Curriculum Development and Innovation EDUC 6551
This week... ● Curriculum... What is it? – a review ● Curriculum Models, Designs and Frameworks ● What are the strengths and weaknesses and applications of the different models of curriculum development? ● How do these models apply in your respective learning area? 2 21 March 2014 Week 3
Delivery of Instructions [Teaching] Education [Learning] 3 21 March 2014 Week 3
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Curriculum...What is it? ● An educational concept that could be confusing. Over the years, curriculum has been defined in a number of ways from different perspectives and ideologies. 5 21 March 2014 Week 3
So what then is ‘Curriculum’? 6 21 March 2014 Week 3
● The word ‘curriculum’ is used in many different contexts, by principals, by teachers, by curriculum writers in education systems, and increasingly by politicians. It can mean different things in each of these contexts. ● Examples: Energy & Pedagogy 7 21 March 2014 Week 3
It is important to recognise that: ● people do use the word to mean different things – we need to understand the context it is being used; ● each usage and meaning of the word is embedded within a particular ideology or set of beliefs about education and the world. This is true even of an ideology which is deliberately false and is established to further the interests of those who use the word; ● suggest a number of issues and concerns about … Lovat, T.J., & Smith, D.L. (2003). Curriculum: Action on Reflection. (4th Ed). Australia: Social Science Press. p.6 8 21 March 2014 Week 3
Ways ‘curriculum’ have been defined ● Lovat, T.J., & Smith, D.L. (2003). Curriculum: Action on Reflection. (4th Ed). Australia: Social Science Press. p.6. ● Brady, L. & Kennedy, K. (2007). Curriculum Construction. (3rd Ed). Frenchs Forest, NSW: Pearson. p.5. 9 21 March 2014 Week 3
● 1936 Curriculum should consist of permanent studies – grammar, reading, rhetoric, logic, mathematics and the greatest books of the Western world. ● Smith et al., 1950, p.3 The curriculum is always, in every society, a reflection of what the people think, feel, believe, and do. 10 21 March 2014 Week 3
● 1957 The curriculum is all of the learning of students which is planned and directed by the school. The curriculum is a sequence of potential experiences that is set up in the school for the purpose of disciplining children and young people in group ways of thinking and acting. 11 21 March 2014 Week 3
● 1962 The curriculum should consist entirely of knowledge from the disciplines. ● 1965 Curriculum produces plans and instruction, and puts them into action. 12 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Saylor & Alexander, 1966, p.5 Curriculum encompasses all learning opportunities provided by the school. 13 21 March 2014 Week 3
● 1970 The curriculum is all the experiences a learner has under the guidance of the school. The curriculum is all planned learning outcomes or desired consequences of the instructor for which the school is responsible. 14 21 March 2014 Week 3
● 1971 The curriculum is the syllabus, a course of study or subjects. ● 1973 The curriculum is a vital complex movement of people and things in a freewheeling setting. 15 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Pinar, 1975 Curriculum is the educational experience, the educational journey. ● Pratt, 1980, p.4 A curriculum is an organised set of formal educational and/or training intentions. 16 21 March 2014 Week 3
● 1988 Curriculum is the planned learning experiences of students for which the school is responsible. ● Marsh & Willis, 1995, p.10 … an interrelated set of plans and experiences that a student undertakes under the guidance of the school. 17 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Posner, 1995, p.5 Some claim that a curriculum is the content or objectives for which schools hold students accountable. Others claim that a curriculum is the set of instructional strategies teachers plan to use. 18 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Pinar et al., 1995, pp.847-848 … (curriculum) is what the older generation chooses to tell the younger generation … (it) is intensely historical, political, racial, gendered, phenomenological, autobiographical, aesthetic, theological and international (well!?). Curriculum becomes the site on which the generations struggle to define themselves and the world. 19 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Lovat, 2003 Curriculum is a set of discourses: a number of symbolic texts and practices that are representative of particular ideologies and which may be interpreted to produce different meanings. 20 21 March 2014 Week 3
● What is/are common in these definitions? ● What conclusions can be drawn? Is there a simple definition? 21 21 March 2014 Week 3
Purpose of Curriculum ● The purpose should be to ensure that children and young people are well equipped to handle whatever it is that this new century will call them to do and to be. 22 21 March 2014 Week 3
Purpose of Curriculum ● The curriculum of schools is essentially about the future; it cannot be based on curriculum models that have been handed down from the previous centuries. Facilitate and help students construct a future that is both personally and socially rewarding. 23 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Will involve rethinking the purpose and function of the curriculum away from the notion of conflicting and competing interests and towards the idea that there is a core of common interests that binds people together. 24 21 March 2014 Week 3
● This is NOT to minimise the importance of difference. People are all different in many ways. Democratic societies celebrate those differences. Yet for a society to function there must be common interests and common bonds that bring people together. 25 21 March 2014 Week 3
Levels of Curriculum ● 1. Societal Level ● 2. Institutional Level ● 3. Instructional Level ● 4. Experiential Level 26 21 March 2014 Week 3
Eisner’s (1965, p. 159) Levels of Curriculum Eisner, E. W. (1965). Levels of Curriculum and Curriculum Research. The Elementary School Journal, 66(3), 155-162. 27 21 March 2014 Week 3
‘Forces on Curricula Design’ ● Educational ● Political ● Social ● Philosophical ● Psychological ● Economic/Technological ● Cognitive Neuroscience 28 21 March 2014 Week 3
THE 21st Century Skills • Digital Literacy (Basic scientific, economic, and technological literacies; Visual and information literacies; multicultural literacy and global awareness) • Inventive Thinking (Adaptability and managing complexity; Self-direction; Curiosity, creativity, risk taking; Higher-order thinking and sound reasoning) • Effective communication (Teaming, collaboration, and interpersonal skills; Personal, social, and civic responsibility; Interactive communication) • High Productivity (Prioritizing, planning, and managing for results; Effective use of real-world tools; Ability to produce relevant, high-quality products) Gina, B., et al., (2002). enGauge 21st Century Skills: Literacy In the Digital Age. USA: NCREL/METIRI Group. 29 21 March 2014 Week 3
Surveys of Enacted Curriculum The intended A neutral content grid The assessed curriculum: curriculum: State content State (and standards— other) What students assessments— should learn tested learning The enacted with cognitive demand The learned 30 curriculum: curriculum: What teachers http://seconline.wceruw.org/secWebHome.htm teach Week 3 Student outcomes based 21 March 2014 on school learning
The INTENDED Curriculum 31 The ENACTED Curriculum 21 March 2014 The LEARNED Curriculum The ASSESSED Curriculum ??? Week 3
The HTTThhhIeeeDIELNNEDTAAEERCNNTNDEEEDDDCCCCuuuurrrrrririccircuuuilluuclummmulum The ASSESSED Curriculum ??? 32 21 March 2014 Week 3
The CURRICULUM is NOT the SYLLABUS 33 21 March 2014 Week 3
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Curricula, Knowledge & Concepts 35 21 March 2014 Week 3
Three Models of Curricula Development ● Technical models (fixed or flexible) ● Descriptive models (deliberation) ● Backward design models (assessment first) 36 21 March 2014 Week 3
Technical Models ●Objectives Model Considered as the most common model for curriculum development. Developed by Tyler in 1949. ● Stating objectives ● Selecting learning experiences ● Organising learning experiences ● Evaluation (or assessment) 37 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Strengths of the Objectives Model ● Provides a clear direction for the remainder of the curriculum development process (by setting up the objectives as the essential first step). ● The model provides a blueprint or set of procedures to simplify the process. ● Applicable to all learning areas ● The sequence of curriculum elements has logic. 38 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Weaknesses of the Objectives Model ● Curriculum development in process is rarely fixed or linear process ● It does not explain where the objectives come from ● The structure of knowledge is such that it cannot be expressed in terms of pre-specified performance. The outcomes of teaching are not predictable, and may well be too complex for educational objectives to cover. ● By focusing on specific objectives, the model may constrain what students can learn, and limit the expression and creativity ● The model overemphasiser measurable objectives ● Planning of objectives treats ends (objectives) and means (content and method) separately, and the fixed steps ignore the interrelationship of the four elements in curriculum planning. 39 21 March 2014 Week 3
●Interaction Model Initially presented by Taba (1962). Curriculum development is seen as a dynamic process that can begin with any curriculum element and follow any sequence among them. 40 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Strengths of the Interaction Model ● The model may be a truer reflection of the reality of curriculum development ● The option of following any sequence among the curriculum elements is more ‘psychologically’ efficient; that is, it is how people actually do things ● The model allows the developer to move to and fro among the curriculum elements. 41 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Weaknesses of the Interaction Model ● It does not necessarily specify objectives/outcomes as the starting point. ● It is not systematic in that there is no clear sequence. 42 21 March 2014 Week 3
Descriptive Models These models are sometimes considered to be naturalistic models to portray how curriculum planning actually occurs (Walker, 1971). ● Walker’s Naturalistic Model ● Consists of three-step sequence: platform – deliberation – design ● Platform – shared principles that evolve through the discussion of the participants. May comprise ‘conceptions’, ‘aims’, ‘images’, and procedures’ 43 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Deliberation – involves interaction and argument in debating alternative perceptions and alternative solutions. ● Design – the set of abstract relationships embodied in the designed object or the theoretically significant output of the curriculum development process. 44 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Kennedy’s Model ● Has four phases of the curriculum development process – Prenotional (experiential learning), Notional (deliberative decision making), Production (Political decision making), Post-production (Planning to maximise the use of production). 45 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Reynold’s Model ● It is more of a framework of interrelating factors than a sequence of steps. ● Any understanding of syllabus development should involve the environment (political, economic, social, and cultural factors operating, and the prevailing educational ideology) in which it was developed, the processes (power struggles between various groups of stakeholders and the administrative structures involved) involved in syllabus development, the individuals (impact of particular people in the curriculum process), and the actual text (‘story’ revealed in deconstructing the syllabus document) which is produced. 46 21 March 2014 Week 3
● Schwab’s Practical Design ● Dewey’s Progressive Design - movement from ‘the psychological’ to ‘the ‘logical’. ● Berman’s Process Design – the curriculum is designed around important life processes (perceiving, communicating, loving, knowing, decision making, patterning, creating, and valuing), which correlated with traditional subject areas. ● Egan’s Story Design – the great natural human interest in stories should be tapped in the process of teaching and learning. ● Apple’s Critical Design 47 21 March 2014 Week 3
●Backward Design Model [Understanding by Design] ● Assessment and expected learning experiences to guide content and process. ● Course aims developed from ‘expected’ enacted curricula (normally based on student assessment and evaluation). 48 21 March 2014 Week 3
A Model of Curriculum The different aspects of school life are illustrated in this model of the school curriculum. All the elements in this curriculum model affect the educational experiences of young people in schools. 49 21 March 2014 Week 3
The Curriculum Experience If the curriculum is defined as 'the sum of all the formal and informal teaching and learning experiences provided by a school', then education for a sustainable future cannot just be added to the curriculum as a new subject. Rather, it is a dimension to be emphasized in every aspect of school life. Whether the curriculum actually achieves this goal or not will be affected by many issues. While these often extend beyond the responsibilities of a single school or teacher, there are many things that schools and teachers can do. 50 21 March 2014 Week 3
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