What is Curriculum?

The

Word Curriculum is Derived from the Latin word Currere , which means run. Hence Curriculum implies a run away, a course which a person runs to reach a goal. Curriculum on the broadest sense, includes the complete school environment, involving all the courses, activities, reading and associations furnished to the pupils in school.

What is Curriculum Organization?

According to Ralph Tyler, important changes in human behaviour are not produced overnight .No single learning experience has a very profound influence upon the learner. changes in ways of thinking ,in fundamental habits ,in major operating concepts ,in attitude ,in abiding interests and the like develop slowly. it is only after months and years that we are able to see major educational objectives taking marked concrete shape. in some respects ,educational experiences produce their effect in the way water dripping upon a stone wears it away. in a day or a week or a month ,there is no appreciable change in the stone ,but over a period of years definite erosion is noted. Correspondingly ,by the accumulation of educational experiences profound changes are brought about in the learner.

Principles of Curriculum Organization

Provide For Scope and Sequence With Flexibility. Provide a Common Body Of Educative Experiences, Plus Those ,Which Are essential In Meeting Special interests And Needs. Be consonant With The Manner In Which Learning Takes place. Implement the attainment of Stated Objectives ,and Encourage the Evaluation of pupil growth and Development in terms of these objectives. Consider to the Individual Learners, and Involve them in cooperative Curriculum Planning and active Learning venture. Relate to the total Educational picture in a way to affect Favourably the learning climate in the school and in the community.

Criteria for Effective Curriculum Organization

As

discussed by Tyler in basic principle of curriculum and instruction ,there are three major criteria to be met in building an effectively organized group of learning experiences .These are Continuity Sequence Integration

Continuity

This refers to the vertical reiteration of major curriculum elements .for example, if in social studies , the development of skills in reading social studies material is an important objective, it is necessary to see that there is a recurring and continuing for these skills to be practiced and developed. Continuity is thus seen to be a major factor in effective vertical organization of curricular contents.

Sequence

This is related to continuity but goes beyond it .It is possible for a major curriculum element to occur again and again but merely at the same level , so that there is no progressive development of understanding or skill or attitude. Sequence as a criterion emphasizes the importance of having each successive experience built upon the preceding one , but goes more broadly and deeply into the matter involve.

Integration
This

refers to the horizontal relationship of curriculum experiences .The organization of these experiences should be such that they help the student increasingly to get a unified view and to unify his behaviour in relation to the elements being dealt with.

Concepts of Curriculum Designs

A curriculum design is a framework or plan of action for preparing a course of study or a set of students experiences .It is a deliberate process of devising, planning and selecting the elements, techniques and procedures of curriculum. Curriculum design is a method of thinking. A curriculum design is the result of curriculum decision. Curriculum design may be defined as the substance and organization of goal and culture content so arranged as to reveal potential progression through levels of schooling. Curriculum design is a statement , which identifies the elements of the curriculum, states their relationships to each other , and indicates the principles of organization and the requirement of the organization for the administrative conditions under which it is to operate.

Importance of Curriculum Designs

Curriculum design involves the creation of the set of operating principles or criteria, based on theory, that guide the selection and organization of content and the methodology used to teach that content .With the accelerated rate of social change, schools are preparing youth for adulthood in a society not yet envisioned by its members .Hawleys words still ring true: its not a question of whether or not to change , but whether or not we can control the way we are changing. We are living in an Alice in an Wonderland world where you have to run just to stay where you are .To get anywhere you have to run even faster than that. The pieces on the chess board keep changing and the rules are never the same.

Models of Curriculum Designs

An effective curriculum must be built on a solid philosophical foundation that answer the question of what educational purposes the school should seek to achieve. The classical model for curriculum design, proposed by Tyler in 1949,asked four questions of curriculum planners: What educational purposes should the school seek to attain? What educational experiences can be provided that are likely to help attain these purposes? How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?

Models of Curriculum Designs

How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained? Tylers steps for curriculum design included stating objectives, selecting learning experiences, organizing the experiences, and evaluating results. Tylers model is most closely aligned with the educational purposes of preserving the social order and teaching skills and competencies needed to function effectively in society.

Principles of Curriculum Designs

The problems of curriculum change become the criteria for determining the desirability of a curriculum. A list of the problems of curriculum development, recapped and stated as criteria, following: Be consistent with the conceptual framework and implement the conceptual framework commitments. Derive and test its concepts and theories in teaching process. Respond to the educational needs of society and the immediate concerns of students. Cope with the knowledge explosion and the short half-life of scientific knowledge

Principles of Curriculum Designs

Use the logical, precise, effective, and efficient educational technology that is currently available. Use teaching personnel in the most economical and efficient way (time, energy and money). Enable utilization of cognitive teaching input. Provide for student testing of learned behaviour in real situation. Produce a graduate capable of delivering creative teaching care for the next fifteen to twenty years. Spend a reasonable length of the time accomplishing the goals of the curriculum.

Steps in Curriculum Design

Fiorno and Nowak suggest the following steps in curriculum design: (1) Identification of the problem. (2) Diagnosis of the problem. (3) Search for alternative solutions. (4) Selection for the best solutions. (5) Ratification of the solution by the organization. (6) Authorization of the solution. (7) Preparation for adopting of the solution. (8) Adoption of the solution. (9) Direction and guidance of the staff. (10)Evaluation of the effectiveness of the solution.

Establish a Curriculum Committee

Persons

responsible for curriculum decisions include administrators ,teachers ,students ,parents ,and community leaders. Most major innovations in the public school are introduced by teachers , state boards or departments of education, and textbook publishers and instructional materials producers indirectly provide educational leardership.

Categories of Curriculum Designs

Subject-Centered

Curriculum based

Activity/Experience

curriculum

Core

curriculum

Subject Centered Design

Subject centered curriculum is a rigid curriculum , based on specific courses, which mandates specific amounts of material to be covered over special periods of time regardless of student abilities or interests. Subject centered curriculum assign the greatest importance to subject matter rather than to the students .It consists of having students in classes for one subjects at a time such as mathematics for 45 minutes, science for 45 minutes. And history for 45 minutes. Three related designs have emerged from subject centered designs: Subject design Academic Disciplines design Broad Fields design

Subject Design

This is probably the oldest and most widely used form of curriculum organization found in schools and educational systems .This is based on the classification and organization of subjects matter into discrete groups, which we have called subjects .These groupings, which have become known as school subjects, were initially based on evolving divisions of labour in research that produced physics , history, literature and mathematics and so forth. In more recent times practical areas such as typing , home economics and industrial arts have become accepted as subjects.

Academic Disciplines Design

This approach to organizing curriculum is essentially a post second world war phenomenon ,gaining greatest support in the inherent organization of content, as is the subject design, the academic discipline design emphasizes the role played by those distinct entities called academic disciplines .In a school setting, the content of this design would focus on what an academician does, that is ,how a biologist , historian , or a mathematician research is done , how that research is carried out , how data are analysed, how research is reported , and so forth. The result , it is hoped ,is that the school would produce mini versions of academic disciplinarians.

Broad Fields Design

This

third design was developed to overcome a perceived weakness in the subject design that was evident in the nineteenth and the early twentieth centuries .Broad field design was deemed more suited to younger learners. The broad fields design is commonly found in primary and lower secondary schools.

Common Feature In Three Subject Centered Designs

Classification

and organization of all contents into subjects or subjects-like groupings. Subjects are clearly defined and distinguished. A hierarchy of subjects is commonly found according to their perceived value. Methodology applied and practised is largely teacher-centered and expository in nature

Advantages of Subject Centered Design

The

advantages of subject-centered curriculum are: Students like it , they are used to it and it fits their idea of what school should be. What students learn , they learn well. This approach is efficient in a field in which resources for staff development are scant.

Disadvantages of Subject Centered Design

The disadvantages of subject-centered curriculum are: Teachers wouldnt be able to innovate their teaching style to help students learn in a creative way. Students simply memorize what they need to know in order to pas a test , instead of actually learning it. Teachers are teaching the students to think inside the box in order to pass the exams.

Activity/Experience Based Curriculum

This approach is based on determine the genuine needs and interests of learner , which in turn form the basis of the curriculum. An important claim of this approach is that people only learn what they experience. According to M.K Gandhi ,education is the development of all the aspects i.e. body mind and spirit . So mind without activities can not develop the personality perfectly .so education must give importance to activities. Education ,which has no link with life is meaningless.

Activities Under Activity Based Curriculum

Physical Activities: These activities aim at physical development of the child .it includes physical training ,games and sports. Environmental Activity: These activities includes nature study ,excursion ,survey , social visit. These activities develop civic sense and love for nature in children.

Constructive Activity: With these activities love for work dignity of labor , production efficiency may be developed. Handwork craft repairing of tools belong to this category of activities. Aesthetic activity: Music ,arts creative crafts are included in this type of activities. These provide opportunities for self-expression and development of inborn creative faculties.

 Community

Activity: These Activities aim at community development and include community projects ,first aid ,social service , etc these activities also help in the socialization of the child. The teacher can provide information regarding history, geography ,and economics with the help of these activities.

Advantages of Activity Based Curriculum

Advantages of Activity based curriculum are: The most important feature of Activity based curriculum is learning by doing .so this method can fulfill the natural urge of a growing child on one hand also can help them learn their lesson. The method also promote better understanding of a lesson among students as they learn the lesson by practicing the task themselves. It inspires the students to apply their creative ideas ,knowledge and mind in solving problems. It also helps learner psychologically as the can express their emotions through active participation in something useful.

Disadvantages of Activity Based Curriculum

Activity curriculum method require long term planning with details of the whole process before engaging the learners, the teacher has to make sure that all students have sufficient knowledge and skills regarding the task they are going to perform .so this method can not be used on a regular and daily basis as it involves a lengthy procedure. The objective of this method can be only be fulfilled if the planning of the lesson is flawless.

Limitations of Activity Based Curriculum

Activity

curriculum attaches too much importance on activities. It neglects other activities needed for intellectual development of the child. Personal supervision is needed for every activity which is not possible in school. Activity curriculum is not applicable to all stages of education.

Core Curriculum

The notion behind a core design, usually called a core curriculum, is that there exists a set of common learnings (knowledge, skills and values) that should be provided to all learners in order to function effectively in a society .The core concept, however, does vary considerably in interpretation and one writer has suggested that it is possible to distinguish no less than six forms of the core design. For our purposes, it is sufficient to understand that a curriculum may be organized around the idea of a core as a set of learnings essential foe all students. The emphasis of this approach to core curriculum was that all students would experience a set of common and essential learnings that were necessary for learners to function effectively in society.

Benefits of Curriculum Design

It

Focuses Attention On Goal. It Improves the Probability of Success. It Improves economy of Time and efforts. It Facilitates Communication And Coordination of Projects. It Reduces Stress.