BED202: Unit 2

Dimensions of
Curriculum
By: [Link]. Suresh S Waghmare
[Link] College of Education, Pimpri
 Unit 2 Dimensions of Curriculum
 CONCEPT OF CURRICULUM
Meaning:
The Latin meaning of the term curriculum is a ‘racecourse’ used by
chariots.
The traditional meaning of the term curriculum in the course of a study or
training leading to a ‘product’ or ‘education’.
Definitions:
A curriculum is defined as a plan for action or a written document
that includes strategies for achieving desired goals or ends.
“Curriculum includes all those activities which are utilized by the
school to attain the aims of education”. - by Manroe

“Curriculum includes all student school experiences relating to the

improvement of skills & strategies in thinking critically and creatively,
Solving problems, working collaboratively with others, communicating
well, writing more effectively, reading more analytically, and
conducting research to solve problems.” by
Brown D
Importance of Curriculum
 Itplays important role in education.
 All the educational institutions function on the basis of designed
curriculum.
 Gives direction to the entire educational process
 Helps in achieving the all round development of the child
 To realize the aims of education
 Deciding quality of education as it impacts teaching learning process
as well as evaluation procedure.
Aspects of Curriculum
Objectives

Aspects of
Evaluation Content
Curriculum

Learning
Experiences
Types of Curriculum:
 Subject cantered
this is the most widely used type of curriculum. It focuses on the
cognitive development & acquisition of information & knowledge by
the learner. Teacher cantered approach is used.
 Competency based

This curriculum lays down certain competencies and its sub

competencies to be achieved by the students after each year through
various subjects.
Eg. Language learning, solving problems
 Activity based
This type of curriculum is very flexible. In this curriculum everything that the child
has to learn is presented in the form of task that is to be completed. It is very
successful at elementary level.
Eg. Observation, play, story & handiwork or crafts.
 Experience based

This curriculum focuses on preparing the learners for life & developing in them the
knowledge & skills essential to earn their living. In variety of ways teacher can give
experiences like- non verbal experiences, verbal, direct, indirect, curricular, non
curricular etc.
 Integrated

Instead of teaching each subject separately they are combined together and taught in
an integrated curriculum. this approach is entirely opposed to the subject cantered
curriculum approach. This approach is successful at elementary level. Through this
students are able to learn appreciate, think critically, analyse, and also formulate
generalizations since they get a holistic perspective rather than isolated facts.
 Value based

Curriculum is framed on the basis of philosophy that has been adopted by the
country. Hence the national values, social values, moral values as well as personal
values as adopted in the philosophy are reflected through the curriculum.
 Hidden Curriculum
In this type of curriculum learner learns a lot from the social environment of the
classroom and the school. Teacher provides instructional inputs which might not be
planned & designed. Through various non verbal behaviour like gestures and
postures, eye contact, appreciation of learner behaviour by nodding, the teacher
conveys many things.

 Null Curriculum
It is physically not possible to teach everything in the schools, therefore many
topics and subjects areas are excluded intentionally.
Eg. Life education, career planning etc
 Principles of Curriculum development
 Child cantered
 Life oriented
 Fulfilling objectives
 Co related curriculum
 Activity cantered
 Flexible
 Variety
 Useful for leisure
 Creating self dependence
 Useful for cultural values etc.
 Child centered / Learner Centered:
it is very important that the curriculum should be based on
the needs, interests & capacities of the learner. It should consider
the developmental stages of the learner.
 Life oriented:

curriculum should be designed in such a manner that the

learner is able to relate it with his/her life. It should focus on the
political, social and economic conditions.
 Fulfilling objectives
It should be helpful in achieving pre decided objectives. The content should be
supportive in achieving objectives.
 Co related curriculum

the curriculum should make the learner understand the relationship between
different subjects. He/ She should be able to relate the learning with his life.
 Activity centered:

The learners are an important part of the learning process, so we have to keep them
always active.
Eg. collect metallic & non metallic objects from the surrounding.
 Flexible:

The curriculum should be flexible. There should be a facility of different electives

or options from which the learner can choose the ones he wants to study. Also there
should be a provision for modification in the curriculum based on the location and
time.
 Variety:

The curriculum should include a variety of subjects so as to cater to the needs of the
learner as well as the society.
eg. Science, Mathematics, Social Studies etc.
 Useful for leisure
The designed curriculum should provide for inter relation of play and work
activities. This will facilitate the learner to make effective use of his/her leisure
time.
 Creating self dependence

Every learner is unique and is born with some abilities. The curriculum should be
designed in such a way that every learner is able to use his/her abilities to the
fullest. Which will be helpful in creating self dependence among learners.
 Useful for cultural values
Curriculum must include seen and hidden values. Curriculum should provide for
developing a conductive environment for the learner to understand his own culture,
values & traditions & develop a respect for the culture heritage. It should help to
develop the national spirit among the learners.
 Principle of Utility:

The education has to make the learner self-reliant. The curriculum should be
designed & focus on that knowledge and skills which will help the learner to earn
his livelihood.
 Principle of forward looking:
Curriculum should be always looking forward & eyes should be on
future of individual & Society.
 Principle of totality of experiences

It should include totality of experiences which a learner needs to grow

& develop. Learner must be able to develop a holistic approach & a
wholesome perspective towards ant aspect. He/She must be able to look
at everything rationally, critically & scientifically.
Curriculum Planning
 Curriculum planning and designing is a process in which participants
at different levels take decisions about the goals of learning, decide
about the teaching learning situations by which these may be
achieved and whether the methods and means adopted are effective
Philosophy
 Idealism: teachers had to be the role models for the students. Methods focused on
memorizing & learning by rote to be adopted.
 Realism: Realism is a philosophy of common sense & science. It advocates the laws
of nature & the accompanying universal truths of the physical world. Field trips,
laboratories, audio visual materials & ingredients of methodology.
 Experimentalism: Problem solving, inquiry, discovery, experimental learning were
all focused as the methods of teaching.
 Pragmatism: Pragmatic curriculum ‘ is built on Principle of utility’, interest, childs
personal needs & ‘learning by doing’ plays important role in pragmatism. Teacher is
facilitator.
Steps in Curriculum planning
 Identify Issues/problem/Need
What are the students need & society needs? This is relevant in
determining that under any discipline or faculty, what would be the core
curriculum, the subject curriculum & the activity curriculum.
 Form curriculum development team

Once the nature & scope of the issues has been broadly defined, the
members of the curriculum development team can be selected, then
roles & functions of team members can be defined, process for the
selecting members, principle of teamwork.
 Conduct needs Assessment & Analysis
Needs assessment & analysis done in two parts: First is conducting needs assessment
where we use number of techniques:
1) Surveying KAP: Knowledge, attitude & practices
2) Arranging discussions for focus groups
3) Analyzing the environment
Analysis includes ways to identify gaps between knowledge & practice, trends
emerging from the data, a process to prioritize needs & identification of the
characteristics of the target audience.
 What are the students & society needs?
 How do students learn?
 What are the current expectations of the the field?
 What are the values, competencies & skills that are expected to be developed in our
students?
 What are the existing available resources?
 Which methods & purposes of assessment are currently in practice?
 What kind of professional development programmes would be required?
Curriculum Designing
 “Curriculum design is nothing but the plan of action which is
concerned with the selection & Organization of content, learning
experiences/methods/techniques/ activities to be used as instructional
strategies & the evaluation procedure to be adopted.”
 curriculum design is “...the pattern or framework or structural
organization used in selecting, planning and carrying forward
educational experiences in the school. By Alexander
Components of Curriculum Design
Objectives

Method and
Subject Matter
Curriculum Organization
design

Evaluation
Steps of Curriculum Design
 Assessment of Educational needs
 Formulation of objectives
 Selection & Organization of the content
 Selection & organization of learning experiences
 Evaluation
Assessment of Educational needs
 While selecting any knowledge to become a part of Curriculum, need
assessment is to be done.
The need assessment helps curriculum developers in following ways:
 Learners: 1)to address the gap that exists between the present status of the
learner and the intended one. 2) Helps them to remain motivated
 Society: In understanding and identifying social function of educational
program.
 Subject Matter: Helps in outlining the structure of a subject, including
topics to be covered, their order of presentation, and the appropriate grade
level for each topic.
Formulation of objectives
 Objectives should be stated in listing topics, concepts,
generalizations, or other elements of content that are to be dealt
within the course or courses;
 The purpose of a statement of objectives is to indicate the kinds of
changes in the student to brought, then the instructional activities can
be planned and developed in a way likely to attain these objectives;
 Statements of objectives should be expressed interns of which it
identify the kind of behavior to be developed in the student and the
content or area of life in which this behavior is to operate.
Selection of the content
 Content refers to facts, concepts, principles theories, and generalizations.
 Criteria for content selection
 the availability of the subject matter;
 appropriate balance of scope and depth;
 appropriateness to pupils needs and interests;
 the durability of the subject matter;
 logical relationship of the subject matter content to main ideas and basic
concepts;
 contents that contribute to the development of the society.
Organizing the Content
 Content Organizing Principles:
 Sequencing: Sequencing curriculum means putting the content and
materials into some sort of order of succession. For this, certain
teaching principles such as moving from known to unknown, from
simple to complex, from concrete to abstract, etc have to be kept in
mind. also these principles, the resources that facilitate students’
learning have to be arranged.
 Continuity: The content of curriculum should provide for continuity
in learning and prevent loss through forgetting. The learners should
be provided with experiences step by step, leading to the
examination of more complex forms of criticism and analysis of
ideas.
 For example, a student of grade II may learn the concept of
interdependence among family members. She may encounter the
same concept in a higher grade but with reference to interdependence
of nations, political decisions, etc.
 Integration: Curriculum planners should attempt to integrate the
curriculum by simultaneously establishing relationships between various
subjects taught to the target learners. One method can combine related
areas into one broad field;
 for example, combining geography and history into social studies.
Correlating two subjects such as Maths and Science is another attempt to
integrate content.
 In Economics, the concepts of supply and demand are central to the
content. Without these, the concepts of capital, labour and market cannot
be grouped
Selecting Learning Experiences
 The educational environment should address social needs as well as
development of awareness, appreciation and empathy for others. It
should stimulate purposeful student activity and allow for a range of
activities that facilitate learning.
 e) Evaluating the Curriculum
Evaluation is both qualitative and quantitative, i.e. it maybe ‘formative’
and ‘summative’ (at the end of the total programme or each phase
thereof to judge the effectiveness of the instructional design)
Formative evaluations are used during the needs assessment, product
development & testing steps.
Summative evaluations are undertaken to measure & report on the
outcomes of the curriculum. This step reviews evaluation strategies &
suggests simple procedures to produce valid & reliable information.
ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN CURRICULUM
PLANNING & DESIGN
 A teacher should be directly involved with the curriculum planning and development
because it is the teacher who implements it and translates instructional plans into action.
Teaching is an act of implementing or transacting the curriculum. Teachers should be
part of the overall development activity. This implies that
 teachers should ideally be involved at every stage of curriculum planning and
development i.e. from the formation of aims to the evaluation and maintenance of the
curriculum.
 their help should be sought for developing curriculum packages and conceptualizing re-
source designs.
 they can assist in designing supportive educational environment.
 they can communicate with the general public on new auricular projects and thereby make
them more receptive to curriculum change.
 This is the actual implementation stage of the curriculum. It involves application of
Curriculum Transaction
resources, orientation & training of those involved in its transaction, the
development of materials, etc. This involves:
 Making the teachers aware of the design of the new curriculum
 help them to understand the differences & similarities of new & old syllabus
 Developing readiness & confidence among the teachers
 Organizing training sessions regularly
 Taking feedback regularly

 Modes of Curriculum transaction:

 Face to face, open & distance learning
Curriculum Development
 Curriculum development is the developmental process of constructing
knowledge & experience in a such a way that it will increase the ability of the
students to grow in spiritual & emotional maturity as well as in academic
excellence.
 Need :
 Achievement of educational aims
 Criteria of appropriate teachers
 Selection of appropriate methods
 Reflects trends in education
 Providing appropriate activities & experiences.
Natio
nal
Process of Curriculum Development
• Federal guidelines, legal requirements Funding themes

• Legislative guidelines, legal rulings, textbook adoption

State

Distr
• Vertical articulation, Resource allocation, school board decisions
ict

Scho
• Programme coordination, Staff in Service, Curriculum Committees,
ol

Class
• Lesson plan, lesson objectives, Instructional strategies
room
Stages in Curriculum development
Planning & formation of
objectives

Evaluation & Reporting Content & Methods

Implementation of
teaching learning
experiences
 Hilda Taba
Hilda Taba was a architect a curriculum theorist, a curriculum reformer and a teacher educator.
Taba developed a process for determining what needs to be taught to students & included a guide
on hoe to accomplish the outcomes from students.
Features of Hilda Taba Model
 The model is based on the behavioral approach to curriculum design.
 It emphasis on a step by step plan
 Is inductive approach, specific to generalized design.
 It focuses on the specific goals & objectives.
 Taba believes that teachers are aware about the student needs hence
they should be the one to develop the curriculum, it is teacher
centered model.
 It advocates the spiral form of curriculum development.
 Needs analysis

Defining & formulating

objectives

Selecting learning content

Organizing learning
content

Selecting learning
experiences

Evaluation process
Steps / grassroots approach to curriculum
development
 Diagnosis of learners needs & expectations of larger society
 Defining & formulation of learning objectives
 Selection of the learning content
 Organization of learning content
 Selection of learning experience
 Organization of the learning activities
 Determination of what to evaluate.
Step 1:Identification of student’s needs
 It focuses on identifying the problems faced by learners while
learning in the context of various factors like age, social background,
language, classroom environment etc. Also it aims to identify the
problems of the learner in the context of their achievement.
 e.g. sample of assessment, lessons from teacher, assignments,
textbooks currently used, students perception & feedback from the
parents.
 The objectives gives direction for what is to be covered, how it is to be covered i.e
Step
content to be2-covered
Defining & formulating
& methods to be used & what objectives
is to be emphasized. In other
words, what do the students need to do in order to be successful? Each subject has
natural objectives that are indicators of mastery. All objectives need to be realistic,
clear, concrete & useful.
 For example, a school that is developing an English curriculum my create an
objective that students will write essays. This would be one of many objectives
within the curriculum.
Step 3:Selection of content
 The content has to be selected according to the level of the students.
The content should be relevant, valid & significant. Also the content
should be in conformity with the social realities & appropriate with
the needs & interests of the students.
 For example, glossary/vocabulary, tenses, figure of speech, Phrases,
Proverb etc.
Step 4:Organization of content
 The content is sequenced according to learners interest, achievement
level, maxims of teaching etc. We have to maintained continuity
while organizing content.
 For example, glossary/vocabulary, tenses, Phrases, Proverb, figure of
speech etc.
Step 5-developing learning experiences
 Developing learning experiences helps the students to achieve step
one. The learning experiences should be so selected that they consist
of activities that focus on cognitive & affective development of the
learner.
For example, if students need to meet the objective of writing an essay.
The learning experience might be a demonstration by the teacher of
writing an essay. The students then might practice writing essays. The
experience (essay demonstration and writing) is consistent with the
objective (Student will write an essay).
Step 6- Selection of teaching
method/organizing the experiences
 The learning experiences should help to develop concepts,
generalizations & applications. The selected instructional methods
must keep students engaged. Teacher can use appropriate method of
teaching like problem solving, inquiry & discovery techniques,
Inductive Deductive method etc.
 The point is that the teacher needs to determine a logical order of
experiences for the students.
E.g.
Step 7-Evaluation of the objectives
 Lastly, step seven is evaluation of the objectives. The evaluation is
related with the stated objectives. Now the teacher assesses the
students ability to write an essay.
 For example, the teacher could have the students write an essay
without assistance. If they can do this, it is evidence that the students
have achieve the objective of the lesson.
Application
 Currently used in most curriculum designs
 Identifying the needs of the students
 Developing objectives
 Selecting instructional method
 Organizing learning experiences
 Evaluating
strengths
 Ithelps in developing higher order thinking skills.
 Students work collaboratively with others to build skills with
speaking & listening.
 The Tyler Model, developed by Ralph Tyler in the 1949’[Link], he wrote down
Tyler
his ideas in amodel
book Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction for his students to
give them an idea about principles for to making curriculum. He considered three
primary sources of curriculum – students, Society, subject matter in formulating
tentative general objectives of the program that reflects the philosophy of education
& the psychology of learning.
Tyler Model
Steps of Tyler model
The brilliance of Tyler’s model is that it was one of the first models
and it was and still is a highly simple model consisting of four steps.
 Deciding the objectives of education
 Selection of learning experiences
 Organize of the learning experiences
 Evaluation
Step 1 determining the objectives of the education
 what do the students need to do in order to be successful? Each
subject has natural objectives that are indicators of mastery. It helps
in selecting learning material, content outline, instructional strategies
& assessments. While writing the objectives they should be written
in the form of statements about students outcomes.
Step 2 Selection of learning experiences
 Selection of subject matter : Relevant, Scope & depth of coverage,
sequence [Link] cognitive, affective, psychomotor, vocational needs
of the students to be considered.
 Organization of subject matter: disciplines, skills, what activities,
projects etc need to consider
 Theoretical basis of Methods & approaches: Psychological basis
helps to consider the age, interest, instructional strategies, additional
resources etc.
Step 3 organizing the learning experiences
 Stepthree is organizing the learning experiences. Learning activities
should be systematically arranged to achieve defined objectives. In a
number of ways we can involve learner into activities.
Step 4 evaluation of the objectives
 Lastly,step four is evaluation of the objectives. To determine defined
objectives are achieved or not through learning activities. It helps in
improvement of learning activities.
Strengths & weaknesses of the model
 Child centered
 Focuses on active participation
 A linear approach is adopted
 Weaknesses:
 Curriculum is restricted to a narrow range of students knowledge &
skills
 Determining behavioural objectives is time consuming
Syllabus
 The syllabus is defined as the documents that consists of topics or
portion covered in a particular subject.
 It is systematic arrangement of a subject for a particular standard.
 It is a plan showing the subjects or books to be studied in a particular
course, especially a course that leads to an examination.
Characteristics
 Flexible
 Community centered
 Life centered
 Encourages creative thinking
 Promotes experimental activities
 Based on the interest of students
 Scope for utilization of available resources
 Promotes problem solving, application of scientific concepts & principles
 Scope for teachers to use various methods, approaches, tools & techniques in
teaching
Textbook
 A textbook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study .
 A book that contains detailed information about a subject for people
who are studying that subject.
Importance of textbook
 Satisfying needs & requirements of the learners.
 Provides concrete base in selection of methods, techniques &
approaches in teaching learning process.
 It helps to provide uniformity for classroom instruction.
 Helps students to create new knowledge based on the existing one.
Basis for syllabus Curriculum
comparison

Meaning Syllabus is the document that contains all the Curriculum is the overall content, complete
portion of the concepts covered in a subject set of taught material, taught in an
educational system or course

base Does not based on philosophy, goals & values Based on philosophy, goals & values of
of education education
origin Greek term Latin term
Set for A subject A course
Nature descriptive prescriptive
scope narrow wide
Set out by Exam board Government, School, College
term For a fixed term Till the course lasts
Uniformity Varies fro teacher to teacher Same for all teachers
Components Content, list of topics Objectives, content, methods, evaluations
tools
National Curriculum Framework 2005
 Features:
 Learning without burden
 Constructivist approach to education
 Knowledge is discovered by students & transformed into concepts they can relate to.
 Learning occurs in a social setting.
 Students learn to understand & appreciate different perspectives through a dialogue with
their peers.
 By using past experience & previous knowledge students reconstruct & expand their new
learning experiences.
 Learning consists of active participation by the student versus passive acceptance of
information.
 Inquiry based learning, discovery, cooperative learning, problem
solving & project based learning methods used in curriculum
transaction.
 Evaluation should be an integral part of the teaching learning
process.
 Areas like health, yoga , music, art etc should not be tested for
marks.
Guiding principles of the NCF2005
 Life oriented
 Based on social justice
 Learning with joy
 No rote learning
 Integrated approach
 Mother tongue
 Importance of learning
 Creativity
 Changes in Evaluation
Suggestion for teacher education in NCF
 Shift teacher education programme from teacher centric to learner
centric with flexible designs & processes providing wider social
context to learning.
 Shift from content based testing to problem solving & competency
based testing.
 To increase use of ICT to enrich teaching learning process.
 Shift from Passive to active participation in learning