods Content
Learning Subject to be
Experiences
Page 11 of 84 studied
QUIZ: Identify the benefits of curriculum evaluation to planners, employers, learners, and
teachers.

It is the interaction of these elements in the social, political, economic, technological and
environmental context that constitutes a curriculum.

Dimensions of a School Curriculum

1. Formal Dimension
Selected written programs or courses students go through.
Features;
 Refers to those activities that are normally undertaken by learners as formal class work.
These activities can take place in class, outside the class or even outside the school.
 The activities are normally encompassed in what are known as courses of studyin a school.
These courses show the objectives to be achieved and ways of assessing the students.
 Comprises the formal courses of study or that which is officially prescribed in the school
syllabus in the form of subjects. The syllabus shows; the objectives, content to be covered,
methodology, evaluation procedures and learning resources.

2. Non-formal Dimension
Comprises activities which have traditionally been undertaken by the school
 The activities do not appear in the written syllabus.
 The activities occupy a substantial amount of student time and contribute significantly to the
achievement of educational aims.
 Activities are normally referred to as co-curricula meaning that they do not form a major and
without them formal education is inadequate.
 Occur outside the school daily program.
 They are not examined formally.
 Occur outside the grading system. Students mix freely across the grades and perform these
activities.
 Atmosphere in which these activities take place is free and relaxed.

Examples
Games, sports, athletics, clubs and societies and field excursions

Page 12 of 84
3. Informal Dimension / Hidden Curriculum
 Unplanned and spontaneous experiences at school that influence the learners‟ behavior.
 They could be the by-products of the formal and non-formal program or of the entire school
environment.
 Informal interaction goes on all the time and it is unconsciously acquired from the
environment.
 Can be done or effected through formulation of school rules and regulations, encouragement
of desirable lifestyle among members of staff of an institution.
 Can also take place through imitation, language, standards of behavior deeds and ability to
think.
 The learner requires models who could be peers, teachers or other persons within the school
environment.

4. Emerging Dimension
 Emerging means coming up
 These dimension involves activities which are planned for by the school and members of
the public are called upon to attend such activities e.g. open days, parents days,
exhibitions graduations etc.

Relationship between elements and dimensions of the curriculum

1. There is a clear cut difference between the formal and non-formal dimensions, however,
the informal dimension cuts across the two.
2. The informal influence may occur in the process of effecting the formal and non-formal
activities.
3. The three dimensions can be identified within the learning experiences i.e. one can easily
identify the experiences that belong to three dimensions.
4. Evaluation can be broken down into formal, informal and non-formal techniques of
evaluation.

Curriculum as a Discipline
 Curriculum as a field of study or as a discipline means that curriculum is a part of
knowledge which has over the years developed into a disciplined area of study.
 A discipline or area of study is one which has a substantial knowledge content which can
be passed on through instruction and which is capable of growing through research and
other modes of inquiry.

According to Kliebard‟s analysis (1975) curriculum theory should address the following;
1. What kind of knowledge should be taught in school or any other institution? Any
knowledge that goes into the curriculum should be justified.
2. Who should be taught what? i.e. age, background, interests, present or future role in
society.
3. What effect will a particular domain of knowledge have on the learner? This is important
in deciding how and when to teach the subject e.g. curriculum planners and teachers
should know the effect of teaching mathematics at what time of the day, week, month or
year. It should be taught and who should teach it so as to have positive effects.

Page 13 of 84
Nature/characteristics of Curriculum as a discipline
a) It is a well defined area of study, just like other distinct disciplines like economics, etc.
b) Has a substantive knowledge content which can be passed on through instruction.
c) Has ability to grow through research and other modes of inquiry i.e. can be subjected to
research scrutiny.
d) It has distinct theories, concepts, principles and generalizations.
Theory – reasonable or scientifically acceptable explanation for a fact or event which
has not been proved to be true
Concept – thought, idea or principle
Principle – truth or belief that is accepted as a base for reasoning or action
e) Has a method of inquiry.

Categories of curriculum content / knowledge

1. Curriculum context physical and social setting in which the curriculum is designed,
developed and implemented.
2. Curriculum design – structure, pattern or organization of the curriculum.
3. Curriculum development – process of planning, implementation and evaluation of the
program

THE CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT PROCESS/components of curriculum development

Tyler (1949) gives four (4) steps.

 Commonly known as the „Tyler Rationale‟, it is a perspective that has dominated much
curricular thought since Ralph Tyler developed it in 1949.
 It first poses four questions that must be answered before curriculum can be developed
(see earlier entry under “Tyler” for the four questions).
 Once these questions have been answered, Tyler says there are four stages curriculum
development must progress through.

1. Selecting and defining objectives: In this stage, objectives are obtained by examining the
subject matter, the needs of the learner, and contemporary life. Once objectives are

Page 14 of 84
 identified, they are filtered through a philosophical screen before they are selected for
inclusion in the curriculum.
2. Selecting and creating learning experiences: Tyler says learning experiences must be
perceived by the learner to be motivating, and the learner must be able to perform them
successfully.
3. Organizing learning experiences: Once selected, experiences must be organized in such
as way as to maximize the effectiveness of the combined experiences. Sequencing of
experiences, as well as the potential for subject integration, is considered in this stage.
4. Curriculum evaluation: This stage serves as a check to ensure the original objectives, as
specified by the curriculum, were achieved.

 Tyler said all curriculum development would proceed through these stages, although not
necessarily in this order.
 The Rationale has been criticized for failing to recognize or value any learning that may
occur during the implementation of the curriculum that was not part of the original stated
objectives.
 Despite criticisms, the Tyler Rationale continues to be an influential model of curriculum
development and is still used today.

Shiundu & Omulando, 1992 suggests nine (9) steps, namely;

1. Needs assessment
2. Conceptualization and policy formulation
3. Formulation of curriculum design
4. Development of syllabuses
5. Development and selection of teaching and learning materials
6. Teacher preparation
7. Piloting
8. Curriculum implementation
9. Curriculum monitoring and evaluation

Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development (KICD) formally called The Kenya Institute of
Education (KIE) which is the curriculum and research centre for all levels of education below
university identifies ten stages of curriculum development process;
1. Policy decision / formal request stage
2. Needs assessment
3. Conceptualization and policy formulation
4. Formulation of curriculum design
5. Development of syllabuses
6. Development and selection of teaching and learning materials
7. Teacher preparation
8. Piloting
9. Curriculum implementation
10. Curriculum monitoring and evaluation
Source (KIE Strategic Plan, 2007 pg 14)

1. Policy decision

Page 15 of 84
 The formal request stage entails considering policy statement from the Ministry of
Education that a new curriculum needs to be developed or the need for revision to existing
needs in order to address some needs that have either arisen or are felt.

2. Needs assessment
 A need in the curriculum field is a situation where there is a discrepancy between „what
is‟ and „what ought to be.‟ i.e. there is a gap between an ideal situation which is
acceptable and a current situation or observed state of the learner. It involves a
determination of what is in the current school curriculum that needs to be improved; and
an assessment of the requirements and problems of the society. The task of curriculum
development will then be to reorganize the existing curriculum and incorporate new
elements in order to meet the students‟ and/or society‟s needs.
 Consequently, systematic investigation should be carried out to collect data and establish
learners‟ needs in a given area of human affairs such as health; and whether change is
possible within the context of the existing socio-economic situation i.e. the availability of
resources to effect the change and the attitude of the people (society) toward the change –
whether they are ready for the change or not e.g. the laptops for Standard One pupils.
 It is after needs assessment and intensive situation analysis that objectives are outlined.
 Objectives are very important in the curriculum development process because they define
the educational destination.

3. Conceptualization and policy formulation

This stage involves collation (to bring together/ to collect) of the needs assessment studies
and policy decision / formulation into a report to be presented to the course panel for
discussion and possible approval.
The course panel makes recommendations which are forwarded to the academic board.

4. Formulation of curriculum design

In this stage, subject panels (specialists) meet to generate content needed by considering the
competencies to be acquired by the learners.
The design contains information about the objectives, content, methodology to assessment
procedure and time, required to cover the content of each subject.

5. Development of syllabuses
The subject specialists develop the syllabuses for the various subjects in the curriculum.

6. Development and selection of teaching and learning materials

Learning / teaching support materials and resources are developed, examined, validated and
approved for use in the schools by respective subject panels.

7. Teacher preparation
This involves orientating and retraining them so that they have necessary knowledge and
skills, and have positive attitudes towards the new curriculum.
8. Piloting
Trying out the new curriculum and the curriculum support materials is an important stage of
the curriculum development process in selected schools.

Page 16 of 84
9. Curriculum implementation
This refers to the act of putting the prescribed curriculum into practice in the schools. It is
ultimate objective of curriculum development process, because only after this has been done
will the learners have the opportunity to experience the curriculum and benefit from it.
10. Curriculum monitoring and evaluation
The monitoring focuses on objectives, content methods of instruction and assessment
procedures.
Evaluation is the process of assessing the extent to which curriculum objectives have been
achieved or are being achieved.

Participants in Curriculum Development

 This depends on the scale of curriculum development project and whether curriculum
decision making is centralized or not.
 KIE uses the panel system (course and subject panels) - These include experienced
subject teachers, quality assurance and standard officers (QASO), representatives from
KNEC, KNUT and other stakeholders.

Curriculum development at university level

Public universities develop their curricula. But they follow similar procedures.

TOPIC TWO: AIMS, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES IN THE CURRICULUM

DEVELOPMENT PROCESS:
CURRICULUM
 Curriculum as been defined by Oluoch G.P (1982) that “all that is planned to enable the
student to acquire and develop desired knowledge, skills and attitude”.
 It can also be defined as „all the experiences that learners have in the course of living‟.
 In broad definition, curriculum can consist of the continuous chain of activities necessary
for translating educational goals into concrete activities, materials and observable
behavioral change.
CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT
 It is a process which determines how curriculum construction will proceed.
 It attempts to change children and the society.

Page 17 of 84
  It includes a repeating process of planning based on natural policies, production of
instructional materials and of the programs through the allocation of available resources
and finally of the program‟s success.
AIMS
 It is a general statement that provides direction or intent to more specific action designed
to achieve some future behavior or product.
 An aim is a general statement of intention which may relate to the whole or part of a
curricular.
 Aims are just broad statements of intent e.g.
o Development of ethical character
o Development of respect for the material culture.
o Development of integration for fostering national unity.
 Aims should be few in number and clearly stated.
Importance of stating the aims of Education in Curriculum Development process:
1. Express the views of educators, policy makers and interested parties.
2. Provide a broad structure of what should be included in the educational program such as
the kind of values the society wishes to uphold.
3. They enable the individual in the society to rally on act with uniformity of purpose.
4. They help in guiding individual school or educational systems in the process of planning
educational content.
5. Educational aims deals with and guide curriculum planners in four main dimensions i.e.
i. Intellectual dimension: deals with acquisition of knowledge, comprehension,
love and desire of knowledge.
ii. Social dimension: deals with person to person, person to world and person to
self interaction.
iii. Personal dimension: deals with the responsibility to furnish opportunities for
individual to become self-actualized and humane.
iv. Productive dimension: deals in providing guidelines to the school system so
that these systems can organize types of educational encounters that will help
the individual to become a productive member in the society.

GOALS
 Are long-term aims that can guide educational planners in the tasks of curriculum planning.
 They are general statements about expected achievements in learning - the end of a
particular period of course of study.
 Goals are deduced from various aims (broad statements) and can be grouped according to
whether they relate to social or individual purposes.
 Referred to school outcomes. Aims provide guidance as to the direction but do not
indicate the actual destination. Goals therefore provide the end points.
 Curriculum goals delimit educational activities so that particular ends or purposes are
achieved.
 They state what should be accomplished in learning at the end of a particular course or at
the end of a school year.
 Curriculum developers are mostly concerned with the statement of broad based
curriculum goals.

Page 18 of 84
  Teachers are therefore expected to translate such goals into objectives which are more
specific.

Importance of stating goals of education in the curriculum development process:

1. Goals provide the teachers with broad and general statements of what they expect to
accomplish in learning as a result of a particular course or total school year.
2. Goals help curriculum planners to make decisions such as selecting course content, subject
content, learning and teaching resources.
3. Contribute to the planning and construction of program of instructions that will meet the
requirement of given systems of education.
4. Goals delimit educational activities so that particular ends or purposes are achieved.

OBJECTIVES:
 They are derived from goals.
 Objectives are strategic and require specificity, clarity and organization.
 Refers to the most immediate specific outcomes of classroom instruction. They are
relatively narrow and more precise. Statements of educational outcomes expected of a
learner.
 Specify the level of performance expected of a learner in behavioural and measurable
terms.
 They appear at all levels of the curriculum e.g. syllabus, schemes of work, lesson plan
levels.
 Objectives can be stated for a whole curriculum (programme objectives) for a particular
unit (unit objectives) or instructional objectives (lesson objectives).
 Therefore objectives must be SMART that is, specific, measureable, achievable, realistic
and time bound.

Importance of stating objectives of education in curriculum development

1. They provide guidelines about the selection of content and learning experiences.
2. Clarify the types of powers, mental or otherwise that are to be developed.
3. Provide a focus for the many activities that go into the curriculum.
4. Serve as a guide for evaluation.
5. Create a link between the teacher and learner and between teachers and curriculum
developers.
6. Helps the teacher to plan well for the available time.

Sources of Educational Objectives in Curriculum development process

1.Curriculum Centers through the Ministry Of Education

i. Kenya Institute of education (K.I.E)/Kenya Institute of curriculum development

(K.I.C.D)

The main functions of Kenya Institute of education (K.I.E) are:

Page 19 of 84
a) To conduct research and prepare syllabus for pre-school, primary school, secondary school
and teacher education and post-school, technical and business, adult, continuing and special
education.
b) To conduct research and prepare teaching and evaluation materials to support any syllabus
including preparation of teacher‟s guide, mass media programs and similar patterns.
c) To conduct in-service courses and workshops for teachers involved in carrying out
experiments and trials of any new syllabus and teaching materials.
d) To organize seminars on any syllabus and teaching materials for inspectors of schools and
teacher training colleges staff.
e) To organize orientation programs for education officers to keep them informed of
developments that are taking place in schools and teacher training colleges curricula.
f) To transmit programs through mass media to support the developments those are taking
place in education.
g) To prepare correspondence course materials for students and teachers in colleges.
h) To organize course seminars and orientation programs for the guidance of teachers and
education administrators.

ii. Kenya National Examinations Council (KNEC)

The functions are:
a) It awards certificates or diplomas to successful candidates in such examinations.
b) It conducts, in public interest, such academic, technical and other examinations within
Kenya.
c) It advises anybody or bodies upon the adaptations of examinations necessary for the
requirements of Kenya and assists any such bodies to conduct such examinations.
d) It makes rules regulating the conduct of examination and for all purposes incidental where
to.

iii. Jomo Kenyatta foundation

The main functions are:
a) To publish, print and distribute educational books and materials as well as offer
scholarships to needy high school student.
b) To sell the educational materials thus produced to schools in Kenya.
c) To organize competitions in respect of literary contributions suitable for publication by the
bureau and grant prizes or rewards on such terms as it may deem fit.
d) To cooperate with such bodies as are engaged in publishing, printing and distributing of
books, periodicals, journals and magazines.
e) To publish print and sell educational materials at reasonable prices so as to make them
available to schools and other educational institution.

2. Religious – based organizations

They support curriculum development by the following ways:
a) They supplement government efforts to provide education through the constitution of
primary and secondary schools.
b) They contribute to the training and development of manpower for effective implementation
of the curriculum by building and managing TTCs which offer not just religious education
but also the national primary teacher education (PTE) curriculum.

Page 20 of 84
c) They participate in the physical development and administration of the educational
institutions they sponsor hence, enhancing service delivery and effective curriculum
implementation.
d) They collaborate with other stakeholders in contributing towards policy formulation and
curriculum development. This has ensured curriculum relevance.
e) Some religious organizations have established high quality standards in education in view
of the exemplary performance displayed by their schools in national examinations.
f) They provide scholarships and bursaries to needy learners.
g) They support curriculum implementation by organizing in-service training for teachers in
R.E and PP1 in schools they sponsor.
h) They collaborate with other stakeholders in the provision of humanitarian assistance such
as by ensuring temporary learning structures, food and basic health care, and by ensuring
temporary learning structures, food and basic health care, and by providing volunteer
teachers in disasters situations.

3. Groups within the economic sectors e.g. private sectors, Parastatals, NGO’s and
special Agencies.
i. Specialized Agencies
There functions are:
a) Formulation of policies and the setting of standards and guidelines which have influenced
legislation in support of education e.g. the integration of environmental, and Hiv and Aids
education and the promotion of gender equality through the curriculum.
b) Banning of corporal punishment as stipulated in legal notice No. 56/2001.
c) Providing financial and technical assistance and other forms of practical help various
educational projects.
d) Building of new schools to accommodate the increasing number of potential learners.
e) Provision of teaching and learning resources, to educational institutions through various
projects such resources include computers text books, donations and material resources
needed in the vocational and technical subjects. Provision of humanitarian assistance by the
Red Cross, United Nations UNICEF, UNHCR and WFP in the face of disaster.

ii. NGOs Non Governmental organizations

There functions are:
a) Provision of funds through KESSP in support of on-going educational projects such as
FPE.
b) Provision and rehabilitation of physical infrastructure such as building classrooms,
workshops and dormitories in educational institution.
c) Provision of scholarship to needy learners.
d) Collaboration with other education stakeholders in the training and capacity building of
communities, government department, school managers and administrators.
e) Provision of technical advice necessary for effective administration of educational projects.
f) Providing employment to local people, hence enhancing their participation in the
development of education.
g) Supporting school feeding programs in ASALs, slums and other marginalized areas.
h) Promoting local talent by denoting trophies and financial tokens.

Page 21 of 84
iii. Private Sectors e.g. Commercial traders e.g. banks and companies.
a) They contribute in donation of textbooks and furniture.
b) Scholarship of intelligent student like equity bank.
c) Giving out trophies and finances like game, drama and music festival for motivation
purpose.
d) They sell educational material like uniform, textbook laboratory equipment.

iv. Public Opinion

 The parents‟ body gives opinion of inclusion of the school educational objectives in the
curriculum development process.
 The citizens should air the views on the challenges facing the society thus considered in
development of curriculum e.g. solving suicidal cases due to failure in examination.
 They helped in financial contribution by building construction like classrooms.

4. Philosophical and Scholars of education e.g.

i. Plato
He advocated
a) For universal and compulsory education and training for all children.
b) For a diversified curriculum to include sciences technical subjects, gymnastic, music,
mathematics, rhetoric, physical education and military training.

ii. John Commenius (1592-1960)

He contributed the following curriculum Development:
a) That the aim of education should be teaching of all things to all men.
b) That teaching should be orderly according to the age of the learner.
c) That whatever is taught should be of practical value to everyday life.
d) That learning should be by doing.
e) That learning should be through experience or through purposeful activity.
f) That learning should proceed from known to unknown.

iii. John Dewey

He contributed the following:
a) The child should share the resources of the society and give them back to the society so that
they can help in development of other members.
b) He proposed the provision a more diversified curriculum as opposed to the method that
only allowed timetabling of a few subjects at the expense of others.

Screening:
 It is the investigation of a great number of something (various disciplines) looking for
particular features for example at the airport many bags are screened by x-rays to detect
weapons or explosives, if any, and people are screened by passing through a metal
detector.

Screening of Educational objectives:

 A comprehensive understanding of philosophy of education and psychology of learning
guide curriculum developers in selecting educational objectives.

Page 22 of 84
  The country‟s philosophy helps in screening the many objectives in an attempt to select a
smaller number of consistent and highly important objectives.
 Knowledge of psychology of learning helps in determining those objectives that are
achievable, the length of time needed for achieving the objectives, and the level of the
learners at which such objectives can be effectively achieved.

TOPIC THREE: THE FOUNDATIONS (SCREENS) OF CURRICULUM

 The three sources of aims, goals and objectives will avail more information than is
required by curriculum developers to make decisions about the curriculum.
 Therefore, there is need to find a system of examining and separating this information, so
that we have only the necessary information required.
 Such a system is called a screen.

Through screening, all the information that is gathered is methodically separated to give only
that which is necessary for curriculum learning.

Definition of foundations of curriculum

 Refers to the values, traditions, factors and forces which influence the kind, quantity and
quality of the experience the school offers to its learners.
 Foundations seek to provide reasons why the school exists and justify its functions.

Page 23 of 84
  There are four major foundations of curriculum;
a) Historical foundations
b) Sociological foundations
c) Philosophical foundations
d) Psychological foundations

A. HISTORICAL FOUNDATIONS
 Refer to the factors that may influence the curriculum and are derived from past
developments.
 Developments in the past continue to influence the present practice in school programs.
 Some of the past developments which have influenced the curriculum include;
o The early Christian education
o The renaissance
o The reformation
o The scientific movement
The progressive education movement

a) Early Christian Education

 The early Christians taught the liberal art and also concerned themselves with
inducting believers into church membership.

 Values in the Christian education were derived from the Greek, Roman and Hebrew
ideals.
 The school‟s curriculum comprised of;
o Discipleship (discipline)
o Church doctrine
o Moral standards
o Christian theology
o Science
o Mathematics
o Astronomy
b) The Renaissance
 This is the period in the European history which experienced great cultural growth.
 The increased quest of acknowledge and quest for adventure led to an increased desire to
open up education to the masses.
 According to the historians of education, Renaissance is referred to as revival of letters.
Others see it as rebirth of knowledge.
 It is imperative to acknowledge that during the renaissance period there was a revelation
of intellect in Europe against medievalism.
 The revolute was indeed characterized by political, philosophical, ecclesiastical and
literacy development.
 The new education that was associated with this period to a radical interpretation of the
Greek philosophy.
 There was establishment of „humanistic schools‟.

Page 24 of 84
  Their curriculum emphasized the study of man and his contribution to society.
 The curriculum of humanistic schools included manners, morals, rhetoric and
composition.
 To promote both character building and physical development, curriculum also included
sports, games and dance.
 Renaissance enhanced communication between the various nations in Europe and beyond
and as a result there arose a need of people of certain vocational skills related to
international and national trade.

The height of the Renaissance saw the development of the university in response to need for a
higher Cadre of professional people with special developed faculties to cater for:
 Studies in liberal arts
 Law studies
 Medicine
 Theology

c) Reformation
 The campaign of Martin Luther, resulting in replacing the absolute authority of the
Catholic Church with that of the bible led to the publication of the biblical and other
materials in the vernaculars hence everybody read for himself.
 The humanistic curriculum was enriched with the study science, mathematics, history
and gymnastics.
 Reformation contributed to further education growth by inciting the church into
greater activity in elementary, secondary and higher education (Cubberley 1968).

d) Scientific Movement In Education

 Educators and philosophers of the sixteenth century were concerned more with
observations regarding the working of the universe. This led to the philosophy of realism.
Realism has three forms:-
a. Humanistic realism
b. Social realism
c. Sense realism
a. Humanistic realism
 It was concerned with understanding of the content and the subsequent broadening of the
curriculum.
 It advocated the flawless use of language as means of communication to pass over
scientific knowledge and discoveries.
 Language and literature were to be accorded the central role in education to promote the
effective communication of the scientific progress.
 The pressure affected by humanistic realists saw the inclusion of science subjects in the
school curriculum.
b. Social realism
 It was class conscious.
 It advocated an illicit education for the aristocracy.
 It emphasized private tuition in the homes using paid tutors.

Page 25 of 84
  Social realism aimed at producing a polished gentleman of the high society.
c. Sense realism
 Emphasized the value of practical education.
 They maintained that education was achieved by training of sense perception than
memory and that the ability of man to notice and understand ideas depends on his senses.
 Also advocated the infusion of child psychology in education planning and instruction
and the use vernacular in classroom instruction during the initial stages of educating
children.

e) The progressive movement in education

 Studies and researchers by famous European scholars like Froebel, Pestalozzi,
Montessori, Comenius and Rousseau regarding the appropriate type of curriculum for
pupils and great influence of the nature and type of curriculum in the united states.
 This influence led to emergence and the development of the progressive movement in the
United States was John Dewey.
In their criticism of the tradition school system, the progressives argued that:
1. The curriculum content of the traditional system included a great deal of meaningless and
needless content.
2. The traditional methods had subject matter which was of no practical value to the child.
3. Traditional curriculum mainly emphasized academics but it did not give utilization
education.
4. The traditional curriculum was specific and not flexible. It did not cater for undivided
needs of particular learners.

The progressive education curriculum emphasized five approaches to the teaching / learning
process.
a) Teacher – pupils planning curricular activities.
b) Flexible curriculum and individualized instruction.
c) Non-formal curricular activities and physical training.
d) Learner centered methodology.
e) Study materials to be selected based on the interests and concerns of the learner.

Examples of aspects of the present curriculum drawn from past developments

i. Some subjects in the present curriculum have their origin in early education e.g.
mathematics.
ii. Education is aimed at producing an all round person i.e. one who has developed morally,
physically, mentally and spiritually as in the past.
iii. Education has been organized and institutionalized in school.

B. SOCIOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
 This refers to the systematic study of groups and institutions in culture and their contribution to
the process and growth of the educational system.

Page 26 of 84
 The major role of school is to build curricula and establish the conditions under which
individuals can acquire values and competence and be able to translate these into a program of
action.
 This relates to the nature of society and the value held and cherished in that society.
The society influences and provides a framework within which the school system operates.
The social framework to a significant extent plays the role of influencing the expectations of
youth in life and determining impart what ideals the youth go to school with.
In approaching the task of curriculum planning and development it is useful to analyze from the
society as this will indicate:
i. The problems prevalent in society for which education should provide an answer.
ii. The kind of knowledge, skills and competence that youth in society will need to
equip them with.

Under this foundation, the curriculum planner is concerned with the following three aspects;
cultural values societal needs and learners backgrounds. These three aspects are considered at
three distinct levels;
i. Purposes of the curriculum
ii. Pressures or forces influencing the curriculum
iii. Characteristics or background of the learners for when the curriculum is being
designed for.

(i) Purposes of the curriculum

 Preservation and transmission of cultural heritage.
 Transformation of culture improvement reconstructs changing.
 Individual learners development i.e. education should help the youth to realize their
potential, determine their individual goals and attainment of these goals.

(ii) Pressures influencing the curriculum

 Pressure groups will influences the nature and direction of the curriculum
 The society uses both formal and informal influence.
o Formal complaints directed at school personnel will influence input in curriculum
development at school level.
o Informally gossip and rumor regarding content practice in education will
influence curriculum, implementation.

Pressures exerted on the school curriculum by the general public and other social forces.
 Pressure could specifically be experienced from;
o Parents / family members
o Surrounding community
o Religious organizations
o Politicians
o Media
o Peer groups

(iii) Characteristic of students experiencing the curriculum (Learners’ background)

i. Individual differences

Page 27 of 84
 ii. Aspirations – curriculum should help pupils make appropriate choices along their
aspirations.
iii. Effect of environment on mental development.

Role and contribution of other social institutions

i. The family
o The Child‟s family background helps the curriculum developer and the teacher
helps in planning appropriate learning experiences.
o The society around the school has an effort on the processes of curriculum
planning efforts should be made to provide interaction between the community
and the school.
ii. Religious Institutions
o Are found in both primary and secondary school curriculum religious education
syllabus are developed to seek appreciation in the learner, of the role of religious
education in developing a sense of self respect and respect in life, as well as the
contribution of other peoples life.

C. PHILOSOPHICAL FOUNDATIONS
 This refers to the values and beliefs that make up the philosophies of life and of education and
have a permeating influence on the other foundations.
 Philosophers are concerned with;
o Examining values in society
o Deriving meanings from facts
o Organizing experiences in a manner that they can be effectively used in a school
system.
o Justifying some educational beliefs over others.
o Developing new proposals of educational practice for translation into action.
 Philosophy seeks to provide answers to basic problems and to establish conference in the
whole domain of experience.
 It is important to a curriculum in that it helps in establishing ideas that will indicate a priority
of values in selecting and organizing learning experiences in a curriculum.
 There are a number of schools of philosophical thought which have influenced input into
curriculum development.
 As a result, two broad philosophical schools relate to the issue of the subject matter in the
curriculum. These are the traditionalist schools represented by essentialism, perennialism
and progressive school.
 There are other three supporting philosophical positions which are idealisms, realism and
pragmatism.

Theories of subject matter

Subject matter;
i. Should be taught for its own sake (perennialism)
ii. Should be taught for use (essentialism)
iii. Is a medium for teaching life processes and skills (progressivism)

1) Perennialism (Subject matter should be taught for its own sake)

Page 28 of 84
  Advanced by perennialists
 Subject matter should be taught for its own sake irrespective of any changes in society.
This is because it has a value which is inherent in the subject being taught as well as
being intrinsic to that subject.
Inherent – a basic or permanent part of arid that cannot be removed
Intrinsic – belonging to or part of the real nature of

 Perennialists believe that performance of curriculum despite changes in the society have
two main approaches to subject matter in the curriculum;
 Emphasizes is laid on the classical subjects. These subjects were taught not
merely for their bearing on real life.
 Emphasis is laid on the desire to make children literate and moral to enable them
earn a living as well as find a useful place in society.

Principles guiding perennialist theories

i. Human nature is homogeneous, hence education should be the same for every one since
knowledge is permanent and the environment does not change truth.
ii. Students should be taught certain subjects that will expose them to the fundamental values of
the world as well as making learners to retrain from regarding modern changes as being most
important.
iii. Man‟s highest attribute is rationality. Students should learn to cultivate reason and control
their emotions. The teacher‟s work in to inculcate good test, infuse ideas, instill wisdom and
implant good sense.

2) Essentialism (Subject matter should be taught for use)

 Advanced by essentialists
 Essentialists contend that there are certain essentials that each student in school ought to
know.

They (essentialists) devote their time to;

i. Re-examining curricula matters
ii. Distinguishing the essentials and non-essentials in school programmes.
iii. Re-establishing the authority of the teacher in the classroom.

There are some principles that the essentialist agree with the Perennialists.
a) Learning involves hard work. There is need for strict discipline in the process of
education.
b) The teacher’s role is to mediate between the adult world and world of the child. They
should guide the growth of the child.
c) The heart of the educational process is the assimilation of prescribed subjects matter.
d) The school should retain traditional methods of mental discipline

 Essentialists however do not believe in the Perennialists‟ view that there is an intrinsic
value inherent and permanent in certain subjects making them priceless.
 They (essentialists) believe that the value of subjects depends on the use made of the
subject.

Page 29 of 84
Principles guiding essentialist theories
i. Value of a subject in curriculum depends upon the use that is made of the subject.
ii. Curriculum is basically subject matter centered i.e. the child is tailored towards the
curriculum.
iii. Curriculum is purely cognitive and intellectually hence emphasize the 3Rs, art subjects
for mental discipline.
iv. Education is viewed as preparation for some future purpose.
v. The principle way of assessment is through tests.

3) Progressivism (Subject matter as a medium for teaching life processes and skills)
 Advanced by progressivists
 Progressivists believe that change is the essence of reality.
 Educators must be ready to modify methods and policies in the light of new knowledge and
changes in the environment
 They argue that it is not the subject that matters but the process of education that matters
Therefore, subject matter is only a medium by which to teach pupils the skills they need
to become independent individuals.

Principles guiding progressivists theories

i. Curriculum should be determined by the needs and interests of the child i.e. learner
centered curriculum.
ii. Education is life and not a preparation for life. Education is a continuous process in one‟s
life and not as a product to be learnt.
iii. Learning should be through problem solving knowledge should be taken as a means of
managing experience and for handling the continuously changing situations man is
confronted with in life.
iv. Teachers to be more of counselors and facilitators of learning - Teachers have to advice
not to direct pupils
v. Schools to encourage co-operation rather than competition among the learners.

The philosophical school of essentialism strikes a balance between the extremes Perennialists
and progressivists in two ways
 It stresses utility of knowledge and the practical element in education so that
progressivism and essentialism advocates an element of vocational, practical as well
as academic education in curriculum.
 The two schools of thought recognize that subject matter is instrumental in a
person‟s real life and that curriculum should be structured to reveal this aspect of
the content that pupils are made to undergo while in the direction and care of the
school.

Related philosophical positions:

a. Idealism
 This is clearly a traditionalist view carried over from Plato‟s writings.
 The universe is conceived of as an ideal of people‟s minds and endeavors in life towards
rational ends.

Page 30 of 84
 It uses deductive reasoning in its quest for answers to current day problems and it believes
in truth
 Here, there is over emphasis on the intellectual aspects of life at the expense of the physical
aspects.
 Idealism stresses the role of education in the transmission of the cultural heritage.

b. Realism
 Realists believe in the existence of a real world divorced from the imaginations of
perceiver
 It argues that education should induct learners into their culture and help them to
adjust to the natural order of things in order to live in harmony.
 Teachers should act as guides and make children a ware of the true nature of the real
world.

c. Pragmatism
 The progressivists use subject matter instrumentally as a medium for teaching intellectual
process, skill, attitudes, ideas and appreciations.
 Pragmatism is the progression position that sees reality as being a „truth that works‟.
Education according to pragmatists;
 Should enable the learner to experience situations in practice
 Is a means of recreating, controlling redirecting experience.
 Should help learners solve their problem and is to be considered an integral part of
life.
 Systematic sequencing of learning experiences is emphasized by pragmatists.
Teachers should provide an atmosphere in which learners identify problems and
seek solutions to them.
 The curriculum should be organized on the basis of the learners‟ interest and the
subject matter selected should help the learner solve problems.

4) PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS
 Refers to those insights gained from psychology that have a bearing on the learning
process.
 Psychological knowledge assists teachers and curriculum designers to make informed
decisions regarding what content to teach, when and how to teach it and also understand
the behavior of the learner in the teaching / learning situation
 Psychologists believe that learning experience have to be introduced to the learner when
such exposure is post effective to him.
 Learning experiences should be introduced to the learner when such exposure is most
effective and beneficial to him/her issues not note when providing learning experiences.
o Capabilities level of the learners.
o Maturational level of the learners.
o Students rate of learning as well as how they learn.
 There are practitioners of a number of theoretical branches of psychology who contribute to
appropriate decision making in the curriculum.

Page 31 of 84
a. Behavioural psychologists-this group has contributed through their findings and theories
regarding conditions that help in the area of emotions. Knowledge of this helps in dealing with
problems connected with a desirable classroom atmosphere.
b. Connectionist psychologists -the work of connectionists like E.L Thorndike (1931) has
established the phenomena of the relationships between environmental stimulus and that
repeated connecting or pairing of the environmental situation and the response embeds the skill
learnt in the learners mind .
c. Gestalt and organismic psychologists –These groups believe that situations which
learner experience are always organized to present a whole unit which is more permanent than
the individual elements on which it is based. They stress the understanding of the relationship
between the physical world and the world of experience. They also believe that learning takes
place more effectively when learners are given the opportunity to view a complete learning
situation from which he/she proceeds to make response choices.
d. Mental health practioners- psychoanalysts and other mental health practitioners have
helped to explain many issues regarding human behaviour especially that which is related to
stress conditions. Educational authorities are now in a better position to deal with crisis
situations that come up now and then in school setting and which have an effect on the learners‟
level of concentration at the tasks provided by their learning environment.
Importance of psychological knowledge to teachers and curriculum designers
a. Sequencing of learning experiences – proper order of learning experiences to make any
meaning in the learner.
b. Organization of learning experiences – organizing so as to ensure optimal effects.
c. Methodology – methods and approaches that are likely to promote and guide learning
most effectively.
d. Formulation of appropriate goals and objectives.
e. Making decisions regarding scope of the curriculum.

Other ways in which psychology knowledge is important

 Planning of curriculum which should be according to;
a) Different age groups which correspond to different age grade levels
b) Learners interests and aspirants
 Helps in understanding when learning is most effective i.e. when learner is actively involved.
 Provide for learner participants.
 Establishment of clear objectives for any programme of study.
 Influences on learning by learners past experiences, attitudes and values.
 An effect of environment on learning, i.e. learning is most effective if learners are allowed to
work in threat – free atmosphere.

Page 32 of 84
 TOPIC FOUR: CURRICULUM DESIGN/ORGANISATION

CURRILUM DESIGN
Curriculum design refers to the way in which the component parts or elements of the curriculum
have been arranged in order to facilitate instruction that is the structure, pattern or organization
of the curriculum.
The type of curriculum design a country adopts depends on certain factors e.g.
1. The countries philosophy of education.
2. The economic resource.
3. Available manpower.
4. Social political aspirations.

MODELS OF CURRICULUM DESIGN

Page 33 of 84
 1. Tyler‟s model.
2. Wheeler model.
3. Kerr‟s model.
4. Taba‟s model.
5. Lawton‟s.
6. Oluoch‟s model.
7. Ondiek‟s model.
8. Objective model.
9. Process model.

THE OBJECTIVE MODEL

This process of curriculum design contains content that‟s based on specific objectives.
These objectives should specify the expected outcome in terms of specific measurable behavior.
It‟s made up of four main steps:
1. Come up with the broad aims(later analyzed into objectives).
2. Construct a curriculum to help achieve these objectives
3. Refining of the curriculum testing its capacity to achieve its objective.
4. Communicate the curriculum to the implementers (teachers ) through the conception
framework of the objectives.

CURRICULUM IDEA
1

EVALUATION OBJECTIVE
4 2

Page 34 of 84
 CONTENT
MATERIAL
METHODOLOGY

Diagram 1
NB
- Evaluation is done at each stage of curriculum designing.
- The content material and methodology are derived from the objectives.
PROCESS MODEL
The process model does not consider objectives as important but purposes that:
- Content has its own value therefore should not be selected on the basis of achievement of
objectives.
- Contents involve procedures, concepts and criteria that can be used to appraise the
curriculum.
- Translating content into objectives may result to knowledge being distorted.
- Learning activities should stand on their own because they have their own value and can
be measured in terms of their own standards.

CURRICULUM IDEAS
GOALS

EVALUATION CONTENT
METHODOLOGY

OUTCOMES

Diagram 2
1. Content and methodology are derived from the curriculum goals.
2. Content and methodology have outcomes that must be evaluated.
3. The results obtained from the evaluation of outcomes are fed into the goals which will
influence the content and methodology later.
4. There is no evaluation of content and methodology (no direct )

TYLER’S MODEL
Tyler came up with a model through raising certain fundamental questions, these questions
include:
1. What evaluation purpose should the school seek to attain. (Aims, objectives and
function).

Page 35 of 84
 2. What education experiences can be provided that is likely to attain this purpose. (learning
experience)
3. How can these educational experience be organized (content)
4. How can we determine whether this purpose has been achieved.(evaluation)
NB
The main issue is objectives.
- Objectives form the basis for the selecting and learning experiences.
- The objectives form the basis of assessing the curriculum.
- Objectives are derived from the learner contemporary life subject specialist.

WHEELER’S MODEL
Wheeler improved the Tyler‟s model by developing a cyclical model.
It‟s a cyclical model rather than a linear model and it links up evaluation with formation of
objectives to create a continuous circle
Evaluation is not terminal. Findings from the evaluation are fed back into objectives and the
goals which influence other stages.

SELECTION
AIMS GOALS OF
AND LEARNING
OBJECTIVES EXPERIENCE

SELECTION
EVALUATION OF
CONTENT

ORGANIZATION ON
AN INTERPRETATION
OF LEARNING
EXPERIENCE
Diag3
- Aims should be discussed as behavior referring to the end product of learning which is
the end product of learning which yields the ultimate goals outcomes.
- Aims are formulated from the general to the specific in curriculum planning.
- Content is distinguished from the learning exercise which determine that content.
KERR’S MODEL
For Kerr to come up with his model he has modified Tyler‟s and Wheeler‟s model.
Kerr divided his model into four areas:
1. Objectives.
2. Knowledge/content.
3. School learning experiences.

Page 36 of 84
 4. Evaluation.

CURRICULUM
OBJECTIVES (1)

CURRICULUM
KNOWLEDGE (2)
EVALUATION (4)

LEARNING
EXPERIENCE (3)

Diag4

In this model objectives are classified into three main groups:

1. Cognitive.
2. Affective.
3. Psychomotor.
According to Kerr knowledge should be organized, integrated, sequenced and reinforced.
Evaluation is about collecting into used in making decision about the curriculum.
School learning experiences are influenced by:
1. Societal opportunity.
2. The school community.
3. Learning experiences.
4. Pupils.
5. Teacher.
The four domains are interrelated directly/indirectly.
Objectives are derived from the school learning experience and knowledge

IN DESIGNING A CURRICULUM ONE NEEDS TO

1. Establish/obtain the general goals of education.
2. Reduce the goals to specific objectives.
3. Assess prior student knowledge and abilities.
4. Break learning into sequential steps.
5. Identify teacher behavior.
6. Write a description of the lesson.
7. Evaluate to see if intended outcomes have been achieved.

CURRICULUM DESIGNS
 Refers to the organization of the components of any curriculum. These components
include aims, goals, objectives, learning activities and evaluation.

Page 37 of 84
 This organization designs depends on the country‟s;
o Educational objectives
o Philosophy of education
o Economic resources
o Available manpower
o Socio-political aspirations

Patterns of curriculum design / organization can be divided into two;

o Subject centered designs.– utilizes the subject structure
o Learner centered designs. – Curriculum is conceived in terms of learning
experiences based on the needs of the student.

SUBJECT – CENTERED CURRICULUM DESIGNS

 The curriculum is organized in different and specific fields/subjects each of which
purportedly represents a specialized and homogenous body of knowledge-content.
 Mainly centered in the upper – primary and secondary school classes and colleges
e.g. organization around subject areas such as English, Kiswahili, geography etc.
 The design lays a lot of emphasis on the use of chronology, pre-requisites and whole
to parts mastery – in order for learning of subjects to take place.
 The teaching time granted to a subject depends on the alleged relative worth of the
subject.

Advantages
1. Makes it possible to determine in advance what all children will learn in various subjects
and grades (classes) syllabus prepared by KIE, KNEC and sent to all schools in country.
2. Makes it feasible to determine minimum standards of performance and achievement for
the knowledge specified in the subject area.
3. It makes it easy for organization of text and support materials present on subject by
subject format.
4. It is the most familiar and hence the more comfortable design since most curriculum
planners and educators have been prepared through the same organization.
5. It is a better understood curriculum by teachers because their training was based on this
method of specialization.
6. Intellectual powers of individuals can be fully developed through this approach i.e. it is
in-depth, tough and challenging.
7. Curriculum planning is easier and simple in terms of allocation of teaching load and
plotting on daily time table.
8. Enables the attainment of broad national goals of education.
9. It is systematic and logical.

Criticism / Disadvantages
1. Brings about a high degree of fragmentation, with increase in knowledge more subjects
are created and added to the school curriculum as new areas of study.
2. Lacks integration of content i.e. subject is broken down into smaller, seemingly unrelated
bits of information to be learnt.

Page 38 of 84
 3. Automatic transfer of information already learnt is not possible.
4. It tends to neglect the needs, interests and experiences of the students as it lays emphasis
on content.

BROAD FIELDS/BROAD BASED CURRICULUM/FUSION APPROACH

 Permits surveys of subject matter within a category like the social studies or general science,
PE.
 Two, three or more subjects are unified into a broad course of study. The organization is
actually a system of combining and regrouping subjects that are related in the curriculum into
separate broad fields of study.

Advantages
1. Provides for an orderly and systematic exposure to the cultural heritage.
2. It integrates separate subjects into a single course which enables learners to see the
relationships among various elements in the curriculum.
3. Saves time on the school time-table by elimination of excessive factual details.
4. Has greater flexibility.

Disadvantages
1. It lacks depth and hence cultivates shallowness.
2. Provides only bits and pieces of information from a variety of subjects.
3. It doesn‟t account for psychological organization by which learning takes place.
4. Offers little opportunity for active learning.

LEARNER CENTRED DESIGN

 May be referred to as child – centered or individualized approach.
 It is organized around the needs, interests and purposes of the students who attend to a
particular subject matter.
 To develop such a curriculum attention shall be drawn to what is known about human
growth, development and learning.
 Curriculum is well planned after students have arrived.

Advantages
1. Considers the needs, interests of students in the selection and organization of content.
2. Whatever is included in the curriculum is relevant to the student world.
3. Allows for active student participation and in the acquisition of skills and procedures that
are applicable to the outside world.

Disadvantages
1. The needs and interests of students may not be valid or long lasting.
2. The interests and needs of students may not reflect specific areas of knowledge that could
be essential for successful functioning in the society in general. These needs and
interests of children may not be those that are necessarily important for the society in
general.
3. Curriculum planner may not be in a better position or assume to know enough about
human growth, learning and development to enable them plan for individual students.

Page 39 of 84
 4. It is expensive to produce materials to satisfy the needs and interests of individual
students in a school.
5. It is shallow and therefore inhibits critical analysis and in-depth coverage of subject
content.
6. Heavy towards verbal orientations, leans heavily on exams at the expense of
understanding.

CORE CURRICULUM
 Can be used for general education combined with broad fields or with specific subjects. It is
synonymous with common learning, unified studies, basic education and „block-time
classes.‟
 Concept of core-curriculum refers to areas of study in the school curriculum that are required
by all students.
 Provides students with common learning or general education that will be necessary to
enable individuals to function effectively within the society.

Features
 Constitutes a section of the curriculum that all students are required to take (MUST).
 They unify or fuse subject matter e.g. social studies.
 Their content is planned around problems that cut across the disciplines. The basic
method of learning is problem solving using all applicable subject matter.
 They are organized into blocks of time.
 They encourage teachers to plan with students in advance.
 Provide pupils with the necessary guidance.

Types of Core-curriculum Designs

Type 1
Subjects are taught separately with little or no effort to relate them to each other.

Type 2
Two or more subjects may be co-related e.g. topics in history, geography and economics may be
planned so that students will be able to see their relationship.
Example
A topic in energy can easily be taught this way.
History
i. Discovery and use of oil as a form of energy by man.
ii. Other terms of energy that have been used in the past.
Geography
i. Forms of energy
ii. Use and conservation of energy by man
iii. Where oil is found in the world
Economics
i. Importance of oil in world trade.
ii. Production of cheap forms of energy for man‟s use.
iii. Linkage of oil production to a nation‟s development.

Page 40 of 84
Type 3
Fused core is based on the overall integration of two or more subjects e.g. history, geography,
economic, sociology and anthropology may be combined and taught as social studies.

Advantages of core-curriculum
 Emphasizes a core of social values.
 Combines subject matter with the realities and challenges of the day.
 Aims to integrate learning by unifying subject matter for studying social issues and
problems areas related to individuals as well as society.
 Takes care of the needs and interest of the learner.
 It is socially rather than cognitively oriented.

Disadvantages
 Fails to offer significant and systematic knowledge. It poses organizational problems in
schools.
 Calls for variations which modern teachers can‟t cope with due to lack of broad
competence and training required to arrange content around focuses or issues.
 Requires many teachers of varied specialisties, and adequate curriculum guide and
materials. Such facilities are not easy to come by especially in less developed countries.

PROBLEMS OF CURRICULUM DESIGN

The selection and organization of content poses several key problems which should be addressed
with a view to minimizing problems of curriculum design.

a) Scope
 Breadth and depth of content i.e.
o What content from the disciplines and from the non-disciplines or from the
occupational activities should be included in the curriculum?
o What content should be considered as electives?
o How much content can be learnt in one subject area in one year or in a cycle; in a
topic or theme; in a scheme of work; in a single lesson?
o How much detail and how much emphasis should be given to a particular
curriculum content.
 Scope of curricula content is regulated partly by the goals and objectives generated
during the diagnosis stage in curriculum planning.

b) Sequence
 Deals with question of order of the content and experiences.
 There are two options of sequencing;
i. Logical sequencing – content is arranged on the basis of key concepts and the
order of learning is determined by what concepts are pre-requisite to the learning
and comprehending of other concepts.
ii. Psychological sequencing – based on the understanding of human growth,
development and learning i.e. learner needs to acquire a certain level of

Page 41 of 84
 development physically, mentally, socially, morally to be able to deal with certain
concepts and situations.
iii. Chronology – e.g. in history and civics. Curriculum specialists faced with the
problem of sequence have drawn upon same fairly popular principles e.g. simple
to complex, pre-requisite learning, whole to part, chronology, moving from
familiar to the unfamiliar.
c) Continuity
 Vertical reiteration of curriculum elements affecting the occasions on which certain
experiences will be scheduled during consecutive periods of time.
 Deals with the continued presence of curriculum demands like concepts or issues and it is
necessary to ensure that there is a recurring and continuing opportunity for a skill to be
practiced and developed.

d) Integration
 Incorporating content and learning experiences into particular designs.
 Relationships between various curricula areas in an attempt to interrelate content or
learning experiences in order to enable the students to perceive a unity of knowledge.

e) Balance
 A well balanced curriculum contributes to educational health.
 Implies structure and order in its scope and leads to the achievement of educational
objectives or order.
 A balanced curriculum should be taken to mean a short programme which adequately
ensures that each educational objective is achieved.
 Should develop all areas of human competence

How much of the cultural disciplines should students learn and at the same time cater for their
individual needs and interests i.e. striking a balance between societal expectations and the needs
of the individual learner in the school context.
Examples of problems of balance;
a) Science subjects versus the arts and the humanities.
b) Technical and vocational subjects versus academic subjects.
c) The rural – urban dichotomy.

TOPIC FIVE: CURRICULUM PLANNING, CHANGE AND INNOVATION

What is curriculum?
This word curriculum originated from the ancient Romans and it means a race course i.e. a track
followed by racing houses.
- According to kern 1968 define curriculum as the learning which is planned or guarded by
the school whether it is carried out in group or individual inside or outside the school.
- Planning is a common place term used to describe a scheme or arrangement or a way of
proceeding in project design.
- Curriculum planning involves united efforts by all those responsible in the organization
of an education system and has at every stage financial and material implications. In

Page 42 of 84
 short, we can say that curriculum planning outlines polices objectives programs for
institution.

Curriculum Development – process of choosing and refining the content of the instruction
programme

Curriculum Planning – involves the whole process of choosing what children learn and
translating that choice into action. It begins from the first attempt to make a selection and
justifying it to the final adoption of the new materials.
 Involves everybody responsible in the organization of an education system.
 Curriculum planning outlines policies, objectives and programmes for instruction.
 Curriculum planning sets the stage for all other curriculum activities i.e. design,
development, implementation and evaluation.

Curriculum planning involves processes such as;

1. Setting the objectives to be attained
2. Establishing an efficient procedure for attaining the objectives namely;
 Selecting appropriate content or subject matter and the learning experiences.
 Establishing the proper environment to achieve the objectives.
 Appropriate allocation of the resources, required to attain the objectives.
 Appropriate time allocation.
 Identifying the characteristics of the student population.

Curriculum planning is done at two main levels

Level 1: Long-term planning
 Considers what should happen in education at all levels
 Takes into account the economic and social implications over a long period of time.

Level 2: Short –term planning

 Concerned with specific aspects of the curriculum that require immediate actions e.g.
monthly, weekly unit plans and daily lesson plans.
Curriculum planning is based on the following;
 The existing nature of knowledge, subject matter or content.
 The needs and interests of the child.
 The social and physical environment.
 The nature of the learning process
 The facilities and resources that are available e.g. manpower, classrooms and equipment.

Curriculum processes
 ‘Process’ is a series of actions or steps taken to achieve an end.

 Curriculum processes involve;

i. Setting the objectives to be obtained.
ii. Establishing an efficient procedure for attaining the objectives namely
a. Selecting the appropriate content or subject matter and learning experience

Page 43 of 84
 b. Establish proper environment
c. Establishing a sound methodology
d. Appropriate allocation of resources
e. Appropriate time allocation
f. Identifying the characteristics of the student population

NB
Good planning should incorporate yearly monthly weekly daily activities
Levels of curriculum planning
 Long-term all what happens at all levels
 Short term concerned with specific aspects of curriculum requiring immediate action
Bases of curriculum planning
Curriculum planning is based on the following
i. Existence nature of knowledge
ii. Subject matter of knowledge
iii. Needs o interest of the child
iv. Subject content
v. The social and physical environment
vi. The nature of the leaning process
vii. The facilities and resources that are available eg manpower, classrooms and
equipment.

Because change is inevitable curriculum specialist are greatly concerned with improving the
curriculum to keep with the changes. This calls for goof planning taking into consideration
the past experiences, the prevailing conditions in society and empirical research. A change in
society will provoke changes in school curriculum since the school is a social institution,
serving the society. Changes in the school community its population, professional staff, and
so on should be reflected in the related changes in the school curriculum

CURRICULUM CHANGE
1. An effect of change where educational institutions adjust to changes occurring in other
social institutions.
2. A condition for change where changes in curriculum or education are necessary for
broader social changes.

Hoyle (1995) defines curriculum change as embracing the concepts of innovation, development,
renewal and improvement of a curriculum.
Change has magnitude and direction and occurs within a definite time frame.

Levels of Curriculum Change

1. Minor changes – e.g. re-arrangement of the sequence of subject matter or learning activities
addition of one topic or method to the instructional programme.
2. Medium changes – involve an innovation like integration of subjects, a new subject or a new
approach to the existing subject.

Page 44 of 84
3. Major changes – affects many aspects of the curriculum e.g. content, methods, approaches,
materials, subtracting and adding to what is existing. May also involve changes in the
conceptual design and organization thus calling for a new plan.
Curriculum change involves planning, development implementation and evaluation.

Requirements of the change process

a) Comprehensive master plan/ blue print.
b) Monitoring the system through feedback
c) Necessary resources

People at the centre of the curriculum change process are the pupils, teachers and the central
committee.
For decision making a broad spectrum of both professionals and laymen in society are required.
Decision making is perceived at three main levels;
1. Societal e.g. people‟s parliament, cabinet Ministry of Education, Inspectorate of
Education.
2. Institutional – headmaster‟s office, the school board or committee, PTA (especially on
implication of change for the school set-up, facilities, funds and availability to staff.
3. Instructional – teacher and students are the main decision makers.

Curriculum Innovation
It is a major type of change in which something new is added to an existing phenomenon.
It can also mean the process of initiating something new and spreading it through a social
system.
Innovation is the introduction of something new that deviates from the standard practice.
Are systematic and planned for.

Curriculum Innovation can also be defined as An intentional and deliberate process to bring
out desired effects and change.
It may also refer to ideas or practices that are new and different from those that exist in the
formal prescribed curriculum.
Any improvement that is deliberate, measurable, durable and unlikely to occur frequently.
It is the creation, selection, organization and utilization of human and material resources in ways
that result in higher achievement of curriculum goals and objectives.

Difference between change and innovation

Innovation is planned while change may occur in response to external events.
For curriculum innovation to be meaningful and effective, it must be planned and organized
 It is possible that other types of changes may occur when they are not planned.

Factors influencing curriculum changes and innovation

The school curriculum is a social phenomenon in a particular social setting. The Sociology
of the curriculum deals with questions such as
1. Who teachers what?
2. Who is taught?
3. Where is the teaching carried on?

Page 45 of 84
 4. How is the teaching conducted?
5. Why is teaching carried on?
6. What is the objective of teaching?
These questions indicate how any change in the curriculum will take into account the various
physical and social aspect of the environment. The change will be affected by these factors
either positively or negatively.
1. Curriculum change must have reasonable demands. The planner was to find out about
the system and where change is to be effected i.e. school co-ordination, the pupils, the
teachers the parents and the facilities. All these will determine the rate at which change
can be expected to occur.
2 .Since there are many environmental factors likely to influence change, it is necessary to
achieve greater co-ordination among them without this the change process might meet
many obstacles and eventually fall even though it might have been work while.
3. Any curriculum change must face the economic, political and other social realities.
Change should avoid obvious conflicts and limit properties to those which the school and
the society can afford.

These changes are broadly categorized as follows:

a. Social And Demographic Factors

b. Economic Factors
c. Political Factors
d. Technological Factors
e. Epistemological Factors
f. Physical Factors.

Social and Demographic Factors

 People react differently to change but usually the reactions are negative.
 Resistance to new ideas is part of natural human behavioral but curriculum specialist must
understand the reasons for such resistance.
 Most people resist change if it threatens their cherished traditions and institutions or due to
personal reasons.
 They may also resist change because they do not approve of the source of the new idea or
may anticipate adverse effects of society.
 Innovations in curriculum may come out of a need to deal with the current population
problem.
 Conversely, it may fail to be effected due to population problems.
 Nature of population i.e. change can be introduced due to a need to deal with a current
population problem e.g. sex education.
 Objectives and activities of institutions and organizations such as public examination bodies,
universities, NGO‟s, church organizations will generally affect the curriculum either directly
or indirectly.

Economic factors
Certain economic problems are likely to trigger curriculum change and innovations e.g.

Page 46 of 84
 1. Unemployment has forced much educational system to change their curricular in an
attempt to provide solutions to the problems.
2. Finances for implementing new curriculum i.e. a new curriculum requires more trained or
retraining of teachers, more facilities, materials, production, textbooks, workshops,
seminars, experiments and research.
 Adequate and proper allocation of funds will considerably contribute to the success of
curriculum development.

Politics
 Government can either promote or block any curriculum project which is not in line with
her policies and which does not fit in the framework of the political ideology.
1. Frequent changes in government can also delay or stall some curriculum projects -
Frequent change of government makes it more difficult to maintain a consistent
policy and to follow up plans under such circumstances a piglet or an innovation
could stall.
2. Lack of good communication with politician‟s leaders can be serious problems to
curriculum development

Technological factors
 Many curriculum projects have been overtaken by events due to rapid technological changes.
With the new computer age technology is putting a lot of pressure on the programs and
activities of the school.
 Technological changes witnessed in recent years does have serious consequences for
planning the curriculum this is because it results in a major changes in the kind of
knowledge that a society wants its youth to be given.
 Schools will try to change their programmes to cope with new technology e.g. computer age.
 Technological changes result in major changes in the kind of knowledge that society wants
its youth to be given.
 Technological changes leads to changes in the values and norms of society putting
tremendous pressure on the curriculum
 Technology raises moral issues such as pollution, birth control and abortion which must be
addressed by the school curriculum e.g. use of computers and calculators.

In planning the school programme in response to technological changes crucial questions need to
be asked e.g. what technology can the school use? How much should the schools change in
response to the technology, what implications technology has on the functions of the school.

Epistemological factors
 Knowledge is the prime source of the curriculum contents.
 Nature of knowledge, its reliability and relative importance should be understood, its
growth as well as the procedures for searching for it and teaching it.
 New theories and concepts are emerging daily.
 Particularly those describing the nature of the child and how leaning takes place.
 All these relate to the instructional process and the selection and organization of the
curriculum for effective learning.

Page 47 of 84
  Due to more years of education and greater exposure the present teachings are more
knowledgeable and through exposure and mass media. The present teachers are more
knowledgeable due to more years of education and great exposure. The learners today
also came to school with a bigger close of knowledge than before.
 Hence all these factors must be considered in developing the school curriculum.

Physical factors
Emerging issues that have an impact on the curriculum include;
 Challenge of teaching agriculture in urban schools who have no land, or schools in arid
districts.
 Changes in climate
 Diminishing land fertility
These may cause curriculum to change so as to teach youth new skills and attitudes of dealing
with the new physical changes.

Levels of curriculum
1. Minor
2. Medium
3. Major
1. Minor changes may for instance involve the reariangement o f the sequence as the
subject content or learning activities or mealy the addition of one topic or method to the
instructional program
2. Medium changes may involve an innovation like integration of subjects or a new
approach to the existing subject
3. Major changes will affect many aspects of the curriculum ie content methods,
approaches, materials, subtracting and adding what is existing. It may involve changes
in the conception designed and organization thus calling for a new plan.

RECENT CHANGES AND INNOVATIONS IN KENYA SINCE INDEPENDENCE

There are two approaches to change / Strategies for Curriculum Change
These are;
i. Restricted approach
ii. Democratic or open approach

Restricted Approach
 This is where a decision making is limited to a few people in power so that information
leaves from one source and goes direct to the consumers.

Page 48 of 84
  The change strategies in this approach are based on centre periphery model of
disseminating and innovations.
 Dissemination is centrally controlled and managed.
 The innovation is planned and prepared in the detail prior to its dissemination which is A
one way traffic from the centre out to the consumer on the periphery.
 Power – coercive strategies are used as a complement (use of power to alter the
conditions within which other people act by limiting alternatives, shaping consequences
of acts and directly influencing actions.

Democratic or open approach

 In this approach the source of information is decentralized and the entire community
including the consumers is involved in decision making.
 The approach draws from the various models recently developed to rape with new
nations in education which rotates around the emphasis on the child as the centre of
education and the learning process.
 They includes democratizing of education, problem solving approaches active
participating of the learners groups dynamist and whole ideal of individual freedom

The main characteristics of this approach are;

i. Decentralization of the sources of information
- This is achieved mainly through proliferation of centres.
ii. Shifting of centres
- Instead of having fixed centres in the capital cities and district head quarter, these could
shift to other cities and other parts of the district.
iii. Social interactions between the members of the adopting groups.
- This is a vital necessity in the innovation since success of dissemination is determined by
the social climate or the receiving body.
iv. Problems solving approach this strengthens the social interaction approach.
- This strengthens the social interaction approach. The problem solving approach takes full
accounts of the organizational health and recognizes that the school is the most crucial
consideration in the planning of curriculum change.
v. Promoting change through research.
- Research Provides an empirical base of curriculum change basically the approach
involves linking the innovative process with research and development and making
intellectual appeal through the demonstration of the greater effectiveness of some new
ideas or practices over existing ones.

NB There are stages in the any planned change. The changes include:
1. Diagnosis of social needs and relationships
2. Target setting
3. Survey feedback and experimentation which involves research that yields data
which helps in further decision making.
4. Team training and workshops which help to enhance the understanding of the
participants.
5. Patience and increased data flow between the participants
6. Use of expert consultant.

Page 49 of 84
 NB
An innovation which ignores these stages is unlikely to succeed. Innovations imposed on
people have been known to fail when their advocates lose power.

The Change / Innovation Process

Innovation and change generally follow several logical steps.
1. Identify a problem, dissatisfaction or need that requires attention.
2. Generate possible solutions to the identified problem or need.
3. Select a particular solution or innovation that has been identified as the most appropriate.
4. Conduct a trial
5. Evaluate the proposed solution.
6. Review the evaluation
7. If innovation has solved the identified problem implement it on a wide scale.
8. Adopt and institutionalize the innovation or search for another solution.

Agencies of curriculum change

These are individuals and organizations that help to bring about change or who relay the new
information regarding the school curriculum.
They include;-
1. Institutes of Education (KIE)
2. Curriculum Development Centres
3. Research Centres or Institutes
4. School Boards or Committees
5. Colleges of Education
6. Universities
7. Professional Organizations or Associations
8. Private foundations
9. Commercial agencies like publishers
10. The Inspectorate
11. Local education authorities
12. Examination bodies
13. Teachers unions

Some recent innovations in curriculum

 There have been several innovations in the schools curricula recently.
 Some of the most conspicuous ones are the non-graded schools the modular flexible
scheduling, teach teaching educational technology competency based education and
individualized instructions.

a. Non- Graded Schools

 Traditionally pupils or students in school are graded and have to be promoted from one
grade to another at the end of the year.
 NGS is an organizational plan that tries to minimize or eliminate the rigid formal grading
structure.

Page 50 of 84
  The idea was introduced in 1959 by Goodland and Anderson and was discussed and
implemented first in the United States and Britain.
 The NGS idea is child-centred. It does not advocate doing away with grading as such but
rather advocates doing away with the arbitrary grade level by chronological age.
 In NGS, courses are prepared on the basis of accomplishment and not just after
completion of a year.
 The system promotes flexibility in grouping by a by eliminating grade levels. The
purpose of NGS is to produce a well developed and independent member of the society.
The system therefore very much takes care of individual needs and interest of the
learners.

Main features of NGS non-graded schools

1. A suitable curriculum
2. Flexible grouping and sub-grouping pupils
3. Flexible and adaptive curriculum
4. Learning materials
5. Good learning atmosphere
6. A reporting system which reflects that each child is a unique individual.
The idea of NGS may not, or indeed, has not been spread and implemented wholly as initially
designed by its proponents, but most of its features can be seen in many schools system.

b. Module flexible scheduling

 For many years we have simply accepted that the school day runs from about 8.15 am to
4.00 pm and this period is divided into daily regular units of about 40 minutes each.
 Modules flexible scheduling is a procedure for organizing a school day.
 It provides varied lengths of time for different classes and other activities. Instead of
having the fixed period of 40 minutes it advocates flexibility in the length of period
according to the nature of various subjects and circumstances.
 In schools when this system has been affected in the USA the length of a module may be
up to 15, 20 or 30 minutes.
 This is however, not the role as circumstances will determine the time. The main point
however that is even if we maintain the long periods, there should be flexibility of the
time table within the week.
 Flexible scheduling promotes more innovations.
 It also gives the student‟s time for participation and freedom in planning their education
hence training them to be more responsible.

The general features of flexible scheduling

1. Classes in each subject will vary in size from large group instruction to small group
instruction and from independent to individualize study.
2. The length of class meeting and the number and spacing of classless will vary
according to the nature of subject the type of instruction and the level of ability as
well as the interest of pupils.
3. Flexible scheduling is best used with team teaching where the responsibility of the
teacher varies from time to time.

Page 51 of 84
 4. Students should be grouped subject by subject according to their achievements,
abilities and interests.
5. The approach requires an intensive care of learning resources especially the use of
new technology.
- In flexible scheduling we shall be guided by four consideration based on the principles of
learning. These are
i. Duration
ii. Frequency
iii. The time of the day that a subject should be taught
iv. The suitability of group size.

c. Team teaching
 Team teaching with all its variations has enjoyed a boom in popularity recently.
 It‟s a recent innovation, but despite the wide attention given to this innovation, many
schools and school system have yet to adopt this alternative to heaving one teacher
work alone with a class of students.
 Team teaching involves two or more teachers who work together in planning,
preparing, carrying out and evaluating learning.
 A number of teachers must work together with a group of students of learning task.
 This is because it requires maximum co-operation and harmony and a well
coordinated evaluation.
 It is a child centred organization pattern which was developed to make efficient use of
staff, space and equipments.
 There are no rules regarding the composition of teams. The guiding factors
a. Instructional objectives
b. Number of students
c. Available of facilities
d. Activities to be pursued
- However where this approach has been adopted particularly in the United States teams
has intended to assume either hierarchical structure or a synergetic plan.

d. Educational technology
- Educational technology is the use of computers, televisions, telephones, photocopiers,
videos and the tape and film. Products of technology have always been used as materials
e.g books warm-ups and films are results of technology.
- One innovation that has emerged with technology is called programmed instruction the
concepts of the program instructions can be traced to the elder sophist of ancient Greece.

e. Competency ( performance) based education)

- Competency based education (CBE) requires specifying in advance expected outcomes in
terms of competence expected from the learners. It was initially used for training
teachers in program known as competence based teacher education (CBTE) but latter it
influenced the curricular in regular schools.
- Competence based education is associated with child centeredness individualization
indecency and field study. The essence of CBE is actually found in evaluation. The

Page 52 of 84
 approach needs abroad and comprehensive program of evaluation. Generally there are
five targets of evaluation:
i. The program itself
ii. The operation or implementation of the program
iii. The consequences in terms of teacher behavior
iv. The consequences in terms of conditions created by teacher behavior.
v. The consequences in terms of pupils‟ behavior.

f. Individualized instruction
Nowadays schools emphasize learning as class group activity or generally ignoring learners as
an individual this due to expansion and overcrowding in schools. Individualization should be
encouraged in schools as it develops each person‟s potential so that he or she can be able to
realize his worth and contribute adequately to the society.
i. Individualization of instructions – this is whereby the teacher works on personal one to
one basis with each pupil (tutorial program)
ii. Tailoring of instructions to the particular need and ability of students (individual
(curriculum).

TOPIC SIX: CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION

Page 53 of 84
Meaning of Curriculum Implementation
 Implementation is the making real of that which has been planned.
 Curriculum implementation is the process of effecting the new curriculum
 It is the systematic process of ensuring that the new curriculum reaches the immediate
beneficiaries, the learners. Curriculum design becomes curriculum proper when it is
adopted in the classroom.
Note
 At the curriculum implementation stage, more people interact with the new curriculum e.g.
learners, parents, school administrations and the lay public.
 Process of curriculum implementation has far reaching cultural, social, professional and
economic implications.
 Process is highly complex and requires an extremely skillful assortment of participants and
relevant content for effective results.

Conditions necessary for effective implementation

The conditions which are necessary for effective curriculum implementation are:
1. Provision of materials e.g. finance resources, writing and reading materials, physical
facilities like the building and administrative means to make the process
2. Changing attitudes of people, the policy makers, administrators, teachers, teacher trainer,
school supervisors, parents, the lay public and ultimately the learners themselves.

Stages involved in the process

 Essential part of the strategic planning process and organizations that develop strategic
planning process and organization that develop strategic plans must expect to include a
process for applying the plan.
 The specific implementation process can vary from organization to organization
dependent largely on the details of the actual strategic put.
 The following are the stages which are involved in curriculum implementation:

1. Evaluate the strategic plan

The 1st step in the implementation process is to make sure that you know what the strategic
plan is.
2. Create a vision for implementing a strategic plan
The vision might be series of goals to be reached step or an outline of items that need to be
completed.
3. Select team members to help you implement the strategic plan. Make sure you have a
team that has your back so as to speak and understand the purpose of the plan and the
steps followed.
4. Schedule meetings to discuss progress reports. Present the list of goals or objectives and
let the strategic planning team know what has been accomplished.
5. Involve the upper management where appropriate- keep the organizations executives
informed on what is happening and provide progress reports on the implementation of the
plan.

The task of curriculum implementation involves two main stages or processes.

Page 54 of 84
1. Changing attitudes – involves changing the attitudes of people who make decisions e.g.
policy makers, administrators, teachers, teacher trainers, school supervisors, parents, the lay
public, community at large and finally the learners themselves.
2. Providing the required resources and administrative means to make process possible.
These resources include;
i. Students‟ individual learning materials – These include textbooks, work books. The
learning materials produced should meet the needs of particular students.
ii. Teacher‟s materials – these include the teacher‟s guide. The teachers guide provides
detailed instructions for teaching particular sections of a programme; it may also contain
background and enrichment materials for additional supplementary activity.
iii. Instructional materials- these include demonstration materials resource materials and
group materials
 Examples of demonstration materials
- Posters, Maps, Slides, Coins, Plants, Insects, Small animals, Chemical materials

The major role of demonstration materials is to serve as visual cues for recording
information.

 Examples of resource materials

 Reference books
 Documents and analyze information derived from such sources (documents).

 Examples of group materials

 Designed for group use only e.g. a class may have an educational game that may
be played by 3 or 5 students.
iv. Funds / Finances – more money is required in curriculum implementation to in-service
teachers, use of mass media, supply of textbooks. Some of the sources of finance for
curriculum implementation include;
 Treasury allocation
 Self help (harambee projects) e.g. for buildings, equipment and classroom
materials. Parents and community may be requested to donate money for
classroom equipments, textbooks etc.
 International aid – these can be obtained from the United Nations specialized
agencies which normally support education reforms e.g. UNDP, UNESCO, World
Bank.
 Bilateral aid – given on a country to country basis it is faster to negotiate than
international aid, however, it has strings attached.
 Multilateral aid – incorporates experts and financial resources from various
countries.

Note: To accomplish the above two processes, the following activities are carried out;
i. Persuading policy makers, teachers, parents etc to accept the new curriculum.
ii. Informing members of the public through mass media and personal contact through
seminars, public lectures etc.
iii. Obtaining the necessary personnel to perform various roles in the process.
iv. Carefully locating personnel, based on professionally acceptable criteria.

Page 55 of 84
v. Training of teachers. This can be done through both pre-service and in-service teacher
education programmes.
vi. Educating teacher, trainers, educational administrators, school inspectors and all those who
are likely to take part in the process.
vii. Providing the necessary facilities, equipment and materials in schools.
viii. Presenting the new curriculum and support materials.
ix. Instituting appropriate evaluating on methods or set up for the first time appropriate
evaluation methods.
x. Providing continuous support for the new curriculum.

Key notes
- The public must be aware of the new curriculum and be persuaded to accept it and made to
understand why it is necessary to have the new programme in schools. Curriculum should
not be imposed on people.
- Relevant training for those who will implement the programme especially teachers is very
crucial. Teachers are the key implementers of curriculum. Teachers should actively
involve in the whole curriculum development process. This enables them to understand the
new programme and hence effective implementation of the programme.
- A new programme requires relevant and adequate facilities. Before implementation,
physical facilities must be prepared and materials purchased to ensure successful
implementation of the programme.
- Continuous support – for successful implementation of the curriculum, it requires
continuous support through various services which include;
 Training programmes for the key personnel in the implementation process.
 Establishment of local centres, peripheral to the central office where education
personnel can coverage for seminars and workshops, serve as important links
between the school, community and the central office which help in the
dissemination of new ideas to all members of the community.
 Providing staff with materials
 Providing continuous information on the implementation progress through
newsletters, annual reports of schools to the central office.

Role of the Teacher in Curriculum Implementation

The teacher‟s main role in curriculum implementation is carrying out teaching at the classroom
level and evaluation of student learning. The other roles include;-
i. Translating the broad general curriculum goals into instructional objectives.
ii. Deciding the arrangement of learning experiences and methods of presenting content.
iii. Does most of the evaluation.
iv. Initiates, develops and directs pupil‟s learning.
v. Helping the central office (KIE) in selling the new idea to the students, parents and the lay
public get the feelings of these parties and pass them on to the central office.
vi. Provide a suitable environment for implementation by;
a. Helping students understand the new programme.
b. Enriches the curriculum by using local examples applying it to the local situation and
using local resources.

Page 56 of 84
Role Played by various agencies in curriculum implementation
1. Teachers Advisory centres
The act as;
- As places where teachers can meet for periodic in-service courses.
- As centres and as a focus for the production of locally made and locally relevant material.
- As organizing centres can be organized through which an even more local support system
can be organized through groups and centres based on the clusters of neighbouring
schools.
2. School Inspectors / Quality Assurance and Standards Officers
- Identification of problem areas in the use of curriculum material and making suggestions
regarding the necessary modifications.
- Advising on the programme of work to be done in schools e.g. discipline.
- Arranging for workshops, seminars, conferences for teachers to discuss issues emerging
from the curriculum.
- Encouraging teachers to make regular visits to teachers‟ centres and provide guidance
and help regarding sources of information and materials.
3. Educational Planners and Policy Makers
They are the final decision makers on matters relating to education and custodians of all
funds allocated to education.
Functions
- They control funds for the purchase of curriculum materials, payment of teachers salaries
etc.
- They give approval to all programmes of in-servicing and pre-servicing of teachers,
without their support, curriculum development is likely to fail.
4. Voluntarily Agencies
These include women groups, scouts and entertainment groups.
- Helps in implementing some aspects of curriculum particularly the affective domain.

5. Parents
- Play a crucial role in the continuing process of value orientation and attitude formation.
- It is in the home that children learn social and cultural values such as personal
relationship, hospitality, compassion, hygiene, love etc.
6. The Community
The community helps in creating a healthy climate for effective curriculum implementation.
- They assist curriculum implementation in the form of finance, resource persons, school
volunteers etc.
7. Teachers groups e.g. KNUT
Assist curriculum implementation in the following ways;
- Encouragement and improvement of the morale and efficiency of teachers which inturn
promotes effective curriculum implementation.
- Organizing seminars related to the professional line of the teacher.

PROCESSES IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW CURRICULUM

1. Persuading people

Page 57 of 84
 The people to be persuaded include teachers, parents i.e. generally from the headquarters
authorities and staff through to the field officers to the teachers and their head teachers.
Can be done through the mass media
2. Keeping the public informed
- Dissemination of general information about curriculum is done.
- Keeping people informed.
- Can be done through newsletters, magazines, newspapers, radio, television, seminars, use
of field officers.
3. Educating the teachers
- Teacher preparation that began during the try out (piloting) should be intensified and
extended.
- It is done to help teaches understand, accept and internalize the reason behind the new
ideas, materials and teaching methodology.
- Should be directed to both serving teachers and trainers.
4. Educating the teacher educator
E.g. education administrators, school inspectors, college tutors, teacher advisory centre
tutors, head teachers.
5. Providing the necessary facilities and equipment e.g.
- Classrooms, desks, seats, blackboards, playing fields, laboratories, workshops.
- Need to increase or improve these facilities / equipment.
6. Supply of curriculum materials
- Purchasing, delivery and storage and physical production of the materials.
- Production of materials can be done privately (Oxford University Press) or by a
government owned outfit (e.g. Jomo Kenyatta Foundation).
7. Presentation of the new curriculum
- Very critical stage.
- Actual presentation of the curriculum should at this stage start from the bottom of the
ladder and more up year by year i.e. in standard one and more upwards. The benefits of
this include;
 Child goes through an education programme uninterrupted.
 It becomes easy to control all aspects of the implementation e.g. way equipment
and facilities are to be used might be different from the way they are currently
being used.
This stage may require;
- Re-organization of time tables
- New assessment methods will be introduced
8. Instituting Appropriate assessment methods
- Assessment methods adopted should support or facilitate the achievement of the
objectives set in a curriculum development project.
- Assessment has to be handled with extreme care.
9. Continued support
- Teachers and their head teachers will need a lot of support from school inspectors,
education administrators and other educational authorities.
- Support began at try out stage should be intensified.

Page 58 of 84
 - Field officers should be supported in terms of number and be made more effective by
providing them with better facilities to enable them give efficient support to the schools
as new curricular are implemented.

Strategies for curriculum implementation

1. Research Development and Diffusion Model (R,D and D) (Centre –periphery model)
 R, D &D means Research, Development and Diffusion
 An idea or practice is conceived at the head or centre e.g. KIE and then fed into the
system.
From the model some strategies for curriculum implementation are as follows:
a) Persuading all the people especially policy makers, teachers and parents to accept the
new curriculum
b) Informing the public through mass and personnel contacts through seminars, public
lectures e.t.c.
c) Obtaining necessary personnel to perform various roles of in the process
d) Carefully located personnel, based on professional acceptable criteria
e) Training of teachers through both pre-service and in-service teacher education programs
f) Educating teacher trainers, educational administrators, school inspectors and all those
who are likely to take part in the process
g) Providing the necessary facilities, equipments and materials in schools
h) Presenting the new curriculum and support materials
i) Instituting appropriate evaluation methods
j) Providing continuous support for the new curriculum

2. Social Interaction Model (Periphery – periphery model)

 Implementation is effected through contacts, formal and informal among interested
individuals or groups of people.

Illustrations:
1. Abusive behaviour in school
Solution – Develop school culture that focuses on enhancing self worth and respect for others.
Implement health and physical education in curriculum in the classroom. Encourage co-operative
learning strategic in all classrooms. Use positive intervention and guidance when needed – not
just punishments.
Develop philosophy for play ground behaviour to guide students and staff.

2. Parents / caregivers with strong religious concern have difficulty with document
Solution
a) Use supportive member to assist.
b) Lent them copies of curriculum then meet with them later to discuss issues.

3. Catering for children with special needs

Solution
a) Check the curriculum
b) Seek-in class support from specific students

Page 59 of 84
 4. Multi level class
Solution
a) Assess individual needs
b) Use grouping strategies
c) Group across the schools
d) Acknowledge progress
e) Suggest workshops for multi level teaching to local resource teachers

5. People not familiar with terminologies as used in the curriculum

Solution
a) Find knowledgeable people from school, advisory services and / or community to assist
with this.

3. The problem – solving method (P – S)

 Individuals are themselves involved in conceiving, initiating and developing innovation at
the local level
 Innovation is part of a problem solving process.

FACTORS AFFECTING CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION

Introduction
Curriculum implementation could be hindered by lack of the practice factors. In addition the
following factors could have a negative impact on curriculum change.
1. Untrained teachers – not all the teachers are fully trained to the expected standards of
interpreting and implementing the curriculum.
2. There have been no attempts to sensitize especially the teachers on the curriculum so as
to make them understand it fully for easy implementation.
3. Lack of recommended text books and equipment for the implementation of the
curriculum. No attention is paid to the available resources before a new curriculum is
introduced e.g. when the physical science was abolished in favour of pure science, no
considerations were taken to construct and equip laboratories.
4. Hostile working environments – no proper infrastructure that enhance learning. some of
the sources of hostile environments include;
- Community interference e.g. some posted qualified teachers have been harassed in
preference of untrained sons of the soil.
- Politics – political interference.
- Hostility from the students who have negative attitudes towards learning.
5. Poor motivation, poor pay which has led to perpetual strikes which do not augur well for
the implementation of the curriculum.
6. Pressure on the teachers – this pressure is exerted by the inspectors, headteachers and the
parents. They normally argue that teachers aren‟t doing their work and are involved in
other income generating activities.
7. Teacher turnover in search of greener pastures – this is as a result of poor pay, peer
pressure and lack of patience. Many qualified teachers have left the profession leaving
room for employment of unskilled labour to do skilled work.
8. Staffing issues – there are three problems in this area.

Page 60 of 84
 - First, a high staff turnover would threaten inevitable lengthy passes of development and
shared understanding and planning its implementation
- Second, new or inexperienced teachers would find it difficult t cope with flexible nature
perhaps feeling a need for more detailed, directing as to what they should teach
- Third, staff who have been teaching perhaps for many years in a more traditional way
might be a pathetic or resist to their idea of wholesale change. Those who had not been
consulted about the school visions and values or made aware of the intent and principled
might also be reluctant to “buy in” to the process of change
Individual school may experience any of all these problems and require a skilled principle to deal
with them. Those interviewed by researchers spoke of the need to manage resistance to change
and to ensure that the pace of change was compactable with start need beginning with small steps
if necessary. A change of principal during this period could therefore cause even greater
difficulties although new principals were sometimes appointed with the specific task of
implementing change.
9. Time
Time for implementation continues to be an issue raised by school due to limited time in tackling
the issues
10. School structures
- Timetable in schools can be seen as particular constraints
- Conflict demands
Due to performance interest the curriculum implementation is not orderly followed as required.

TOPIC SEVEN: CURRICULUM EVALUATION

Introduction

Page 61 of 84
  The success of curriculum projects and their implementation rests on the precise
definition of the ends or objectives of the project.
 When objectives are too hazily defined it is difficult for those changed with project
implementation to make judgments about the extent of its success.
 As a result it becomes even harder to appraise initial purpose of the program without
clear objectives at the program planning stage, development stage and the
implementation stage, it will be almost impossible to judge the relevance of behaviour
learning environment.
 Similarly it is necessary to have a well designed evaluation program in order to determine
the extent to which objectives have been achieved.

Definition of Terms
Curriculum Evaluation - Curriculum evaluation has been defined in three ways:-
 The collection and provision of data for the sake of facilitating decision making of
various stage of curriculum development.
 a process of ascertaining the areas of concern selecting appropriate information and
analyzing it
 A process of judging the suitability of the actual behaviour being shown by the
learners.
There are other related concepts that could be confused with evaluation. There are:

Assessment - Refers to a systematic process, using a specified instrument to collect and translate
data into interpretable form for the purposes of making judgment about the nature of a students‟
learning e.g. through use of a test or exam to assess students performance.
It involves quantifying and interpretation of scores without giving value judgment.

Measurement – It is the means of determining the degree of achievement of a particular

objective or competency. It provides a description of the performance and says nothing about
the value or worthiness.
Data obtained through measurement is basically descriptive in nature and is expressed in
numerical terms e.g. recording of a student‟s performance in mathematics in two tests as 10%
and 5%. This refers to measurement.

Testing Evaluation – Refers to a decision making process to determine the quality, effectiveness
or value of an educational programme / curriculum, product or process or objective.
- Evaluation involves assessment. That is setting the criteria / standards for judging quality,
collecting relevant information and applying the standard criteria e.g. the results of end
year exams to determine who to proceed to the next class and who to repeat class etc.
- Evaluation implies the process of giving value judgment based on information gathered
in various ways and often through measurement and testing.
- It determines the good or worthiness of something, pass judgment on the quality of
performance e.g. a student who scores 10% and 5% in two tests in a subject.
When evaluating, we say that the students‟ performance in the subject is below coverage.
He / she is poor and therefore can‟t be allowed to the next class.

Page 62 of 84
 Testing - refers to the use of an instrument to measure achievement.
Note: Measurement and testing are some of the means of collecting information for
evaluation and assessment.
Judgment made regarding the degree to which learners have achieved curriculum
objectives will be valid if they are based on empirical data obtained through
measurement.

Purpose of Educational Evaluation and its use in the Curriculum

There are common purposes in educational evaluation
i. Selection – tests and examination results are used as a basis for promoting one from
one class to another or from one level to another. Results are also used to select
people for jobs.
ii. Used to monitor the degree to which the learners have acquired desirable knowledge
and attitudes skills and social values.
iii. Used to assess the effectiveness of teaching and preparation of teacher.
iv. Used to ascertain that a particular standard has been achieved in education.
v. Act as incentives to learners to study and to want to learn more as they discover their
progress and lack of progress in the tests given.
vi. They are used to measure the adequacy and appropriate of the curriculum. Where
students predominantly perform poorly there is need for new curriculum decisions.

Aspects of education that can be evaluated

1. Methods of teaching.
2. Teaching learning materials.
3. The content.
4. Classroom environment.
5. Infrastructure such as buildings, water and sanitation.
6. Financial resources.

Categories of Tests and Exams

i. Personal assessment of the teacher on his pupils / students so that the teacher is
able to know the performance of his pupils / students.
ii. School tests and exams done weekly, termly and yearly.
iii. Public examinations e.g. KCPE, KCSE these exams can be regional, national and
international.

Concept of Curriculum Evaluation

Evaluation - It is the process of generating data which is used in assigning value to something
and finally making a decision to accept, improve or reject it.

Curriculum Evaluation
- Refers to collecting and provision of data necessary for decision making at various stages
of curriculum development.
- Process of ascertaining the areas of concern, selecting appropriate information and
analyzing it in order to arrive at data which is used by decision makers to select between
useful alternatives.

Page 63 of 84
 - Process of generating data which is used in assigning value to something and finally
making decision to accept, improve or reject it.

Purposes of Curriculum Evaluation

i. Helps in determining whether the curriculum goals and objectives are being carried out
correctly. Helps in finding out how far the project is achieving its objectives and what else
can be done to improve its performance. Curriculum evaluation should aim at finding out the
relevance and feasibility of the curriculum objectives; the quality of materials and strategies
as well as the outcome of the programme in terms of benefits to students and community.
ii. Helps us to know whether the materials and instructional procedures that are being used are
the right ones.
iii. Helps us to know whether the curriculum is functioning while in operation.
iv. Enables us to know how our products (graduates) can function in daily life after school and
whether they are contributing to the development of our society.
v. Enables us to know whether the programme that has been launched is cost effective or
whether we are only getting a raw deal for our investments. Curriculum evaluation has to be
done so that curriculum developers can account for the funds spent on curriculum
development projects and justify themselves on the quality of program they are producing to
the parents, government and other agencies.

Stages of Curriculum Evaluation

i. Evaluation of the project planning
Evaluation is done at the planning stage. It is done for the following reasons;
- Ensure that project is being properly planned.
- Ensure that the objectives are well understood.
- Ensure that implementation procedures selected are sound.
- Ensure that there are sufficient human and financial resources.
Evaluation at this stage can be done by the curriculum project staff or by people outside the
project team or by both of them.

ii. Evaluation of the Project Execution (formative evaluation)

This refers to the evaluation at the inception of a curriculum development project and
continues through the development stages. Evaluation is carried out for the following
reasons;
- ensure that project objectives are being met/achieved.
- ensure that the project execution is on schedule.
- to provide information required for re-examination revision and implementation of the
programme.
- at the instructional level, it helps the teacher to diagnose the students day by day progress
revealing where any breakdown in the learning process may have occurred hence
enabling remedial teaching and change of methods.
Evaluation can be carried out by the project staff or an outside group or both

iii. Evaluation of the Project on Completion (summative evaluation)

Carried out when the project has been completed that is at the end of curriculum
implementation. It is carried out for the following reasons;

Page 64 of 84
 a) Establish whether the project has worked and how it has worked.
b) Establish whether or not the resources have been spent usefully.
Note: In general, evaluation is the process of finding out.
- How far instructional plans are producing the desired results.
- In what respect the curriculum is effective.
- In what respect it needs improvement.

Methods / Sources of Curriculum Evaluation

1. Teacher made tests and examination
Tests and exams prepared by the teacher.
Merits
- objectives
- economical
- easy to administer
- Provide a norm against which individual achievement can be judged.
Demerits
- ignore individual differences
2. Informal evaluation devices
- Classroom involves observation by teacher
- Examining pupils records and checking pupils projects.
- Essays, classroom exercises and other assignment.
3. The curriculum document itself
- Statement of purpose can be revised and reassessed in a view of change occurring in a
country.
- Curriculum content can be revisited to fit new development and learning activities.
- Evaluation processes can be re-examined to determine their effectiveness.
4. Teachers
- Teachers‟ perception of curriculum contents, instructional materials, learning activities,
relevance and students performance in general yield valuable information about what
goes on in schools.
5. Students
Curriculum evaluation data can also be obtained from students, students provide information
freely when they know that this will not be used to determine their individual grades.
6. Materials used for instruction
Materials e.g. text books, films, slides and periodicals need to be re-examined since some
may be outdated or may provide undesirable information to students.
7. Follow-up studies of graduates
Follow-up studies yield very good information on how effective the objectives in the
curriculum were achieved.
- Crime among youths and lack of relevant skills would yield important information for
making decisions on what changes should be taken by curriculum developers.

8. Society

Page 65 of 84
 Information from society about the curriculum can be solicited through writing letters to
prominent members of society requesting them to give views about the curriculum. Parents
may also express concern in the welfare of schools.

Forms of Evaluation
i. Formal evaluation
These are structured and formally conducted. They are usually objective in nature and based
on definite criteria e.g. tests, end of term exams etc.
ii. Informal evaluation
Depends on the impressions one has based on subjective perceptions and experience rather
than scientific methods e.g. through observation, listening etc wherever one is performing a
given tasks e.g. singing / dancing etc.
iii. Formative evaluation
 Takes place during instruction.
 Conducted during the operation of a programme.
It is aimed at improving the programme, examples;
- asking oral questions / exercise during a lesson etc
- Progress tests e.g. weekly, monthly or mid-term tests.
- Helps teacher to diagnose students‟ difficulties and take the necessary remedial action.
iv. Summative evaluation
Conducted at the end of a programme to provide judgments about the worth of a programme
e.g. end of term exams, end of year exams, KCPE.

MODELS OF CURRICULUM EVALUATION

There are several complementary models of curriculum evaluation; however, there are three
dominant models that have developed. These include;
a. Achievement of desired outcomes
 Meaningful evaluation of curriculum projects and instructional programmes is
enhanced through stating precise and clear objectives.
 This model of curriculum evaluation was proposed by Tyler (1949).
 Tyler views the process of education as resting on three main elements. These
elements include;
 Educational objectives
 Learning experiences
 Examination of achievements
 This model views evaluation in respect of whether desired educational ends are or are
not being attained.

 The model calls attention to the following facets of education

 Examination of goal attainment
 Relationship between student achievement and educational objectives.
 Examining the relationship between the objectives and the learning
experiences.
 Examining the relationship between the actual learning experiences and
educational outcomes.

Page 66 of 84
  Determination of the significance of the educational objectives and the
adequancy of these objectives for any specific group of learners.

Criticisms of Tyler’s Model

- Doesn‟t take into account occurrences of unintended events.
- Does not take into account variables within the learning environment which affect the
likely success of a curriculum programme.

b. Merits of an entity
- This model gives a lot of emphasis on examining the merit of a given entity as being
central to curriculum evaluation. Entity here refers to the curriculum or to any other
process.
- The worth of a process or programme is evaluated from the following perspectives.
i. The relative efficiency of a process or entity.
ii. Relative cost of the use of an approach or process
- This model adopts both the formative and summative evaluations.
- In formative evaluation the evaluator gathers data and information that may contribute to
the modification of the intended programme.
- In summative evaluation, evaluation is done at the end of each development stage. The
results are used mainly for a re-appraisal of future procedures and strategies (i.e. making
decisions on whether the programme is worth using and establishing conditions under
which the programme can be used.

c. The Decision – Oriented Approach

This model assumes that evaluation is important only if its results affect future actions.
Evaluation which is action oriented.
The evaluator contributes to the work of the decision- maker through a three-stage process
which consists of;
 data collection
 data analysis
 preparation of summary reports

In this model the functions of the evaluator are;

- Assisting the decision maker in selecting between several perceived alternatives.
- Calling the attention of the decision – maker to the existence of alternatives even though
the decision maker doesn‟t perceive these alternatives.

Distinctions between curriculum evaluation and instructional evaluation

i. Instructional evaluation involves the assessment of student‟s performance, instructor‟s
performance and the effectiveness of the instructor‟s methods.
Curriculum evaluation goes beyond instructional evaluation.
It involves the assessment of the whole programme with a view of establishing whether
curriculum goals and objectives were met.
ii. Instructional evaluation is an integral part of the larger curriculum evaluation. It is
important t o note that the instructional process may be effective whereas the curriculum is

Page 67 of 84
 out of order e.g. The instructional evaluation may reveal that students are achieving the
instructional objectives well. Therefore, if the curriculum is not evaluated we could end-up
teaching wrong things effectively; for example, we could be teaching that the earth is flat
which is universally unacceptable. Hence curriculum evaluation is very necessary.
iii. Instructional evaluation is mostly done in a classroom context whereas curriculum
evaluation involves collection of data from a wide range of sources e.g. textbooks,
curriculum documents, society, follow-up of graduates etc.
iv. The main purpose of curriculum evaluation is to help policy makers to make appropriate
decisions regarding a curriculum. On the other hand, instructional evaluation serves the
purposes of promotion to higher grades, selection and certification and assessment of
instructional methods.

Methods of Instructional Evaluation

1. To provide school marks or grades required for administrative purposes. The grade or
marks are kept as records of student‟s performance by the teacher.
2. For promotion to higher graded classes.
3. For selection and certification purpose
 selection of students to join form one, middle level colleges and universities
 result in examination is used as criteria for certification of various levels e.g.
KCPE and KCSE
4. For employment purposes, certificates awarded enable employers to make a choice of the
candidate they want.
5. For student motivation- Good performance in test and examination motivates students
and may create a sense of competition among students consequently making them to
work hard.
6. For guidance and counseling purposes – Students who have failed exams and tests need
greater attention by teachers.
7. It helps us to assess the effectiveness of the instructional methods.
8. It serves the purpose of informing parents or guardians about the progress of their
children. Parents may use that information to advise their children or recommend to their
teachers what steps should be taken to improve the child‟s performance.

Methods of Instructional Evaluation

According to Bennars G. A. et al., (1994) and Oketch and Asiachi (1988), the methods of
instructional evaluation include;
1. Teacher made tests
Some examples of teacher made tests include;
- Essay tests – helps in measuring students ability to organize, interpret, evaluate and apply
knowledge.
- Objective tests – only one correct answer is provided for each question, common
objective tests include true – false question, completion of blanks, matching, multiple
choice.
- Laboratory type test – assesses the student‟s physical and practical skills.
2. Written reports
Writing of reports at the end of instruction, term papers etc.

Page 68 of 84
3. Observation
The teacher observes performance and interaction in a classroom of students. He/she can be
able to detect a student with problem and take the necessary corrective measures.
4. Oral reports
These can be assigned to individual students or groups. Students can carry out a project and
then report back their results to the rest of the class. This tests students‟ ability to speak,
knowledge or the subject and their ability to work together in groups.

Who evaluates the curriculum in Kenya?

The Ministry of Education has the following branches of personnel who undertake evaluation
tasks in Kenya.
a) The Inspectorate
Subject specialists for each subject.
b) Curriculum developers at KIE
They have a section of research and evaluation responsible for both formative and summative
evaluation.
c) Kenya National Examination Council
Facilitate the setting, moderating, marking and grading of all National examinations for
various levels of education in the country e.g. primary, secondary, teachers colleges,
technical training institutions and other relevant public examinations taken in the country.
d) Heads and Teachers
The head teachers and teachers will really be working able to assess whether the new
materials working in schools and what changes need be made.
e) The General Public
Parents and public at large will voice their concern about a curriculum which fails to offer
them what they expect of the schools graduates.

Principles of Instructional Evaluation

A principle – it refers to a statement of what must be done if a stated result must be achieved.
The evaluation of learning behavior as part of programme evaluation is guided by to the
following four main principles or criteria as referred to by Bishop (1985).
i. Evaluation has to be continuous at four levels
ii. Evaluation has to be comprehensive
iii. Consistency with objectives
iv. Principles of validity and reliability

a) Evaluation has to be continuous at four levels

Evaluation should be a continuous process and an integral part of curriculum development and
classroom instruction. This is important because;
- It provides feedback from the feedback, weaknesses in the curriculum or instruction can
be identified and remedied.
- Evaluation has to be continuous at four levels.

i. Initial behavior pre-test / pre-assessment

- Also known as pre-assessment and carried out at the beginning of term or school year.

Page 69 of 84
 - Pre-assessment helps a new teacher who may not know the academic background and
performance of students in his class. Such a new teacher‟s task would involve;
a) Knowing how much knowledge of the new subject his pupils possess.
b) Finding out the entry standards of the class at the beginning of the term or year.

- Two types of pre-assessment recommended are

The entry – behavior test
- Conducted to determine whether the learners posses the necessary knowledge and skills
to enable them to proceed with new materials.
Pre-test
- Conducted to test the objectives which the teacher intends to achieve in a topic or whole
unit after teaching for some time. Concerned mainly with testing objectives.

ii. Continuous evaluation during teaching

- It is referred to as formative evaluation; it is done for the following purposes.
a) diagnose students difficulties
b) to take remedial action during the course of instruction
c) Re-examine and revise the approach to teaching the subject.

iii. End-of-programme evaluation

- It is also known as summative evaluation
- It provides terminal judgment on the effectiveness with which teaching and learning as
processes were accomplished.
- It is a post-mortem of what has already been accomplished by way of implementation in
the curriculum.
- The role of summative evaluation includes;
a) Guides the curriculum planner and teacher in assessing the extent to which
implementation has been successful.
b) Provides a basis for future decision making.
c) Provides a basis for future modification and / or curriculum change in relation to
strategies and methodology of curriculum implementation.
d) Serves as a guide to future planning.

iv. Follow-up evaluation

- Conducted long after the administration of programme and is meant to determine the
permanently of behavior of the learner i.e. established the degree of permanence of
learning.

b) Evaluation has to be comprehensive

- All the objectives of an educational programme should be evaluated. Students should be
tested on all the domains such as the cognitive, psychomotor and affective.
- A good evaluation instrument should be developed to test the three domains so that they
are balanced.
- There are a wide range of testing instruments that can be employed in evaluating
instructional outcomes e.g. essays, short answer, questions and objective test items.
- The tests should be accomplished by remedial measure where necessary.

Page 70 of 84
 c) Consistency with objectives
 An evaluation programme should as much as possible reflect the objectives of the
programme of instruction as set out in curriculum plan.
 For example, if one of the course objectives is the understanding of the principles then
the evaluation should assess or measure such understanding and not merely memorization
of facts.
 If for instance, standard eight pupils are expected to know how to draw and label a
housefly / mosquitoes, then they should be evaluated on both drawing and labeling and
not labeling only.
 An evaluation programme aimed at testing the above competency in pupils would consist
of both theory work and practical work in which students perform a particular task.
 Some evaluation of manual ability should be included to ensure that the intended
practical bias in the curriculum is realized.

d) Principle of Validity and Reliability

Validity
 A good evaluation instrument e.g. a test whether practical or theory should measure
exactly what the evaluator intends to measure. This is validity, for instance, if a test
intends to assess pupils understanding on the causes of the First World War, if most
pupils give answers which discuss the results of the First World War, then the
examination or test is not valid.
 An evaluation instrument should faithfully elicit the intended responses from the pupils.
Reliability
 Reliability implies that a test (evaluation instrument) should give the same results when
administered at different times.
 If there are wide variations in responses by the same pupils on the same examination or
test, then the exam or test is not reliable.

Significance of Continuous Assessment Tests (Formative evaluation)

1. Acts as an accounting device. From the work carried out over a period of time and under
everyday conditions, the pupils being assessed are able to show both what they have done
and how they did it.
2. Makes a significant contributions to the testing of skills which can‟t be satisfactorily
demonstrated e.g. by observing a student / pupil perform a particular task one can be able
to know whether the learner has acquired a particular skill or not.
3. Helps and is appropriate in the assessment of attitudes, especially with regard to changes
in attitudes.
4. Provides a basis for corrective and remedial action in those areas the teacher may isolate
as weak spots in pupils learning.
5. Serves a moderating function in regard to the teacher‟s pace of teaching as well as his/her
choice of areas of emphasis in subsequent units of the course.
From the results of formative evaluation, the teacher may decide to increase or reduce
her/his speed of teaching or can be able to identify areas that learners are weak in and
spend more time in those areas.

Page 71 of 84
 6. Guides in whether there should be a shift in methodology and also helps the teacher chart
out reliable performance zones in his/her class as a basis for future remedial work based
on established individual and group abilities i.e. helps the teacher in deciding whether to
change his/her teaching methods.
The teacher can be able to know the abilities of his/her learners and as a result is in a
position to identify which learners need to be offered remedial teaching.

NOTE; In the present 8 – 4 – 4 system of education the contributions of continuous

assessment has been recognized in deciding on the levels of achievement at the summative
evaluation in KCPE and KCSE.
- Pupils work in various practical subjects like science, home science, agriculture, music
and fine art are assessed at school by the teachers first and secondly by the schools‟
inspectors and awarded a mark.
- This mark is later considered in assigning the final grade to the work of pupils in the
examination.

Effect of Examinations on the Curriculum

 In most cases, the assessment procedures may not be well defined and may not closely
relate to objectives, content or the methods recommended but rather to conditions for
entry into the next stage in the school system.
 When this happens, there is a serious and damaging effect on the curriculum. This
adverse effect is known as backwash.
 Backwash is defined as the effect of examinations on the curriculum.
 It may also refer to the harmful effects of exams upon the curriculum because of the
importance attached to exams and awards of certificates.
 The exams end up dictating the curriculum hence, instead of following it; learners assess
education in terms of success in examinations.

Examples of the backwash effect can be illustrated in the following situations

i. If the examination system neglects certain subjects (creative or practical subjects), the
school will also neglect them.
Teachers pay more attention to officially examined subjects and less attention to these
non-examination subjects.
ii. Undervaluing of studies of the local environment in cases where the examination is
centralized and questions are general in nature.
iii. If the examination is exclusively set through multiple choice items and if the multiple
choice items emphasize only factual recall, then processes and skills of application,
analysis, synthesis and evaluation will not be emphasized in schools.
iv. If the teaching is recommended in a certain language (often mother tongue) and the
language of examination is different, then schools will concentrate on the language of the
examination.
v. Some methods of teaching are abandoned and instead teachers focus on drilling the
learners to pass the examination.
vi. If examination is competitive and „norm-referenced‟ (if it is established that career
choices and opportunities for further education provide for instance, that the first 25 % of
the candidates are taken irrespective of whether they score 80% or 40%) then schools will

Page 72 of 84
 not seek to achieve mastery and many pupils will become lazy and insufficiently hard-
working.
TOPIC EIGHT: CONTEMPORARY CURRICULUM ISSUES IN KENYA
These are the topical areas that have generated discussion in regard to their place and function in
the school curriculum in Kenya. These areas include;
i. Language In The Curriculum
ii. Sex Education
iii. Technical And Vocational Education, Entrepreneurship Education
iv. Teacher Education Curriculum
v. National or Centralized Curriculum Development.

i. Language in the Curriculum

 One of the terms of reference of the Ominde Commission was to weigh the influence of
language on education and on the unity of Kenya.
 The commission reported that;-
i. A majority of Kenyans wished to see the universal use of English language as the medium
of instruction from primary standard one.
ii. The commission declared that the use of English as a medium of instruction would have no
adverse effect on mother tongues. It acknowledged that vernacular languages were essential
for verbal communication and should be encouraged in the curriculum as they were
important vehicles of cultural preservation and promotion. Some in the commission decried
their use in the education system since they did not serve a useful purpose both as a media
of instruction or in the creation of unity in Kenya.

Controversies regarding the place of language in education led to some modification of policy
which included;
i. 1967, the Ministry of Education conceded that education should begin as far as possible in
the language that the child speaks before going to school hence the KIE developed an
amended Kenya Primary School Course which involved preparation of further reading
materials in various vernaculars. However, this idea was abandoned in 1970.
ii. In 1967, it was recommended that Kiswahili become a compulsory subject at all levels of
the school system. Following the introduction of the 8 – 4 – 4 system of education,
Kiswahili became a compulsory examination subject at both primary and secondary school
levels.

ii. Sex Education

 The problems of school dropouts due to pregnancies, teenage, abortions, abandoning
infants.
 These rising problems have led to a lot of demands for instituting an educational process
to address these issues.
 In 1972, the National Council of Churches of Kenya noticed these problems and carried
out a survey on teenage pregnancies.
 They later developed an educational programme under the name family life education
programme with particular emphasis on the education of the young people.
 It was later revised by the Christian churches education association and renamed as
family life education.
Page 73 of 84
  This programme has never got into the school curriculum but certain aspects have been
incorporated into other school subjects like social studies, religious education and the
sciences. Studies on population also contain topics related on sex education.
 Today there are two significant groups of people those who are far sex education and
those who are against it.

Those who are for sex education argue that;-

i. It will help the youth to understand that sex has an important role in society and should not
be taken wrongly and misused as it will put them in trouble.
ii. It is the only way of reaching young people on sex issues. According to them the social gap
between parents and children has increased to the extent that the two cannot interact freely or
effectively and advice one another.
iii. It will help the youth through imparting knowledge regarding the changes that take place in
their bodies and their implications in life. This will help in reducing the number of pre-
marital pregnancies.
iv. Helps in reducing serious infection or even death of girls when the result to terminating
pregnancies through crude methods.
v. Make the youth aware of the dangers of sexually transmitted diseases and enable them to
seek early treatment.
vi. Helps in reducing the number of unplanned marriages leading to stable marriages and less
incidences of divorce.
vii. It can be used to combat distorted information on certain aspects of sex being passed on to
the youth through mass media, films and pomographic literature.
viii. Through it, it may help in stopping young people from misusing their bodies.

Arguments against
These groups of people are not against it perse but are against it being formalized within the
school curriculum. They would prefer it within other contexts other than the school context.
The most disturbing questions to this group of people are;-
- Who will teach sex education? This is due to the fact that majority of teachers especially
in primary school are young and their social background and moral status is not very
clean. As a result, these groups see the parents, religious leaders, medical personnel,
counselors, social workers as better alternative when it comes to educating the youth in
sex education.
- What should be the content and learning experiences in sex education?
- When should sex education start? i.e. age at which sex education should start.

Note
In Kenya sex education has not been incorporated in the curriculum and yet element or topics on
sex are slowly getting into the curriculum under the cover of other subjects. Therefore, many
people are questioning this phenomenon

iii. Technical and Vocational Education

- Refers to instruction in any subject which leads to production in industry, agriculture,
trade and commerce.
- It involves also training of business administration, secretaries, agriculturalists etc.

Page 74 of 84
 - Negative attitudes to technical and vocational education stems from colonial rule.
Technical and vocational education for Africans was meant to degrade Africans i.e. to
work in white farms. Economic realities have helped slavly change this attitude towards
positive e.g. need for skilled labour, technical experts and the „educated‟ unemployed.
- Nyerere (1967) saw education for the majority to mean anything only if first and fore
most it is for self reliance. This has been interpreted largely to mean preparation for a
vocation.

Why vocational education In Kenya?

i. Those with vocational skills are bargaining power on the labour market.
ii. Provides work ethics for self-reliance unlike academic education.
iii. Provides rewarding experiences for the majority of the students‟ especially in countries
with limited opportunities for academic excellence.
iv. Has intrinsic value (according to perennial philosophy) provides a positive attitude to
work among the youth. Good alternative for academic failures.

Criticisms
i. Narrow and shallow in scope. Prepares youth only in a few possible jobs – not allowing
increased competence and understanding in more basic principles of communication,
computation, science that underlie all work.
ii. It is an instrument for perpetuation of class structure in society (according to extreme leftist
lobby).

Emerging Issues
- What role can be played by vocational education in Kenya?
- What challenges confront the system of education in its Endeavour to achieve its
objectives?
- Whether vocational education is justified in the curriculum.
- Will vocational education at the school level limit the career or occupational choices of
young people too much, hence contributing rather negatively to both individual and
national socio-economic development.

iv. Entrepreneurship Education

The objectives were;
- Tackle the economic and employment issues facing a country.
- Create jobs and wealth.
- Improve the economy of the less advantaged

Importance of entrepreneurship education

- Exposes pupils to enterprise activities leading to self employment in the private sector.
- Provides knowledge in book keeping and simple accounting.
- Provides opportunity to students to acquire enterprise competencies (in business) e.g.
i. Communication skills – value customer venture into insurance brokerage.
ii. Organizational skills – time and task management setting business objective.
iii. Interpersonal skills – co-operation negotiation and persuasive attribute.
iv. Problem – solving skills – decision making and creativity.

Page 75 of 84
 - Entrepreneurship education leads to creation of small business enterprises e.g. retail
shops, kiosks etc which help in creating jobs, alleviating unemployment.

v. Teacher Education Curriculum

The teaching profession in Kenya is an area throwing up several issues with regard to selection,
training, the curriculum, deployment, grading and salaries.
Efforts have been made to restructure and improve teacher education both at the degree and non
degree levels.
One area of concern has been the curriculum. In teacher education curriculum in Kenya today six
main areas of concern can be isolated.
- content
- teacher trainers
- mode of training
- structure of the training programme
- duration of training
- certification
Content
- How much content and at what level must these teachers whether P1 or graduate (Bed
primary) be exposed to enhance competence.
- Whether there should be more professional content or more academic content in the teacher
training programme.

Teacher trainers
- Teacher trainers in many colleges are expected to be professionally trained or land qualified.
But the reality of the matter is different. Some of the teachers are actually untrained, others
are not trained for levels they find themselves involved in teaching.
- Presently in subjects like computer science, it is very difficult to come across professionally
trained teachers. This is true whether computers are taught at primary, secondary or even at
university level. Most teacher trainers have to rely on content experts who have no
professional training.
Where are teacher trainers trained.
1. In Kenya, the Teachers Service Commission explores among its experienced teachers and
sends them to teacher training colleges either at primary TTC level (Certificate) or
secondary TTC level (Diploma). These experienced teachers were either trained for
secondary schools or for primary schools.
2. Masters degree training for Diploma teacher trainers was masted at Kenyatta University
in mid 1980‟s and produced good trainers. These, however, ended up in the universities.
The same was attempted for primary teacher trainers. Those who attained M.Ed
(Primary) ended also universities.

It would have been a good idea for the programme for teacher trainers to be upheld. However, in
the last da… (1990s) most diploma teacher training colleges were closed down or converted to
colleges attached to upcoming universities. That made it unnecessary to train teacher trainers at
Masters Level for diploma colleges. The M.Ed (primary) should however, be upheld and
developed in view of the future need for more primary school teachers.

Page 76 of 84
Those who train B. Ed, PGDE and M. Ed are expected to have PhD‟s in education or subject
education. They may also attain doctor of education degrees (Ed. D). Universities are trying hard
to satisfy that need.

Mode of training
Contentious issues have always crept up regarding how much content a teacher should attain at
the same time how much concurrent professional training the teacher should have.
At Diploma level the balance between the two is almost achieved. But at primary TTC level and
B. Ed levels the ratio of content to professional training is about 2:1 or about 1/3 time is devoted
to professional training. The problem is that the content level if normally pegged way above the
level the teacher is expected to teach. It is with a good reason indeed that content covered should
be quite advanced. The teacher is expected to be content wise way above the students he/she
teaches. That way a student can expect more meaningful and assured assistance in case of
difficulties.
It has been argued that a primary school teacher after term IV should be academically able to
handle primary school content. The Diploma teacher for secondary should attain at least two
years of university academic content. But for the B. Ed teacher destined to teach at secondary
level P.T.T.C, Polytechnic etc content learned at first degree level should be sufficient. The
question in the last case is whether lots of optional courses are necessary.

Structure of training programs, duration and certification

P 1 Training
Takes two years during which time content of primary school level is covered, methods are
taught and practiced e.g. in micro teaching, several teaching practices are carried out. No
specialization, exam is given by KNEC.

Diploma
Two year programme, Form IV students with mean grade above C are taught content upto 2 nd
year university level in the subjects of specialization. Examinations are continuous and internal
in these institutions. External examiners are involved, they are usually university subject experts
the certificate is a Ministry of Education Diploma.
B. Ed
This is a 4 year degree programme. Students specialize in two teaching subjects. Professional
courses in education take about one third of the time. Micro teaching and teaching practice is
undertaken as part of the professional training. Exams are internal, but external examiners
validate them.

Emerging or contemporary issues in primary education

i. Sex education
ii. Environmental education
iii. HIV / AIDs / Family education
iv. Language
v. Gender – check with centre for women‟s study and gender analysis.

Page 77 of 84
In these areas look at the following;
a) Definition or meaning
b) Where found in primary curriculum
c) Any government / education policy associated with it.
d) Problems of instruction related to the topic.
Requirements
- indicate references
- type your work

Page 78 of 84
 RECENT CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS IN KENYA
Some of the curriculum innovations in Kenya are;-
a) 8-4-4 System in Kenya
b) The New Primary Approach
c) The New Mathematics project for primary schools and 1971 for secondary schools
d) Resource Centres
e) Local subject panels
f) Integrated Social Studies
g) Environmental Education

a) 8-4-4 System of Education in Kenya

The presidential working party on the second university in Kenya i.e. the Mackay report of 1981
recommended among other things a change in the education system from 7-4-2-3 to the 8-4-4
system of education.
The essential elements of the 8-4-4 system of education are;
i. Structure – it comprises of 8 years in primary, 4 years in secondary and 4 years of university
education.
The 8-4-4 system of education was expected to ensure effective participation of the youth in
development.
ii. Content – there was a greater oriented towards technical and practical education. This was
expected to ensure that the school leavers at all levels have some scientific and practical
skills that can be utilized for either way employment, self employment or for further
training. Primary school leaver who are unable to proceed to secondary school can enter
craft training centres and proceed to higher technical training institutes.
iii. Less-emphasis on examinations – the system lays a lot of emphasis a continuous assessment
as an integral aspect of evaluation. Pupils abilities and achievements was to be determined
by both continuous assessment as well as final examinations.
iv. Diversified curriculum – the system laid emphasis on a diversified curriculum that was to
offer a wide range of subjects.
a) The Primary Education
It was aimed at providing children with adequate intellectual and practical skills useful for
living in both the urban and rural areas.
It was to expose children to a high quality and relevant curriculum which will enhance
competence in a variety of development tasks and benefit the majority of them for whom
primary education is terminal.
The subjects in primary school currently include:
- Kiswahili
- English
- Mathematics
Mother Tongue (Class 1 – 3 in rural area)
Social studies (G.H.C and Environmental Studies, Civic Education and aspects of business
education).
Science (Home science, agriculture and Science include technology and religious education,
environmental education).
Physical education

Page 79 of 84
The secondary school curriculum was to build upon primary education curriculum. It was
supposed to expose students to more knowledge and higher skills. The curriculum is broad
based.
The aim of university education was the same as those of other levels but in addition the
university.
- Has to develop and transmit knowledge through research and training.
- Preserve knowledge and stimulate intellectual life.
- Produce high level man power in science and technology.
- The curriculum at university was to offer a variety of courses.

Note: The new system has a component of technical and vocational training provided in craft
training centres.

Problem experienced in the implementation of 8-4-4.

i. Over crowded curriculum i.e. too many subjects with less time and it h as led to superficial
coverage of content.
ii. Large number of untrained teachers. The teachers teach theoretically and not practically.
iii. Inadequate number of trained teachers to teach technical and vocational subjects.
iv. Inadequate equipment facilities and materials and especially in sciences.
v. Inefficient supervision due to shortage of inspectors and problems of transportation.
vi. Boarding schools become too expensive leading to children dropping out.
vii. Over enrolment of students particularly at university level.

b) The New Primary Approach (English medium)

- It was an innovation in the teaching of English in primary schools. It was initiated as a
result of poor performance in English among Asian and African children in Kenya.
- It emphasized on child centred approach and tried to discard rote learning, memorization
and teacher dominated methods.
- The main objective of the English medium (English centre) was to educate through the
medium of English but not to teach English.
- There was a slow down on the programme of the program. This was indicated by the
following;
i. Inadequate supervision.
ii. Inadequate teaching / learning materials and facilities
iii. Teachers were poorly in serviced for NPA implementation.
iv. There were very many untrained teachers to handle the course and this led to
technical failure.
v. The exam system was faulty.

The wider the NPA spread the more difficult it was to manage. In 1976, the Ministry of
Education terminated the English medium aspect of NPA. Instead, vernacular was taken as the
most suitable language to use as a media of instruction in lower primary classes.

c) The New Mathematics project for primary schools and 1971 for secondary schools
- The launching of the project was influences by developments that were taking place in
America. It was claimed in America and later in Britain that the traditional approach to

Page 80 of 84
 mathematics teaching presented mathematics as a dead and dry subject which was painful
to learn and which took all joy and excitement out of learning the subject.
It was also claimed that the traditional mathematics was ill adapted to grounding students
for understanding modern technology.
- The claims were passed on to other countries, Kenya included.
- The New Maths programme was intended to remedy the situation by making
mathematics more meaningful, more enjoyable and more rewarding for students hence
setting up the New Mathematics project in Kenya (1965).

Features of New Maths

i. Discovery methods were emphasized as opposed to expository.
ii. The previous compartmentalization into arithmetic geometry algebra was abandoned.
iii. Many topics from old mathematics were retained but new topics included e.g. sets, number
bases, and relations in mapping. The New Maths emphasized the use of children‟s mistakes
as a starting point in helping them to grasp basic concepts in maths.

Criticisms of New Maths

- Syllabus and textbooks were difficult for the average child in Kenya.
- The teaching of new maths was left to expertriates who failed to apply the subject to Kenya
situation.
- The syllabus was overloaded due to addition of new topics.
- Language in textbooks was difficult for most pupils.
- Computational skills were neglected hence public outcry that children were incompetent in
performing simple computational operations.
- More teachers were not provided with in-service courses.
- There was no evaluation.
- Information available tended to confirm that indeed Kenya‟s needed traditional
mathematics.
- These criticisms led to the setting of committee at KIE in 1971 to examine the new
curriculum and make recommendations. The work of the committee was pre-empted in
1971 when the president directed that Kenya should revert to traditional mathematics.

Note
The only major success of the project was the production of plenty of mathematics materials
through workshops.

d) Resources centres
Resource centre is a place where a variety of learning resources are centrally (books, materials
and resource personnel) collected and systematically arranged for educational use e.g. library,
teachers centre.

Types of resource centres

i. A school or college resource centre – serves to meet needs of the institution.
ii. A regional resource centre – serves a particular locality e.g. zone, division, district, province
etc.

Page 81 of 84
iii. A central resource centre – serves a whole country or entire educational system e.g. the
educational media service at Kenya Institute of Education.

Services provided by a resource centre include;

i. Information services
ii. A concise loan system – lending of resources to teachers, students etc.
iii. Resource production – produces teaching / learning materials whenever possible and
necessary.
iv. Consultancy services – offers consultancy, advisory and research facilities for teachers and
students.
v. Training – organize courses, workshops and seminars for teacher to update them in curricula
trends.
vi. Curriculum improvement – carries out actual activities of curriculum development,
information and feedback provided is used in improving curricula

Today there are several resource centres in Kenya;

- Most colleges of education and secondary schools had simple libraries.
- Resource centre at the department of educational communication and technology at
Kenyatta University.
- Establishment of KIE as a central resource centre.

e) Local subject panels

- Primary school teachers have formed subject panels at the zonal, divisional and district
levels throughout the country. The panels in conjunction with the teachers centres,
inspectorate and the KIE are expected to deal with the immediate curriculum problems in
their subject areas in local schools.
- Local subject panels first emerged in the late seventies in a few districts.
- They are composed of selected subject teachers, headmasters and the local primary
inspectors. They meet regularly at the local teachers centre, local education office or at a
selected local school to review the curriculum and consider pedological issues.

Functions
- Act as a link between the teachers, KIE and the inspectorate in matters relating to school
curriculum.
- Organize in-service courses and updating teachers in curriculum matters. They do these in
conjunction with inspectorate, teachers centres and KIE.
- Identify problems facing teachers as far as the school curriculum is concerned and
recommend possible solutions to the national curriculum developers and the inspectorate.
- Review the school curricula material for local understanding and consumption.
- Develop evaluation strategies and examinations for the local schools.
- Advise the headmasters and the local education office on how to improve the
implementation of the curriculum in the local schools.

Successes
- Have introduced the element of decentralization in curriculum development in Kenya.
- Developing tests and examinations.

Page 82 of 84
- Increased interaction between teachers in the local area.
- Local teachers have developed a sense of collective responsibility as far as the standard of
education in the local schools is concerned rather than just being concerned with their
respective schools.

f) Integrated Social Studies

- Became part of school curriculum in 1985 within the 8-4-4 system of education in Kenya.
- The inclusion of social studies in the curriculum was as a result of the Africa Social Studies
Programme (ASSP).
- They held a conference; the integrated approach was favoured as being more meaningful to
the pupils.

Social studies was to serve the following functions

i. Was to become broad based.
ii. Was to draw from other social sciences.
iii. Was to act as a vehicle for drawing attention to problems of rapid economic
development.
iv. To promote national integration, self-confidence and initiative based on the worth and
dignity of man.
- The Mombasa Conference felt that the development of social studies in Africa countries
should be under Africa direction.
- The new curricular integrates content and experiences from various social sciences e.g.
geography, history, civics, anthropology, economics, social ethics, social psychology and
sociology.
- It employs an enquiry method of learning with a multi-media presentation.
- Implemented in Kenya in 1985 in all primary schools from standards 1 – 8. It is called
Geography, History and Civics a combined course.
- It is broad based and embraces concepts from other social sciences e.g. economics,
sociology, anthropology, social ethics, family life education and social psychology.

g) Environmental Education
- It is the process of organizing values and clarifying concepts in order to understand and
appreciate the interrelatedness between man, his culture and his biophysical surroundings.
- Need to promote environmental education as a field of study in the education system was
brought into focus in the 1970s. This was due to the interaction between man and his
environment resulting in negative influence on the environment.
- There were a series of international conferences from which environmental education
developed as a field of study. These include;
i. Stockholm conference Sweden 1972. The key issue was environmental pollution. This
conference led to the establishment of United Nations Environmental Programme
(UNEP) in Nairobi.
ii. UNESCO – UNEP environmental education programme Belgrade 1975.
- set up to implement the recommendations of the 1972 Stockholm conference
iii. The Tbilis: Inter-governmental conference on Environmental Education (1977)
- led to the formulation and endorsement of environmental education goals,
objectives and guiding principles.

Page 83 of 84
 - A number of methods and strategies for teaching Environmental Education have
been developed by the KIE in conjunction with UNESCO for use at primary
school level.
i. Inquiry
The learner with teachers guidance defines a problem, formulates a hypothesis in
regard to the problem collects data, analyses and reports data findings, uses the
findings to test the original hypothesis, formulates conclusions and applies the
conclusions to solving problems in his area of concern.
ii. Conceptual method
Teacher develops this subject around broad concepts. These concepts are selected
and expanded drawing ideas from many subject areas in a multi-field approach.
iii. Relevance method
Questions of social relevance and utility are used to organize teaching
programmes in a subject area. Increasing population and human settlements may
be studied in different subjects like biology, physics, chemistry, geography or
social studies. This method helps pupils understand issues of the environment
and human populations as they study the specific subject areas.
iv. Process method
Programmes are designed to focus on the process of scientific inquiry with less
emphasis on the content of the discipline under study. The pupil involved in the
active search for potential solution to problems in the interaction between man
and his environment. The pupil is encouraged to develop the ability to ask
questions, develop work habits, and collect data and analyse them and make
conclusions about the evidence collected.
v. Value clarification
Relevant to population education where people have to be persuaded to adopt
measures which often are counter to their moral beliefs and values. The study of
environmental education aims to clarify value issues related to the population
problem.

Page 84 of 84