Reviewer

The Teacher and the School Curriculum

MODULE 1: UNDERSTANDING CURRICULUM

Lesson 1: Curriculum Approaches, Definitions, and Types

Curriculum Approaches

• refers to the various approaches relating to curriculum including behavioral, managerial, system,
academic, humanistic, and reconceptualists.
• encompasses the foundations of curriculum, and theoretical and practical principles of the
curriculum.
• expresses a viewpoint about the development and design of curriculum; the role of the learner,
teacher, and the curriculum specialists in planning curriculum; the goals and objectives of the
curriculum; and the essential issues that need to be examined
• reflects our views of schools and society; to some extent, it may even become an all-encompassing
outlook if we feel strongly about these views.

Types of Curriculum Approaches:

• Behavioral Approach- Major and oldest approach to curriculum. Dependent on technical and
scientific principles and based on a plan or document with specific goals and objectives.
• Managerial Approach- Plan, rational principles, and logical steps dependent. Focused on the
supervisory and administrative aspects of the curriculum
• The System Approach- Also known as curriculum engineering. Anchor on the processes used for
planning the curriculum
• The Academic Approach- Anchor on the processes used for planning the curriculum
• Humanistic Approach- It is rooted in progressive philosophy and the child-centered movement
• Reconceptualists- an extension of humanistic orientation and is centered on ideological issues of
education and investigates the influences of society.

Definitions of Curriculum

• A curriculum is an action plan with specified strategies to achieve desired learning goals
• Experiences of the learners.
• A program of the school offered to the students.
• Planned and enacted experiences in the classroom.
• A system for dealing with people and the organization of personnel and procedures for
implementing that system
• A system for dealing with people and the organization of personnel and procedures for
implementing that system
• A subject matter-mathematics, science, English, or content.

Curriculum Classifications

Curriculum Types Fundamental Tenets

Ideal or recommended curriculum most appropriate curriculum as recommended by the
organizations.
Intended, official, or written curriculum Official curriculum embodied in approved state curriculum
guide
Implemented curriculum actual implementation of the curriculum
Achieved or learned curriculum result of the curriculum or what students actually learned
in school
Entitlement curriculum what the general public expect learners to learn
Tested curriculum a set of learning that is assessed in teacher-made classroom
tests.
 Supported curriculum reflected on and shaped by the resources allocated to
support or deliver the official curriculum
Null or censored curriculum refers to the various curriculum contents that must not be
taught to the students.
Hidden Curriculum Skills and knowledge gained through interaction with other
students, and faculty.

Foundations of Curriculum- external parameters of knowledge about the curriculum

Philosophical Foundations- core to a curriculum because the philosophy adhered to by schools

influences the goals or aims and content and the organization of its curriculum.

Major Philosophies:

(CLASSIC)

• Idealism- focus on moral and spiritual reality. The curriculum is hierarchical, constitutes the cultural
heritage of humankind, and is based on learned disciplines illustrated by the liberal arts curriculum
Advocates: Plato, Hegel, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry Thoreau, Fredrich Froebel, William Harris,
Donald Butler, William Bennett

• Realism- the world is regarded as objects and matter. stresses a curriculum consisting of organized,
separate subject matter, content, and knowledge that classifies objects
Advocates: Saint Thomas Aquinas, Pestalozzi

• Pragmatism- knowledge constantly change, teaching is more exploratory than explanatory, and
method is more important than the subject matter
Advocates: Charles Peirce, William James, John

• Existentialism- the curriculum would avoid systematic knowledge or structured disciplines, and the
students would be free to select from many available learning situations
Advocates: George Kneller • Maxine Greene • Van Cleve Morris

(EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHIES)

• Perennialism- the curriculum would avoid systematic knowledge or structured disciplines, and the
students would be free to select from many available learning situations
Advocates: Robert Hutchins, Mortimer Adler, Allan

• Essentialism- the curriculum should be geared to the fundamentals: 3Rs in the elementary and five
basics (English, Math, Science, History, and Logic)
Advocates: William Bagley, Arthur Bestor, Hyman Rickover

• Progressivism- the contemporary reform movement in education, social, and political affairs. the
curriculum should be interdisciplinary
Advocates: Thomas Jefferson, Horace Mann, Henry Barnard, John Dewey

• Reconstructionism- political, economic, and social issues translated into subject offerings to be
determined by the school leaders
Advocates: Theodore Brameld, Kenneth Boulding, Alvin Toffler

Lesson 3: Historical Foundation of Curriculum

Curriculum as a Field is Born: 1918-1949

• curriculum was viewed as a science with principles and methodology and not simply a content
or subject matter. Thus, the idea of planning and describing a curriculum appeared in the
literature.

Franklin Bobbitt and Werrett Charters: Behaviorism and Scientific Principles

• Influenced by the idea of efficiency, promoted by business and industry, and the scientific
management theories

William Kilpatrick: The Progressive Influence

• A child-centered and activity-centered curriculum was proposed

• The curriculum was organized around classroom and school social activities, group enterprises,
and group projects.

The Twenty-Sixth Yearbook

• A Yearbook published by a committee of 12 members. Published its twenty-sixth Yearbook. This

put an end to the problems commonly encountered by the curriculum workers about curriculum
development.

Rugg and Hollis Caswell: The Development Period

• the need for curriculum specialists to construct the curriculum was stressed

Eight Year Study-1932-1940

• content and knowledge from other social sciences areas are now integrated

Frederick Tyler: Basic Principles

• This model depicts a rational, logical, and systematic approach to curriculum-making

Current Focus

• student’s achievement, social factors, teaching-learning processes, and instructional methods,

are now a part of curriculum making.

Lesson 4: Psychological Foundations of Curriculum

• Psychology is concerned with the question of how people learn.

Major theories in learning

• The behaviorist or association theories, the oldest one that deals with various aspects of
stimulus-response and reinforces
• Cognitive-informative processing theories which view the learner concerning the total
environment and consider the way the learner applies information
 • Phenomenological and humanistic approaches, which consider the whole child, including their
social, psychological, and cognitive development.

MODULE 2: CURRICULUM DESIGN

Lesson 1: The Nature of Curriculum Design, Sources, and Dimensions and Consideration

• Curriculum design- refers the nature and arrangement of the four essential curriculum parts:
subject matter, objectives, methods, organization, and evaluation

Four fundamental questions relative to design:

1) What is to be done?
2) What subject matter is to be included?
3) What instructional strategies, resources, and activities will be employed?
4) What methods and instruments will be used to appraise the curriculum results?

Sources for Curriculum Design

• Sciences- provide meaning for the curriculum design
• Society- curriculum must be based from the analyses made on social situation
• Eternal and Divine- curriculum is drawn from the past for guidance as to what is appropriate
content
• Knowledge- has structure and a method or methods by which its scholars extend its boundaries
• Learners- derived from what we know about the learner; how he or she learns, forms attitudes,
generate interests, and develops values

Design Dimensions and Considerations

• Scope- refers to the breadth and depth of curriculum content its contents, topics, learning
experiences, and organizing tread.
• Sequence- vertical relationship among curricular areas
• Continuity- deals with the vertical manipulation or repetition of curriculum components
• Integration- the linking of all types of knowledge and experiences contained within the
curriculum plan
• Articulation- the interrelatedness of various aspects of curriculum
• Balance- appropriate weight be given to each aspect of the design so that distortions do not
occur

Lesson 2: Curriculum Designs

Different Curriculum Designs:

• Subject-centered
Sub-designs and their curriculum emphasis:
• Subject- separate subjects
• Discipline- scholarly disciplines, mathematics, biology, psychology etc.
• broad field- Interdisciplinary subjects and scholarly disciplines
• correlation- Separate subjects. disciplines linked while keeping identities of each
• process- Procedural knowledge of various disciplines; generic ways of information
processing, thinking

• Learner-Centered
Sub-designs and their curriculum emphasis:
• child-centered- Child’s interests and needs
• experience-centered- Experiences and interests of child
• Romantic- Experiences and interests of child
• Humanistic- Experiences, interests, needs of person, and of the group
 • Problem-Centered
Sub-designs and their curriculum emphasis:
• life-situation- Life (social) problems
• core- Social Problems
• social problems and reconstructionists- Focus on society and its problem
-

MODULE 3: CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT

Lesson 1: Technical-Scientific Model to Curriculum Development

Salient Features:
Technical-Scientific Approach Explained: Bobbitt and Charters Influences
• views curriculum development as a plan or blueprint for structuring the learning environment
• outlining of procedures for curricula making is required
• associated models uses a means-end paradigm
• serves as answer to the curriculum question: What shall be taught?

The Tyler Model: Four Basic Principles

• the best known technical-scientific models.
• Four questions to be answered:
1) purpose of the school
2) educational experiences
3) organization of experiences
4) evaluation of purposes

The Taba Model: Grassroots Rationale

• capitalizes on the role of teacher in crafting curriculum.
• Seven major steps of the grass-roots model: (McNeil, 2000)
1. Diagnosis of needs.
2. Formulation of Objectives.
3. Selection of Content.
4. Organization of Content.
5. Selection of Learning Experiences.
6. Organization of Learning Activities.
7. Evaluation and means of evaluation

Lesson 2: Curriculum Content and Roles of Curriculum Workers

Curriculum Content
• contents that address all the cognitive, social, and psychological dimensions
• Content (subject matter) is a compendium of facts, concepts, generalizations, principles, and
theories similar to disciplined knowledge

Organization of Content
• Contents are organized by employing: philosophical/logical, psychological, political, practical
• Content should be structured going from students’ immediate environments to more distant
environments

Criteria for Selecting Content

• Self-Sufficiency
• Significance
 • Validity
• Interests
• Utility
• Learnability
• Feasibility

Curriculum Experiences
• Experiences are the key factors that shape the learners’ orientations to the content
• involves the instructional components of the curriculum

Educational Environments
• The space within which experience occurs
Criteria for environment:
1) adequacy
2) suitability
3) efficiency
4) economy

The Roles of Curriculum Workers:

1. Curriculum Supervisor
2. Curriculum Leader
3. Curriculum Coordinator
4. Curriculum Specialist

Responsibilities of Curriculum Workers

1. Develop technical methods and tools to carry out curriculum planning in the school.
2. Blend theory building with practice, obtain curriculum knowledge and apply it at the real world of
classrooms and schools.
3. Agree on what is involved in curriculum development and design, including the relationships that
exists among the elements of curriculum.
4. Agree on the relationship between curriculum, interaction, and supervision, including the explicit
language of each area and how each aids the work of the other.
5. Act as a change who considers schools in context with society; balance the demands and views of the
local community with state and national goals and interests.
6. Create a mission or goal statement to provide direction and focused behavior within the
organization.
7. Be open to new curriculum trends and thoughts; examine various proposals and suggest
modifications, while not falling victim to fads and frills or to a particular pressure group.
8. Confer with various parental, community, and professional groups; have skills in human relations and
in working with groups and individuals.
9. Encourage colleagues and other professionals to solve professional problems; innovate and become
familiar with and use new programs and ideas.
10. Develop a program for continuous curriculum development, implementation, and evaluation.
11. Balance and integrate subject areas and grade levels into the total curriculum; pay close attention to
scope and sequence by subject and grade level.
12. Understand current research in teaching and learning, as well as new programs that are relevant to
target students for teaching and learning.

MODULE 4: Curriculum Implementation

Lesson 1: Curriculum Implementation Models

• Curriculum Implementation- it is an interaction process between those who have created the
program and those who are charged with delivering it.
Two kinds of basic understanding essential to implementation:
theoretical information- theory of organizational change
change in particular social-institutional contexts- successful implementers of innovative curricula grasp
the nature of the context into which new curricula are to be introduced.

Two crucial factors to be observed:

1) Communication- an open channel of communications between the teachers, principals, and
other curriculum workers must be maintained
2) Support- curriculum designers have to extend all needed support to the field implementers of
the curriculum

Curriculum Implementation Model: Organizational Development Model

• By Richard Schmuck and Mathew Miles
• The emphasis is on teamwork and organizational culture
• Centered on individuals caring about the future.
• Engaging in designing, developing, implementing, and evaluating the educational system
• Claims curriculum implementation is a human activity

Curriculum Implementation Model: Concerns-Based Adoption Model

• Advocated by F.F. Fuller
• Concentrated on the adoption phase or implementation phase
• Involves enabling teachers to adopt this curriculum and to view it as their own
• it views the curriculum as a resource ready for use and the teachers as part of a user system.

Curriculum Implementation Model: Organizational Parts, Units, and Loops Model

• Considers actions as performed within an organization that is defined by a system of relations
• Its notion coincides with the idea of teamwork and organizational development.

Curriculum Implementation Model Education Change Model

Michael Fullan (1991) identified several factors that affect implementation:
• A. Characteristics of the change
-Clarity, Complexity, Quality and practicality of program
• B. Characteristics at the school district level
-Adoption process, Central administrative support and involvement, Staff development, Time
line and information systems, and Board and community characteristics
• C. Characteristics at the school level
-Principal characteristics and leadership, Teacher characteristics and relations, Students
characteristics needs
• D. Characteristics external to the local system
-Role of government agencies and External funds

MODULE 5- Curriculum Evaluation

Lesson 1: Approaches to Curriculum Evaluation

• Curriculum Evaluation- as a process or cluster of processes that people perform in order to

gather or interpret data to decide whether to accept, change, or eliminate something

Focus of curriculum Evaluation:

• The subject matter/decisions about the curriculum
• Decisions about individuals/ students and teachers
• Decisions about administrative regulation
Scientific Approaches to Evaluation
• Test scores of the learners are analyzed using various statistical tools. Its results serve as the
basis for arriving at the worthiness of programs under evaluation.

Humanistic Approaches to Evaluation

• Data obtained from the interviews and discussions serve as the core bases in evaluating a
curriculum.

Scientific and Humanistic Approaches to Curriculum Evaluation

• Interpretive- In this approach, evaluators put premium on educational scene somewhat as a

play with various actors.
• Artistic- Evaluation is focused on the qualities of the relationships between teacher and
students
• Critical-emancipatory- Curriculum is judged according to the quality and effectiveness by how
well it rids individuals of those social forces that constrain their development and fulfillment.
• Systematic- Evaluation is objective and usually uses descriptions and logical analyses of
phenomena observed
• Theory driven- anchored on a theoretical or philosophical framework such as using the political
and social theories.

Evaluation Models: Scientific-Positivistic Evaluation Models

Provus’s Discrepancy Evaluation Model

It is primarily used by policymakers and curricularists to get the “big picture” regarding the effectiveness
of the curriculum.
Four components:
1) determining program standards
2) determining program performance
3) comparing performance with standards
4) determining whether a discrepancy exists between performance and standard

Five stages:
1) Design. This involves a comparison of the program’s design with prescribed standard or criteria
2) Installation. The actual operation of the program is compared with the installation standard or fidelity
criteria.
3) Processes. Specific program processes are evaluated, including staff and student activities, functions,
and communications.
4) Products. The effects of the whole program are evaluated in terms of the original goals.
5) Cost. The program products should be compared to products of similar programs

Humanistic and Naturalistic Evaluation Models

Eisner’s Connoisseurship Evaluation Model
Relies on personal observations, expert opinion, and group corroboration instead of scientific validity
• Responsive evaluation is a term popularized by Robert Stake. It relies more on informal and
natural communication than formal and standard communication.

Steps of responsive evaluation as applied to evaluating curriculum:

1. Negotiate a framework for evaluation with sponsors.
2. Elicit topics, issues, and / or questions of concern from the sponsors.
3. Formulate questions for guiding the evaluation.
4. Identify the scope and activities of the curriculum; identify the needs of clients and personnel.
5. Observe, interview, prepare logs and case studies and so on.
6. Pare down the information; identify the major issues and questions.
7. Present initial findings in a tentative report.
8. Analyze reactions and investigate predominant concerns more fully.
9. Look for conflicting evidence that would invalidate findings, as well as collaborative evidence that
would support findings.
10. Repeat the results.

LESSON 2: CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS

• Curriculum Innovation refers to the new knowledge about the curriculum, new curriculum
theories, outstanding curricular practices, new curriculum, or new curriculum designs

CLUSTERS OF CURRICULUM INNOVATIONS:

A. Standards-based curriculum
• is designed according to the content standards as suggested by the experts in the field.
• they include the general statements of knowledge, skills, and attitudes
• teachers are involved in the process of curriculum planning and design

B. Multicultural Curriculum
• intend to promote cultural literacy and understanding through the promotions of songs,
literature, foods, historical places in the curriculum

C. Indigenous Curriculum
• a product of the vision of making curriculum responsive to a specific tribe
• it links the curriculum with the tribe’s culture and history

D. Gifted Education Curriculum

• intended for a growing number of gifted learners and to develop gifted potentials

E. Differentiated Curriculum
• designed to help learners experience learning and to be engaged in doing several meaningful
classroom activities

F. Outcome-based Education
• is one of the dominant curriculum innovations in higher education today
• credited to Spady
• concerns on the educational outcome as a culminating demonstration of learning and
includes what students should be able to do upon course completion.