Principles In Curriculum Design

Topic 2 : Models , Principles and Development of Curriculum Design

What is curriculum design?

•Curriculum design is deciding about the “shape” or “configuration” of a curriculum plan. •It involves the selection of content in line with the goals and objectives of the curriculum.

•The selected content will have to be arranged in a form that will help the teacher in choosing and organizing appropriate learning experiences for the classroom.

•Curriculum design is also referred to as “curriculum organisation”.

Designing the curriculum

• It involves the task of organizing or arranging the four components/elements; namely, objectives, subject matter (content), teaching-learning experiences and evaluation procedures into a cohesive and comprehensive plan that can be implemented with minimal difficulties.

• A good curriculum is:– Balanced (Well-adjusted)– Rigorous (Demanding/Difficult)– Coherent (Clear/Rational/Intelligible)– Vertically integrated– Appropriate (Suitable/Fitting)– Focused/parsimonious (tightfisted)– Relevant (Pertinent/Significant)

(Sowell, 2000; Ornstein & Hunkins, 1998):

When deciding on content organization the following principles have been proposed.1) Scope 2) Sequence3) Integration

ScopeScope refers to both the breadth and depth of content and includes all topics, learning experiences and organising threads found in the curriculum plan.

Scope not only refers to cognitive learning but also affective learning, and some would argue spiritual learning (Goodland & Zhixin Su, 1992).

Sometimes the scope of a curriculum is narrow, consisting of just a simple listing of key topics and activities.

• Sequence - Sequence refers to the organisation of content and the extent to which it fosters cumulative and continuous learning (referred to as vertical relationship among sections of the curriculum).

• Do students have the opportunity to make connections and enrich their understanding of the content? It is important that the sequencing of content leads to the cumulative development of intellectual and affective processes. The sequence of content and experiences should be based on the logic of the subject matter and the way in which individuals learn. It should be based on psychological principles and understanding of human development and learning:

• a) Simple to complex – Content is organised from simple subordinate components to complex components depicting interrelationships among components.

• b) Spiral - In a spiral curriculum, concepts may be introduced on a simple level in the early grades, and then revisited with more and more complexity and application later on.

• c) Prerequisites – It works on the assumption that bits of information or learning must be grasped before other bits of information can be understood.

• d) Whole to part – Content is better understood if an overview (whole) is first presented to show the connections between the parts.

• e) Chronology – This is a useful organiser for sequencing content especially in subjects such as history, political science and world events.

• f) Vertical organisation - This simply means that content and skills are arranged so that they build on one another; that they align with the general sequence of cognitive development. They indicate what students have learned and what they will learn later.

• g) Horizontal organisation - It involves how skills and content that are taught during one level or one period of time relate to another.

Integration• Integration is the bringing together of the concepts, skills and values

of different subject areas to reinforce each other. Bits of information from different subject areas are brought together in such a way as to present the learner with a unified picture of knowledge. Some have argued that however much curriculum planners try to integrate information; it is the learners who integrate what they are learning in their minds. It is something that happens within the individual learner. The idea of integration was popularised in the 60s by Hilda Taba because of concern that school curriculum was too disjointed, fragmented and detached. Lately, there has been a surge of interest in curriculum integration due to the rapid accumulation of information that is doubling in a shorter period of time. Increasingly, there is a realisation that knowledge has to be viewed in a much broader sense, particularly in dealing with ideas that cut across disciplines. When faced with real-world situations, seldom is one area of content sufficient to explain complex phenomena.