Course: 

Curriculum Development (8603)

Semester: Spring, 2021
ASSIGNMENT No. 1

1. 1 Discuss various steps being followed by the planner when planning a

curriculum. What are the factors that may affect the curriculum
planning?

The curriculum development process systematically organizes what will be taught, who
will be taught, and how it will be taught. Each component affects and interacts with other
components. For example, what will be taught is affected by who is being taught (e.g.,
their stage of development in age, maturity, and education). Methods of how content is
taught are affected by who is being taught, their characteristics, and the setting. In
considering the above three essential components, the following are widely held to be
essential considerations in experiential education in non-formal settings:

    Essential Considerations for Curriculum Development:

1. issue/problem/need is identified (issue ® what),

2. characteristics and needs of learners (target audience ® who),
3. changes intended for learners (intended outcomes/objectives ® what the learners will be
able to do),
4. the important and relevant content ®(what),
5. methods to accomplish intended outcomes ®(how),
6. Evaluation strategies for methods, content, and intended outcomes ®(What works?).

The curriculum development model on the next page (Figure 2) shows how these
components relate to each other and to the curriculum development process. It begins
when an issue, concern, or problem needs to be addressed. If education or training a
segment of the population will help solve the problem, then curriculum to support an
educational effort becomes a priority with human and financial resources allocated.

The next step is to form a curriculum develop-ment team. The team makes systematic
decisions about the target audience (learner characteristics), intended out-comes
(objectives), content, methods, and evaluation strategies. With input from the curriculum
development team, draft curriculum products are developed, tested, evaluated, and
redesigned -if necessary. When the final product is produced, volunteer training is
conducted. The model shows a circular process where volunteer training provides
feedback for new materials or revisions to the existing curriculum.

Figure 2
Phases and steps in curriculum development (See Figure 2 on the previous page)
further illustrates how the 12 essential steps progress from one to the next. It also
shows the interaction and relationships of the four essential phases of the curriculum
development process: (I) Planning

(II) Content and Methods

(III) Implementation

(IV) Evaluation and Reporting.

It is important to acknowledge that things do not always work exactly as depicted in a

model! Each phase has several steps or tasks to complete in logical sequence. These
steps are not always separate and distinct, but may overlap and occur concurrently. For
example, the curriculum development team is involved in all of the steps. Evaluations
should occur in most of the steps to assess progress. The team learns what works and
what does not and determines the impact of the curriculum on learners after it is imple-
mented. Each step logically follows the previous. It would make no sense to design
learning activities before learner outcomes and content are described and identified.
Similarly, content cannot be determined before learner outcomes are described.

In the experience of the author, and confirmed by other curriculum specialists, the
following curriculum development steps are frequently omitted or slighted. These steps
are essential to successful curriculum development and need to be emphasized.

The Purpose of Curriculum

We have suggested that curriculum refers to the means and materials with which
the student interacts. To determine what will constitute those means and materials, we
must decide what we want the curriculum to yield. What will constitute the “educated”
individual in our society? In other words, what purpose does the curriculum serve?

The things that teachers teach represent what the larger society wants children to
learn. However, beyond teaching reading and writing, what are the necessary things
that they should be taught? Is it really necessary to teach science? Does teaching
mathematics really lead to logical thinking, or does it just provide students with some
basic computational skills that may or may not come in handy at some future time? You
may feel that answering such questions is not something a teacher has to be able to do,
but rest assured that at some point a parent will ask you questions like these. As a
teacher, you will be the representative of “the curriculum” to whom parents and students
turn for answers. The purpose of the curriculum is to prepare the student to thrive within
the society as it is—and that includes the capacity for positive change and growth.

You Actually Have Four Curriculums

There are essentially four curriculums at work in most educational settings: the
explicit, implicit, null, and extra-, or curriculum. You are probably familiar with the
notions of explicit curriculum and extracurricular activities. The real intrigue of
curriculum debate and design comes into play with the implicit and null curriculums.

There are four curriculums:

Explicit curriculum: subjects that will be taught, the identified “mission” of the school,
and the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquire

Implicit curriculum: lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the
behaviors, attitudes, and expectations that characterize that culture

Null curriculum: topics or perspectives that are specifically excluded from the curriculum

Extra curriculum: school-sponsored programs that are intended to supplement

the academic aspect of the school experience

The Explicit Curriculum

Explicit means “obvious” or “apparent,” and that’s just what the explicit curriculum is
all about: the subjects that will be taught, the identified “mission” of the school, and
the knowledge and skills that the school expects successful students to acquire. If you
speak with an administrator at your school or where you do your observations or
practicum work, ask about the curriculum; it is this publicly announced (and publicly
sanctioned) explanation of the message of school that will be explained to you. The
explicit curriculum can be discussed in terms of time on task, contact hours, or Carnegie
units (high school credit courses). It can be qualified in terms of specific observable,
measurable learning objectives.

The Implicit Curriculum

Sometimes referred to as the hidden curriculum, the implicit curriculum refers to the

lessons that arise from the culture of the school and the behaviors, attitudes, and
expectations that characterize that culture. While good citizenship may be part of the
explicit curriculum, a particular ethos that promotes, for example, multiethnic
acceptance and cooperation may also characterize a particular school. This is not to
say that parents, teachers, and administrators sat around a table and said, “Hey, let’s
promote acceptance of diverse ethnic values in the context of the American
experience.” That would be nice, of course, but then it tends to fall into the category of
the explicit curriculum. By virtue of a high multiethnic enrollment, a particular school
may have a culture of multiethnic cooperation. Another school, isolated in that its
enrollment is primarily that of one ethnic group, would develop a different sort of culture.
Individual schools within a district, or even classrooms within a school that share a
common explicit curriculum, can differ greatly with regard to the implicit curriculum. This
is not an altogether bad situation, but to a great degree the implicit curriculum is
subjected to less scrutiny than is the explicit curriculum.

2 What is the importance of the involvement of teacher and community in

curriculum development? Enlist the guiding principles, that the members of
curriculum formation committee follow in content selection and its organization.

There have always been excellent teachers of social studies in the elementary schools,
and today is no exception. Many teachers are working hard to provide elementary
students with high quality, meaningful social studies instruction. At the same time, they
would like to improve their teaching practices to ensure that students learn important
social studies content, concepts, and skills.

Assuming that elementary teachers who join a professional organization focused on the
social studies are among those who regularly include social studies in their instruction,
we sent questionnaires to all NCSS members who identified themselves as elementary
teachers in spring 1997. Two general questions guided our development of the survey
questions:

 What current trends in elementary social studies education are being

implemented by elementary teachers who are members of NCSS?
 What concerns do these elementary teachers have about the teaching of
social studies today and during the next five years?

The questionnaire used a combination of check-off responses and short, open-ended

questions. In addition to asking for standard demographic characteristics and
information about teacher preparation, the survey asked what methods teachers used to
teach social studies in their classrooms. Three open-response items related to the
topics being taught, the resources in use, and the ways teachers dealt with individual
differences in student interests and abilities. A fourth open-response question asked
teachers to express what concerns they had about teaching social studies now and
during the next five years. Most teachers included detailed responses to these
questions.

Responses from 98 teachers, or about one-third of those surveyed, are included in the
analysis. Sixty-two percent of the respondents were teaching in grades four to six, while
only 17 percent taught in grades one to three. A third group, identified as “others,”
included supervisors, principals, and recently retired teachers whose responses, for the
most part, were similar to the active teachers’ responses. These respondents provide
the profession with the first set of data on characteristics, concerns, and practices of
elementary teachers who belong to NCSS.

Teacher Characteristics

Seventy percent of the survey’s respondents were veteran teachers with an average of
16 years of teaching experience in one or more grades. Sixty-five percent taught in a
self-contained classroom.

These teachers regularly took time for their own professional development and on-going
learning. Nearly two-thirds reported attendance at the NCSS annual meeting or a state
or regional social studies conferences. And, 86% reported regular reading of social
studies journals, with Social Education and Social Studies and the Young
Learner overwhelmingly identified as the professional journals they read regularly.
Respondents also listed Educational Leadership, Journal of Geography, and Phi Delta
Kappan as publications they read on a regular basis. Over one-third said they had
published either an article or a teaching idea in a journal or teaching guide.

Taken altogether, these teachers reported that they enjoyed teaching social studies and
thought they provided quality social studies instruction for their students. They also
indicated that they strongly believe it is important for their students to study social
studies. They identified their greatest satisfaction from teaching social studies as feeling
that they teach important content, concepts, and skills for children to learn (61%). One
5th grade teacher noted, “Our district has an excellent social studies program. I have
always been encouraged and challenged to do my best instruction. It has changed a lot
in the past 20 years, but it is always exciting.” Another teacher reported that she
integrates language arts into social studies, not social studies into language arts. A
veteran teacher who had recently retired said she would really like to see social studies
used as an “umbrella” for teaching many subject areas, because social studies is
informative and can engage kids in active learning.

When asked about the NCSS social studies standards, Expectations of Excellence,

90% of respondents said they were familiar with them, and respondents overall viewed
these standards as helpful. A teacher of a fourth-fifth grade combination class wrote, “I
think the new NCSS standards have FREED me to teach the way I always have!”
Another teacher noted the impact of the NCSS standards on her as making her “more
aware of the things I should include within my teaching.”

Three-quarters of the teachers were also knowledgeable about the content of their state
and local district standards. Several indicated that their states and districts were in the
process of developing new guidelines for social studies, but were uncertain as to what
would be included in these new guidelines. About one third of the teachers were
involved in the development of state or district social studies standards and
performance assessment tasks.
Approaches to Teaching Social Studies

Teachers indicated that their instructional approaches were eclectic and that their
choice of instructional activities depended upon their goals and the topic being studied.
The teachers reported using a variety of strategies in their teaching. The majority of the
sample (65%) still taught in self-contained classrooms, and 47% reported teaching
social studies as a stand-alone subject.

Teachers were asked how frequently they used textbooks, media, and computers.
Eight-one percent reported using maps/globes/satellite images at least once each week,
with 67% indicating use of these geographic tools several times a week. While 90%
indicated using a textbook for instruction, 45% said they used the book no more than
once per week, and 8% used no textbook. Media was used in 67% of the classes, but
teachers reported using film or video less than once per week. Fewer than 25% of the
respondents used the computer at least once a week, with many teachers indicating
that the software programs available at the time of the survey did not match the content
of their curriculum study units.

Many teachers listed several teaching resources that they use frequently, and a total of
50 different resources were identified (see Table 1). Various types of written materials
dominated the teaching resources selected, while the use of pictures and other graphics
was reported somewhat less frequently. Teachers noted that the skills needed to
interpret various forms of visual information are also important when working with
computer and Internet sources of information. Geographic tools, specifically atlases and
globes, likewise require additional skills for gathering and interpreting data and were
among the more frequently used teaching resources. Resources involving human
interactions—such as guest speakers, interviews, living experiences, role playing, and
personal experience—were used much less frequently.

Most teachers (54%) described their predominant instructional approach as being social
science discipline-oriented, e.g., history, geography, economics, or social studies as a
single discipline. Twenty-six per cent indicated that their social studies program was
predominantly literature based. Sixty-nine per cent indicated that they sometimes teach
social studies as part of an integrated, multidisciplinary social studies curriculum unit.
While interdisciplinary lessons are familiar to social studies teachers, many states in
recent years have promoted the integration of content through thematic units in the
overall elementary curriculum. The questionnaire contained seven questions designed
to obtain information on teachers’ training and use of integrated curriculum content.
Specifically, teachers were asked whether their educational background and
experiences prepared them to teach integrated/ interdisciplinary lessons, and what
preparation they received to do so. Of those who responded to the question, “How did
you learn to do integrated, interdisciplinary teaching?”, both veteran teachers (educated
in the 1960s) and newer teachers (those with five years or less of teaching experience)
said they had received instruction in integrated units in their initial teacher preparation
programs. Others reported that they learned this approach through a variety of
continuing education experiences.

Teachers were asked to give examples of themes or topics they included in their
integrated social studies lessons. Twenty-one teachers did not identify any theme on
their questionnaires. The remaining 77 teachers listed 217 one-or-two word thematic
topics/titles used in their classrooms. These data indicate many elementary social
studies teachers use interdisciplinary, integrated, or thematic units to teach social
studies to elementary students.

The themes cited most often were “Native Americans,” “Westward Movement,” “Civil
War,” and “Colonial America,” but no single topic added up to double digits.

Teachers in grades one and two stressed the teaching of cultural universals—such as
housing, food, traditions, and cultural and environmental geography—through studies of
the local community or other nations. This selection of topics clearly reflects the long-
popular expanding horizons concept, which still dominates elementary textbook series
and state curriculum guidelines, with slight modifications for the facts that the United
States is now oriented more globally and is receiving immigrants from a wider range of
nations.

Beginning with grade three, the largest number of titles given for integrated or thematic
units fits into the category of history. Local history or the history of groups (such as
immigrants, blacks, and inventors) tended to dominate the content. Geographic themes,
the second largest category, focused on regions and map study. A very few third grade
teachers mentioned topics related to the disciplines of economics and political
science/civic ideals/democracy.

Teachers in grades four to six, and respondents in the “others” category, offered a more
diverse range of responses. However, integrated study units overwhelmingly focused
first on history, second on anthropology (culture, including multicultural studies), and
third on geography. When disciplines not usually associated with history and the social
studies were included in an integrated unit, the respondents indicated that science
disciplines such as physical environments were most frequently integrated with social
studies. When literature was used as the integrating mode, it was to teach about either
the Holocaust or other cultures. One experienced teacher commented that elementary
teachers need training and resources for dealing with topics related to economics and
the globalization of world communities.

Providing for Student Differences

Teachers reported using a wide variety of strategies to respond to the different needs of
their students (see Table 2). These included taped lessons, peer tutoring, journal,
modified assignments (as for different reading expectations), extended time for
completing work (including tests), and calling on specially-trained resource teachers.
Clearly, the dominant trend is toward providing activities that are flexible in nature,
including cooperative learning activities, student selection of projects, model building,
and journal writing.

Most respondents wrote single words or short phrases in response to the question
about providing for differences in students’ abilities and interests. Some longer
statements included the terms and elaborated upon them.

Knowing the particular skills, talents and interests of the children allows me to challenge
those needing challenge…[For] the children needing help, I provide the right kind of
research activities/materials so that they don’t feel overwhelmed. All are challenged, but
allowed to work at their own speed [and encouraged] to try their best.

I use different teaching techniques such as: cooperative learning, role-playing, lecture/
note taking, discussion. I also vary the types of assignments and rarely (if ever) assign
work right from the text.

[I] prepare activities for visual/auditory/kinesthetic learners each day. I’ve begun to
introduce performance assessment techniques and individualized rubrics.

Concerns about Social Studies Education

Elementary teachers were asked to identify two or three major concerns they have
about social studies education now and during the next five years. All but eight
respondents replied, providing a total of 208 comments that were grouped into fourteen
categories. Each category included at least five expressions of concern, and could be
described in terms of either a lack (see Table 3) or a want (see Table 4) of something.
The concern most frequently mentioned was the lack of priority given to social studies
programs in schools and districts. This low priority was sometimes perceived as coming
from other teachers or school policies that either pushed for integrated units in place of
social studies or indicated that reading/language arts, mathematics, or science were the
primary disciplines to teach elementary students.

In addition, new district and state policies were perceived by many teachers as
weakening the social studies in favor of reading and mathematics. One teacher wrote,
“In Texas, higher priority is given to other subjects by the state and/or school system.
Texas tests reading and math in grade five and social studies in 8th grade.” A teacher in
California reported, “My principal told us this year that the state has dropped all
suggested time for social studies, so it doesn’t have to be taught. Very sad! I’m still
working very hard in the social studies area! This year (1997) has been the worst as the
upper grade teachers are completely demoralized!” Some of the teachers also indicated
that this increasing lack of priority for social studies was motivated by special interest
groups who opposed elements of particular social studies content.
The second greatest area of concern was the need for more staff development in social
studies for both veteran and new elementary teachers. This concern recognizes both
the rapid changes taking place in knowledge and technology, and the fact that the
undergraduate teaching degree provides only a small amount of the content knowledge
base needed to teach social studies—and is subject to becoming quickly outdated in
today’s world. Topics suggested for staff development included both increasing social
studies content knowledge and adding new teaching strategies based on the application
of technology to social studies content.

One teacher who strongly supported quality staff development programs reported that
“because of all the workshops I’ve attended and what I’ve done with county and local
standards, I’m finding other elementary teachers look to me as an expert. Even though
I’m far from being an expert, I find I am more knowledgeable than the average
elementary teacher.” This is a powerful statement concerning the need for continued
learning.

Concerns about testing focused on (1) the misuse of test results to evaluate teacher
effectiveness and student learning to rank order schools in a district or districts in a
state, and (2) the lack of parent understanding of test results and rubrics used in
alternative assessments. Several teachers noted the need for social studies leaders to
work with classroom teachers to update the curriculum in order to meet the new social
studies standards that have been adopted. They also noted that there should be a
strong linkage between curriculum, instruction, and assessment. Teachers were eager
to obtain good computer software for more topics, and to secure Internet connections to
help both students and teachers in social studies learning.         

3 Identify and discuss new trends emerging in curriculum development of

Teacher Education programs.

In education 2017-18 Report, there are 264 million out-of-school children and youth the
world over — a failure that we must tackle together, because education is a shared
responsibility and progress can only be sustainable through common efforts. This is
essential to meet the ambitions of the Sustainable Development Goal on education
(SDG 4), part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Governments, schools
and teachers have a frontline role to play here, hand in hand with students themselves
and parents. Growing populations gaining access to education, along with evidence of
underachievement in learning, have brought into sharp focus persistent deficiencies in
provision and quality. These, combined with tight education budgets and increased
emphasis on value for money worldwide, have countries searching for solutions.
Increased accountability often tops the list. Accountability can be a virtue, describing the
quality of being answerable and reliable. In this report, it is defined as a type of
mechanism. On legal, political, social or moral grounds, governments and other
education actors are obliged to report on the fulfilment of their responsibilities. As per
‘Accountability in Education 2017-18’ report, Pakistan is among those 33 countries
which cannot even meet education financing bench mark. In Pakistan, the auditor
general’s office reported to the Public Accounts Committee of the National Assembly
that $7.5 million worth of Basic Education Community Schools programme funding had
been illegally diverted. The project director transferred the amount to a private account
instead of a prescribed bank. The National Database and Registration Authority also
detected more than 2,000 fake teacher employee identity cards and auditors tracked
349 ‘ghost’ schools. Pakistan has monitored the attendance of more than 210,000
education staff in 26,200 schools using biometrics: fingerprints and photos, coupled with
Global Positioning System coordinates. As of February 2017, as many as 40,000
absent teachers and 6,000 absconders (employed but long absent) have been
disciplined. In Pakistan, teachers report on daily attendance by text messages. The
forum of nine low and middle income countries committed to achieving SDG 4 account
for more than half the world’s population. Yet, Bangladesh, Malaysia, India, Nigeria and
Pakistan do not report on global indicator 4.1.1 at any education level (early primary,
end of primary or end of lower secondary). The next in line are textbooks, an important
part of the school and higher levels of education. In Pakistan, the textbooks are
designed according to the National Curriculum Policy 2006. The policy outlined
appropriate learning goals but failed to guide about teaching methodologies and
teaching materials which resulted in its failure. Similarly, the content covered in the
textbooks is not directly in line with the content scope manifested in the curriculum and
also does not cater to the current needs and desirable characteristics. The textbooks
have also failed to incorporate the curriculum reforms envisaged in the National
Education Policy 2009. For example, it was decided that human rights-related content
would be included in the textbooks. But, no success has yet been observed in this
regard. The timely provision of free textbooks is the state’s responsibility. Provincial
textbooks boards usually take that responsibility. But they normally get late in providing
the textbooks at the start of new academic year. This year, new academic sessions
began from the start of April. Not to speak of other regions, students of Islamabad faced
many difficulties in getting the new textbooks. Hardly 20 per cent books were available
in the markets by the end of April 2016. Punjab’s textbook board also failed to provide
the books in time. The books contained mistakes and the binding quality was below
standard. The 10th class English book is not having the 7th and 8th chapters in it and
many of the middle-level books are missing some pages. In Pakistan, textbooks have
also been criticised for normalising militarism and war and including biases, historical
errors and distortions. Prominent Pakistanis other than military heroes and nationalist
movement leaders are often excluded. Pakistani textbooks published after a 2006
curriculum reform still emphasised wars with India and largely ignored peace initiatives.
They also perpetuated a narrative of conflict and historic grievances between Muslims
and Hindus, rather than discussing the potential for conflict-resolution and reconciliation.
Sufficient attention has not been paid to the technical and vocational education in
Pakistan. The number of technical and vocational training institutes is not sufficient and
many are deprived of infrastructure, teachers and tools for training. The population of a
state is one of the main elements of its national power. It can become an asset once it is
skilled. Unskilled population means more jobless people in the country, which affects
the national development negatively. As more educated farmers are more likely to be
more productive, take measures to mitigate climate change effects and adopt new
technology. In Pakistan, such farmers are more likely to adopt irrigation pumps powered
by alternative energy sources because they can get access to the information and are
more aware of the options. Use of the pumps is associated with higher yields, higher
household income and lower poverty. Experience shows households that adopted
agricultural practices to counter climate change effects were more educated and had
better access to weather-related information. Therefore, technical education needs
priority handling by the government. There is a need for implementation of national
education policy and vision 2030 education goals. An analysis of education policy
suggests that at the policy level there are several admirable ideas, but practically there
are some shortcomings also. It may not be possible for the government at the moment
to implement a uniform education system in the country, but a uniform curriculum can
be introduced in educational institutions of the country. Similarly, an effective monitoring
system is needed in education departments. Education plays a vital role in nation
building. Federal Ministry of Education is responsible for the national cohesion,
integration and preservation of the ideological foundation of the states.

4 Elaborate psychological principles, which are used as a basis for curriculum

development. Discuss the role of Psychological foundation of curriculum for
assessment and measurement of learning outcomes.

Psychological bases of curriculum

 Education is for the child. The child is the center of the educational process.
 Through education, efforts are made for bringing desirable changes in the
behavior of the learners.
 Psychology as a science of behavior is linked with the process of imparting
education.
 It helps curriculum developers in deciding what content and learning
experiences can be included in the curriculum.
 It provides bases for curriculum development in such a way that curriculum
could be developed according to the children in a particular grade and their
needs.
  The psychology of individual differences among children influences the plan
and development of the curriculum. So, the curriculum should have enough
variety and elasticity to allow individual differences, needs, and interests.
 So, we can conclude that curriculum development is guided by the ideas put
forward by psychologists (Piaget, Erickson, Bruner, etc.) from time to time.
Hence curriculum development has sufficient psychological bases.

Educational psychology is the branch of psychology concerned with the scientific

study of human learning. The study of learning processes, from
both cognitive and behavioral perspectives, allows researchers to understand individual
differences in intelligence, cognitive development, affect, motivation, self-regulation, and
self-concept, as well as their role in learning. The field of educational psychology relies
heavily on quantitative methods, including testing and measurement, to enhance
educational activities related to instructional design, classroom management, and
assessment, which serve to facilitate learning processes in various educational settings
across the lifespan.[1]

Educational psychology can in part be understood through its relationship with other
disciplines. It is informed primarily by psychology, bearing a relationship to that
discipline analogous to the relationship between medicine and biology. It is also
informed by neuroscience. Educational psychology in turn informs a wide range of
specialities within educational studies, including instructional design, educational
technology, curriculum development, organizational learning, special
education, classroom management, and student motivation. Educational psychology
both draws from and contributes to cognitive science and the learning sciences. In
universities, departments of educational psychology are usually housed within faculties
of education, possibly accounting for the lack of representation of educational
psychology content in introductory psychology textbooks. [2]

The field of educational psychology involves the study of memory, conceptual

processes, and individual differences (via cognitive psychology) in conceptualizing new
strategies for learning processes in humans. Educational psychology has been built
upon theories of operant
conditioning, functionalism, structuralism, constructivism, humanistic
psychology, Gestalt psychology, and information processing.[1]

Educational psychology has seen rapid growth and development as a profession in the
last twenty years.[3] School psychology began with the concept of intelligence testing
leading to provisions for special education students, who could not follow the regular
classroom curriculum in the early part of the 20th century. [3] However, “school
psychology” itself has built a fairly new profession based upon the practices and
theories of several psychologists among many different fields. Educational
psychologists are working side by side with psychiatrists, social workers, teachers,
speech and language therapists, and counselors in an attempt to understand the
questions being raised when combining behavioral, cognitive, and social psychology in
the classroom setting.

These psychological principles act as cement in the teaching-learning process. A

teacher must have good understanding of child psychology to be effective.

Psychology provides those elements which unify Learning process. Some

philosophers have simply said that teacher simply gives information. It becomes
learning according to child’s psychology.

Hence, it is very important to understand basic psychological needs of the learners and
reflecting on how these needs can be translated into curriculum.

e shall consider three learning theories:

 Behaviorism:It deals with various aspects of S-R and reinforcement.

 Cognitivism:It studies how the learner relates himself to the total
environment.
 Humanism:It emphasizes on affective domain of learning.

Behaviorism:
The first theory which studied how learning occurs was named as behaviourism.
Behaviorism claimed and proved that behaviour can be modified by changing the
environment.

In other words, a learner responds differently to different stimulus. Accordingly, it

suggested to intentionally provide a stimulus to create desirable response. It says that:

 Behavior is result of conditions in which learning takes place.

 If proper stimuli are provided, behaviour can be moulded.
 It is.possible to control learning experiences to create desired learning
outcomes.
 It is important to reinforce positive behaviour to ensure its repetition.

Many principles of behaviorism are used in curriculum development.

 Remediation of behaviour, acquiring of skills and considerations.

 Defining short-term and long-term objectives.
 Suitable media and materials to suit the learners needs, and abilities.
 Positive reinforcement of positive behaviour.
 Understanding learner’s needs better and developing activities and tasks
according to that.
Behaviorism has gained popularity not only in educational field, but also in business and
industry, government and allied, health professions, or to say, wherever human beings
are involved.

Cognitive School of Thought.

Unlike behaviorists, cognitive school claims that learning is cognitive in nature. It
explains that a man goes through different style of development from birth to maturity.
Piaget gave following states of cognitive development from birth to maturity:

Sensorimotor stage: 0-2 years Age, Development: The child learns sensorimotor

activities. He begins to establish simple relations between objects.

Poperational stage: 2-7 years Age, Development: Learns to take a symbolic meaning,

but can consider only one dimension.

Concrete operational stage: 7-11 years Age, Development: Learns to organize data

into logical relationships and can learn concepts in problem solving situations.

Formal operational stage: 11 on-wards Age, Development: Can think about abstract
ideas, formulate hypotheses and deduce possible conclusions from them.

These stages follow a hierarchical order. Age limit is flexible for each stage depending
on hereditary and environmental factors. Tyler, Taba and Bruner based their curriculum
principles on Piaget’s theory.

Tyler suggested three ways of organizing learning experience on the basis of

Piaget’s theory.

Continuity: Continuity implies repetition of skills and concepts in the curriculum in

vertical recurring -way. It will enable learner to practice those concepts.

Sequence: Concepts should be understood in a proper sequence so that each

successive experience builds on the preceding one.

Integration: It is also necessary to integrate curriculum horizontally and is unified.in

relation to other elements. No discipline on subject-field can be understood in isolation
of the other.

Taba suggested that Piaget’s theory has significant implications for a learners
intellectual development. He suggested:
  Transform complex concepts into mental operations that are suitable for
learners, development stage.
 Assimilation accommodation and equilibration are important-cognitive facts
that must be considered in curriculum development.
 Curriculum experiences should be compatible with existing experiences than
these concepts should be organized in such a way that they move from
concrete principles and classify new relationships.

Bruner’s explained learning process on the basis of Piaget’s concepts of assimilation

and accommodation.

Acquisition: It refers to acquiring of new knowledge or replacing old knowledge with

new. It corresponds to’ the concept of assimilation.

Transformation: It refers to the way in which an individual processes new information.

It is based on Piaget’s concept of accommodation.

Evaluation: It refers to understanding and analyzing information to solve a problem. It

is related to Piaget’s concept of equilibration.

5 What is the process of curriculum development in Pakistan? Discuss. Write a

brief history of curriculum development in the subcontinent.

Key Curriculum Components

Curriculum models have five areas they define, each looking at education from a
different slant. The focus concept looks at a subject or a student and centers instruction
on them. The approach component is a traditional or modern method and looks at the
type of instruction that will be used. In the content component, a slant towards a topic-
based or content-based is used, asking how units or strands will be written.
The process structure looks at assessment: formative or accumulative.
Finally, structure components focus on the system of review, determining how the
curriculum will come up for revision.

Product and Process Models

Curriculum models can be broken down into two very broad models, the product
model and the process model. Luckily, these two models are just as they sound.
  The Product Model – You may see this in portions of your curriculum. This model is
focused on results, like grades or reaching an objective. The majority of the weight is
focused more on the finished product than what is happening in the learning process.
 The Process Model – Conversely, this process model focuses on how things
happen in the learning and is more open-ended. Curriculum focusing on the process
model emphasizes how students are learning, what their thinking is, and how it will
impact future learning.

Curriculum Model Frameworks

To dive in a bit further before we look at specific models, let’s talk about how some
curriculum models are framed. Five broad categories can be used to define the focus of
curriculum models:

1. Subject- or discipline-centered – In this framework, the curriculum is organized

around subjects, like math or science.
2. Integrated – Just like it sounds, this framework pulls many subjects together. We see
this model used in problem-based learning and experiential learning.
3. Spiral – In this framework, the content is presented several times across the span of
the school year. Seen mostly in math, using this design allows students to be
introduced and then revisit material often.
4. Inquiry- or problem-based – Not to be confused with integrated models, this
curriculum focuses on a central problem or question. In this frame, all curriculum is
problem-based, while in integrated it may or may not be.
5. Experiential – Using this framework allows students to participate in real-life ways
with their work such as, experimenting with hypothesis, working through problems,
and finding solutions.

You may recognize some of the above frames in your own lesson plans. Now, let’s look
at three models we also see in our current curriculum.

Popular Curriculum Models

There are countless models of curriculum, many of them blends of several styles. There
are, however, two main models looked at as the basis for all curriculum. And to make
things easy for us, each is named after its creator.

The Tyler Model

The Tyler model was created by Ralph Tyler in 1949. He guided his model with four
questions:

1. What educational purposes should the education strive for?

2. What educational experiences can be provided to attain these purposes?
3. How can we organize these educational experiences?
4. How will we know if these purposes are being attained?
Constructivist Approaches. Constructivist theory is based on the principle that
students learn by building knowledge on prior knowledge and experiences as well as
getting actively engaged in the learning process as opposed to obtaining information
passively from lecturers and memorization. Driver and Bell (1985) summarised the main
assumptions of this approach as follows:

 Current believes of students which may be right or wrong.

 Personal ability to construct individual learning unique to each student despite same
learning experience.
 Understanding a meaning as an active and continuous process.
 Learning may entail conceptual changes.
 Learning is an active process that is dependent on student’s taking ownership of
learning.
 Students may lack confidence when they construct a new meaning even though
such a meaning is provisionally accepted or rejected by them.

The theory acknowledges that knowledge is dependent of the knower and only the
knowledge created for oneself from the information which is obtained from the
environment while learners provide answers from their own perspectives. It is based on
guided discovery, discussions on thoughts, ideas and activities to enable students learn
effectively. It is learners-centred approach where students start with existing knowledge
while teachers guide learners to discover knowledge thereby facilitating the learning
process as opposed to giving direct instructions to learners. This approach promotes
diversity and different cultures than other theories due to being student-centred which
entails involving them in learning process as active participants using all their senses. It
facilitates learning in students who learn better by kinaesthetic approach and enables
them apply the information acquired to life situations. The constructivist curriculum
considers learners’ previous knowledge, propels teachers to devote more time to topics
of interest to learners and enables teachers to emphasise relevant and crucial
information. It usually involves group work thereby providing opportunities for students
to gain social skills, share ideas, knowledge and information together. It is particularly
effective for enhancing learning for Special Education Needs students with sensory
processing disorder like autistic spectrum through the teacher’s guidance,
encouragement by challenging ideas and enabling them participate actively in learning.
However, the theory has some short comings such as lack of structure which hinders
the progress of students who need highly structured environment to succeed. Some
students may lag behind others as it supports a more personalized study based on the
prior knowledge of learners and formative assessment rather than standardised
curriculum and summative assessment which enables the teacher to know the areas
and levels of support required to enable them progress. This prevents grade-centred
goals and rewards and measurement of student state-wide progress to be compared. It
is difficult for teachers to customise the curriculum to every student due to differences in
their prior knowledge. The relevant training involved in constructive teaching is wide and
usually entails high cost long-term professional development. The theory may also lead
to confusion and frustration in learners as the success depends on students’ ability to
establish relationships and abstracts between prior knowledge and their current
knowledge. Constructivism principles when incorporated into learning may be beneficial
but most students require more structure and evaluation to progress. Learner based
models (Dewey). Dewey’s theory (2008/1902) is based on experiential education and
the role of the schools in education. He believes that education is life itself and a
process of living as opposed to being a preparation for future living. His experiential
education centres on the concept of instrumentalism in education on ‘learning by doing
or hands-on learning’ which falls under the educational philosophy of pragmatism
(experience of reality) and implies learning by theory and practice. Dewey creates
instrumentalism which is a theory of knowledge which views ideas as existing primarily
to solve encountered environmental problems.  He considers civil society and schools
as two basic elements and main topics that should be addressed and modified to
promote experimental intelligence and plurality for the improvement of life and
environment of people. He believes that the interaction of students with their
environment enhances adaptation and learning which ensures students and teachers
learn together thereby promoting inclusivity. His approach is child-centred with focus of
learning on the child’s needs and interests which involves supporting him to explore the
environment. Dewey acknowledges the facilitating role of the teacher in the process of
allowing children to use their interests in modelling the educational environment as this
enables teachers to apply their professional judgement in streamlining the process and
curbing the excesses of children. He notes that an important mastery and control of a
well-trained teacher ensures the child’ education is achieved. He acknowledges the role
of schools in education as where to learn how to live in addition to where to acquire
content knowledge thereby enhancing the aim of education which is the achievement of
the full potentials of all learners and maximum utilisation of skills. He itemises his
teaching methods in relation to the ages at which the tasks carried out by children
progressively becomes complex from simple ones. He states children go to school to
make things: cook; sew, work wood, and to make tools through clear acts of
constructions whose context and consequences articulate studies such as reading,
writing and calculus. He expects students to be active learning perceivers and critical
thinkers as opposed to passive learners. His pedagogical key provides children with
experiences of first hand on conflictive situations which are mainly time based on
personal experiences. He notes that conducive conditions are vital to active
participation of children in the personal analysis of their problems as well as
participation in the methods for solution at the expense of multiple tries and mistakes
otherwise the mind is not completely free. The theory is of limited application as it
cannot be applied in all disciplines but only provides understanding and explanation in
the inter-relationship in philosophy, pedagogy and psychology. Procedural v
Declarative (Anderson, 1976). The two types of knowledge which originates from
Newell’s symbolic framework are declarative and procedural (Anderson, 1976). He
states that declarative knowledge is ‘Knowing that ’while procedural knowledge is
‘knowing how’. Procedural knowledge is based on naturally occurring reflexes which
involve the application of declarative knowledge to a task to facilitate mastery in the
long-term memory. It eventually results in problem solving skills through active
participation using different senses thereby promoting inclusivity. Declarative knowledge
is actual information (static) which is acquired by passive memorization such as ideas,
symbols, numbering, semantics and formulas and it is based on theories, models and
principles that are of practical application to procedural knowledge.