UNDERLYING ELEMENTS INVOLVED IN DESIGNING A

CURRICULUM

By: Florie May S. Gonzaga

Curriculum DesignRefers to the structure of arrangement of the components or elements of a curriculum.

Giles (1942) identified four basic curricular parts of elements:• Objectives• Content• Method and Organization• Evaluation

The arrangement and emphasis of the elements reflect the theoretical orientation of the curriculum developer. Technical-scientific approaches put a lot of emphasis on well formulated objectives as bases for the selection and organization of content and evaluation of learning that is taking place.

SELECTION OF THE OBJECTIVES

The selection of objectives under a technical-scientific orientation is based on the desired outcomes of the teaching learning process:

• Development of knowledge• Skills • Values• Attitudes• Habits

The current structure evident in many curricula demonstrates how

these outcomes

1. Relate to content2. Provide the basis for its arrangement, and3. Guide the selection of suitable evaluation

procedures

The framework in your hand outs shows that through appropriate activities or learning experiences, it is possible to select suitable subject matter for the development of concrete and abstract concepts (knowledge), psychomotor, and cognitive skills, and values and attitudes. Curricula that do not provide opportunities for learning in these different domains lack balance and constrain the teaching-learning process.

The curriculum structure in your hand outs suggests the type of evaluation that will measure the learners’ understanding and application of concepts, skills, attitudes, values and habits.

THE ROLE OF PHILOSOPHY IN DETERMINING OBJECTIVES

• Aims: Ornstein and Hunkins (1988) consider the term “aims” as orientations, not specific quantifiable outcomes that suggest endpoints.

• Doll (1986) argues that educational aims should address the intellectual or cognitive, the social-personal or affective, and the productive, Aims that deal with the intelletual focus on the acquisition and comprehension of knowledge, problem-solving skils and various levels and methods of thingking. Aims that pertain to the social-personal are concerned with person-to-society, person-to-person, and person-to-self interactions. Aims relating to productivity refers to aspects of education that allow individual to function in the home,on the job, and as a citizen and member of a larger society.

Goals: are specific statements written to be used as guidelines for achieving particular purposes (Ornstein and Hunkins,1988)

Goals derived from aims.

They provide teachers and curriculum descision-makers with broad statements regarding what should be accomplished in terms of student learning as a result of a particular subject or educational program.

Objectives: Taba (1962) considered two types of objectives1. Describe school-wide outcomes

2. Describe behaviors to be attained through vatoius levels of the curriculum (lesson, subject, unit, program.

Zias (1976) classifies the school-wide objectives as curriculum goals and the more specific objectives as curriculum objectives.

The latter are reffered to be Baker and Popham (1973) as instructional objectives and by Mage (1970) as performance objectives.

EDUCATIONAL PHILOSOPHYOrnstein and Hunkins (1988) have described four agreed-upon philosophies of education1. Perennialism• Draws heavily from the principles of realism; essentialism from

idealism and realism; progressivism and reconstructionalism from pragmatism.

• Related educational philosophy to progressivism is reconstructionalism.

• Reconstructionalists accept many aspects of progressive philosophy such as learner-centered, relevant and humanistic education

• More emphasis on the holistic, transcendental,linguistic and artistic aspects of the teaching-learning process.

• PerennialistView education as the transmission of the unchanging knowledge of the universe

2. EssentialismEssentialist• Education as a mastery of essential skills ( such as 3

Rs-reading, ‘riting and ‘rithmetic)

3. ProgressivismProgressivist• Are also called humanists who view education as

human development that starts from the needs and interests of the learners.

4. ReconstructionismReconstructionists• Criticize the over-emphasis of the progressivist on

child-centered education that mainly serves the individual child.

Aims, Goals and Objectives of Different Educational Philosophy

Philosophy Aim Goal Objectives

Perennialism Cultivate the intellect

Transmit unchanging knowledge

Demonstrate knowledge gained

Essentialism Educate the competent person

Master essential skills and knowledge

Demonstrate Knowledge and skills gained

Humanism/ Progressivism

Develop the human potential

Promote self-actualization

Apply problem solving in daily life

Reconceptualism Develop total personality

Promote self-knowledge

Allow self expression

Reconstructionalism

Improve society Develop skills and knowledge needed for change

Apply knowledge and skills to change society

PHILISOPHY OF EDUCATION IN THE PHILIPPINE SETTING

• Gonzales (1993) a philosophy of education encompasses many dimensions. • It constitutes underlying assumptions about the nature of

human beings, their beliefs, values and behavioural patterns that are dictated by cultural considerations.

• Includes ways of learnings as well as the contents of learning.• Overarching framework that encompasses the participation of

different institutions such as family, school, society, and church in the learning process.

• Each agencies assumes a specific responsibility to help individuals grow and develop intellectually, emotionally, socially and spiritually.

• Gonzales considered three important, complementary and time-bound approaches or hermeneutics in cotextualizing a philosophy of education in the Philippine setting:

1. Hermeneutics of retrieval that pertains to the past

2. Hermeneutics of the actual that focuses on the present, and

3. Hermeneutics of the potential which concerns the future

Hermeneutics of Retrieval (Past)• Focuses on the beliefs, value system, norms and behaviour of

Filipinos before the coming of the Spaniards and the Americans.

• It may be culled from the lifestyle and deeds of the epic heroes, practical wisdom imbibed from the oral literature of riddles and sayings, and ethical behaviour according to the model set by our ancestors.

• Education is primarily handing down of traditions, beliefs, values, customs and behavioural patterns through oral means and immersion.

• Little science and technology except perhaps for folk medicine, folk botany and indigenous technology in agriculture and in the construction of houses.

• The inclusion of folk literature in communication arts indicate a way of looking back at the past.

Hermeneutics of the Actual (Present)

• Group of people of many ethnic affiliations and subcultures• Product of history of Indian, Malay, Chinese, Arabic, Hispanic

and American Influence.• Blending of Heritage is obvious in all dimensions of Philippine

life.• Mixed world-view and a belief system with conflicting

ideologies that lack integration• Languages are rhetoric, the real value systems and beliefs of

the people are still those of rural Malays inspired by animism and traditional Christianity.

• Philosophy of education based on the actual would enable educators to determine in a realistic way the desirable constants and change components of education.

• The goal is to develop curriculum that can promote a balance

between the desirable constant elements and the necessary change elements.

• Various sectors of Philippine society hold conflicting ideologies. Frequently, the divergence in opinions and lack of resolution and integration of conflicting views among scholars create disagreement on the philosophy of education in the Philippine context. To a large extent, the dissension contributes to the inability of Filipinos to crystalize a philosophy of education. This condition contributes to the failure of many curriculum workers to formulate a curriculum design that can satisfy the expectations of certain sectors of society.

Juanita Guerrero’s comments in 1989. She laminated the failure of PRODED to meet some of the targets due to a certain constraints related to the culture of the people.

• Cultural practices in certain communities;• Geographical features of the place such as the hilly or

mountainous areas of the tribes;• The habits and habitat of some tribes such as the seafaring

clients in the South, or the nomadic tribes;• The homeless children in the urban areas;• The hungry and malnourished children in the hinterlands; and• The special children who are either handicapped or gifted.• All these problems pointed to the failure of curriculum

developers to consider certain realities rooted in the past during the planning process.

Hermeneutics of the Potential (Future)

• It is necessary to align the purposes of education towards the liberation of the masses from poverty and powerlessness. The thrust is on the training of young person’s for entrepreneurship and the creation of more wealth.

• The aim is to ensure the equitable distribution of wealth to allow the Filipinos to live in dignity with integrity. The basis of action is an ethics of achievement based on justice.

• The curriculum puts emphasis on pure sciences and technology for those who are so inclined but also provides opportunities for the development of useful technical/vocational skills to prepare others for the world of work.

• Allows the formulation of the philosophy of education that defines the ideal. But the ideal has to consider the existing realities and their underlying causes. If the existing realities are not brought to bear in defining the desiderata, the resulting philosophy in the future becomes unrealistic. • The current basic education curricula suggest a philosophy

of education for the future, to some extent, however, because of the conflicting ideologies that remain unresolved, it is not clear how the purposes of education can be adequately aligned to the liberation of the masses from poverty and powerlessness.

Philippines 2000

Focuses on two (2) linchpin goals:1. People’s empowerment 2. Global competitiveness

• People’s empowermentIncrease of access to and improvement of the quality of basic education with emphasis on public elementary education. To realize this objective, there would be financial support to the intellectually promising but economically disadvantaged Filipino youth.

• Global competitivenessThe consequence of proper training of the labor force especially in areas where the Filipinos have a built-in comparative advantage: this condition originates from the inherent talents, capabilities and English language proficiency of the Filipinos.•