Chapter 1 principles and theories in curriculum development

PRINCIPLES AND THEORIES IN CURRICULUM

DEVELOPMENT

Chapter 1:

The Need for a Curriculum Framework

The implementation of curriculum structure that is sari-sari and developed through hula-hula, lakas ng kutob or gaya-gaya, becomes problematic because of the confusion that it creates, limiting its effectiveness in producing the desired outcomes.

Taking into account the considerable expense for major nationwide curricular reforms for basic education, it is necessary to underscore the need for curriculum developers to pay attention to a multitude of concerns during the planning stage to avoid wastage.

The Role of Curriculum

Curriculum is a crucial factor in the teaching- learning process.

It means a written plan ( a degree program, a syllabus, a textbook, a learning package, a lesson)- which is prescriptive definition.

Based on Dewey’s (1916) view= “as all the experiences of the learner inside and outside the school under the guidance of the teacher, that is all encompassing.”

Cont. role of curriculum A written plan that is specific and

prescriptive indicates the objectives, defines the scope and sequence of the content, identifies the strategies and activities or learning, selects materials and describes the role of the learner and the teacher.

Comprehensive plan include all learning experiences that may or my not be specifically written but supervised by the school.

Learning Experiences constitute the:

CURRICULAR

(classroom lessons)

CO- CURRICULAR(experiences directly related to classroom

lessons such as debates and science

contests)

EXTRA- CURRICULAR

( experiences not directly related to

classroom lessons but with educative

value such as athletics and

leadership training)

The purpose of plan ( prescriptive or comprehensive ) is to enable students to learn knowledge, skills, attitudes, values and habits so that they can become competent and productive members of society.

Cost- Effectiveness

A need to maximize scare resources allocated to the educational system for obvious reasons.

Phases of Curriculum DevelopmentCurriculum Dev’t- refers to process that produces a

written plan.

Phases:

1. The curriculum design or structure

2. The implementation scheme

3. The evaluation procedure

Curriculum Designs – are overall frameworks which describe the interaction and congruence of the four basic elements of aims: objectives, content, organization, and evaluation.

--These frameworks become the bases for the dev’t of textbooks, syllabi, and lesson plans.

Figure 1. Phases of Curriculum Development

Curriculum

Development

Plan

* Design ( objectives, content, organization, evaluation)

* Pilot Testing ( deficiencies, operational problems)

* Implementation ( roles, materials, schedule)

* Evaluation ( effectiveness, efficiency, impact )

Figure 2. Phases of Curriculum Development (Inverted Model)

Curriculum

Development

PHASES

* Lesson Planning ( individual teachers )

* Lesson Try-outs ( individual teachers )

* Curriculum Design ( curriculum committee )

* Implementation ( wide-scale)

* Evaluation ( effectiveness )

Areas of Concern in Curriculum Development

1. Shared philosophy, beliefs, behaviors, norms and rules of Philippine society.

2. Knowledge of the nature of the learner in terms of development level, learning style, normative needs and other philosophical and psychological concerns.

3. Knowledge of teaching-learning theories and principles; and

4. The different domains of knowledge (cognitive, affective, psychomotor).

Curriculum Development

Knowledge of Learner

Knowledge of Teaching- Learning

Theories & Principles

Body of Knowledge

Figure 3. Curriculum Development as a Process of Decision- Making

Curriculum Design

Pilot Testing

Implementation Evaluation

Areas of Concerns

Decision Areas

Cultural Values

Cultural Values A group of people in any given society may be

defined by its culture which is manifested by both visible and non-visible dimensions.Visible dimension- rules, food, dress, language,

music, dance, means of livelihood, political behavior, as well as family, community, and institutional norms and practices.

Non-visible- such as philosophy, beliefs and value system which have far greater influence and impact on the way of life of the people.

Figure 4. The role of Education in Integrative Development

INTEGRATED DEVELOPMENT

Economic Growth

International Cooperation

Environmental Protection

Social Justice

Peace & Order

Health

COMMUNICATION

EDUCATION

CULTURAL VALUES

Spiritually upliftingSocially Integrating

SustainableEquitable

Knowledge of the Learner The learners are beneficiaries of curricular

revision efforts, it is necessary to know their needs and interests so that the curriculum design can respond to their developmental needs that impact on the growth of knowledge, skills, values, attitudes and habits as well as on their expectations in relation to the socio- economic realities in their own environment.

Cont…Knowledge of the Learner

The Program For Decentralized Educational Development Program (PRODED) and the Secondary Education Development Program (SEDP) intended to improve the quality of elementary and secondary education respectively are focused on the content rather than on the learner and the learning processes despite their expressed bias for humanist orientation.

Factoring of the Economic Conditions of the Learners

Poverty continues to be pervasive in the Philippines.

Because the basic needs for food, health, and housing of majority of people are not met, many children of school age are malnourished and sickly.

In the 80’s, UNICEF estimated that 1.35 million Filipino children were out of school.

Recognizing Future Needs of the Learners

It is necessary to anticipate future needs and expectations too, in order to train the learners to live in and cope with the demands of a world that will certainly be unlike the present in many significant ways.

Visions about the future outlined in documents like Philippines 2000 provide information on the kind of curriculum needed in the next century.

Knowledge of Teaching-Learning Principles

Understanding how human beings learn requires knowledge of psychological theories and principles.

Behaviorism, cognitive psychology, and cognitive- field psychology.

Behaviorism Behaviorism represents a philosophical and

scientific orientation which focuses on the study of observable events through the use of the senses (seeing, hearing, tasting, touching and smelling).

Behavioral Theories

•Constitutes the lowest level of learning which is based on the scientific works of Ivan Pavlov (1927).

Classical Conditioning

•Takes places when stimuli are paired such as what goes on with the drill instruction and practice.

Contiguity learning

•Based on the work of B.F. Skinner (1953),explains learning in terms of the effects of reinforcement which strengthens behavior.

Instrumental / Operant

Conditioning

Cognitive Development Psychology

Cognitive Dev’t Psychology refers to a philosophical and scientific orientation which focuses on mental processes ( cognition) that are non- observable.Cognition- represents the manner by which a human

being acquires, stores, processes and uses information about the internal and external environment.

According to cognitive psychologist, learning takes place through the interaction between the genetic factors (hereditary), and environmental ones (nurture).

Cont…Cognitive Development Psychologist

•The development of the intellect occurring 4 stages: sensorimotor, pre-operational, concrete operational, and formal operational.

Jean Piaget (1948)

•Intellectual dev’t in stages: from simple to complex.

•Proposed that individuals represent in their minds the world around them based on the cognitive level they are in particular point in time.

Jerome Bruner (1959)

•Recognized cognitive dev’t as an effect of social interaction: children learn from their interaction with the people around them from birth.

Lev Vygotsky ( 1978)

Cont…relation to Classroom Instruction

•C.I should proceed from simple ideas to complex ones, from concrete concepts to abstract ones and in consideration of the stage of the development of the learner.

Jean Piaget (1948)

•Children represents in their minds the world around them at each stage through different modes- enactive (through action), iconic (through visual images), and symbolic (through language and numbers).

Jerome Bruner (1959)

•Exposure and immersion strategies in the teaching of many subjects are used by teachers.

•The social world is the source of all their concepts, ideas, facts, skills, and attitudes.

Lev Vygotsky ( 1978)

Cognitive- field Psychology

Based on the German concept of Gestalt that connotes patterns, shapes, forms and configuration._.....personal meanings or private views referred to as perception.

the theory was started by three German psychologist: Koffka (1935), Wertheimer (1945), and Kohler (1947). According to the theory, “what individuals perceives and what they pay attention to, determine the meaning they give to the field (environment)”.

The field represents how the individual perceives himself in relation with the environment (perceptual organization).

Table 1. Comparison Among Behaviorism, Cognitive Psychology, and Cognitive Psychology

BehaviorismCognitive

DevelopmentPsychology

Cognitive- Field Psychology

Basis for learning Stimulus- Response (S-R)

Interaction between genetic factors and the environment

Perception

Philosophical Basis Realism Pragmatism Existentialism/ Phenomenology

Learning Mode Passive Interactive Interactive

Knowledge Structure

Linear Developmental Pattern

View about reality Congruent with what is observed

Constructed Constructed

Key Concepts Conditioning, Reinforcement Measurable, Association

Developmental stage, Interactions, Mental structure or schemas

Insights, Mental structures, Patterns of Relationship

View of the Whole Sum of all the parts Stage-bound Greater than the sum of all parts

Universal Development and the Theory of Multiple Intelligences

Piaget’s concept of universal dev’t may no longer tenable.

Sperry’s (in De Tagle, 1992) neuroscientific research describes how the left and right hemisphere of the brain for majority of individuals.

Howard Gardner (1983), proposed the theory of Multiple Intelligences (MI)

Figure 5. the Split-Brain Model and the Dominant Characteristics for Each Hemisphere

of the Human Brain

LEFT BRAIN

(Analytic)

• Symbols (Letters, words, numbers, formula)

• Logic• Sequence• Linearity• Analysis• Scientific process

RIGHT BRAIN

(Global)

• Forms and Patterns (gestalt)

• Images and Pictures• Rhythm, tune, and

Harmony• Spatial Manipulation• Integration• Scientific process• Imagination and Intuition

Figure 6. Paradigm Shift on the Concept of Intelligence

Paradigm- a model or pattern for something that may be copied

Table 2. Abilities and Sensitivities of Each of the Seven Intelligences Based on the Gardner Model

DOMAINS ABILITIES SENSITIVITIESLogico- mathematico

Reason logically and coherently, apply the scientific method in problem- solving

Pattern, sequence, system, order

Linguistic Deal with verbal symbols Sounds, meanings, and arrangement of words

Musical Produce and appreciate rhythm, pitch and timbre

Musical expressiveness, tone ,, rhythm

Spatial Perceive relations of objects in space with precision, transform and create visual experience

Visual experiences

Bodily- Kinesthetic

Control body movements Coordinating between and among body parts

Interpersonal Discern and respond appropriately to the moods, temperaments, motivations, and desires of others

Needs and feelings of others

Intrapersonal Understand personal feeling and draw upon them to guide behavior

Personal feeling and needs

A Proposed Emerging Learning Paradigm

The emerging paradigm suggest that’s that it is the learner who has stellar role in the learning process; the teacher’s role although important is only a supporting one.

Social Processes:•Interaction•Collaboration•Transaction•Group Dynamics

Self Processes:

•Intrinsic

motivation

•Self- regulation

•Self- Learning

•Construction of

meanings and

explanations

Context: • Real- life Situation• Learning environments

TEACHERS GOAL LANGUAGE

Figure 7. the Emerging Learning Paradigm

Body of Knowledge What knowledge is of most worth and therefore

should be taught…….since the time of Plato and Aristotle.

The early Romans decided that the ideal curriculum to produce an educated man consisted of the seven liberal arts: grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, astronomy and music.

In modern times, as a consequences of discoveries in science, new ideas about human beings, nature and life, there had been a tremendous explosion of knowledge that necessitated the inclusion of other subjects in he curricula.

Cont….Body of Knowledge Several branches in the field of science are

now included in the school curriculum. Social science courses which were not

deemed essential before are now standard components of the curricula.

As new knowledge and information as well as technological inventions are introduced and validated….

Decision- Making

The concerns on cultural values, learner characteristics, teaching- learning principles and worthwhile knowledge guide the curriculum developers in making decisions regarding the curriculum design, on how to conduct a pilot study of the curriculum to determine deficiencies in the design that should be corrected prior to its full implementation, and on the procedure for evaluation.

Thank You

Source: Curriculum Development: The Philippine Setting by Adelaida L. Bago, 2001.