NATIONAL CURRICULUM DESIGN
Dr. Cynthia CrumpFrom Theory To Practice
The philosophy of the Department of Education
WHAT ARE THE GUIDING TENETS?
Tyler’s model – focus questionsWhat educational purposes should the
[school curriculum] seek to attain?What educational experiences can be
provided?How can these educational
experiences be effectively organized? How can we determine whether these
purposes are attained?
Design
Proposed organization of the curriculum, guided by instructions – influenced by the hope to solve a problem; meet a need; attend to an issue;
Depends on the purpose of the organizationTranslating the needs into a course …
The planned curriculum design will attempt to provide the learning experiences necessary to achieve the goals and objectives, and honor the philosophy of the Department of Education.
The main aim is to ensure a high degree of alignment between the planned, taught, and experienced curriculum, ultimately improving students’ achievement, motivation, interests and dispositions
Alignment: Analysing The learners’ Experience
• Presented • Planned• Explicit
FORMAL
• Values • expectatio
ns
HIDDEN • Actual learning
EXPERIENCED
Design •-
subjects; disciplines
Academic
•- performance tasks; processes
Technical
•– problem solving
Intellectual
•– real world situations; projects
Social
•learner-centered; needs and interests
Individual
http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/curriclum/cu3lk12.htm
QUESTIONS For ConsiderationWHAT ORDER?
HOW MUCH?
WHICH/WHAT?
SEQENCE
SCOPE
BALANCE
WIDTH/BREADTH
RELEVANCE
COHERENCE
CONSISTENCY
Content & Methods Each subject area has:
a stated rationale to show its importance in the national curriculum and the competencies students will achieve after exposure to the courses of study (National Curriculum Policy Framework).
standards, goals and learning outcomes to guide the development of specific objectives and the content.
Other resource materials in addition to text books and curriculums from other islands and countries.
Tyler, Taba, The backward design approach posited by Wiggins and McTigue (2006) could guide the development of units in identifying objectives, planning learning experiences/strategies instruction assessment
Topics, concept mapping, writing appropriate specific objectives to match standards and learning outcomes
Content & MethodsINTRODUCTORY SECTION
END SECTIONthe purpose or rationale, guidelines, resources, themes, and strands
a glossary of important terms,
sample lesson plans, important links, and RubricsA curriculum evaluation
form
UnitsThe units could will comprise the following
components:Focus questionsUnit title and themeDuration of unitAttainment targets / Learning outcomes /General
objectivesSpecific objectivesKey conceptsSuggested activities – teacher and studentsAssessment
Experiential LearningExperiential philosophy would result in a
“plan for deciding upon subject-matter, upon methods of instruction and discipline, and upon material, equipment and social organization…” (Dewey, 1997, p. 28).
Do
ReflectApply
Experiential Learning Model
1EXPERIENCE
the activity;perform, do it
2SHAREthe results,
reactions, and observations
publicly
3PROCESSby discussing, locking at the experience;
analyze, reflect
4GENERALIZE
to connect theexperience to
real worldexamples
5APPLY
what was learnedto a similar or
different situation;practice
Source: Jamison (2006).
Experiential learning is one philosophical perspective that forms the foundation of the national curriculum.
Rogers
AssessmentAssessment could will include:traditional and performance-based
assessment:research projects, science process skills, communicative skills, citizenship skills, problem solving skills, service learning skills, and life skills.
The Way ForwardDraft National curriculum frameworkCurriculum Review /development guided by goals, vision,
mission, principles, learning targets, learning outcomes Curriculum core group
Varied Stakeholders prepare draft Review / develop / adjusting
Core group edits Stakeholder group further review Share with principals Invite ALL grade level teachers to have input for further
adjustments Wide scale Professional Development Training (PDT) Pilot implementation (HOW)
Revise
Implementation [include continuous school-based PDT]
ImplementationPutting into practice the officially prescribed
courses of study, syllabuses and subjectsHelping the learner acquire knowledge or
experienceContinuous Professional Development
What factors influence?How do we deal with the factors ?
Implementationinvolves delivering, monitoring, and evaluating,
and adjusting the curriculum while stakeholders find out what is going on in the classrooms.
The processes delivery of the materials, staff or professional development, and Support and management strategies.
Monitoring Plan [who what when]Monitoring, mentoring, and coaching (on-
site) will heighten the effectiveness of the planning and course delivery and advise adjustments/changes to the curriculums
Major tools: The evaluation form observation schedules / appraisal forms
Day in a School (Dias) Monitoring and Support Program
Any other suggestions ?
Evaluation Process of
describing and judging an educational program or subject;
Comparing a student’s performance with behaviourally stated objectives;
Defining, obtaining and using relevant information for decision-making process
INTERNAL and EXTERNAL
Evaluation and Review
Review is closely linked to the implementation and will support further adjustments and improvements.
The formative and summative evaluation should ensure quality data to find out to what extent we are accomplishing the intended outcomes, and if we can make it better.
Data for review will be a result of test scores, research, (survey, case study, experiment) results, focus group exchange and textbook evaluations
Which Model? Tyler
CIPP
Scriven
Format for curriculum evaluation
Four main questions
Context, Input,
Process, Product
Formative &
Summative
Textbooks and Technologyintegral support materials for the
curriculums. Important considerations
Stakeholder complaints related to appropriateness, user friendliness, match with standards, and durability
TextbooksDaniels (2006) encouraged curriculum planners
to view complaints as possible tools for improvement.
More appropriate texts to complement the curriculums and more adequately meet the needs including the reading level of the students are important at this time (Hubizs, 2003). the curriculum team will continue to work closely
with educators and agents of publishing companies
curriculum development process
Planning /designing
Writing / Development
Implementation
Evaluation and Review
foundations
learner characteristics
needs
stakeholders teams
modules
outcomes
resources
challenges
teaching
assessment
learning
training
monitoring
formativ
e
Evaluation strategy
summativ
e
review
report
revise
units
objectives
Tyler
Professional
dev
adjust
impro
ve
modules
References
Gredler, M. (2004). Learning and instruction: Theory into practice. (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Daniels, S. (2006). Oklahoma School district goes over the top. Quality Progress, 39(5), 51-59.
Dewey, J. (1997). Experience and education. (1st ed.). New York: Touchstone. (Original work published in 1938).
El Sawi, G. (1996). Curriculum development guide. Population Education for Non-Formal Education Programs of Out-of-School Rural Youth. Retrieved February 02, 2010, from http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ah650e/ah650e00.HTM
Hubisz, J. (2003). Middle School texts don’t make the grade. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://www.science-house.org/middleschool/whatsnew/PT-Hubisz05031.pdf
Jamison, K. (2002). Experiential learning model. Adapted from National 4-H curriculum Handbook, 1992. Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://njaes.rutgers.edu/learnbydoing/ExperLrngInservice2002.ppt
Meyer, M. H., & Bushney, M. J. (2009). Towards a multi-stakeholder-driven model for excellence in higher education curriculum development. SAJHE 22(6), 1229-1240.
National Curriculum Policy Framework (2009). Curriculum Development Unit. Ministry of Education, Antigua & Barbuda.
Wiggins, G., & McTigue, J. (2006). Understanding by design. (2nd ed.). New Jersey, Pearson.