CHAPTER 2: CURRICULUM

Overview

In this Chapter, we shall cover

• Concept and types of curriculum

• Factors influencing the formulation and changes in the curriculum

• The school curriculum: The New Primary Curriculum (KBSR)

• The Integrated Secondary school Curriculum (KBSM)

• The role of the teacher in implementing the curriculum

• Futuristic curriculum

Key Terms

• Curriculum

• Hidden Curriculum

• Recommended Curriculum

• Written Curriculum

• Supported Curriculum

• Taught Curriculum

• Tested Curriculum

• Learned Curriculum

• Futuristic curriculum

• Models of Curriculum Design

Further Reading

Barrow,R. (1984). Giving Teaching back to teachers. A critical introduction to curriculum theory. Brighton: Wheatsheaf Books.
Duke, D.L. (1990). Teaching: An Introduction. New York: McGraw-Hill Publishing Co. Eisner,E.W. (1994). The Educational Imagination. New York: Macmillan College Pub.
Glatthorn, A.A. (1987). Curriculum Leadership. Glenview: Scott, Foreman.
Pusat Perkembangan Kurikulum.(1994). Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Rendah (KBSR) secara menyeluruh. Kuala Lumpur: Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia
Stenhouse. (1975). An Introduction to curriculum Research and Development. London: Heinemann.
Taba,H. (1962). Curriculum Development: Theory and practice. New York: Harcourt Brace and World.
Tyler, R.W. ( 1969). Basic Principles of curriculum and Instruction. Chicago: The University of the Chicago Press
http://www.infed.org/biblio/b-curric.htm.
http://pages.nyu.edu/~asr209/curriculum.doc
http://www.cast.org/udl/EnvisioningFutureCurriculum189.cfm

Suggested Input

1. Curriculum:

1.1. The planned and guided learning experiences and intended learning outcomes, formulated through the systematic reconstruction of knowledge and experiences, under the auspices of the school, for the learners’ continuous and willful growth in personal social competence.

1.2. The curriculum of a school can be conceived as a series of planned events that are intended to have educational consequences for one or more students

1.3. Curriculum is all the learning experiences planned and directed by the school to attain its educational goals

1.4. Curriculum is the plan made for guiding learning in the school usually represented in retrievable documents of several levels of generality, and the actualization of those plans in the classroom, as experienced by the learners and as recorded by the observer; those experiences take place in a learning environment which also influences what is learned.

2. Hidden Curriculum

2.1. It lies outside the official organizational context of teaching. It is taught implicitly rather than explicitly, by the school experience.

2.2. It consists of the unwritten rules, conventions, folkways and values of the culture known as school. It is shaped by factors like socioeconomic status and background experiences of the teachers and students

3. Recommended Curriculum

The curriculum recommended by scholars, professional associations, reform commissions and policy makers

4 Written Curriculum

The curriculum embodied in approved state and district curriculum guides

5 Supported Curriculums

The curriculum reflected in and shaped by resources allocated to support or deliver it

6 Taught Curriculum

The curriculum that an observer would see in action as the teacher taught

7. Tested Curriculum

The set of learning’s assessed in teacher-made tests, district developed tests and standardized tests

8. Learned Curriculum

All the changes in values, perceptions and behavior that occur as a result of school experience.

9. Futuristic Curriculum

The futuristic curriculum embodies a learner-centered approach to education in which students come to understand their strengths and weaknesses as learners and in which students are able to be empowered to become life-long learners. Learning experiences are designed to assist students to integrate new knowledge and to refine this new knowledge towards new insights by comparing, contrasting, inducing, deducing and analyzing. In addition, learning experiences provide opportunities for students to use knowledge meaningfully for informed decision-making and for critical, creative and futuristic thinking and problem-solving. The three approaches to implement this vision are:

- content will be provided through multiple representations with multiple strategies for acting upon it

- curriculum will be constructed as modules and accessed via networks

- materials, experiences and supports will be drawn from a wide range of sources and integrated into the core structure of the curriculum

10. Curriculum Model

Based on a body of theory about teaching and learning. It is targeted to needs and characteristics of a particular group of learners It has outline approaches, methods and procedures for implementation. Curriculum models like Tylerian model, model Taba and Stenhouse model of process

11. Tyler’s model of curriculum design

11.1 Tyler’s theory was based on four fundamental questions:

(i) What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?

(ii) What educational experiences can be provided that is likely to attain these purposes?

(iii) How can these educational experiences be effectively organized?

(iv) How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?

11.2 He placed an emphasis on the formulation of behavioral objectives. According to him, since the real purpose of education is not to have the instructor perform certain activities but to bring about significant changes in the students’ pattern of behavior, it becomes important to recognize that any statements of objectives of the school should be a statement of changes to take place in the students.

11.3 The attraction of this way of approaching curriculum theory and practice is that it is systematic and has considerable organizing power. Central to this approach is the formulation of behavioral objectives- providing a clear notion of outcome so that content and method may be organized and the results evaluated.

12. Model Taba

12.1 Curriculum as a plan for action and it is a bottom-up approach to curriculum where the teacher has a major role to perform.

12.2 According to Taba, there is a definite order in creating a curriculum and held that teachers should help in the development process. There are seven steps in the development of a curriculum that is:


- diagnosis of needs

- formulation of objectives

- selection of content

- organization of content

- selection of learning experiences

- organization of learning activities

- evaluation

13. Curriculum as a process (Stenhouse)

Another way of looking at curriculum theory and practice is via a process. In this sense, curriculum is not a physical thing, but rather the interaction of teachers, students and knowledge. In other words, curriculum is what actually happens in the classroom and what people do to prepare and evaluate. It is an active process and links with the practical form of reasoning set out by Aristotle.

Stenhouse defined curriculum as ‘ an attempt to communicate the essential principles and features of an educational proposal in such a form that it is open to critical scrutiny and capable of effective translation into practice’

A curriculum should provide a basis for planning a course, studying it empirically and considering the grounds of its justification. It should offer:
Planning:

- principle for the selection of content- what is to be learned and taught

- principles for the development of a teaching strategy- how it is to be learned and taught

- principles for the making of decisions about sequence teachers

- guidance as to the feasibility of implementing the curriculum in varying school contexts, pupil contexts, environments and peer-group situations

- information about the variability of effects in differing contexts and on different pupils and understanding of the causes of the variation in relation to justification:

- a formulation of the intention or aim of the curriculum which is accessible to critical scrutiny.

This process model looks into curriculum as a form of specification about the practice of teaching. It is a way of translating any educational idea into a hypothesis testable in practice. It invites critical testing rather than acceptance. Given the uniqueness of each classroom setting, it means that any proposal, even at school level, needs to be tested, and verified by each teacher in his/her classroom. It is not like a curriculum package which is designed to be delivered almost anywhere. Outcomes are no longer the central and defining feature. Rather than tightly specifying behavioral objectives and methods in advance, what happens in this model of curriculum theory and practice is that content and means develop as teachers and students work together.

The learners in this model are not objects to be acted upon. They have a clear voice in the way that the sessions evolve. The focus is on interactions. This can mean that attention shifts from teaching to learning. A process approach to curriculum theory and practice tends towards making the process of learning the central concern of the teacher.

14. Factors influencing the formulation and changes in the curriculum

14.1 Government

- when a government adopts a policy to implement a curriculum like the teaching of science and mathematics in schools ; this will bring out new emphasis in these fields in the nation’s school.

14.2 Goals and their priorities

- Aims, goals and objectives, values holds for an educational program. This is to help the students learn to participate effectively. A community or a school faculty recognize these goals in this particular context is not possible.

14.3 Content of the Curriculum

- Attention on the selection of content is an important curriculum consideration.

14.4 Individual Needs

- A curriculum is formulated based on the needs of the individual such as interest, basic skills (3R) and wholesome development of the child

- Individual needs are fulfilled to enable the student to acquire social skills, able to understand oneself, develop interest and potentials and character development.

14.5 Need of the society and nation

- society wants its members to acquire basic skills; basic concepts and techniques in life from the political, social and economical point of view.

- to fulfill the aspiration of society, ambition and ideology of the nation

14.6 Universal Needs

- curriculum to disseminate knowledge and training to students to enable students to inculcate universal understanding and cooperation

- improve the way of life of the population

- emphasizes on values, sentiment, knowledge and skills to ensure societal stability, individual motivation and behavior controls.

15. The Integrated Primary School curriculum

15.1 Primary education is divided into two levels. At level one that is from Year 1 to 3 the emphasis is on acquiring strong reading, writing, and arithmetical skills. At level two, that is from Year Four to Six, the mastery of these skills are reinforced and emphasis is given to building a strong foundation in content and basic sciences. An assessment examination at Year Six is used to evaluate student performance. Besides this, continuous school-based assessments are carried out at all levels.

15.2 Objectives of the Integrated Primary School curriculum:

- to master Bahasa Melayu

- to master the basic language skills

- to develop and improve intellectual capacities which include rational, critical and creative thinking

- to master arithmetic skills and use them in their daily lives

- to master learning and thinking skills

- to master English as second language

- to develop leadership qualities and self confidence

- to be sensitive towards man and the environment

- to master scientific and technical skills

- to understand and appreciate culture and participate in recreational activities

- to look after one’s health and physical fitness

- to master the basics of entrepreneurship and productivity

- to acquire the skills of reading, reciting and understanding the meaning of verses in Al-Quran

- to strengthen the fundamentals of aqidah(belief in God) and practice of moral values

- to inculcate patriotism

- to develop talent and creativity

- to develop positive attitudes

15.3 The list of subjects for the primary school:

Core:

- Bahasa Melayu,

- English Language

- Chinese Language*

- Tamil Language*

- Mathematics

- Science

- Local Studies

- Islamic Education(Muslim Students)

- Moral Studies ( Non-Muslim students)

* for national-type schools only

Compulsory:

- Health Education

- Physical Education

- Living skills

- Art Education

- Music Education

Additional

- Chinese Language

- Tamil Language

- Arabic Language (Communication)

16. The Integrated Secondary School Curriculum

16.1 Secondary school offers a comprehensive education program. The curriculum includes a wide range of subjects from the arts and sciences as well as vocational and technical subjects that provide a practical bias and a hands-on approach to learning. With the emphasis placed on technological literacy, the smart school concept was introduced in 1996.

16.2 The Lower Secondary level coves a period of three years (Form 1 to Form 3). Students from the national primary schools enter Form 1 whereas students from the Chinese and Tamil schools proceed to a transition year (Remove Class) before entering Form 1. This Remove class is for students to acquire sufficient proficiency in Bahasa Melayu which is the medium of instruction in secondary schools. However, students who have performed well in the Primary School Achievement Test are allowed to proceed directly to Form 1.

16.3 Students moved into the more specialized fields of study at the upper secondary after the Lower Secondary Assessment. Based on choice and aptitude, students enter either the arts or the science streams in the academic schools or religious schools. Several technical and vocational schools provide technically based academic education and pre-employment skills. All schools whether academic, technical, vocational, religious or special education prepare students for the Malaysian Certificate of Education Open Certification examination at the end of two years of upper secondary education.