NATIONAL CURRICULUM DESIGN

Dr. Cynthia CrumpFrom Theory To Practice

The philosophy of the Department of Education

WHAT ARE THE GUIDING TENETS?

Tyler’s model – focus questionsWhat educational purposes should the

[school curriculum] seek to attain?What educational experiences can be

provided?How can these educational

experiences be effectively organized? How can we determine whether these

purposes are attained?

Design

Proposed organization of the curriculum, guided by instructions – influenced by the hope to solve a problem; meet a need; attend to an issue;

Depends on the purpose of the organizationTranslating the needs into a course …

The planned curriculum design will attempt to provide the learning experiences necessary to achieve the goals and objectives, and honor the philosophy of the Department of Education.

The main aim is to ensure a high degree of alignment between the planned, taught, and experienced curriculum, ultimately improving students’ achievement, motivation, interests and dispositions

Alignment: Analysing The learners’ Experience

• Presented • Planned• Explicit

FORMAL

• Values • expectatio

ns

HIDDEN • Actual learning

EXPERIENCED

Design •-

subjects; disciplines

Academic

•- performance tasks; processes

Technical

•– problem solving

Intellectual

•– real world situations; projects

Social

•learner-centered; needs and interests

Individual

http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/content/curriclum/cu3lk12.htm

QUESTIONS For ConsiderationWHAT ORDER?

HOW MUCH?

WHICH/WHAT?

SEQENCE

SCOPE

BALANCE

WIDTH/BREADTH

RELEVANCE

COHERENCE

CONSISTENCY

Content & Methods Each subject area has:

a stated rationale to show its importance in the national curriculum and the competencies students will achieve after exposure to the courses of study (National Curriculum Policy Framework).

standards, goals and learning outcomes to guide the development of specific objectives and the content.

Other resource materials in addition to text books and curriculums from other islands and countries.

Tyler, Taba, The backward design approach posited by Wiggins and McTigue (2006) could guide the development of units in identifying objectives, planning learning experiences/strategies instruction assessment

Topics, concept mapping, writing appropriate specific objectives to match standards and learning outcomes

Content & MethodsINTRODUCTORY SECTION

END SECTIONthe purpose or rationale, guidelines, resources, themes, and strands

a glossary of important terms,

sample lesson plans, important links, and RubricsA curriculum evaluation

form

UnitsThe units could will comprise the following

components:Focus questionsUnit title and themeDuration of unitAttainment targets / Learning outcomes /General

objectivesSpecific objectivesKey conceptsSuggested activities – teacher and studentsAssessment

Experiential LearningExperiential philosophy would result in a

“plan for deciding upon subject-matter, upon methods of instruction and discipline, and upon material, equipment and social organization…” (Dewey, 1997, p. 28).

Do

ReflectApply

Experiential Learning Model

1EXPERIENCE

the activity;perform, do it

2SHAREthe results,

reactions, and observations

publicly

3PROCESSby discussing, locking at the experience;

analyze, reflect

4GENERALIZE

to connect theexperience to

real worldexamples

5APPLY

what was learnedto a similar or

different situation;practice

Source: Jamison (2006).

Experiential learning is one philosophical perspective that forms the foundation of the national curriculum.

Rogers

AssessmentAssessment could will include:traditional and performance-based

assessment:research projects, science process skills, communicative skills, citizenship skills, problem solving skills, service learning skills, and life skills.

The Way ForwardDraft National curriculum frameworkCurriculum Review /development guided by goals, vision,

mission, principles, learning targets, learning outcomes Curriculum core group

Varied Stakeholders prepare draft Review / develop / adjusting

Core group edits Stakeholder group further review Share with principals Invite ALL grade level teachers to have input for further

adjustments Wide scale Professional Development Training (PDT) Pilot implementation (HOW)

Revise

Implementation [include continuous school-based PDT]

ImplementationPutting into practice the officially prescribed

courses of study, syllabuses and subjectsHelping the learner acquire knowledge or

experienceContinuous Professional Development

What factors influence?How do we deal with the factors ?

Implementationinvolves delivering, monitoring, and evaluating,

and adjusting the curriculum while stakeholders find out what is going on in the classrooms.

The processes delivery of the materials, staff or professional development, and Support and management strategies.

Monitoring Plan [who what when]Monitoring, mentoring, and coaching (on-

site) will heighten the effectiveness of the planning and course delivery and advise adjustments/changes to the curriculums

Major tools: The evaluation form observation schedules / appraisal forms

Day in a School (Dias) Monitoring and Support Program

Any other suggestions ?

Evaluation Process of

describing and judging an educational program or subject;

Comparing a student’s performance with behaviourally stated objectives;

Defining, obtaining and using relevant information for decision-making process

INTERNAL and EXTERNAL

Evaluation and Review

Review is closely linked to the implementation and will support further adjustments and improvements.

The formative and summative evaluation should ensure quality data to find out to what extent we are accomplishing the intended outcomes, and if we can make it better.

Data for review will be a result of test scores, research, (survey, case study, experiment) results, focus group exchange and textbook evaluations

Which Model? Tyler

CIPP

Scriven

Format for curriculum evaluation

Four main questions

Context, Input,

Process, Product

Formative &

Summative

Textbooks and Technologyintegral support materials for the

curriculums. Important considerations

Stakeholder complaints related to appropriateness, user friendliness, match with standards, and durability

TextbooksDaniels (2006) encouraged curriculum planners

to view complaints as possible tools for improvement.

More appropriate texts to complement the curriculums and more adequately meet the needs including the reading level of the students are important at this time (Hubizs, 2003). the curriculum team will continue to work closely

with educators and agents of publishing companies

curriculum development process

Planning /designing

Writing / Development

Implementation

Evaluation and Review

foundations

learner characteristics

needs

stakeholders teams

modules

outcomes

resources

challenges

teaching

assessment

learning

training

monitoring

formativ

e

Evaluation strategy

summativ

e

review

report

revise

units

objectives

Tyler

Professional

dev

adjust

impro

ve

modules

References

Gredler, M. (2004). Learning and instruction: Theory into practice. (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Daniels, S. (2006). Oklahoma School district goes over the top. Quality Progress, 39(5), 51-59.

Dewey, J. (1997). Experience and education. (1st ed.). New York: Touchstone. (Original work published in 1938).

El Sawi, G. (1996). Curriculum development guide. Population Education for Non-Formal Education Programs of Out-of-School Rural Youth. Retrieved February 02, 2010, from http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ah650e/ah650e00.HTM

Hubisz, J. (2003). Middle School texts don’t make the grade. Retrieved February 28, 2010, from http://www.science-house.org/middleschool/whatsnew/PT-Hubisz05031.pdf

Jamison, K. (2002). Experiential learning model. Adapted from National 4-H curriculum Handbook, 1992. Retrieved on February 20, 2010 from http://njaes.rutgers.edu/learnbydoing/ExperLrngInservice2002.ppt

Meyer, M. H., & Bushney, M. J. (2009). Towards a multi-stakeholder-driven model for excellence in higher education curriculum development. SAJHE 22(6), 1229-1240.

National Curriculum Policy Framework (2009). Curriculum Development Unit. Ministry of Education, Antigua & Barbuda.

Wiggins, G., & McTigue, J. (2006). Understanding by design. (2nd ed.). New Jersey, Pearson.