Allama Iqbal open University

Assignment :1
Course : curriculum development (8603)

Q.1 Write a comprehensive definition of curriculum. Critically analyze the primary

level curriculum development process in Pakistan.
Curriculum is the outline of concepts to be taught to students to help them meet the
content standards. Curriculum is what is taught in a given course or subject. Curriculum
refers to an interactive system of instruction and learning with specific goals, contents,
strategies, measurement, and resources.
This article explains the four major foundations of curriculum and their importance in
education. Examples are provided to stress the importance of curriculum in the
academe.Read on and reflect on some of the experiences you have had in school to match
it with how philosophy,history, psychology and sociology influence those experiences of
yours.The Influence of Philosophy to Curriculum Educators, curriculum makers and
teachers must have espoused a philosophy or philosophies that are deemed necessary
for planning, implementing, and evaluating a school curriculum. The philosophy that they
have embraced will help them define the purpose of the school, the important subjects to
be taught, the kind of learning students must have and how they can acquire them, the
instructional materials, methods and strategies to be used, and how students will be
evaluated. Likewise Likewise, philosophy offers solutions to problems by helping the
administrators, curriculum planners, and teachers make sound decisions. A person’s
philosophy reflects his/her life experiences, social and economic background, common
beliefs, and education.
When John Dewey proposed that “education is a way of life”, his philosophy is realized
when put into practice.Now, particularly in the Philippines, Dewey’s philosophy served
as anchor to the country’s educational system.History and Its Influence to Curriculum
The history of one’s country can affect its educational system and the kind of curriculum
it has. If we are going to trace the formal beginning of curriculum, we get back in time to
Franklin Bobbit’s book entitled, “The Curriculum” which was published in 1918.From the
time of Bobbit to Tyler, many developments in the purposes, principles and contents of
the curriculum took place. Please read the Six Famous Curriculum Theorists and their
Contributions to Education for more information.
The Influence of Psychology to Curriculum .Curriculum is influenced by psychology.
Psychology provides information about the teaching and learning process. It also seeks
answers as to how a curriculum be organized in order to achieve students’ learning at
the optimum level, and as to what amount of information they can absorb in learning the
various contents of the curriculum.
The following are some psychological theories in learning that influenced curriculum
development:
Behaviorism
Education in the 20th century was dominated by behaviorism. The mastery of the subject
matter is given more emphasis. So, learning is organized in a step-by-step process. The
use of drills and repetition are common.
For this reason, many educational psychologists viewed it mechanical and routine.
Though many are skeptical about this theory, we can’t deny the fact the influences it had
in our educational system.
2. Cognitivism
Cognitive theorists focus on how individuals process information, monitor and manage
their thinking. The basic questions that cognitive psychologists zero in on are:
How do learners process and store information?
How do they retrieve data and generate conclusions?
How much information can they absorb?
With their beliefs, they promote the development of problem-solving and thinking skills
and popularize the use of reflective thinking, creative thinking, intuitive thinking,
discovery learning, among others.
3. Humanism
Humanism is taken from the theory of Gestalt, Abraham Maslow’s theory and Carl Rogers’
theory. This group of psychologists is concerned with the development of human
potential.In this theory, curriculum is after the process, not the product; focuses on
personal needs, not on the subject matter; and clarifying psychological meanings and
environmental situations. In short, curriculum views founded on humanism posits that
learners are human beings who are affected by their biology, culture, and environment.
They are neither machines nor animals.A more advanced, more comprehensive
curriculum that promotes human potential must be crafted along this line. Teachers don’t
only educate the minds, but the hearts as well.
4. Sociology and Curriculum
There is a mutual and encompassing relationship between society and curriculum
because the school exists within the societal context. Though schools are formal
institutions that educate the people, there are other units of society that educate or
influence the way people think, such as families and friends as well as communities. Since
the society is dynamic, there are many developments which are difficult to cope with and
to adjust to. But the schools are made to address and understand the changes not only in
one’s country but in the world as well.
Therefore, schools must be relevant by making its curriculum more innovative and
interdisciplinary. A curriculum that can address the diversities of global learners, the
explosion of knowledge through the internet, and the educational reforms and policies
recommended or mandated by the United Nations.
Q.2 Identify the recommendations regracurriculum reforms contained in the all
educational policies and highlight the main differences.
1. DIFFERENT EDUCATION POLICIES OF PAKISTAN
• 2. First Educational Conference (1947) The first National Education Conference
was held at Karachi from November 27th to December 1st, 1947. First Education
Conference was convened in 1947 in the supervision of Quaid-e-Azam.
• 3. He provided the basic guide lines for future education development. It was
also emphasis to realize the people the sense of honor, integrity and selfless
services to the nation.
• 4. Dimensions Of Education Spiritual Social Vocational education conference 1947
was presided by the Education Minister of the country and Chairman of the
Conference, Fazal ur Rehman. Fazal -ur-Rehman,Education Minister of the
country proposed three dimensions of education
• 5. University Education Committee Adult Education Committee Technical
Education Committee The Conference formed a number of committees, The
reports of committees were shared in November, 1947.
• Primary and Secondary Education Committee Cultural Relations Committee
Women’s Education Committee Scientific Research Committee
• 6. Primary and Secondary Education Committee The Primary and Secondary
Education Committee
• “considered it essential that a national system of education should be based on the
strong foundations of free and compulsory primary education.” It proposed
separate pre-primary and primary education stages for children of ages 3 to 6 and
6 to 11.
• 7. Adult Education Committee The Committee on Adult Education pointed out
that illiteracy was high at 85 percent and, at the then rate of increase of literacy,
140 years would be required to get rid of the problem.It stated, “The primary aim
of the campaign must be not merely to make adults literate but to keep them
literate”.
• 8. The report recommended the following stages for the execution of a
programme of adult education. The first five years were to be devoted to In the
sixth year, about 500,000 persons were to be made literate with an annual
increase of 300,000 thereafter. Planning Recruitment Of Teachers Training
• 9. The major recommendations of the conference were Education should be
teamed with Islamic values free and compulsory education in Pakistan Emphasis
on science and technical education
• 10. Implementation This policy could not be implemented properly due to
increased number of immigrants.
• 11. National Commission On Education(1959) The Commission was addressed by
the President of Pakistan,General Mohammad Ayub Khan, on January 5, 1959.In
this commission compulsory education of 10 years was made. Religious education
be compulsory . Equal expansion for boys and girls education.
• 12. Recommendations of the commission were 1. Character building. 2.
Compulsory primary education. 3.Focus on science and technical education. 4.
National language as medium of instruction. 5. Three-year degree program. 6.
Elimination of illiteracy.
• 13. Stage 1: Compulsory at Middles Level Stage 2: Optional at Secondary Level
Stage 3: Research at
• University Level 7. Establishment of university grants commission. 8.
Examination system should be
• combination of internal (25%) and external (75%) evaluation. 9. Religious
education should be introduced in three stage i.e.
• 14. Implementation The National Education Commission recommendations
were useful but due to the conditions of country and the situation of resources
they were not applied well.
• 15. New Education Policy (1970) The revised proposals were reviewed by the
committee of the Cabinet in the light of implications of the announcement by the
President in his address to the nation on November 28, 1969.The new Education
Policy was finally adopted by the Cabinet on March 26, 1970.
• 16. The new Education Policy has following salient features: Formation of
national education units Emphasis on ideological orientation Emphasis on science
and technology education Decentralization of educational administration
Eradication of illiteracy
• 17. Implementation This policy was not implemented due to the war with India,
separation of East Pakistan,and the collapse of the military government.
• 18. Education Policy (1972) Zulifqar Bhutto announced a National Education
Policy on 29 March 1972.Salient features of this policy are Promotion of ideology
of Pakistan Personality development Equality in education Universal education
• 19. Curriculum based on socioeconomic needs of the society Integrated technical
and science education Active participation of teacher, students and parents in
educational affairs Nationalization of educational institutions
• 20. Announced free & universal education up to Class X for both girls & boys. first
phase October 1972, all public & private schools to provide free education up to
class VIII Second phase starting 1974, free education extended up to Class X.
 • 21. Implementation This policy was a good approach towards betterment, but
has many drawbacks due to which it cannot be achieved thoroughly e.g. universal
basic education, shift towards agro- technical studies etc.
• 22. Education conference 1947 der National Commission 1959, compulsory
education was recommended upto class ? Ans: 10 All private institutions were
nationalized on which educational policy? Ans: Education Policy 1972 Activity #
1
Q.3 Select any subject from the curriculum of ADE program of AIOU and identify
the different foundations of the curriculum from it. Also, highlight the focused
foundation that is reflected at this level of the curriculum with examples.
Curriculum refers to the means and materials with which students will interact for the
purpose of achieving identified educational outcomes. Arising in medieval Europe was
the trivium, an educational curriculum based upon the study of grammar, rhetoric, and
logic. The later quadrivium (referring to four subjects rather than three as represented
by the trivium) emphasized the study of arithmetic, geometry, music, and astronomy.
These seven liberal arts should sound a lot like what you experienced during your formal
education.The emphasis on single subjects persists even today. Very likely you moved
from classroom to classroom,particularly throughout your secondary education,
studying a different subject with each teacher. Yet there was more to your education.
Perhaps you participated in athletics, or the band, or clubs, or student government, or
made the choice not to participate in any extracurricular activities. All of these (including
the option not to participate) are part of what we might call the contemporary
curriculum. But there is more.Some educators would say that the curriculum consists of
all the planned experiences that the school offers as part of its educational responsibility.
Then there are those who contend that the curriculum includes not only the planned, but
also the unplanned experiences as well. For example, incidents of violence that have
occurred at a number of schools across the nation are hardly a planned component of the
curriculum. However, the manner in which violence is addressed before, during, and
after the actual event sends a very definite message about how people in our culture
interact and how the laws of our nation are applied.Anotherperspective suggests that
curriculum involves organized rather than planned experiences because any event must
flow of its own accord, the outcome not being certain beforehand. For instance,
competitions,whether academic or athletic, can be organized, but the outcomes will
depend on a myriad of factors that cannot be planned.
Which brings us to the notion of emphasizing outcomes versus experiences. This shift to
the notion of outcomes is very much in keeping with the current movement toward
accountability in the public schools, that is, the perspective that there are indeed specific
things that the schools are supposed to accomplish with children.DistrictDistrict
personnel, school administrators, and you as one of many teachers are to be held
accountable by thepublic/taxpayers for ensuring that those objectives are met.
Curriculum, it turns out, is indeed much more than the idea of specific subjects as
 represented by the trivium or the quadrivium. And, as we will see in the next section, it
can be characterized not only by what it does include but also by what it intentionally
excludes.
A key concept to keep in mind is that the curriculum is only that part of the plan that
directly affects students.Anything in the plan that does not reach the students constitutes
an educational wish, but not a curriculum. Half a century ago Bruner (1960) wrote, "Many
curricula are originally planned with a guiding idea . . . But as curricula are actually
executed, as they grow and change, they often lose their original form and suffer a relapse
into a certain shapelessness" (p. 54). Curriculum—however grand the plans may be—
can only be that portion of the plan that actually reaches the student. Planning that keeps
that point in focus can be expected to result in a more focused curriculum.
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 cocurriculum. 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
Q.4 Evaluate the following stages in the proces of curriculum development with
examples.
a. Taxonomies of Educational Objectives
Educational objectives describe the goals toward which the education process is
directed–the learning that is to result from instruction. When drawn up by an education
authority or professional organization, objectives are usually called standards.
Taxonomies are classification systems based on an organizational scheme. In this
instance, a set of carefully defined terms, organized from simple to complex and from
concrete to abstract,provide a framework of categories into which one may classify
educational goals. Such schemes can:Provide a common language about educational
goals that can bridge subject matter and grade levels Serve as a touchstone for specifying
the meaning of broad educational goals for the classroom Help to determine the
congruence of goals, classroom activities and assessments Provide a panorama of the
range of possible educational goals against which the limited breadth and depth of any
particular educational curriculum may be contrasted.
b. Selection of Contnet and Curriculum Foundation
Educators, curriculum makers, and teachers must have espoused a philosophy or
philosophies deemed necessary for planning, implementing, and evaluating a school
curriculum. The philosophy they have embraced will help them achieve the following:
define the school’s purpose,identify the essential subjects to be taught,design the kind of
learning students must have,develop approaches or methodologies on how students can
acquire the necessary knowledge, skills, and attitude, produce the instructional
materials, identify the methods and strategies to be used, and determine how teachers
will evaluate students.Likewise, philosophy offers solutions to problems by helping the
administrators, curriculum planners, and teachers make sound decisions. A person’s
philosophy reflects his/her life experiences, social and economic background, shared
beliefs, and education. When John Dewey proposed that “education is a way of life,” his
philosophy is realized when put into practice. Now, particularly in the Philippines,
Dewey’s philosophy served as an anchor to the country’s educational system.
Curriculum and instruction are the meat of the educational process. Real change in
education comes with changes in the content that teachers teach and students learn, and
in the instructional methods that teachers use.
Both curriculum and instruction in turn are shaped by expectations about the kinds of
educational outcomes that students should manifest by the time they graduate from high
school.
Standards-based reform has been built around a specific set of assumptions about
curriculum and instruction,embodied in the content and performance standards that are
central to the reforms. Special education, for its part, has been built around a set of
assumptions about valued post-school outcomes, curricula, and instruction that reflect
the diversity of students with disabilities and their educational needs. Whether students
with disabilities will participate successfully in standards-based reform will depend
largely on the degree of alignment between these two sets of assumptions.
c. Selection of Methods and Level of Education
Teaching at university has diverse goals, so you should make use of the many different
methods available. Most of us are familiar with lectures, tutorials and practicals but
relatively few of us fully exploit the many possibilities which lie within these broad
categories. Teaching involves communication, that is, the exchange of information and
understanding. Too often in the recent past, however, this has been one way with little
dialogue or active participation by students.Unfortunately, no simple and universally
acceptable model for classifying teaching methods is to be found and those available
often pose problems with the terms used. Figure 5.3 offers a model to identify levels of
generality or specificity of instructional methods: it should also clarify terminology. Let
us discuss it briefly. At the Strategy Level, we refer to the overall way in which the process
of instruction is organized and executed.This can be either 'expository' or 'discovery' and
has several sub-divisions. At the Method Level we refer to the instructional process itself,
which has a more or less defined set of procedures and tends to promote a particular
strategy. You will note familiar examples of methods such as lecture, tutorial and
seminar. At an even more specific level, the Technique Level, we refer to a detailed
activity within an instructional process such as a buzz group or quiz, and which is usually
of short duration.
Curriculum Planning
The curriculum is what happens, what actually takes place among teachers and students,
students and students so that learning occurs. Even though curriculum cannot be entirely
preplanned and prescribed, to a great extent a curriculum that satisfies the need of the
students as well as the society can be developed. The construction of nursing curriculum
is the responsibility of the faculty of the nursing institute, but the minimum requirements
which are prescribed by statutory bodies like nursing council or university in the name
of syllabus has to be followed by all institutes.
A process in which participants at many levels make decisions about the purposes of
learning, teaching-learning situation.It is process of gathering, sorting, selecting,
balancing and synthesizing relevant information from many sources in order to design
those experiences that will assist learners in attaining the goals of curriculum.It is the
orderly study and improvement of schooling in light of stated objectives.

Q.5 Write a critical note on humanistic model and process model of the curriculum
development. What are the limitatyion of these models?
Key Curriculum Components
Curriculum models have five areas they define, each looking at education from a different
slant. TheThe 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.