Curriculum development is dynamic and continuous process
involving four stages or phases.
1. Curriculum construction.
2. Implementation of Curriculum
developed
3. Evaluation
4. Improvement
I. Tasks involved in the first phase of
curriculum development process (Curriculum Construction):
ü
Formulating
the goals and objectives of the curriculum.
ü
Selecting
relevant learning experiences that are to be provided for the attainment of
selected objectives.
ü
Selecting
suitable subject contents in relation to the learning experiences to be
provided.
ü
Organizing
and integrating the learning experiences and subject contents to form the
curriculum design.
ª Formulation of objectives:
The curriculum planner begins his work by formulating the
curriculum goals. Aims serve as milestones to reach the goals. Aims are derived
from the three sources.
§ Subject matter
§ Needs of the learner
§ Needs of this society
After finalizing the aims, they are to be filtered through
two screens.
§ Philosophy of the institution.
§ Psychological factors determine
learning
After refining the general objectives, specific instructional
objectives are stated for each topic to be included, in terms of pupil’s
specific behavior.
ª Selection of curriculum content:
Curriculum
content refers to the subject matter or topics prescribed for the instructional
program of a particular course, from which knowledge skills, attitudes and
values are derived.
The criteria for content selection are Self -sufficiency, Significance,
Validity, Utility, Kindling interest, Practicability or Feasibility, Learnability,
Orientation to democratic values.
ª Selection of relevant learning experiences:
Depending upon the goals and objectives of Education, the
nature and types of learning experiences vary. Based on the nature of subject
contents, appropriate learning experiences are. to be selected carefully.
Ex: For each topic in the subject curriculum – Practical work
that are to be undertaken appropriate curricular activities like project work,
field study discussion, assignments, seminar, brainstorming sessions, debate,
etc, are to be selected.
ª Organizing and integrating curricular
components:
The components of curriculum – aims, goals and objectives,
selected subject contents, learning experiences and evaluation procedures are
organized into a coherent, meaningful plan, and it is termed as ‘Curriculum
design’.
Designing a curriculum takes into account horizontal and
vertical organization.
Vertical organization refers to the longitudinal arrangement
of curriculum content as reflected in the presence of sequence, continuity and
vertical articulation in the curriculum.
Horizontal organization refers to the arrangement of content,
skills and processes from viewpoints of scope and horizontal integration.
The six dimensions of curriculum – scope, sequence,
continuity, integration, articulation and balance are to be taken care of while
organizing the subject contents and learning activities.
II. Tasks involved in the second phase of
curriculum development process (Implementation of Curriculum):
Implementation of curriculum is done at two levels
I.
Institution
wise
II.
In
the class and in three modes – Individual instruction, Group teaching and
Distance learning mode.
In the classroom when curriculum is translated into learning
experiences for pupils, it is called teaching. Teaching is a well-planned task
to achieve the predetermined objectives expressed in terms of expected changes
in pupil’s behavior.
III.
Tasks involved in the third phase of curriculum development process (Curriculum
Evaluation):
The process used to define and determine the quality of
curriculum being constructed is known as ‘Curriculum Evaluation’.
Four basic elements of curriculum evaluation are – Context,
Input, Process Product.
Two types of curriculum evaluation are – Program evaluation,
Material evaluation.
Whatever may be the type of evaluation, the process of
curriculum evaluation has two stages – Developing the evaluation plan,
Implementing the evaluation plan.
The curriculum evaluation plans consist of 5 broad aspects –
ü Rationale
ü Objectives of evaluation study
ü Curriculum description
ü Evaluation design
ü Description of evaluation report
Curriculum evaluation helps to improve the course content,
tone up the instructional process, and ensure the quality of instructional
materials.
IV.
Tasks involved in the fourth phase of curriculum development process (Improvement
of the curriculum):
The process of effective
curriculum change consists of four important stages-
ü Perceiving the need for change
ü Planning for the change
ü Initiation, implementation and evaluation
ü Arranging for institutionalized
monitoring for ensuring the implementation of change in all educational
execution.
Economic pressure, Knowledge explosion, social change,
influence of research findings, new inventions and discoveries in science and
technology, are the most important factors which necessitate changes in the
curriculum now and then.
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