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MODULE 2, The Teacher as a Knower of Curriculum, , Module Overview, Module 2 describes the school curriculum in terms of its definition, its nature, and scope, which are needed by the teacher as a knower. This module provides,, a wider perspective for the teachers about the curriculum, in terms of curriculum, approach, curriculum development process, some curriculum models and the, foundations upon which curriculum is anchored., , Desired Learning Outcomes, •, •, •, •, , ‘, , Define curriculum from different perspectives, Describe the nature and scope of curriculum, Reflect on how the three approaches interrelate with each other, Explain and summarize the curriculum development process and model, , LESSON 2.1, , The School Curriculum: Definition, nature &, Scope, , Take Off, TODAY’S HEADLINES, 1. DepEd Reviews The K to 12 Curriculum, 2. Suicide incidence in Schools Has Become Alarming, 3. Teachers are Reluctant to Try New things in the Curriculum, 4. Co-curricular Activities” Learning Opportunities or Distractions, 5. The use of ICT Gains Ground in Public Schools, What can you say of these headlines? Do these reflect what are going on, in our schools? Should the public know and be involved in the schooling of their, citizens? What are the implications of each headline to the classroom curriculum?, _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________
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• Each member of society seems to view school curriculum differently, hence, there are varied demands on what schools should do and what curriculum, should be taught., • Some would demand reducing content and shifting emphasis to, development of lifelong skills., • More debates are emerging on the use of languages in the classroom., Should it be mother tongue, the national language or global language?, , Content Focus, Oftentimes, curriculum is taken in its narrow view as a listing of subjects to be, taught in schools or sometimes it is understood broadly as all learning experiences, that individuals undergo while in school. Like many concepts in education, there, seems to be no common definition of ‘curriculum’. Because, of this, the concept, of curriculum is sometimes characterized as fragmentary, elusive and confusing., However, the word originates from the Latin word currere referring to the oval, track upon which Roman chariots raced. The New International Dictionary defines, curriculum as the whole body of a course in an educational institution or by a, department while the Oxford Dictionary defines curriculum as a courses taught in, school or universities. Curriculum mean different things to different people., Some Definitions of Curriculum, 1. Curriculum is a planned and guided set of learning experiences and, intended outcomes, formulated through the systematic reconstruction of, knowledge and experiences. (Daniel Tanned, 1980), 2. It is a written document that systematically describes goals planned,, objectives, content, learning activities, evaluation procedures and so forth., (Pratt, 1980), 3. The contents of a subject, concepts and tasks to be acquired, planned, activities, the desired learning outcomes and experiences. (Schubert, 1987), 4. A curriculum includes “all experiences the individual learners have in, program of education whose purpose is to achieve broad goals and related, specific objectives… (Hass, 1987), 5. It is a programme of activities (by teachers and pupils) designed so that, pupils will attain so far as possible certain educational and other schooling, ends or objectives. (Grundy, 1987), 6. It is a plan that consists of learning opportunities for a specific time frame and, place and place. (Goodland and Su, 1992), 7. It provides answers to three questions: 1. What knowledge, skills and values, are most worthwhile? 2. Why are they most worthwhile? 3. How should the, young acquire them? (Cronbeth, 1002), Some Points of View of Other Curricularists, Since the concept and meaning of curriculum are shaped by a person’s, point of view when put together, the different definitions from diverse points of
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view, would describe the curriculum as dynamic and perhaps ever changing., • Collectively from traditional view of theorists like Hutchkins, Schwab, Bestor, and Phoenix, curriculum can be defined as a field of study. Curriculum is, highly academic and is concerned with broad historical, philosophical,, psychological and social issues. From a traditional view, curriculum is mostly, written documents such syllabus, course of study, books and references, where knowledge is found but is used as a means to accomplish intended, goals., Curriculum from Progressive Points of View, On the other hand, a listing of school subjects, syllabi, course of study, and, specific discipline does not make a curriculum., , Let us look into how curriculum is defined from a progressive point of view., • John Dewey believes that education is experiencing. Reflective thinking is, a means that unifies curricular elements that are tested by application., • Holin Caswell and Kenn Campbell viewed curriculum as all experiences, children have under the guidance of teachers, • Othaniel smith, William Stanley and Harlan Shore likewise defined, curriculum as a sequence of potential experiences, set up in schools for the, purpose of disciplining children and youth in group ways of thinking and, acting., • Collin Marsh and George wills also viewed curriculum as all the experiences, in the classroom which are planned and enacted by the teacher and also, learned by the students., , Let us put all these interpretations in summary, ✓ Curriculum is what taught in school, a set of subjects, a content, a program, of studies, a set of materials, a sequence of courses, a set of performance, objectives, everything that goes within the school. It is what is inside and, outside of school directed by the teacher, everything and planned by, school, a series of experiences undergone by learners in school or what, individual learner experiences as a result of school. In short, curriculum is the, total learning experiences of the learner under the guidance of the, teacher., , LESSON 2.2, , Approaches to the School Curriculum, , THREE WAYS OF APPROACHING CURRICULUM, 1. Curriculum as a Content or Body of Knowledge, • It is quite common for traditionalists to equate a curriculum to a topic, outline, subject matter, or concepts to be included in the syllabus or a, books. For example, a primary school mathematics curriculum consists of
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topics on addition, multiplication, subtraction, division, distance, weight, and many more., There are four ways of presenting the content in the curriculum. These are:, 1. Tropical Approach, where much content is based on knowledge and, experiences are included;, 2. Concept Approach with fewer topics in clusters around major and subconcepts and their interaction, with relatedness emphasized;, 3. Thematic Approach as a combination of concepts that develop conceptual, structures, and, 4. Modular Approach that leads to complete units of instruction., Criteria in the Selection of Content, 1. Significance. Content should contribute to ideas, concepts, principles and, generalization that should attain the overall purpose of the curriculum., 2. Validity. The authenticity of the subject matter forms its validity. Knowledge, becomes obsolete with the fast changing times. Thus, there is a need for, validity check and verification at a regular interval., 3. Utility. Usefulness of the content in the curriculum is relative to the learners who, going to use these. Utility can be relative to time. It may have been useful in, the past but may not be useful now., 4. Learnability. The complexity of the content should be within the range of, experiences of the learners, 5. Feasibility. Can the subject content be learned within the time allowed,, resources available, expertise of the teachers and the nature of the learners?, 6. Interest. Will the learners take interest in the content? Why? Are the contents, meaningful?, B A S I C S: Fundamental Principles for Curriculum, In designing a curriculum contents Hunkins and Ornstein (2018) added an, important element which is Scope, hence from BASIC to BASICS initial of Balance,, Articulation, Sequence, Integration, Continuity, Balance. Content should be fairly distributed in depth and breadth/, Articulation. Seamlessness in the content is desired and can be assured if there is, articulation in the curriculum., Sequence. It refers to sequence or order. In both ways, the pattern usually is from, easy to complex, what is known to the unknown and what is current, to something in the future., Integration. Contents which can be integrated to other disciplines acquire a, higher premium than when isolated., Continuity. Content when viewed as a curriculum should continuously flow as it, was before to where it is now and, where it will be in the future, Scope. It consists of all contents, topics, learning experiences comprising the, curriculum.
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2. Curriculum as a Process, • Here curriculum is not seen as a physical thing or noun, but as a verb or an, action (the interaction among the teachers. Students and content)., • It is not a package of materials or a syllabus of content to be covered., • Hence, the process of teaching and learning becomes the central, concern of teachers to emphasize critical thinking, and heads-on, handson learning and many others., 3. Curriculum as a Product, • Product is what the students desire to achieve as learning outcomes., • The product from the curriculum is a student equipped with the, knowledge, skills, and values to function effectively and efficiently., _____________________________________________________________________________, , LESSON 2.3, , Curriculum Development: Processes and, Models, , Take Off, Curriculum is adynamic process. In curriculum development, there are, always changes that occur that are intended for improvement. To so this, these, are models presented to us from well-known curricularist like Ralph Tyler , Hilda, Taba, Galen Saylor and William Alexander which would help clarify the process, of curriculum development . There are many other models but the three for this, lesson., , Curriculum Process, Curriculum development is a dynamic process involving many different, people and procedures. Development connotes changes which is systematic. A, change for better means alteration, modification or improvement of existing, condition. To produce positive changes, development should be purposeful,, planned and progressive. Usually, it is a linear and follows a logical step-by-step, fashion involving following phases:, 1. Curriculum planning considers the school vision, mission and goals. It also, includes the philosophy or strong educational beliefs of the school., 2. Curriculum designing is the way curriculum is conceptualized to include the, selection and organization of content, the selection and organization of, learning experiences or activities and the selection of the assessment, procedure and tools to measure achieve learning outcomes.
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Curriculum implementing is putting action the plan which is based on the, curriculum design in the classroom setting or the learning environment. The, teacher is the facilitator of learning and together with the learners, uses the, curriculum as design guides. It involves the activities that transpire in every, teacher’s classroom where learning becomes an active process., Curriculum evaluating determines the extent to which the desired outcomes have, been achieved. This procedure is on-going as in finding out the progress of learning, (formative) or the mastery of learning (summative). The result of evaluation is very, important for decision-making of curriculum planners and implementors., Curriculum Development Process Models, 1. Ralph Tyler Model: Four Basic Principles, Also known as Tyler’s Rationale, the curriculum development model, emphasizes the planning phase., Tyler’s model shows that in curriculum development, the following considerations, should be made:, 1. Purpose of the school, 2. Educational experiences related to the purposes, 3. Organization of the experiences, 4. Evaluation of the experience, 2. Hilda Taba Model: Grassroots Approach, Hilda taba improved on Tyler’s model. As a grassroots approach, Taba begins, from the bottom, rather than from the top as what Tyler proposed. She, presented 6 major steps to her linear model:, 1. Diagnosis of learner’s needs and expectations of the larger society., 2. Formulation of learning objectives, 3. Selection of learning outcomes, 4. Organization of learning contents, 5. Determination of what to evaluate and the means of doing it., 3. Galen Saylor and William Alexander Curriculum Model (1974), - viewed curriculum development as consisting of four steps. Curriculum is a, plan for providing sets of learning opportunities to achieve broad, educational goals and related specific objectives…, 1. Goals, Objectives and Domains. Curriculum planners begin by specifying the, major educational goals and specific objectives they wish to accomplish., 2. Curriculum Designing. Designing a curriculum follows after appropriate, learning opportunities are determined and how each opportunity provided., 3. Curriculum Implementation. A designed curriculum is now ready for, implementation., 4. Evaluation. Through the evaluation process, curriculum planners and, developers can determine whether or not goals of the school and the, objectives of instruction have been met.
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1. Bilbao, Purita B, Corpuz, Brenda B. et al (2020). The Teacher & the School, Curriculum, Lorimar Publishing Inc.; Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines., 2. Bago, Adelaida L. (2008). Curriculum Development (The Philippine, Experience, C & E Publishing Inc.; Quezon City, Metro Manila Philippines
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Self-Check, Instructions: Identify on the blanks provided who I am as a Curricularist based, on cases presented., Case 1. I have a good idea on how to make my learners pay attention to the, lesson. I will use the new idea and find out if it will work., ______________________________________., Case 2. DepEd sent the standards, competencies and guidelines in teaching, the Mother Tongue in Grade 1 in our school. I will study and use it in the, coming school year., _______________________________________., Case 3. There is so much to do in one school day. I seem not able to do all, but I, have to accomplish something for my learners. I have made a daily, activity plan to guide me., Case 4. I need a poem to celebrate the World Teacher’s Day. I composed one, To be used in my class in Literature. _________________________________.
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Case 9: My principal asked me to attend a writeshop to make lesson exemplars, in the teaching of science in Grade 7. In the workshop. I used my, experiences as a science teacher for ten years, and my knowledge of, the subject matter. At the end of three days, I was able to produce, lesson exemplars which I am proud. ______________________________., Case 10. From grade 7 to 10 of the K to 12 Enhanced Curriculum, science as a, subject is presented, taught and learned in a spiral manner: This part of, DepEd implementing guidelines of the curriculum. I am a Biology major, and, I have insufficient knowledge about the other areas of Science, such as Physics and Earth Science. Because, this dilemma, I have to, request the principal that we have team teaching. Which role of the, curricularist, I am trying to do? ________________________________., , Self-Reflect, , 1. Is it necessary for teachers to learn about school curriculum? Why? Write, your answer on the space provided below., _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________, _____________________________________________________________________________
