LEARNING THEORIES, APPROACHES

AND METHODS

Curriculum designs can be grouped into thefollowing 3 basic designs :

• subject-centred designs– academic subject designs– discipline designs– broad field designs– correlation designs– process designs.

• learner-centred designs– child-centred– romantic/radical designs– humanistic designs.

• problem-centred designs.– life-situations design– core design

Subject-centred design

• The most popular and widely used curriculum design.

• Knowledge and content are well accepted.

• It focuses on how best to present the knowledge, skills and values of the subjects to learners

1. Academic Subject Design

• The oldest and best known design to most people.

• Based on the belief that humans are unique because of their intellect and the quest for and acquisition of knowledge is to feed this intellect.

• critics argue that this design deemphasises the learner by taking away their rights to choose the content that is most meaningful to them.

• The focus on the subject matter fails to foster social, psychological and physical development… (Ornstein & Hunkins, 1998).

2. Discipline Design

• Discipline refers to specific knowledge and through a method which the scholars use to study a specific content of their fields.

• Persons involved in the field are theoreticians and practitioners.

• It engages the students so they can analyze the curriculum and draw conclusions.

• It helps students to master the content area and in turn increase independent learning.

3. Broad Fields Design

• Known as the interdisciplinary design.

• Made to prevent compartmentalization of subjects and integrate the contents that are related to each other– Social Studies (Economics, Sociology, Political Science,

Geography and History)– Language Arts (literature, grammar, linguistics and

spelling)– General Science?

Issues...• Breadth versus depth

– Eg : Social studies vs economics

4. Correlation Design

• Lies in between the academic design model and the broad fields design.

• Subjects are related to one another but each subject a maintains its identify.– Eg :Correlate history with literature at the secondary

school level.

– In a history lesson the class learns about the Japanese occupation of Malaysia. During the literature class, students read novels about life during that time period. However, each subject retains its own distinct identity.

5. Process Design

• The most popular example of the process design model is the teaching of thinking skills.

• Curriculum has focused on the teaching of decision making, problem solving, critical thinking and creative thinking.

• In the process design curriculum students are also taught to be aware of their thinking and to take action when necessary.

• The aim of the curriculum is to enhance these process skills applicable to all disciplines. Thinking critically is not unique to geography or physics. Neither is thinking creatively the sole domain of art or literature.

Learner-centred design

• Emphasis was on the development of the whole child and this was most evident in primary schools.

1. Child-Centred Design

• Learners should actively participate in the teaching-learning process.

• Learners interact with the teachers and the environment.

• In the child-centred design, focus is on the needs and interests of the learners.

• Children are given the freedom to discover and do things for themselves rather than told how to do something.

• The most well-known advocate of the child-centred design is John Dewey. – He argued that children are not blank slates and they

bring with them four basic impulses – the impulse to communicate, to compare and contrast, to inquire and to express themselves through language.

• Teachers and students negotiate what is of interest to learners and what content is to be included in the curriculum.

– Eg :Teachers and students participate in planning lesson units, its purposes, the focus of the content and the learning activities to be introduced in the teaching and learning situations.

• The “project method”

– a popular pedagogical strategy in the child-centred design in which children solved problematic situations calling on their knowledge and skills of science, history, art and so forth.

2. Radical Design

• Greater emphasis is placed on the need for the curriculum to reform society.

• A well-known proponent of the radical design was Paulo Freire who opposed treating students as empty vessels to be filled with knowledge by the teacher.

• “the teacher who learns and the learner who teaches”.

• Learning is something that results from the interaction between and among people.

• Learners should challenge content and be allowed to give their opinions about the information given to them.

• Learners will value what they learn if they are allowed to construct their own knowledge.

3. Humanistic Design

Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers

• The development of self is the ultimate objective of leaning.

• It stresses the whole person and the integration of thinking, feeling and doing.

• It stresses the development of positive self-concept and interpersonal skills.

• The aim of education is the facilitation of learning.

• In other words, the teacher is able to view the world through the student’s eyes.

• The humanistic curriculum requires teacher with great skills and competence in dealing with individuals. This may be difficult to obtain in all teachers.

Problem-centred design

• Focus on the problems faced by society.

• Genuine life problems are selected and teaching-learning activities are organised around these issues.

• The learner is placed in the social setting to address problems.

• the problems or issues discussed originate from issues that are of concern to society. It aims to prepare students with relevant knowledge and skills to fit into society when they leave school.

1. Life-centred situations

• It uses the past and present experiences of learners as a means to analyze the basic areas of living. – Eg : healthy living, use of leisure time, ethics, racial

tolerance, citizenship skills

• This will encourage them to seek ways to improve society.

• The life situations that need to be emphasised in schools will depend on what students need before they enter the working world and assume adult responsibilities.

2. Core-design

• Focus is still on the pressing problems of society; the difference being that certain problem are selected to form the core.

– A problem solving approach is adopted in analysing social problems.

– Students select a problem through consensus and work either individually or in groups.

– Data is collected, analysed, interpreted and presented in class.

– Findings are evaluated and discussed.