Unit 3: Curriculum development

3.1 Meaning of curriculum development

Curriculum development refers to the process of creating educational programs and materials that
align with today’s updated educational standards and incorporate subjects or skills that are relevant
today and for the future. It involves researching and selecting appropriate content, designing
courses and instruction manuals, evaluating the information, and making updates or changes
wherever necessary. The goal is to ensure that students get a comprehensive learning experience
that meets their needs and prepares them for the future.

3.2 Factors influencing curriculum development

Curriculum development is influenced by a multitude of factors. They are classified as internal

and external. Internal factors include knowledge, the learner, and the teacher. External factors
include philosophical, psychological, social, political, economic, educational, psychology of
learning, technological and gender factors, etc.

3.2.1 Internal factors

Knowledge

Here knowledge refers to the content or subject matter of the curriculum. How the curriculum is
organized in terms of content, teaching and learning resources, assessment techniques and methods
of instruction all hinges on the kind of content of that particular curriculum. For instance, how a
mathematics curriculum is organized is different from how a social studies or geography
curriculum is organized.

Again, changes in knowledge automatically triggers changes in the curriculum or portions of the
curriculum. For instance, changes in international accounting standards will affect the content of
the accounting curriculum in school. Also, the discovery of new knowledge, such as the discovery
that Pluto is not a planet means that the physical geography curriculum would have to be changed
to reflect such new discovers.

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The rapid rate at which knowledge increases, technology develops, and vocational requirements
become sophisticated, etc. leads to new approaches and demands regarding learning content and
necessitates constant revision of curriculum.

The learner

The learner is also important in curriculum development. The nature of the learner, his/her learning
process and the conditions that facilitate learning are taken into consideration before taking a
worthwhile curriculum decision. Teaching and learning process cannot be well organized without
the knowledge of the learner’s age level, and relevant knowledge of his/her development. For
instance, the content of the geography curriculum at the secondary school level is different from
the content of the geography curriculum at the university level because the characteristics of
learners in these two different levels of education are not the same. The aptitude, attitude, age, and
other important characteristics of the learner need to be factored into curriculum development
because at the end of the day, it is because of learners the curriculum is developed and it must be
tailored to their needs. So, the learner or target group of the curriculum, must be considered in
developing the curriculum.

The teacher

The teacher is important in ensuring that the curriculum is effectively implemented. Teachers are
responsible for mobilizing appropriate teaching and learning resources and also planning good
teaching strategies. It is necessary to consult the teacher in curriculum design because he/she
knows the situation and the dynamics in the school environment and his/her inputs cannot be
underestimated. Again, the attitude, aptitude, experience, qualification, and other important
characteristics of the teacher influence curriculum development and implementation at the
classroom level.

The availability of teaching personnel must also be considered when developing the curriculum.
In many countries, availability of a sufficient number of adequate teachers is a problem which
affects curriculum development. There is no sense in planning an ideal curriculum if there is
insufficient manpower to implement and interpret it correctively and meaningfully.

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 3.2.2 External factors
Philosophical factors

Philosophy is considered as one of the major foundation areas in curriculum.

Studying philosophy helps us deal with our own personal systems of beliefs and values the way
we perceive the world around us and how we define what is important to us. Hence, a study of the
philosophy of education in terms of curriculum development is essential. Educational
philosophies influence, and to a large extent determine, our educational decisions and alternatives.
Those who are responsible for curricular decisions, therefore, should be clear about what they
believe. If we are unclear or confused about our own beliefs, then our curricular plans are bound
to be unclear and confusing (Refer to unit 2 philosophical foundations for more details).
Psychological factors

Psychology contributes to curriculum development by providing teachers with information

concerning the nature of students, the nature of the process involved in learning, the motivation,
personality and individual differences of students, the value of teaching methods and teaching
effectiveness (Refer to unit 2 psychological foundations for more details).

Social factors

The needs of society play an important role in development of the curriculum, like putting
emphasis on a technical based curriculum for the development of an industrialized society. Society
has its own expectations about the aims and objectives that should be considered when designing
the curriculum. It also has a perception of what the product of the school system should look like.
It is therefore necessary for curriculum designers to take in to account these societal considerations.

Developments take place constantly in social and cultural spheres and education functions with a
mandate from society. Thus, organized education has an obligation to react to these social
developments in a planned, structured, and justified manner.

Education takes place among people living together in a particular society. Each society sees itself
to distinct from other societies. Therefore, in planning a school curriculum for a particular society,

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it is very necessary to consider the needs, aspirations, and problems of the society in question in
order to come out with a functional curriculum. Explaining why children from some social and
economic groups tend to perform better than others do in school, hinges on a number of factors
which are usually as a result of the uniqueness of every society. Every society has its own peculiar
needs which it expects the school to address. It therefore behooves on the curriculum developers
to study the needs of the society in question. An understanding of the people is a very critical factor
because failure to do this could threaten the success of the educational programme. (Refer to unit
2 sociological foundations of curriculum for more details).

Political factors

Politics affect curriculum development in numerous ways. Education is regarded as a political

activity. Political influence on curriculum development starts with funding. Funding of education
is greatly influenced by politics. Public educational institutions rely on government funding for
hiring personnel, building, and maintaining facilities and equipment. Politics determine and define
the goals, content, learning experiences and evaluation strategies in education and approve
examinations systems. Curricular materials and their interpretation are usually heavily influenced
by political considerations. Political decisions may change the requirements for curriculum
development. Government policy, national ideology and philosophy influence a school curriculum.
For instance, the governments need to promote nationalism, patriotism, and ideologies, the
government set educational policies and directives about the medium of instruction, the nature of
the syllabus and the kind of textbook, etc. Knowledge of the formal organization of schools and
how they are governed is important to curriculum planners.

Governments influence school curricula through both legislative acts and administrative policies
as well as through curriculum experts. For instance, we have in Rwanda the Government’
legislation and policies on the provision of Free Compulsory Basic Education, on the provision of
vocational education; girls’ education policy, ICT policy in education, etc. All these are provisions,
which must be strictly adhered to when planning a school curriculum. There are times that
government policy makes it mandatory for the inclusion of certain programmes in the school
curriculum. Such policy would require that educational programmes be redesigned, new teachers

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trained, and facilities put in place to enhance effective implementation. Therefore, political
considerations need to be admitted while developing curriculum.

Economic factors

Education is financed by governments to improve the country’s economy. Therefore, the national
curriculum should concern itself with the requirements of the economy. How the economy of the
country affects the curriculum? Learners will need to be employed. The skills needed by industry
should be translated into the content and learning experiences of these children. Nations’ financing
education expect an economic return from educated students contributing to the country's economy
with global competition abilities in technical fields.

Financial priorities and constraints influence the development of a school curriculum. This is
because the processes involved in curriculum, such as conducting needs assessment or situation
analysis, planning implementation and evaluation, as well as making provision for requirements
for successful operation of the curriculum, require a substantial financial commitment. The top
school problems are related to finance (lack of financial resources, overcrowded facilities,
increased food, and material prices, etc.). They explained that because most school-related costs
have increased more rapidly in recent years, the business of schooling in many countries are in
deep financial trouble.

As a result of financial problems in the area of education, the gap between the official curriculum
and the actual curriculum is very wide. The ideal conditions spell out in the curriculum are never
fully realized because of insufficient subject teachers; equipment and physical infrastructure of the
school such as classrooms and workshops to ensure the successful implementation of the
curriculum. Due to financial constraints, schools lose good teachers and other personnel to places
offering better remuneration.

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Educational factors
In order to bring about effective learning, modern and efficient methods of education should be
used and for this, trained and skilled teachers are needed. We also need to keep co-curricular
activities like sports, drama, debates, excursions, etc. as an integral part of the curriculum.

Technological factors

The influence of technological progress is observed in each sphere of life, and when the time for
curriculum development comes, the technology plays an important role. Curriculum developers
cannot ignore this technological progress and the influence it presents. Technological innovations
may be applied to curriculum development in several ways “as a plan for the systematic use of
various devices and media” and as the issue that “is found in models and procedures for the
construction or development and evaluation of curriculum materials and instructional systems”.

Technology driven curriculum development is the norm of the 21st century. The computer
technology of the 21st century influences curriculum development at every level of learning.
Learning centers and classrooms increasingly provide computers as requisite interaction for studies
among students. Technological multimedia use influences educational goals and learning
experiences among students. For instance, undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer
technology increases in popularity; social diversity including religion, culture and social groupings
affects curriculum development because these characteristics influence the types of topics and
methods for teaching information. The computer is one of the latest technological innovations that
will have a significant impact on education and society. If you are not computer literate, you may
feel that you are not up to date.

Environmental factors
Environment issues affect curriculum development. Over time, human beings’ activities have
negatively affected the environment. It is through education that remediation can be affected.
World awareness and action toward reversing and ending pollution continues affecting curriculum
development. Typical elementary classrooms teach recycling and healthy environmental practices.
For examples, higher education in the sciences offer environmentally focused degrees like
environmental and bio-technology degrees, etc.

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Psychology of learning
Curriculum planners are greatly influenced by the psychology of learning. It is a very important
factor because issues regarding differences among learners, in terms of age, sex, social and
economic background, cognitive development, child development and other factors are well
understood when the principles underlying such differences are brought in explaining human
behaviour. Psychology is a science which tries to know how we perceive, learn, remember,
imagine, and think. It describes and often formulates certain principles of learning, theories of
learning which are worthy of consideration in directing and fostering the programmes of school
education. Understanding some basic psychological issues is very important when developing
curriculum because it helps to tailor the curriculum to the developmental needs of learners.
Theories of learning and child development have to be considered when designing the content of
the curriculum and how it is delivered. Learning can be maximized by ensuring that activities and
experiences are introduced at the most ‘teachable’ moment.

3.3 Principles of curriculum development

The principles of the curriculum are norms, values, moralities, and philosophies that will benefit
teachers, students, and the whole education system. The following are a few of the basic principles
of curriculum development: Totality of experiences, child-centeredness, conservation and
creativity, integration, flexibility, utility, character formation, mental discipline, and social
fulfillment.

1) Principle of totality of experiences

It is imperative to realize that curriculum does not merely indicate academic subjects traditionally
taught in schools and colleges. It also includes the totality of experiences a student gains through
several curricular, extra-curricular and co-curricular activities.

2) Principle of child-centeredness

Instead of sticking to the predetermined curriculum, curriculum designers must consider the child’s
concerns, motives, and needs while developing the curriculum. In addition, while planning any
curricular activities, educators must consider ways to enrich learners’ interests.

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3) Principle of conservation and creativity

While developing a curriculum, it is mandatory to include subjects and experiences that would
help conserve cultural heritage. Furthermore, one of the most essential principles of curriculum
development is that the curriculum cannot be static. On the contrary, it should be subject to
modification as per the requirement aligned with the changing global educational trends and
students’ needs.

4) Principle of integration

The curriculum should be planned in such a way that varied subjects could be added at different
stages of education. Similarly, the existing subjects should be able to integrate with other subjects
apart from enabling the students to correlate with the content.

5) Principle of flexibility

One of the ideal qualities that a curriculum should have, is flexibility and dynamism, as this will
be instrumental in serving the needs and concerns of individuals and society. Also, timely changes
and appropriate modifications to the curriculum allows educators and learners alike to stay updated
with academic goals.

6) Principle of utility

Curriculum construction should follow the principle of utility, content must be useful to the
individual and society. In addition, the curriculum must consist of rich and valuable content that
would be useful later in life.

7) Principle of character formation

The goal of the curriculum is not just educating learners through bookish knowledge. It should
also encourage the development of character and personality in students. Therefore, the curriculum
must aid in students’ character training throughout the academic years.

8) Principle of mental discipline

A significant task of the curriculum is to foster learners' various mental faculties or powers through
cognitive training and practice.

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9) Principle of social fulfillment

Education aims to provide the overall development of the students. Moreover, the curriculum
should also consider adding the element of social life so that learners could gain insight into
becoming responsible citizens.

3.4 Curriculum design vs curriculum development

Although used interchangeably, curriculum development includes the planning, design,

implementation, and evaluation stages of the curriculum, whereas curriculum design refers to the
layout or organization of the curriculum. Curriculum design refers to how the components of the
curriculum have been arranged in order to facilitate learning. Curriculum design is concerned with
the arrangement of four basic parts of a curriculum:
• Intent (Aims, goals and objectives): what should be done?
• Content: What subject matter should be included?
• Learning experiences: What instructional methods, strategies, resources, and activities
should be employed?
• Evaluation: What methods, and instruments should be used to judge the results of
curriculum?
Curriculum design is one of the phases of curriculum development.

3.4.1 Sources of curriculum design

Curriculum designers must clarify their philosophical, social, and political views of society and
the individual learner’s views commonly called curriculum’s sources.

Ronald Doll describes four foundations of curriculum design: science, society, eternal truths,
and divine will. These sources partially overlap with curriculum sources identified by Dewey and
Bode and popularized by Tyler: knowledge, society, and the learner.

Science as a source

Some see curriculum design as a scientific process, and they focus on quantifying the elements of
the curriculum. The curriculum design contains only observable and quantifiable elements. They
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often focus on problem solving, thinking strategies and elements of cognitive psychology. Problem
solving, thinking strategies have to be prioritized in the curriculum. The design emphasizes
learning how to learn.

Science provides a foundation for curriculum design by providing knowledge about the natural
world. This knowledge can be used to teach students about the physical world, the biological world
and the human body, etc.

Society as a source

Curriculum designers who stress society as a curriculum source believe that school is an agent of
society and should draw its curriculum ideas from analysis of the social situation. Individuals with
this orientation believe heavily in the socialization function of schooling. Schools are part of and
are designed to serve to some extent the interests of their local communities and larger society.
Curriculum designers must consider current and future society at the local, national, and global
levels.

Society provides a foundation for curriculum design by providing knowledge about the social
world. This knowledge can be used to teach students about history, economics, culture, etc.

Moral doctrine as a source

Some curriculum designers look to the past for guidance regarding appropriate content. These
persons emphasize what they view as lasting truths advanced by the great thinkers of the past.
Their designs stress content and rank some subjects as more important than others. Some people
believe that curriculum design should be guided by the Bible or other religious texts. Although this
view was common in the schools of colonial era, it has had little influence in public schools
primarily because of the mandated separation of church and state. However, many private schools
still subscribe to this now, including a growing number of Islamic schools. In this century, public
schools are increasingly considering the relationship between knowledge and people’s spirituality.

Dwayne Huebner argued that education can address spirituality without bringing in religion.
According to James Moffett, spirituality fosters mindfulness, attentiveness, awareness of the
outside world, and self-awareness. Spiritual individuals develop empathy, compassion, and insight.
Spiritual individuals consider and promote the welfare of others. They welcome differing

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viewpoints. Spiritual curriculum designers ask questions about the nature of the world, the purpose
of life, and what it means to be human and knowledgeable. Curriculum should strive to educate
and encourage the emergence of a fully autonomous individual who can connect with fellow
humans in the world community. Educational experiences should foster not just the intellectual
and emotional selves, but also the spiritual and empathic selves.

Knowledge as a source

This is subject centered view in which curriculum designers need to decide what knowledge is
most valuable. Herbert Spencer placed knowledge within the framework of curriculum when he
asked, “What knowledge is of most worth?”

Those who place knowledge at the center of curriculum design realize that knowledge may be a
discipline, having a particular structure and a particular method or methods by which scholars
extend its boundaries.

Knowledge is a source for curriculum design because students need to a broad and deep
understanding of the world. This knowledge can be used to teach students about various subjects
including science, math, history, languages, arts others.

The learner as a source

The student is where the curriculum comes from. This source influences curriculum design by
stressing student-centered learning and activities. Students are not passive objects but active
individuals who participate in their learning. The student interacts with the curriculum. The
curriculum should derive from knowledge of students: how they learn, form attitudes, generate
interests, and develop values. The learner should be the primary source of curriculum design.

3.4.2 Conceptual framework of curriculum design: horizontal and vertical organization

Curriculum design (the organization of curriculum’s components) exists along two basic
organizational dimensions: horizontal and vertical.

Horizontal organization describes the correlation or integration of content taught concurrently.

It is concerned with the concept of scope and integration. That is the side-by-side arrangement of
curriculum elements. Horizontal organization combines, classifies, and categorizes related subject
areas to form a unified content matter. It exposes students to multiple subject areas. For example,

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the subject Social Studies moves horizontally along History, Geography, civics, and culture.
Taking contents in Mathematics and relating these to science is also an example of horizontal
curriculum design. For example, a chemistry class may require students to take Algebra II to
balance molecules.

It means that what is studied in one particular subject in a school is in line with other similar classes
both in terms of content and evaluation. It is about the arrangement of topics, themes or courses
offered at the same point in time (i.e., same grade or year level, or same semester/trimester).

Vertical organization refers to the sequencing of curriculum elements. For example, in social
studies, placing “the family” in first grade and “the community” in second grade is an example of
vertical organization. In science the bigger topic on “living things” comes ahead of topics on
“plants and “animals”

Curricula are organized so that the same topics are addressed in different grades, but in increasing
detail and at increasingly higher levels of difficulty. For instance, the mathematical concept of set
is introduced in first grade and revisited each succeeding year in the elementary curriculum.
Vertical organization may consist of algebra I, algebra II, Geometry, trigonometry, and calculus.

3.4.3 Curriculum design dimension considerations

Curriculum design addresses relationships among curriculum’s components. It should achieve

scope, sequence, continuity, integration, articulation, and balance.

1. Scope

Curriculum designers must consider a curriculum’s breadth and depth of content—that is, its scope.
Curriculum’s scope consists of all the content, topics, learning experiences, and organizing threads
found in the educational plan to engage students in learning. It refers to the curriculum’s horizontal
organization. Scope includes cognitive, psychomotor, and affective learning (and some might add,
spiritual learning).

Sometimes a curriculum’s scope is limited to a simple listing of key topics and activities. A
curriculum’s full scope can extend over a year or more. A curriculum whose scope covers only
months or weeks is usually organized in units. Units are divided into lesson plans, which usually

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organize the information and activities into periods of hours or minutes. When deciding on
curriculum content and its degree of detail, they are considering the curriculum’s scope.

When considering scope, we must determine what will be covered and in what detail within each
domain. We must decide also which domain should be the most emphasized among the cognitive
domain (knowledge) the affective domain (dealing with values and attitudes) and the psychomotor
domain (dealing with motor skills and coordination).

2. Sequence

It is about the order in which the content should be taught for the best learning (building on past
knowledge) throughout the course. Content and experiences build on what came before. It is the
vertical relationship among the elements of the curriculum to provide continuous and cumulative
learning. The content and experiences are arranged in hierarchical manner basing on the logic of
the subject matter or on cognitive, psychomotor, and affective development.

In 1957, Othanel Smith, William Stanley, and Harlan Shores introduced four sequencing
principles: simple-to-complex learning, prerequisite learning, whole-to-part learning, and
chronological learning. These principles still have worth.

1. Simple-to-complex learning: contents and experiences are organized from simple to

complex components, easy (often concrete) to more difficult (often abstract) content.
2. Prerequisite learning: similar to part-to-whole learning. Bits of information must be
grasped before other bits can be comprehended. There are fundamentals things to be
learned ahead.
3. Whole-to-part learning: the curriculum be arranged so that the content or experience is
first presented in an overview that provides students with a general idea of the information
or situation before the specific content or topics.
4. Chronological learning refers to content whose sequence reflects the times of real-world
occurrences. The order of events is made as the basis for sequencing the content and
experiences. History, political science, and world events frequently are organized
chronologically.

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 3. Continuity

Continuity is vertical repetition of curriculum components. There is recurring and continuing

opportunity for skills to be practiced and developed. For instance, reading skills, crucial concepts
and skills, addition, etc. must be experienced repeatedly to be further developed. This means that
over time the same kinds of skills will be brought into continuing operation.

Ideas and skills that educators believe students should develop over time reappear over the length
of the curriculum. The continuity ensures that students revisit crucial concepts and skills. For
instance, becoming a skilled reader requires numerous encounters over time with various types of
reading materials. Similarly, we do not learn how to conduct experiments unless we engage in such
activities at various points in the curriculum; each subsequent experiment provides the opportunity
to become more sophisticated in the processes. For Herbert Simon, we all can become masters of
something if we devote sufficient time and effort.

4. Integration

Integration refers to linking all types of knowledge and experiences contained within the
curriculum plan so that students comprehend knowledge as unified rather than atomized.
Integration emphasizes horizontal relationships among topics and themes from all knowledge
domains. It is the arrangement of content basing on the relatedness of topics, themes, skills, or
processes in two or more subjects in the same grade/year, semester, or trimester. It is integrating
separate subjects that are related.

Curriculum theorists and practitioners who emphasize integration argue for organizing the
curriculum around world themes derived from real-life concerns; lines between the subject content
of different disciplines should be erased. Knowledge cannot be separated from its reality, and the
curriculum cannot exist as separate bits.

5. Articulation

Articulation refers to the vertical and horizontal interrelatedness of various aspects of the
curriculum, that is, to the ways in which curriculum components occurring later in a program’s
sequence relate to those occurring earlier. For instance, a teacher might design an algebra course
so that it relates algebra concepts to key concepts presented in a geometry course. Vertical

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articulation usually refers to the sequencing of content from one grade level to another. Such
articulation ensures that students receive necessary preparation for coursework. Horizontal
articulation (sometimes called correlation) refers to the association among simultaneous elements,
as when curriculum designers develop relationships between eighth-grade social studies and
eighth-grade English.

6. Balance

When designing a curriculum, educators strive to give appropriate weight to each aspect of the
design. In a balanced curriculum, students can acquire and use knowledge in ways that advance
their personal, social, and intellectual goals. Keeping the curriculum balanced requires continuous
fine-tuning as well as balance in our philosophy and psychology of learning.

3.4.4 Types of curriculum designs

Curriculum components can be organized in numerous ways. However, most curriculum designs
are modifications or interpretations of three basic designs:

(1) Subject-centered designs,

(2) Learner-centered designs, and

(3) Problem- centered designs.

Each of these designs is composed of several examples. Subject-centered designs include subject
designs, discipline designs, broad field designs, correlation designs, and process designs. Learner-
centered designs are those identified as child-centered designs, experience-centered designs,
romantic/radical designs, and humanistic designs. Problem-centered designs consider life
situations, core designs, or social problem/reconstructionist designs.

1) Subject-centered designs

Subject-centered designs are the most popular and widely used, the oldest and the most common
curriculum design in the world. Subject-centered designs correspond to textbooks written for
specific subjects and focus on the content of a particular subject matter or discipline. They are
based on the idea that students should learn about the important concepts and ideas in a subject,
regardless of their individual interests or learning styles. These curriculum designs refer to the

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organization of curriculum in terms of separate subjects, e.g., geography, history, biology,
literature, mathematics, or chemistry, etc. Teachers, for instance, are trained and specialized to
teach one or two subjects at the secondary and sometimes the elementary school levels. Subject-
centered curriculum designs describe what needs to be studied and how it should be studied. There
subject-centered designs are subdivided into five categories:

Subject design

The subject design is both the oldest and the best-known subject centered design. It is a separate
subject design. It corresponds to textbook treatment and teachers’ training as subject specialists.
In this design, the curriculum is organized according to how essential knowledge has developed in
various subject areas. With the explosion of knowledge and the resulting specializations in various
knowledge fields, subject divisions have increased in number and sophistication. For instance,
history is now divided into cultural, economic, and geographic history. English can be divided into
literature, writing, speech, reading, linguistics, and grammar.

Such subject design rests on the assumption that subjects are best outlined in textbooks and e-
books, and even in developed computer information programs. In most schools, the curriculum
selected is in reality a textbook or e-book series.

Strengths of subject design

The subject design introduces students to essential knowledge of society. This essential knowledge
of society addresses the big idea of socialization. Teachers are familiar with it; it is easy to deliver
because complementary textbooks and support materials are commercially available.

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Weaknesses of the subject design

The subject design prevents program individualization and deemphasizes the learner. It
disempowers students by not allowing them to choose the content most meaningful to them.
Curricular content is presented without consideration of context. The subject matter fails to foster
social, psychological, and physical development and, to some extent, promotes a scholarly elite.
Learning tends to be compartmentalized and mnemonic skills tend to be stressed. The subject
design stresses content and neglects students’ needs, interests, and experiences. Also, in delivering
such a curriculum, teachers tend to foster student passivity. For Dewey, the curriculum should
emphasize both subject matter and the learner.

Discipline design

The discipline design, which appeared after World War II, evolved from the separate-subject
design. This new design gained popularity during the 1950s and reached its zenith during the mid-
1960s. As is the case with the subject design, the discipline design is based on content’s inherent
organization. It focuses on the academic disciplines.

The school is viewed as a microcosm of the world of intellect. In discipline design, the methods
by which scholars study the content of their fields suggest the ways in which students learn that
content. In other words, students approach history as a historian would, and students investigate
biological topics by following procedures used by biologists.

Proponents of the discipline design stress understanding the conceptual structures and processes
of the disciplines. This is perhaps the essential difference between the discipline design and the
subject design. With the discipline design, students experience the disciplines so that they can
comprehend and conceptualize; with the subject-matter design, students are considered to have
learned if they simply acquire information.

Sometimes, it is difficult to determine whether a classroom has a subject-matter or discipline

design. The key distinguishing characteristic seems to be whether students actually use some of
the discipline’s methods to process information. Stated differently, the subject design emphasizes
“filling” students with knowledge, whereas the discipline design aims to foster student thinkers
who can utilize information to generate knowledge and understandings. Discipline design fosters
teachers teaching for intelligence.

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Supporters of this design want students to function as little scholars in the school curriculum’s
respective fields. When learning mathematics, students are novice mathematicians. When studying
history, they use the methods of historiography. Our society requires literate individuals with the
skills necessary to function in an information age. The curriculum should educate students, not
train them for a job (as vocational education does).

Strengths of the discipline design

The discipline design gives students opportunities to learn knowledge essential for effective living.
Students attain mastery of content and independent learning. It stresses understanding conceptual
structures. The discipline design is appropriate for all students, college or not. Subjects are atught
to any child at any stage.

Weaknesses of the discipline design

Many have criticized the discipline design for assuming that students must adapt to the curriculum
rather than the other way around. Some also argue that the view that curriculum knowledge should
mirror disciplined knowledge sustains the biases and assumptions of those who wish to maintain
the status quo. The discipline design is also criticized for its underlying assumption that all students
have a common or a similar learning style. Perhaps this design’s greatest shortcoming is that it
causes schools to ignore the vast amount of information that cannot be classified as disciplined
knowledge. Such knowledge—dealing with aesthetics, humanism, personal–social living, and
vocational education—is difficult to categorize as a discipline.

Broad-fields design

The broad-fields design (often called the integrated or interdisciplinary design) is another variation
of the subject-centered design. This curriculum design combines two or more separate but related
subjects into one broad field of study. It strove to give students a generalized understanding of all
content areas. It attempted to integrate content that fit together logically. Examples:
• A single broader field of study Geography, economics, political science, anthropology,
sociology, and history were fused into social studies.
• Linguistics, grammar, literature, composition, and spelling reading, writing, grammar,
speech, drama, and international languages were collapsed into language arts.

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 • General science: includes physics, chemistry, geology, astronomy, physical geography,
zoology, botany, biology, and physiology.

Advantages of broad field curriculum design

• The design brings about unification and integration of knowledge. It brings together well
accepted content fields.
• It consists of related conceptual clusters combined in interdisciplinary organization rather
than subjects or disciplines.
• It integrates separate subjects into a single course; this enables learners to see the
relationships among various elements in the curriculum.
• It focuses on curriculum “web”, the connection between related themes or concepts.
• It saves time in the school schedule.
• It is a holistic curriculum.

Disadvantages of broad field curriculum design

• It lacks depth and cultivates superficiality. A year of social studies teaches students a greater
range of social science concepts than a year of history. The resulting knowledge of social
sciences is certainly superficial, a year of history builds more historical knowledge than a
year of social studies.

• However, looking at the trend of events in curriculum practice in many states and countries,
this may not have materialized effectively. The main reason is that teachers are usually
trained in two subjects at the university level, thus making it difficult for them to integrate
more areas than that. For instance, general science might require physics, chemistry,
biology, and geology, but science teachers may have only studied two of these areas in
depth.
• It provides only bits and pieces of information from a variety of subjects.
• It does not account for the psychological organization by which learning takes place.

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Correlation design

Midway between separate subjects and total content integration, the correlation design attempts to
identify ways in which subjects can be related yet maintain their separate identities. Connection
or linkage of separate subjects that differ each other to avoid fragmentation of curricular content.
Perhaps the most frequently correlated subjects are English literature and history at the secondary
level and language arts and social studies at the elementary level. While studying a historical
period, students read novels related to the same period in their English class. Science and
mathematics courses are also frequently correlated. Students in a chemistry course may have a unit
in math that deals with the mathematics required to conduct an experiment. However, the content
areas remain distinct, and the teachers of these courses retain their subject-matter specialties.

Strengths of correlation design

It required that classes be scheduled within a block of time. Teachers of the various content areas
to be correlated could then work together and have students work on assignments drawing from
the correlated content areas. Subjects can be combined in innovative ways. For example, it is
possible to relate literature and art that depict similar content. Science can be taught through
literature. Courses in computer science might be correlated with courses in art, music, or
economics.

Weaknesses of correlation design

Currently, few teachers use correlation design, possibly because it requires that they plan their
lessons cooperatively. This is somewhat difficult to accomplish because teachers have self-
contained classes at the elementary level and often do not have time for such collaboration. At the
secondary level, teachers are organized into separate departments that tend to encourage isolation.
Teachers must also meet time schedules dictated by specific classes and so may have little time to
work with other teachers on team teaching. Also, most class schedules do not allow a block of time
sufficient for students to meaningfully study correlated subjects. Modular scheduling and flexible
scheduling, which allow for this, have not been widely accepted.

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Process designs

Attention is often given to the procedures and processes by which individuals obtain knowledge.
Students studying biology learn methods for dealing with biological knowledge, students in history
classes learn the ways of historiography, and students investigating anthropology learn
ethnographic procedures appropriate for studying culture and society. Students must be taught how
to think. Curricular design must address how learners learn. Curricula for teaching critical thinking
exemplify this procedural design.

Process designs focus on the student as meaning maker. Process designs focus on teaching for
intelligence and on the development of intellectual character. Intellectual character goes beyond a
listing of abilities and the speed of presentation of those abilities, or the retrieval of detailed
information. Intellectual character “recognizes the role of attitude and affect in everyday cognition
and the importance of developed patterns of behavior.” Intellectual character encompasses sets of
dispositions that actually shape and activate intellectual behavior.

Strengths of correlation design

It teaches students to think critically and analytically. It emphasizes the procedures that enable the
students to analyze reality.

Weaknesses of correlation design

It is difficult to analyze the validity of students’ conclusion individually. It lacks emphasis on the
content of subject theme or curriculum. It gives more privilege to the scientific method, and it
implies the existence of a fully objective reality. As such, students must realize that methods of
inquiry result in a world that, to some extent, they construct.

Core curriculum design

The concept core curriculum is used to refer to areas of study in the school curriculum or any
educational program that is required by all students. The core curriculum provides students with
“common learning” or general education that is considered necessary for all. Thus, the core
curriculum constitutes the segment of the curriculum that teaches concepts, skills, and attitudes
needed by all individuals to function effectively within society. The basic features of the core
curriculum designs include the following:

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 • They constitute a section of the curriculum that all students are required to take.
• They unify or fuse subject matter, especially in subjects such as English, social studies, etc.
• Their content is planned around problems that cut across the disciplines. In this approach,
the basic method of learning is problem-solving using all applicable subject matter.
• They are organized into blocks of time, e.g., two or three periods under a core teacher.
Other teachers may be utilized where it is possible.

Types of core curriculum designs

The following types of core curriculum are commonly found in secondary schools and college
curriculums.
Type one: Separate subjects taught separately with little or no effort to relate them to each other
(e.g., mathematics, science, languages, and humanities may be taught as unrelated core subjects in
high schools).

Type two: The integrated or “fused” core design is based on the overall integration of two or more
subjects, for example:

• Physics, chemistry, biology, and zoology may be taught as general science.

• Environmental education is an area with an interdisciplinary approach in curriculum
planning.
• History, economics, civics, and geography may be combined and taught as social studies.

Core curriculum is an example of a subject-centered design that can be standardized across

schools, states, and the whole country. In standardized core curricula, teachers are provided a pre-
determined list of things to teach their students, along with specific examples of how these things
should be taught.

Advantages of subject-centered curriculum designs

• It is possible and desirable to determine in advance what all children will learn in various
subjects and grade levels.
• It is usually required to set minimum standards of performance and achievement for the
knowledge specified in the subject area.
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 • Almost all textbooks and support materials on the educational market are organized by
subject, although the alignment of the text contents and the standards are often open for
debate.
• Tradition seems to give this design greater support. People have become familiar and more
comfortable with the subject-centered curriculum and view it as part of the system of the
school and education as a whole.
• The subject-centered curriculum is better understood by teachers because their training was
based on this method, i.e., specialization.
• Advocates of the subject-centered design have argued that the intellectual powers of
individual learners can develop through this approach.
• Curriculum planning is easier and simpler in the subject-centered curriculum design.
Disadvantages of subject-centered curriculum design
Critics of subject-centered curriculum design have strongly advocated a shift from it. These
criticisms are based on the following arguments:
• Subject-centered curriculum tends to bring about a high degree of fragmentation of
knowledge.
• Subject-centered curriculum lacks integration of content. Learning in most cases tends to
be compartmentalized. Subjects or knowledge are broken down into smaller seemingly
unrelated bits of information to be learned.
• This design stresses content and tends to neglect the needs, interests, and experiences of
the students.
• There has always been an assumption that information learned through the subject-matter
curriculum will be transferred for use in everyday life situations. This claim has been
questioned by many scholars who argue that the automatic transfer of the information
already learned does not always occur.
• The subject-centered curriculum design is that it is not student-centered. Students are not
the primary focus of subject-centered curriculum design. In particular, the model focuses
less on students’ individual learning styles. This can cause problems with student
engagement and motivation and may even cause students to fall behind in class.

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2) Learner- centered curriculum designs or personalized curriculum designs

The learner-centered curriculum designs emphasize that every learner has unique and different
characteristics. They take each individual's needs, interests, and goals into consideration. In other
words, they acknowledge that students are not uniform and adjust to those student needs. They are
meant to empower learners and allow them to shape their education through choices. Instructional
plans in a learner-centered curriculum are differentiated, giving students the opportunity to choose
assignments, learning experiences or activities. This can motivate students and help them stay
engaged in the material that they are learning.

In this design, the curriculum is organized around the needs, interests, abilities, and aspirations of
students. The teachers or educators are there to provide students with the opportunities to take
ownership of a project or an assignment. They need to create possibilities for independent learning
with well-regulated liberty. It indicates that the students take a more active role in the classroom,
which has to be done under the teacher's guidance. There are four distinct attributes of learner-
centered design, which includes:
• Construction: students should be able to relate their experiences and prior learnings to the
new learning.
• Collaboration: creating a comforting learning environment and providing opportunities to
students that encourage teamwork and collaboration between classmates. Activities like
team assignments and group discussions allow the learners to form individuality and
expose them to others' opinions.
• Context: assignments and tasks given in the classroom should have real-world
applications. Accordingly, the relevant context in student learning will help learners
connect with their learning.
• Conversation: Exercises to improve learners' communication skills are mandatory, so
instructors should employ them in various classroom activities.

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 1. Child-centered design

Child-centered curriculum design flourished in the 1920s and 1930s. Advocates of child- or
student-centered design believe that students must be active in their learning environments and
that learning should not be separated from students’ lives, as is often the case with subject-centered
designs. Instead, the design should be based on students’ lives, needs, and interests.

Learners actively construct their own understandings. Learning is not the passive reception of
information from an authority. Students must have classroom opportunities to explore, firsthand,
physical, social, emotional, and logical knowledge.

Child-centered design, often attributed to Dewey, was actually conceived by Parker, who laid its
foundations. Parker believed that effective education did not require strict discipline. Rather, the
instructional approach should be somewhat free, drawing on the child’s innate tendency to become
engaged in interesting things. Teachers who involved children in conversations would find that
they could effectively participate in their own learning.

Strengths of child centered curriculum

Interaction between learners, teachers, and environment, thus creating collaborative effort on both
sides to plan lessons, select content and do activity together. It empowers students through
ownership of knowledge. It allows for constructivist learning.

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Weakness of child centered design

The content of the subject is not specified or fixed.

2. Experience-centered design

Experience-centered curriculum design closely resembles child-centered design in that children’s

concerns are the basis for organizing children’s school world. However, they differ from child-
centered design in that children’s needs and interests cannot be anticipated; therefore, a curriculum
framework cannot be planned for all children.

Those favoring an experience-centered curriculum heavily emphasize the learners’ interests,

creativity, and self-direction. The teacher’s task is to create a stimulating learning environment in
which students can explore, come into direct contact with knowledge, and observe others’ learning
and actions. Learning is a social activity. Students essentially design their own learning; they
construct and revise their knowledge through direct participation and active observation.

For Dewey, education should commence with the experience learners already possessed when they
entered school. Experience was essentially the starting point for all further learning. Dewey wanted
educators to analyze children’s experiences and to see how these experiences shaped children’s
knowledge. Dewey contended that the subjects studied in the curriculum are formalized learnings
derived from children’s experiences.

Those who subscribe to experience-centered curriculum design have faith in each student’s
uniqueness and ability. They believe that an open and free school environment stimulates all
students to excel. Students in optimal school environments are self-motivated; the educator’s role
is to provide opportunities, not to mandate certain actions.

Strengths of experienced centered design

Curriculum is based on the experiences and prior knowledge of the students. Learners are
empowered to shape their own learning since they are given the chance to choose among activities
prepared by the teachers. Time is flexible and children are free to make options.

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Weaknesses of experienced centered design

The notion that a curriculum cannot be preplanned, that everything must be done “on the spot” as
a teacher reacts to each child, makes experienced-centered design almost impossible to implement.
It also ignores the vast amount of information available about children’s growth and
development—cognitive, affective, emotional, and social. The content of the subject is not
specified or fixed because it is based on the experiences and prior knowledge of the students.

3. Romantic (radical) design

Curricula with a radical design address social and economic inequality and injustice. Radical
curricularists believe that individuals must learn to critique knowledge. Learning is reflective; it is
not externally imposed by someone in power. William Ayers posits that students should be invited
by the teacher not to just “learn” the curricula, but to travel and to experience the curricula as
coadventurers and, perhaps at times, coconspirators.

Curricula in the radical camp are characterized by teachers’ and students’ actions that break
barriers, challenge, and unpack preconceptions, critically analyze theories, and discover new ways
to process significant questions. Curricula are perceived essentially as all the materials offered and
implied and all the experiences planned and unplanned that happen both inside and outside the
school.

Curricula are a universe of possibilities and of limitless avenues of inquiry, a plethora of

experiences that engage the minds, the bodies, and the spirits of teachers and students. Such
curricula are exploding galaxies of intended and unintended consequences.

Radicals view society as deeply imperfect and believe that education indoctrinates students to
serve controlling groups.

Individuals in the radical camp believe that schools have organized themselves, their curriculum,
and their students in stratifications that are not caring. The ways schools are, the curricular designs
selected or stressed, and the content selected and organized result from people’s careful planning
and intent. The intent is to continue the dominant social segments of the nation so that advantages
these segments enjoy will continue without challenge from those people deemed subordinate.

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School curricular designs, school curricula, and the administration of schools’ programs are
planned and manipulated to reflect and address the desires of those in power.

Educators in the radical camp work to alter this dividing of students into haves and have-nots.
Radicals consider that presently schools are using their curricula to control students and
indoctrinate rather than educate and emancipate. Students in “have” societies are manipulated to
believe that what they have and will learn is good and just, whereas students in the “have not”
societies are shaped to gladly accept their subordinate positions. Curricula are organized to foster
in students a belief in and desire for a common culture that does not actually exist and to promote
intolerance of difference.

Freire’s Pedagogy of the Oppressed influenced the thinking of some present-day radicals. Freire
believed that education should enlighten the masses about their oppression, prompt them to feel
dissatisfied with their condition, and give them the competencies necessary for correcting the
identified inequities.

Strengths of romantic design

It emancipates as well as liberates the students. It addresses social and economic inequality and
injustice.

Weaknesses of romantic design

It threatens the status quo of a particular curriculum. Radical educators are considered to be overtly
political.

4. Humanistic design

Humanistic design gained prominence in the 1960s and 1970s, partly in response to the excessive
emphasis on the disciplines during the 1950s and early 1960s. Humanistic educational design
stressed the affective dimensions and emphasized human potential. Educators must permit students
to feel, value, and grow. The emphasis was on empowering individuals by actively involving them
in their own growth. Curricular design and instructional delivery would allow individuals to
become fully functioning persons.

Abraham Maslow’s concept of self-actualization heavily influenced humanistic design. Maslow

listed the characteristics of a self-actualized person: (1) accepting of self, others, and nature; (2)

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spontaneous, simple, and natural; (3) problem oriented; (4) open to experiences beyond the
ordinary; (5) empathetic and sympathetic toward the less fortunate; (6) sophisticated in
interpersonal relations; (7) favoring democratic decision-making; and (8) possessing a
philosophical sense of humor. Maslow emphasized that people do not self-actualize until they are
40 or older, but the process begins when they are students.

Carl Rogers’s work has been another major humanistic force. Rogers advocates self- directed
learning, in which students draw on their own resources to improve self- understanding and guide
their own behavior. Educators should provide an environment that encourages genuineness,
empathy, and respect for self and others. Students in such an environment naturally develop into
what Rogers called fully functioning people. Individuals able to initiate action and take
responsibility are capable of intelligent choice and self-direction. Rogers stressed knowledge
relevant to problem solving. Classroom questions foster learning and deep thinking. The quest is
collaborative, and the inquiries are multidisciplinary. There is no need to “stay within discipline
lines.” Mistakes are accepted as part of the learning process. Conclusions are regarded as
temporary. Students approach problems with flexibility and intelligence; they work cooperatively
but do not need others’ approval.

In the 1970s, humanistic education absorbed the notion of confluence. Confluence education
unifies the affective domain (feelings, attitudes, values) with the cognitive domain (intellectual
knowledge and problem-solving abilities). It adds the affective component to the conventional
subject-matter curriculum. Confluent education stresses participation. It emphasizes power
sharing, negotiation, and joint responsibility. It also stresses the whole person and the integration
of thinking, feeling, and acting. It centers on subject matter’s relevance to students’ needs and
lives. Humanistic educators realize that the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor domains are
interconnected and that curricula should address these dimensions. Some humanistic educators
would add the social and spiritual domains as well.

Curricula must prioritize the uniqueness of the human personality but also transcendence of
individuality. Transcendent education is hope, creativity, awareness, doubt and faith, wonder, awe,
and reverence.

For humanists, education should address pleasure and desire such as aesthetic pleasure.
Emphasizing natural and human-created beauty, humanistic curriculum designs allow students to

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experience learning with emotion, imagination, and wonder. Curricular content should elicit
emotion as well as thought. It should address not only the conceptual structures of knowledge, but
also its implications. The curriculum design should allow students to formulate a perceived
individual and social good and encourage them to participate in a community.

Strengths of humanistic design

It empowers students and develops one’s love of self; It develops students’ self -esteem and
confidence.

Strengths of humanistic design

Inadequate consideration of methods in light of consequences for learners. Inconsistent emphasis

on uniqueness of individuals and activities that all students experience. Too much emphasis on the
needs of the individual over the over-all society. It does not integrate what is known about human
learning and development.

Advantages of the learner-centered curriculum designs

• The needs and interests of students are considered in the selection and organization of
content.
• Because the needs and interests of students are considered in the planning of students’
work, the resulting curriculum is relevant to the student’s world.
• The design allows students to be active and acquire skills and procedures that apply to the
outside world.
Disadvantages of the learner-centered curriculum designs

• The needs and interests of students may not be valid or long lasting. They are often short-
lived.
• The interests and needs of students may not reflect specific areas of knowledge that could
be essential for successful functioning in society. Quite often, the needs and interests of
students have been emphasized and not those that are important for society in general.
• The nature of the education systems and society in many countries may not permit learner-
centered curriculum design to be implemented effectively.

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 • The design is expensive in regard to resources, both human and financial, that are needed
to satisfy the needs and interests of individual students. It requires a lot of resources and
manpower to meet a variety of needs.
• This design is sometimes accused of shallowness. It is argued that critical analysis and in-
depth coverage of subject content is inhibited by the fact that students’ needs and interests
guide the planning process.
• Developing differentiated instruction, is labor-intensive and puts pressure on the teacher to
create instruction and/or find materials that are conducive to each student's learning needs.
Teachers may not have the time or may lack the experience or skills to create such a plan.
• Learner-centered curriculum design also requires that teachers balance student wants and
interests with student needs and required outcomes, which is not an easy balance to obtain.

3) Problem-centered designs

The third major type of curriculum design, problem-centered design, focuses on real-life problems
of individuals and society. Problem-centered curriculum designs are intended to reinforce cultural
traditions and address unmet needs of the community and society. They are based on social issues.

Problem-centered designs place the individual within a social setting, but they differ from learner-
centered designs in that they are planned before the students’ arrival (although they can then be
adjusted to students’ concerns and situations). With problem- centered design, a curricular
organization depends in large part on the nature of the problems to be studied. The content often
extends beyond subject boundaries. It must also address students’ needs, concerns, and abilities.
This dual emphasis on both content and learners’ development distinguishes problem-centered
design from the other major types of curriculum design.

Problem-centered curricula focus on teaching students how to look at a problem and come up with
a solution to the problem after careful observation. Students are thus exposed to real-life issues,
which help them develop skills that are transferable to the real world.
Problem-centered curriculum designs guide students to look at problems and formulate solutions.
They focus on engaging students in authentic learning since they are exposed to real-world issues
and on developing problem-solving skills, thinking and communication skills.

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Some problem-centered designs focus on persistent life situations. Others center on contemporary
social problems. Still others address areas of living. Some are even concerned with reconstructing
society. The various types of problem-centered design differ in the degrees to which they
emphasize social needs, as opposed to individual needs.

1. Life-situations design

Life-situations curriculum design can be traced back to the 19th century and Herbert Spencer’s
writings on a curriculum for complete living. Spencer’s curriculum emphasized activities that (1)
sustain life; (2) enhance life; (3) aid in rearing children; (4) maintain the individual’s social and
political relations; and (5) enhance leisure, tasks, and feelings.

Three assumptions are fundamental to life-situations design: (1) dealing with persistent life
situations is crucial to a society’s successful functioning, and it makes educational sense to
organize a curriculum around them; (2) students see the relevance of content if it is organized
around aspects of community life; and (3) having students study social or life situations will
directly involve them in improving society.

The life-situations design takes students’ existing concerns, as well as society’s pressing problems,
as a starting point.

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Strengths of life situation design

Life-situations design integrates subject matter, cutting across separate subjects and centering on
related categories of social life. It encourages students to learn and apply problem-solving
procedures. Linking subject matter to real situations increases the curriculum’s relevance. It uses
the past and current experiences of learners as a means of getting them to analyze the basic areas
of living. It focuses on problem-solving procedures. Process and content are effectively integrated
into curricular experience. The content is organized in ways that allow students to clearly view
problem areas.

Weaknesses of life situation design

Some critics contend that the students do not learn much subject matter. It is challenging to
determine the scope and sequence of living’s essential aspects. Will major activities of today be
essential activities in the future? Some critics believe that life-situations design does not adequately
expose students to their cultural heritage; moreover, it tends to indoctrinate youth to accept existing
conditions and thus perpetuates the social status quo. Some critics also contend that teachers lack
adequate preparation to mount life-situations curriculum. Others argue that textbooks and other
teaching materials inhibit the implementation of such a curriculum. Further, many teachers are
uncomfortable with life-situations design because it departs too much from their training. Finally,
life-situations organization departs from the traditional curriculum promoted by secondary
schools, colleges, and universities.

2. Reconstructionist design

Educators who favor reconstructionist design believe that the curriculum should foster social
action aimed at reconstructing society; it should promote society’s social, political, and economic
development. These educators want curricula to advance social justice. Aspects of
reconstructionism first appeared in the 1920s and 1930s. George Counts believed that society must
be completely reorganized to promote the common good. A new social order is required, and
schools should play a major role in such redesign. Existing society displayed decay, poverty, crime,
racial conflict, unemployment, political oppression, and the destruction of the environment.

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Harold Rugg also believed that schools should engage children in critical analysis of society in
order to improve it. Brameld believed that schools should help students develop into social beings
dedicated to the common good.

The primary purpose of the social reconstructionist curriculum is to engage students in critical
analysis of the local, national, and international community in order to address humanity’s
problems. Attention is given to the practices of business and government groups and their impact
on the workforce. The curriculum encourages industrial and political changes.

Strengths of the reconstructionist design

It engages students in critical analysis of the local, national, and international community in order
to address human problems. It encourages industrial and political changes.

Weaknesses of the reconstructionist design

It may be misunderstood, thus creating inequality.

Strengths of problem centred designs

Problem-centered curriculum designs have been shown to enhance the curriculum's relevance and
allow students to be creative and innovate as they are learning.
Weaknesses of problem centred designs
The drawback to this form of curriculum design is that it does not always take learning styles into
consideration, student needs are not always accounted for.

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3.5 Models of curriculum design

There are numerous models for designing curriculum, here are the five well known types of
curriculum design models.

1. Tyler’s model

The model was developed by the American educator Ralph W. Tyler in 1949 and is among the
most widely used and the best is one of the best-known curriculum development models. The
model considers four fundamental aspects of developing a curriculum. (1) determine the school’s
purposes, (2) identify educational experiences related to those purposes, (3) ascertain how the
experiences are organized, and (4) evaluate the purposes. The simplified and the complete models
are provided below.

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The simplified Tyler’s model of curriculum design

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The complete Tyler’s model of curriculum design

In applying Tyler’s model to curriculum design, the process begins with framing general
objectives or educational purposes for the curriculum. By purposes, Tyler meant general
objectives. He indicated that curriculum planners should identify these general objectives by
gathering and analyzing data/information from various data sources. Data sources for curriculum
according to Tyler include:

• Contemporary society/life: the issues affecting society that could be solved through
education. Examples are cultural issues, socio-economic issues, and health issues such as
HIV/AIDS among.
• Learner’s needs and interests
• Subject specialists/subject matter

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From these sources, the designers develop general objectives. After identifying numerous general
objectives, the curriculum planners were to refine them by filtering them through the school’s
philosophy and the psychology of learning. Specific instructional objectives would result. In other
words, these general objectives are subjected to a screening process, using the philosophy of
education and psychology of learning as the major screens. Social values are also used as a screen,
but sometimes these are considered in the philosophy of education. This yields a feasible number
of objectives that are focused on in education.

Specific objectives are then derived from the general objectives. For each of the specific
objectives, learning experiences are identified. In this context, the learning experiences include
the subject matter/content and learning activities. Learning experiences had to consider learners’
perceptions and previous experience. Also, they were to be selected in light of knowledge about
learning and human development.

The next step is the organization of learning experiences. This is done to ensure effective
learning takes place. The various principles of the organization include scope, sequence,
integration, and continuity, among others. The final step involves evaluation, to determine the
extent to which the objectives have been met. Tyler believed that evaluation was important in
determining whether a program was effective. Feedback from the evaluation is then used to modify
the learning experiences and the entire curriculum as found necessary.

The Tyler’s model is also known as the objective model because of its emphasis on the importance
of objectives. It is based on the notion that the objective of education is to develop learning that is
meaningful and useful to learners. It is also called a linear model, starting from objectives, and
ending with evaluation. In this model, evaluation is terminal. For this reason, the model developed
by Tyler is often referred to as the ‘Linear Objectives’ model.

2. John Goodlad’s model

A Canadian theorist and educational researcher, John Goodlad’s Model is particularly unique in
its use of social values. According to Goodlad, the driving force of educational systems should be
values or goals. Goodlad considered values as data sources, contrasting Tyler’s consideration of

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values as a screen. In his curriculum development model, Goodlad focuses on four data sources,
which are as follows:
• Values
• Funded knowledge
• Conventional wisdom
• The learner’s needs and interests

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The complete John Goodlad’s model of curriculum design

Values: John Goodlad believed that the most important focus of education should not be based on
standardized testing, but rather to prepare young people to be well-informed citizens in democracy.
He believes that educational systems must be driven by goals or values. He believed that education
has a moral dimension, and those who teach are “moral agents.” A professional teacher is a moral
agent with a moral obligation, including initiating the young into a culture. Goodlad places
“values” at the very top of his model.
Funded knowledge: Funded knowledge is knowledge which is gained from research. Generally,
research is heavily funded by various organizations. Information from research is used to inform
educational practice in all aspects, particularly in curriculum design.
Conventional wisdom: Conventional wisdom includes specialized knowledge within the society,
for example from experts in various walks of life and ‘older’ people with life experiences.

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Students’ needs and interests are also considered in the design process.

Data from the various sources are then used to develop general aims of education from which
general educational objectives are derived. These objectives are stated in behavioral terms. A
behavioral objective has two components: a behavioral element and a substantive element. The
behavioral element refers to the ‘action’ that a learner is able to perform, while the substantive
element represents the ‘content’ or “substance” of the behavior.

From the general objectives, the curriculum designer identifies learning opportunities that
facilitate the achievement of the general objectives. This could, for example, be specific courses
of study.

The next step involves deriving specific educational objectives stated behaviorally. These are
similar to instructional objectives. They are used to identify “organizing centers” which are
specific learning opportunities, for example, a specific topic, a field trip, an experiment, etc.
Regarding evaluation, Goodlad proposed continuous evaluation at all stages of the design process.
In the model, evaluation is represented by the double-edged arrows that appear throughout the
model.

3. Wheeler’s model

D.K. Wheeler, a British educator and researcher, developed a cyclic model to address the
shortcomings of Tyler’s model of curriculum development. The latter was seen as being too
simplistic and vertical. By being vertical, it did not recognize the relationship between various
curriculum elements. His cyclic proposal was therefore aimed at highlighting the interrelatedness
of the various curriculum elements. It also emphasizes the need to use feedback from evaluation
in redefining the goals and objectives of the curriculum.

Wheeler’s Model comprises five phases of curriculum development models, which are as follows:
• Selection of aims, goals, and objectives
• Selection of learning experiences
• Selection of content or subject matter

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 • Organization and integration of learning experiences and content
• Evaluation and revision of curriculum

This Model enables curriculum designers to begin working on it at any stage. It also focuses on
situational analysis. However, this Model is time-consuming and may be difficult to implement.

4. Kerr’s model

Kerr’s model of curriculum development models was proposed by John Kerr, a British curriculum
specialist in the 1960s. Several features resemble those in Tyler’s and Wheeler’s Models. But the

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difference lies in the emphasis on the interrelatedness of the various components that are a part of
this Model. This interrelatedness can be either direct or indirect and is achieved by the flow of the
data between the components.
John Kerr proposed four components for his curriculum development model:
• Objectives
• Knowledge
• School learning experiences
• Evaluation

Kerr’s model recommends sorting objectives as cognitive, psychomotor, and effective. It also
underlines that knowledge needs to be organized, integrated, sequenced, and reinforced. This
Model pays attention to the needs and interests of students, the influence of social conditions and

43
school, and the maturity of the learners. However, one drawback is that it doesn’t focus on teacher
input.

5. Taba’s model

Hilda Taba, on her part, was also influenced by Ralph Tyler. Also known as the interactive Model,
it was designed in 1962 by Hilda Taba, an Estonian-American curriculum theorist, reformer, and
teacher. It follows a Grassroots or Down-Top approach and promotes a major role for teachers.
Taba’s Model emphasizes the planning of instructional strategies. The Model consists of seven
stages:

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Diagnosis of learners’ needs: The curriculum designers start the process by identifying the needs
of the students for whom curriculum is to be planned. For example: Majority of students are unable
to think critically.
Formulation of objectives: After the identification of the needs of learners that require attention,
curriculum designers specify the objectives by which needs will be fulfilled.
Selection of the content: The objectives selected or created suggest the subject matter or content
of the curriculum. Not only objectives and content should match, but also the validity and
significance of the chosen content need to be determined i.e., the relevance and significance of the
content.
Organization of the content: A teacher cannot just select content but must organize it in a Particular
Sequence taking into consideration the maturity of learners, their academic achievement, and their
interests.
Selection of learning experiences: Content must be presented to students, and they must be engaged
with the content. At this point teacher should select appropriate instructional methodology that will
involve the students with the content.

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Organization of learning activities: The learning activities be organized in a sequence depending
both on content sequence and learners’ characteristics. The teacher needs to keep in mind the
students he or she will be teaching.
Evaluation: The curriculum planner must determine what objectives have been accomplished. To
assess the achievement of learning objectives, evaluation procedures need to be designed.

6.The Task-Analysis Model

Task-analysis models differ widely. However, they all share a focus on identifying essential content
and skills, which are determined by analyzing the tasks necessary for school learning or some real-
world tasks. Basically, there are two types of task analysis: subject-matter analysis and learning
analysis.
Subject-matter analysis

Subject matter, or content, is the starting point in subject-matter analysis. The key question is,
What knowledge is most important for students? We usually ask this question of subject-matter
experts. Ideally, these experts are the educators responsible for creating and teaching the
curriculum. However, we can draw on the expertise of scholars in various disciplines. When the
curriculum is intended to prepare people for certain professions, then the question is, What subject
matter enables students to perform the tasks of particular jobs within those professions?

Subject matter must be broken into parts. Consider the subject of government. Students must
understand the general concepts of government and citizen, but also the narrower concepts of
representative government and citizen responsibility. They must also know certain facts, such as
the number of branches of government and the dates when amendments to constitution were
passed. Breaking down knowledge of government requires giving that knowledge some structure.
One way to do this is to use a master design chart.

Essentially, the master design chart contains the topics and related information to be learned in a
certain course or a total curriculum. One way to design the chart is to create a row for each crucial
topic and a column for the degrees of emphasis that topics will receive. It also indicate the various

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learning behaviors that students must exhibit regarding each topic: concepts, generalizations, and
so on. Below is a sample master design chart.

Once the chart has been completed, it is necessary to identify the relationships among the content
topics, concepts, generalizations, and so on. In determining the relationships, we reflect on how to
construct the curriculum unit so that the content has a meaningful organization. The content can
be organized chronologically, according to the specific content’s knowledge structure, in the order
in which it might be used, or according to the manner in which psychologists indicate students
might best learn it.

Learning analysis

Ideally, learning analysis begins when content is being organized. It encompasses activity analysis
and addresses which learning processes are required for students to learn the selected content.
What activities might students engage in to learn the content and master some problem-solving
process? It is helpful to consult experts in instructional design and psychology, especially cognitive
psychology, and brain research.
Learning analysis addresses the sequence of the learning activities. Is there an optimal timeline for
learning certain content and skills? What should the learner do to gain competence in the skill or

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content? At this stage, the learning analyst selects instructional approaches that move students
toward the curriculum’s goals.

In the next stage of learning analysis, the curriculum developer creates a master curriculum plan
that synthesizes the information obtained and organized through the selection of subject content
and learning approaches. Those who have been involved in the task analysis determine the plan’s
format.

The curriculum team studies the selected content and determines specific objectives with regard
to that content. The objectives deal with the cognitive, affective, and (sometimes) psycho motor
domains. The sequence of the objectives is linked to the sequence of the selected content and
learning activities. The master plan also can indicate educational materials and evaluation methods.

The following figure illustrates the format for a master plan.

Somewhat related to task analysis is investigating other educational institutions’ approaches to

program design and curriculum development. We educators can learn much from talking with
colleagues, sharing ideas and ways of addressing similar educational and social challenges. Focus
on schools that confront problems similar to yours. What procedural steps are they utilizing? How
successful have they been in their actions?

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 7. The Backward-design model

Another popular model of curriculum development is the “backward design” advocated by Grant
Wiggins and Jay McTighe. Essentially, this model is a variation of task analysis. Its roots can be
traced back to Bobbitt and Charters. It also draws from the fields of architecture and engineering.

Backward design (backward development) begins with a statement of desired results. What do you
want to accomplish? What should students know and be able to do? What values and attitudes
should they have? What skills should they possess and be able to demonstrate? Essentially, this
first stage involves identifying the school program’s goals.

Wiggins and McTighe specify three levels of decision making in this first stage.

✓ At the first and most general level, an educator considers goals and checks on national,
state, and local content standards.
✓ At the second level of decision making, curriculum developers (including classroom
teachers) select content—valuable information and skills that might lead students to the
desired results. What basic understandings and skills do students need in light of stated
standards, community expectations, and research results? What generalizations, concepts,
and facts must students master in order to achieve? What procedures, methods of analysis,
and thinking strategies must students experience to become self-learners?
✓ The final level of decision making in this first general stage involves narrowing the content
possibilities. What specific courses will be taught, and what particular content (both
declarative and procedural)? Wiggins and McTighe refer to this final level of decision
making as identifying enduring understanding that anchors the unit or course. “The term
enduring refers to the big ideas, the important understandings, that we want students to ‘get
inside of’ and retain after they’ve forgotten many of the details.

Stage 2 of the backward-design model involves determining how the curriculum will be evaluated
once it is in place. How will we know whether students have met the set standards? What evidence
will be collected to assess the curriculum’s effectiveness? According to Wiggins and McTighe, the
backward-design model gets teachers thinking like assessors before they develop curriculum units
and lessons. Wiggins and McTighe suggest various assessment methods that can be considered at

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this stage, including informal checks, observations of students, dialogue with students, quizzes and
tests, and performance tasks and projects.

When educators/curriculum developers have clearly identified the curriculum’s goals and
determined how to assess the extent to which those goals have been reached, they are ready to plan
instructional activities. Wiggins and McTighe list several key questions that curriculum
developers and teachers must raise at this stage:

What knowledge and skills do students need to succeed in the course?

What activities enable students to master the requisite knowledge and skills?
What should be taught, and how should it be taught, for students to become knowledge able and
skillful in the identified content realm?
What materials foster student success in the curriculum?
Does the overall design of the course or unit fulfill the principles of curriculum development?

Backward design is a way to plan curriculum with the end, or goal, in mind.

8. The deliberation model

The deliberation model has six stages, as suggested by Noye: (1) public sharing, (2) highlighting
agreement and disagreement, (3) explaining positions, (4) highlighting changes in position, (5)
negotiating points of agreement, and (6) adopting a decision.

In the first stage, public sharing, people come together to share ideas related to curriculum
development. They express their views regarding the curriculum’s nature and purpose, make
suggestions and demands, propose particular contents and pedagogies, and identify information
that they consider relevant to creating curricula. People discuss their visions of students’ roles,

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optimal learning environments, and teachers’ proper functions. At the conclusion of this stage, to
which the group can return at any time, the group should record a summary of its thoughts
expressed throughout this stage on the common places of content, student, teacher, and school and
the challenges confronting the group. The group is now ready for stage 2, highlighting agreements
and disagreements.
In stage 2, the group identifies agreements and disagreements regarding educational goals,
curriculum content, and instructional approach. All views should be respectfully considered.
In stage 3, group members explain their positions. Why do I think this is a problem? What data
support my view? Is a particular group of students failing? What is the curricular solution? To
arrive at a consensus, group members must appreciate one another as professionals and not
consider their colleagues to be adversaries. The group leader must have considerable skill in
guiding groups.
Stage 4 of deliberation evolves from the activity of explaining positions. Group members change
their opinions in response to presented data and arguments. When people change their minds, they
inform other group members.
In stage 5 of the deliberative process, participants work toward agreement regarding curriculum
content, instructional approaches, and educational goals. In other words, they negotiate and
persuade (or become persuaded). In stage 5, the group seeks to identify possible curricular
solutions to educational needs.
In stage 6, the group achieves consensus regarding the curriculum’s nature and purpose. It
specifies curricular topics, pedagogy, educational material, school environment, methods of
implementation, and assessment methods. The agreed-on curriculum reflects the group’s social,
political, and philosophical composition. Of course, some uncertainty remains.

Conclusion
Curriculum design is central to the development of curriculum, and it can be done in several ways.
Each design has advantages and disadvantages for both learners and teachers. Ralph Tyler included
four questions that guided his curriculum design model. Tyler’s model influenced later curriculum
designs by John Goodlad, D.K. Wheeler, John Kerr, Hilda Taba, and others. Curriculum design is
an art that follows different roads to achieve one central goal, ensuring that learning occurs. There

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is no perfect or ideal model or way of designing a curriculum. It is essential to identify the desired
learning outcomes and learning environments to determine what model to apply.

3.6 Curriculum development process

The curriculum development process systematically organizes what will be taught, who will be
taught, and how it will be taught. Each component affects and interacts with other components.
For example, what will be taught is affected by who is being taught (e.g., their stage of
development in age, maturity, and education). Methods of how content is taught are affected by
who is being taught, their characteristics, and the setting. The curriculum is developed following
some phases which in return include several stages or steps.

Curriculum development phases and stages

Model of phases and steps in curriculum development

The above model illustrates how the 12 essential steps progress from one to the next. It also shows
the interaction and relationships of the four essential phases of the curriculum development
process: (I) Planning, (II) Content and Methods (design), (III) Implementation, and (IV)

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Evaluation and Reporting. It is important to acknowledge that things do not always work exactly
as depicted in a model!

Each phase has several steps or tasks to complete in logical sequence. These steps are not always
separate and distinct but may overlap and occur concurrently. For example, the curriculum
development team is involved in all of the steps. Evaluations should occur in most of the steps to
assess progress. The team learns what works and what does not and determines the impact of the
curriculum on learners after it is implemented. Each step logically follows the previous. It would
make no sense to design learning activities before learner outcomes and content are described and
identified. Similarly, content cannot be determined before learner outcomes are described.

The following curriculum development steps are frequently omitted or slighted, but they are
essential to successful curriculum development and need to be emphasized.
1. Needs assessment: if not conducted, wonderful curriculum could be developed, but the
appropriate needs of the target audience may not be met.
2. Involving youth: the target audience and volunteers (or staff) who will be the
implementors of the curriculum must be involved (i.e., they participate as full members of
the curriculum development team).
3. Recruiting and training volunteer facilitators: competent and skilled curriculum
implementors are critical.
4. Evaluating and reporting on the impact of the curriculum: is critical for securing
human and financial support from key policy decision makers and for assessing whether
the curriculum has achieved the intended outcome.
Two types of evaluation are included in the phases and steps illustration: (1) Formative provides
feedback during the process of developing the curriculum, and (2) Summative answers questions
about changes (impact) that have occurred in learners because of their learning experiences.
Summative evaluation provides evidence for what works, what does not work, and what needs to
be improved.
In every step of the curriculum development process, the most important task is to keep the
learner (called, in this case, youth) in mind and involve them in process. For example, the
curriculum team members, who have direct knowledge of the target audience, should be involved

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in conducting the needs assessment. From the needs assessment process, the problem areas are
identified, gaps between what learners know and what they need to know are identified, and the
scope of the problem is clarified and defined. The results may prompt decision makers to allocate
resources for a curriculum development team to prepare curriculum materials.

Phase 1: Curriculum planning

"Nobody plans to fail but failure, results from a failure to plan."

“Failure to plan is planning to fail.”

The planning phase lays the foundation for all of the curriculum development steps. The steps in
this phase include:

1) Identify issue/problem/need.
2) Form curriculum development team.
3) Conduct needs assessment and analysis.

(1) Identify issue/problem/need

The very first step in the curriculum development process is to clearly identify and state the issue
that prompted the initiation of a curriculum development effort. The step involves identifying the
current and future needs of the learners and community. In this step, contributing factors to the
issue or problem are identified and a need statement is developed. An issue statement should
indicate:
• Who is affected or involved,
• The scope of the problem /issue to be addressed by the curriculum or the scope (what will
be included) of the curriculum content, and
• The consequences.

The issue/problem/need statement should describe the issue in the clearest and simplest language
possible, (i.e., in a way the community (state or nation) would recognize it as their own).

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Example of an issue statement: Broad population education issue statement:

Overpopulation is a prime factor in many countries with slow economic development. The rate of agricultural
production cannot keep up with the population growth rate. The result is food shortages, lack of employment
opportunities, and strains on natural resources (land and water) and the infrastructure (roads, transportation,
electricity, etc.). There is a need for better population education, especially in the rural areas, aimed at lowering the
size of families.

Although this statement identifies the essence of the issue, the negative effect of overpopulation
on economic growth and a remedy (population education), it requires further analysis and
refinement to serve as a guide for curriculum development. One approach to further refinement is
to analyze the factors contributing to the problem. Contributing factors in the above example may
include:

• Population education is not available to rural out-of-school youth.

• Lack of knowledge about methods to limit family size.
• Cultural/religious/social value of having many children.
• Lack of skill in decision making and communicating with spouse; and
• Lack of knowledge about the effect of family size on lifestyle

Additional questions to help define the scope of the issue include:

* What is the most pressing problem in this issue?

* How or where can programs and/or curriculum materials make a difference?
* Who else is working on this issue? Are there specific areas of the issue where others have
specialized to meet certain needs?
* Where can cooperating organizations and/or agencies contribute to make a significant
difference?
* In what sequence should these problems be addressed? Where should we start?
* Who are the target audiences?
* Why is each audience significant?
* Can this target audience effect the issue? Or are they effected by it?
* Should audiences be reached in a particular sequence to effectively address this issue?

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Example of further analysis and refinement of the issue: Population Education Analysis

A review of existing population education in many developing countries indicates family planning clinics provide
information and training on family size. Population education has also been added to secondary school curricula.
However, in many countries very few rural youth attend secondary school. For example, in Africa it is estimated that
only 10% of the population reach secondary school. Therefore, the target audience would logically be rural out-of-
school youth. They are least likely to have access to the information.

The focus of the concern in this case is on "addressing concerns about the relationship between population growth
and the achievement of development goals, particularly those in the areas of integrated rural development and
sustainable agricultural production. It is intended for use with out-of-school rural youth (future parents and
producers) to help them understand the effects of rapid population growth and the need for responsible parenthood"
(FAO, 1990).

These statements identify the issues to be addressed and outline the scope of the curriculum to be
developed (i.e., population growth in relation to integrated rural development and sustainable
agricultural production) for rural out-of-school youth. The issue statement can be used to help
secure either public or private funding support. The issue statement can help guide the types of
expertise needed on the curriculum development team. Besides, the questions that need to be
addressed to define the issue and statement of the issue guide the selection of the members of a
curriculum development team.

(2) Form curriculum development team

Once the nature and scope of the issue has been broadly defined, the members of the curriculum

development team can be selected.

As no single individual has all the skills to design and develop curriculum materials. When

selecting members of the team, the expertise needed for the scope of the project must be

considered. Curriculum team members must have different expertise as they have to play different

roles and functions. They usually include educational designers, subject matter experts, youth

development/ human development specialists, writers, graphic designers, artists, editors, members

of the target audience - the "users" of the curriculum (students, teachers, volunteer leaders, etc.).

Depending on the scope of the project and the funding sources, key policy and funding decision

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makers may also need to be involved. Funding source representatives may also request to be

involved.

In the example of population education, curriculum team members would include individuals with

expertise in rural out-of-school youth programs and organizations, health and nutrition, gender

issues, human (youth) development experiential education methods, agriculture and rural

development, economic, and environmental aspects of population education would all be your

helpful expertise in the area. In fact, "It takes a whole village to raise a child, ". This means that

the development of curriculum to address the "whole environment" in which a young person makes

decisions about his or her life requires an integrated approach. Thus, a broad spectrum of expertise

is needed. The targeted audience is identified as rural out-of-school youth in the above example of

population education.

Once the curriculum development team members have been identified, their strengths should be

assessed to determine if members of the team have the expertise and skills required to create the

curriculum. Any gaps should be filled early in the process. Are there others who should be

included? Have you identified qualified or experienced curriculum writers? Is someone skilled in

evaluation procedures?

An important aspect of team building is being clear about the goals and objectives of the project

as well as the roles and responsibilities of team members. The goals of the project are identified

prior to selecting team members. Goals should be communicated with potential team members

prior to their acceptance to serve as a team member. Use the issue statement and adapt it to the

overview of the curriculum development process for your specific project. The more specific you

can be about the expectations and responsibilities of team members, the greater chance for

successful teamwork.

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Since team members are different in terms of expertise, level of education, traditions, values,
cultural and religious practices, social pressures, gender, and generational differences, etc., the
process of designing curriculum will require a focus and commitment to shared goals and
collaboration skills. As it is said, "Coming together is a beginning; Keeping together is progress;
Working together is a success". Curriculum development team must collaborate and work
together. They must respect the principles of collaboration and teamwork. Teamwork is the
ability to work toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishment toward
organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

(3) Conduct needs assessment and analysis

Curriculum development is described as the process of determining who will be
taught, what and how. The needs assessment and analysis step in curriculum development
systematically focuses on learning about an issue or problem and the people who are directly
affected by it. A needs assessment provides the information to determine outcomes (educational
objectives) based on a factual foundation and learners needs. A needs assessment also provides
baseline data to evaluate the achievement of intended outcomes. The goal is to have those who are
most directly affected by issues and problems define them, isolate the contributing factors, and
suggest solutions. A problem (issue) is defined as the gap between desired behavior (what should
be known and/or done) and actual performance (behavior).

The needs assessment process identifies the nature and scope of the gap. An underlying principle
is to "start with what people already know and build on what they already have." The first task
then is to establish what the target audience knows, their attitudes about the issues and contributing
factors, and their practices. Without this information, intended outcomes and content are unlikely
to address the needs of the target audience.

This step is subdivided into two parts: 1) procedures for conducting a needs assessment and 2)
needs analysis. The results of the assessment are used to state intended outcomes and form
evaluation strategies.

Needs assessment procedures

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This stage requires gathering information from various sources especially members of the target
audience and members in the communities such curriculum experts, educators, government, non-
organizations employers, industrialists, agricultural sector, students, teachers, parents, and other
stakeholders to understand their needs, problems, and interests, goals, and objectives of learners
and society. The information gathering reveals both the need and feasibility of curriculum
development intended. Guiding questions include:

– What information?
– Who should gather it?
– From whom should it be gathered?
– For which purpose the information should be used?

Needs assessment may involve conducting surveys including KAP (Knowledge, Attitudes, and
Practices) survey, focus group discissions (FGDs), interviews, or observations to collect data about
the learners and the context in which the curriculum will be implemented. Members of the
curriculum design team should be directly involved in gathering data. It is helpful to have a team
member experienced in survey design and evaluation. Team involvement in the assessment process
produces content and methods relevant to the needs of the target audience. Similarly, if members
from the target audience and potential facilitators are involved, the curriculum will be meaningful
and relevant. Part of the data gathered in a needs assessment should include information about the
target audience if the curriculum is to meet the needs of the target audience.

Analysis of results of needs assessment

Once the data is collected, characteristics of the target audience and gaps (the difference between
desired and actual performance) are identified, it is time to categorize needs. Identify the type of
needs and prioritize them. Identify the areas of greatest concern by the number of times an item is
mentioned in the tool used to collect data (surveys, interviews, etc.). Subject matter experts may
identify some topics that are not identified by the target audience or key informants. These topics
need to be related to the priorities of the target audience to catch their interest and attention. If
learners feel there is not a need to know or practice something, they will not change behavior, even

59
though a gap exists between desired performance and actual behaviour (i.e., the level of motivation
is very low for change).

Phase II: Curriculum design (Intended learning outcomes, content, and methods)

Phase II determines intended learning outcomes (what learners will be able to do after participation
in curriculum activities), the content (what will be taught), and the methods (how it will be taught).
So, the steps involved in this phase include state intended learning outcomes, select content and
design experiential methods.
(4) State Intended Outcomes (ILOs)
Once the issue is defined, the curriculum team is formed, the needs assessed, analyzed, and
prioritized, the next step is to refine and restate the issue, if needed, and develop the intended
outcomes or educational objectives. An intended outcome is a statement of what a learner will
specifically know and be able to do as a result of participating in the activities planned in the
curriculum. Intended outcomes implies learning is planned, intentional, and a measurable outcome
is expected.

Intended outcomes should clearly state, in measurable terms, what the learner will be able to do as
a result of participation in planned activities designed to help the learner attain knowledge,
attitudes, skills aspirations, and behaviors to bring about change. This step is critical because it
provides guidance for the content (what is to be taught). It also sets the stage to evaluate or measure
if the learner has attained the intended outcome, (i.e., the impact of the project). All intended
outcomes should serve as a bridge between the issue of concern and the needs of the learner. They
serve as a guide to learning, a guide to instruction, and a guide to evaluation (Wentling, 1993,
p.68).

Components of an Intended Outcome

An intended outcome statement should include the following key three criteria to be effective:
Conditions, performance, and standards.

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 • Conditions are clearly specified under which the learner will exhibit the desired behavior,
(i.e. the situation, limits, supplies, materials, tools, and equipment under which the
behaviour will be performed). Examples of terms helpful in defining conditions might be:
✓ Given a list of examples.......
✓ While in a group discussion...........
✓ Using the personal budget plan..........
✓ Using the data collection procedures outlined in the curriculum.....
• Performance states what observable (measurable) behaviour the learner will be able do in
order to demonstrate the intended outcome (objective) has been attained. Examples of
performance statements include:
✓ The learner will be able to name.............
✓ The learner will restate.........
✓ The learner will apply.............
✓ The learner will be able to determine ……..

• Standards describe how much or how precisely the quality of work (task or application of
knowledge) is required to achieve an acceptable level of performance. Examples might
include:
✓ Two problem solving steps for each example.
✓ Restate each question before answering.
✓ Record keeping procedures for one month.
✓ trends in population growth in his or her community according to the methods described
in the book.

These examples suggest a format for structuring intended outcome statements, with some
adaptation or paraphrasing according to the content and situation.

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Sample format for Intended Outcome statements:

Given (Here the condition is stated), the learner will (Here the performance and the standards are
stated).
Applying the above format to the previous examples for each criterion, the following intended
outcomes are stated:
✓ Given a list of situations, learners will be able to name two problem solving steps for each
example.
✓ While in a group discussion, the learner will restate each question before answering.
✓ Using the personal budget plan in the activity sheet, the learner will apply record keeping
procedures for one month.
✓ Using the data collection and analysis procedures outlined in Activity 1, learners will be
able to determine the rate of population growth in their communities without calculation
errors.

Besides, those three key components of an intended outcome, it is also important to note that a
well written intended outcome should be SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Achievable,
Realistic and Timebound), and can be developed by following the A-B-C-D guide. A-B-C-D stands
for Audience, Behavior, Condition, and Degree. Audience describes the intended learners of a
given outcome (typically “Students”). Behavior is a verb describing understanding, cognitive
growth, or a skill that learners will develop (“explain,” “analyze,” “create”). Condition describes
physical and temporal features of the outcome (“within,” “undergirding,” “verbally,” “by the end
of term”). Degree describes the level of attainment (“independently,” “fully”).

Population education sample intended outcome:

By the end of the population education module, individual rural out-of-school youth will be able
to identify factors affecting overpopulation and apply this knowledge to determine their own
family size.

There are some additional questions that might be helpful in forming and evaluating intended
outcomes:

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 • How will learners be different as a result of their participation in the curriculum?
• What will they know or be able to do?
• What practices (changes) should each learner attain to address the different
components of the issue?
• How will you know if the curriculum made a difference on the issue with these learners?
• What indicators will provide this information?
• What specific kinds of knowledge, intellectual abilities/thinking (cognitive) skills are
desired?
• What specific kinds of feelings and attitudes (affective) are desired?
• What specific kinds of physical action and motor (psychomotor) skills are desired?
• On what critical thinking and decision-making skills will this curriculum focus?

Intended outcomes or educational objectives are classified into three categories: cognitive
objectives related to knowledge and thinking, psychomotor objectives related to action and motor
skills and affective objectives related to feelings and attitudes. IOs must reflect these categories.

(5) Select content

The next challenge in the curriculum development process is selecting content that will make a
real difference in the lives of the learner and ultimately society as a whole. At this point, the
primary questions are: "If the intended outcome is to be attained, what will the learner need to
know? What knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours will need to be acquired and practiced?"
The content can be outlined into the two broad categories of scope (breadth of knowledge, skills,
attitudes, and behaviours/ breath of the topics) and sequence (order, when) of the content.
Wentling (FAO, 1993) identified four organizing principles in developing curriculum or criteria
in organizing the content.
1. Move from the simple to the complex events, concepts, or facts. Learning is reinforced
starting with the simple and progressing to the more complex. Confidence is increased in
the learner and retention of the content is better. Since complex concepts and equipment
are made up of simpler parts, it is logical to present and teach the parts before teaching the
whole.

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 2. Move from the general to the specifics. Sometimes we are more familiar with general
concepts than with specifics. This is true especially when the generalized concepts are
easily understood. Generalized concepts give learners a clearer picture if you start with a
general concept before proceeding to specifics. For example, if the intended outcome is to
provide students with knowledge about ways to limit family size, begin with discussions
of attitudes about family size. Progress to identify positive and negative aspects of large
and small families. Then provide specific information about methods available to limit
family size.
3. Use an existing logical organization. There is a natural logic or normal system of
organization to some content. For example, if you teach learners about nutrients in different
foods before planning preparing nutritionally balanced meals for a week.
4. Move from the known to the unknown: people build their knowledge and skills by
adding and connecting new knowledge to what they already know or can do. Therefore,
the curriculum developers and the facilitators should structure and sequence the content to
begin with current knowledge and move to new knowledge. Known concepts can be taken
and adapted or related to new but similar concepts. The use of analogies is an example of
moving from known to the unknown. This is a good technique to deal with sensitive issues.

After determining the scope and sequence of the content, the next step is to prepare the content
outline that transforms the intended outcomes into the information or knowledge. The steps
suggest a logical procedure to prepare an outline.

1. Identify the necessary knowledge to accomplish the intended outcome: Analyze each
intended outcome. Identify the knowledge needed to attain the desired outcome. Break
knowledge into facts, concepts, and principles to be remembered or understood to
accomplish the intended outcome.
2. Identify the performance or skill requirements of each outcome: This step is
accomplished in the same manner as knowledge component identification. The difference
is that required actions for accomplishment of the outcome must be identified. The question
is, "What should someone do in order to accomplish the intended outcome?" The answer
identifies skill requirements. It should be noted that not all outcomes will have a physical
(psycho-motor) skills but may have cognitive or other life skills.

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 3. Identify important attitude elements for the outcome: Many outcomes have attitude
elements. Learners may possess the necessary knowledge and skills (in problem solving
and decision making), but if their attitude is not open to apply what they know, it simply
will not make a meaningful difference or bring about change.
4. Organize the knowledge, attitude, skills, aspirations, and behavior (KASAB) elements
into a logical sequence. The sequence progressions described earlier should be taken into
consideration as major topic areas are sub-divided into smaller portions. Each topic and
sub-topic should be subdivided in a way that makes sense logically to the designers,
learning experts, and the learners. There should be a natural flow from the "big topic" to
the specific subtopics that need to attain the outcome. The characteristics of the learners
and the needs assessment determine what the learners already know then the curriculum
team builds on it. This procedure will result in a topic outline for each unit, lesson, or part
of a lesson. This is a critical step for planning the types of experiences and activities that
will engage the learner in learning the concepts, facts, and principles as well as skills.

At the end of this process, curriculum developers should have a "working outline" of the
curriculum content.

General principles in selecting learning experiences

• Provide experiences that give students opportunities to practice the behavior and deal with
the content implied.
• Provide experiences that give satisfaction from carrying on the kind of behavior implied in
the objectives.
• Provide experiences that are appropriate to the student’s present attainments, his/her
predispositions.
• Keep in mind that many experiences can be used to attain the same educational objectives.
• Remember that the same learning experience will usually bring about several outcomes.

Criteria for the selection of content

Several criteria need to be considered in selecting content. These include the validity, significance,
needs, and interests of learners.

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Validity: The term validity implies a close connection between content and the goals which it is
intended to serve. In this sense, content is valid if it promotes the outcomes that it is intended to
promote. Validity is the authenticity of the content selected. The content must be authentic with
development in the subject or knowledge area. In this time of information explosion and the rapid
technological means of delivering information such as Facebook, You Tube, and Wikipedia,
knowledge selected for school content can quickly become outdated and even incorrect. Anyone
can post information and not identify its source.

Significance: The significance of curriculum content refers to the sustainability of the material
chosen to meet certain needs and ability levels of the learners. Content should contribute to the
basic ideas, concepts, principles, generalizations, and so on, of the overall aims of the curriculum.
Content should also consider the development of particular learning abilities, skills, processes, and
attitude formation.
Needs and interests of the learner: The needs and interests of the learners are considered in the
selection of content to ensure a relevant curriculum to the student’s world. This also ensures that
the students will be more motivated to engage with the curriculum. The child should be the source
of the curriculum; in other words, the children’s interest should determine the curriculum.

Utility: Utility concerns the usefulness of the content. Usefulness to those favoring the subject-
centered design is often judged in terms of how the content learned enables students to use that
knowledge in job situations and other adult activities. Usefulness to those in the learner-centered
camp is related to how the content enables the individual to gain an accurate perception of his or
her self-identity and to attain meaning in his or her life. Proponents of the problem-centered mode
think of content as having utility if it has direct application to ongoing life and to social and
political issues.

Educational decision-makers must consider two kinds of utility: current utility and future utility.
There are certain contents that students must learn for immediate application to be successful in
their current lives. Some of these contents have utility for all students, regardless of the students’
desires or life ambitions. However, some contents have immediate utility only for students who
have very specialized needs, desires, or ambitions. Thus, utility must be considered with the

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student audience in mind. In addition to content that has current utility or immediate application,
there are contents that have current utility for preparing students to deal with the future, not the
immediate present. These contents have utility in getting students to think in particular ways that
will be useful in the future. These contents have utility in getting students to be futurists
themselves, to engage in futures planning, to forecast events, and to assess future consequences of
current and emerging trends.

In the global and digital world, educators must rethink the criterion of utility. Some content might
have limited utility and perhaps even be useless, in particular students’ immediate environment.
However, those charged with selecting content must recognize that in today’s world, what might
be of little value in the immediate community may have great worth in a distant community. Some
might argue this point by asserting that their students are unlikely to travel to distant places.
However, a student might indeed be able to market his or her knowledge or skills in a distant place
without actually leaving his or her home office. We do not need to travel to India to work there.
“Nothing is too strange to be useful.” Phrased differently, nothing is too strange to have utility. No
content, no knowledge, if presented on a world scale, lacks utility to some audience, however
small. There is no knowledge, no content, that does not have utility to someone.

Learnability: The learnability criterion relates to the optimal placement and appropriate
organization and sequencing of content. Furthermore, it addresses the issue of appropriateness for
the intended student audience. Certain selected contents may be out of the range of experiences of
particular students and are thus difficult, if not impossible, to learn. Furthermore, selected contents
are sometimes arranged and presented in ways that make their learning easy.
Curriculum content must be learnable and adaptable to the students’ experiences. One factor in
learnability is the adjustment of the curriculum content and learning experiences must be adjusted
on learners’’ abilities of the learners. For effective learning, the abilities of students must be
considered at every point of the selection and organization.
Consistency with social realities: If the curriculum is to be a useful prescription for learning, its
content, and the outcomes it pursues need to be in tune with the social and cultural realities of the
culture and the times.

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Feasibility forces curriculum planners to consider content in light of the time allowed the
resources available, the expertise of current staff, the nature of the political climate, the existing
legislation, and the amount of public monies available. Even the number of days in the school
calendar, for example, limits what can be taught. Content selection must be considered within the
context of the existing reality, which usually boils down to economics and politics.
Scope: It is the breadth and depth of content.

Besides, the following curriculum dimensions should assist in considering content in depth:

1. Consider the content’s intellectual dimension. This is perhaps curriculum’s most commonly
thought-of dimension. The content selected should stimulate students’ intellectual development.

2. Consider the content’s emotional dimension. We know much less about this dimension, but
we are obtaining a better understanding of it as the affective domain of knowledge.

3. Consider the content’s social dimension. The content selected should contribute to students’
social development and stress human relations.

4. Consider the content’s physical dimension, commonly referred to as the psychomotor domain
of knowledge. Content should be selected to develop physical skills and allow students to become
more physically self-aware.

5. Consider the content’s aesthetic dimension. People have an aesthetic dimension, yet we
currently have little knowledge of aesthetics’ place in education.

6. Consider the content’s transcendent or spiritual dimension. We tend to confuse this

dimension with formal religion. However, we must have content that causes students to reflect on
the nature of their humanness and helps them transcend their current levels of knowledge and
action.

For other criteria, refer to unit 1 on elements of the curriculum, p.19.

(6) Design experiential methods

The main question: how learners will acquire the knowledge, attitudes, skills, aspirations, and
behaviors needed to attain the intended outcomes? After the content is selected, the next step is to

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design activities (learning experiences) to help the learner achieve appropriate intended outcomes.
Activities have to consider the characteristics and needs of the learner including their learning
styles, the intended outcomes, the content or subject matter, and the learning environment.

Learning styles

Everyone gives and receives information and messages through the senses. The senses use in
learning are the visual (seeing), auditory (hearing), kinesthetic (physical involvement), and
tactile (touch). Learning occurs when information is passed through all of these sensory channels;
however, research indicates that people are quite individual in their preference or effectiveness to
process information through the various channels. Most people have a dominant or preferred
learning channel or style. For example, one person may remember people by their face or what
they were wearing (visual). Another person may recall names (auditory). Someone else might
remember a handshake (tactile), etc. Some individuals may learn best visually but would have to
consciously develop the other senses to learn through them.

The curriculum developer needs to consider that people do not all learn the same way. This means
a variety of methods should be used to teach concepts. The following chart shows activities
designed to maximize learning through the different senses:

Learning Style Type of Learning Activity

Auditory (Speaking and hearing are primary Activity focuses on speaking and hearing like
learning modes). small groups discussion and presentations.
Visual (Sight is principal learning mode). Activity focuses on visual presentations like
reading, discussing the presented materials
through observation, drawing, etc.
Kinesthetic (Active physical involvement is Activity is interpreting a concept through
primary learning mode) physical involvement through for instance role
play.
Tactile (Touch is the primary learning mode). Activity focuses on using hands to make
objects to illustrate a concept.

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Variety of activities

A wide variety of learning experiences is important to the design of learning experiences for
students. The activities should be fun and interesting. curriculum development team should
brainstorm, research new methods of teaching concepts, talk to teachers and students to learn what
they like to do best, then design learning experiences around the activity to help them attain the
intended outcome.

The following activities are methods that help learners attain the knowledge, attitudes, skills,
aspirations, and behaviors related to the content:

It is important to suggest several activities the facilitator can choose to use and resources from the
community or other communities to enhance the learning process.

Learning environments

The learning environment refers to the physical, social, and psychological atmospheres.

Physical setting: the type of physical setting (i.e., a school, park, community center, clinic, home,
or religious gathering place) will affect the type of activities that can be done. For example, a park
would provide a natural setting to examine land use and how population affects it. The location,
light, heat, space, equipment, etc. will also affect how comfortable, physically, and
psychologically, the learners are. People learn best in environments that suit their needs and are
comfortable.

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Social environment: The social environment is a critical factor in the learning process. For
instance, modeling defined as imitative learning occurs naturally in social situations.

Psychological environment. Closely related to the social environment, the psychological

environment refers to the feelings of comfort and security members feel about being in a group.
The level of trust achieved within the group is fostered by the modeling behaviour of the group
facilitator as well as the behaviour of the group members toward each other. The curriculum
developers determine the type of activities that will build positive relations among and between
group members and facilitators.

Experiential Learning Model and cycle

Now it is time to put all of these considerations about how the content will be delivered into a
logical sequence from the learner's perspective. The experiential learning model provides a
learning sequence that maximizes the learning process in a significant and meaningful way.

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Phase III: Curriculum implementation

This phase includes producing the curriculum materials; testing and revising them; recruiting and
training facilitators; and implementing the curriculum materials with the target audience.

(7) Produce curriculum product (materials)

Once the content and experiential methods have been agreed upon, the actual production of
curriculum materials begins. This section includes: 1) suggestions for finding and evaluating
existing materials; 2) evaluation criteria; and 3) suggestions for producing curriculum materials.

Find existing curriculum materials

The cost, time, and financial commitment needed to develop curriculum is too great to waste on
developing new materials when appropriate materials already exist. Can existing materials be used
as they are? If not, perhaps with adaptations? Can a supplemental facilitator's guide be developed
instead of all new materials?

Networking is one of the best ways to find existing curricula. Ask others who work with the target
audiences if they use or know existing curriculum materials. Teachers, education professionals,
college, and university professors all have access to information and research. Check with not-for-
profit and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at national and international levels for
materials. Existing curriculum materials should be reviewed before writing new curriculum
materials.

Networking via computer data bases and the internet can help identify sources of information and
curriculum. Someone with access to the internet and knowledge of internet research techniques
could be a valuable curriculum development team member!

Evaluate existing curriculum materials!

Content, methods of learning (activities), style, and format are criteria to evaluate existing
curriculum materials. Review different curriculum materials and expect to pay for some materials.

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Commercially produced materials can provide valuable insights on how to organize and creatively
illustrate the curriculum content.

Checklist to evaluate curriculum materials:

✓ Does the curriculum product fill a genuine need? Will it help learners attain the intended
outcome? Does it address the issue of concern? If something is already available in an
appropriate form, it is a waste of time and resources to develop new materials.
✓ Is the product economical—financially, in terms of production and use- comparable to
available alternatives? Conduct a cost-benefit analysis. If the product is purchased, how much
will it cost? What additional costs would be incurred to train facilitators? Would it cost less or more
to produce your own curriculum products?
✓ Is the product well designed for the intended audience? A well-developed curriculum fits the
intended audience. Questions about writing, layout, and font type appropriate for the target
audience can be addressed through textbooks, workbooks, and magazines. What proportion of each
page is type? What style of illustrations are most appropriate for the audience? How many different
types of learning experiences are used? Are there suggestions for reflection (evaluation) on lessons
learned and additional follow-up?
✓ Does the product incorporate and support all phases of an experiential learning cycle? Can
the activities help learners attain the intended outcomes? Are learners encouraged to think and
process what they have done and learned? Are opportunities (activities) provided for learners to
compare, contrast, and evaluate what they have done? Are activities provided for learners to apply
what has been learned to new situations? Unfortunately, many curriculum materials do not match
intended outcomes to activities, nor are activities designed for participants to reflect upon what they
have done or to apply the principles to new situations.

Using the above criteria to evaluate existing materials will help the team make judgements about
their quality and if they can be used to meet the needs of the target audience. Can Curriculum
development team justify creating your own materials? That determination must be made in
relationship to the intended outcomes, the target audience, the identified needs, and the availability
and quality of existing materials. Curriculum development team should be able to state how
existing materials do or do not meet the needs identified.

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Factors to consider before writing and producing new curriculum products
A number of factors need to be considered before new materials are developed:
1. The writer should have knowledge of the issue, the target audience, and curriculum
design. Ideally, the writer is a member of the curriculum design team and has been involved
in the planning and decision-making processes from the very beginning. If not, plan to
spend time briefing the writer on team expectations and continue to work with the writer
throughout the process. Feedback is critical to achieve the desired outcome.
2. The type of publication must be identified. Is the product for students? for facilitators?
Are handouts or worksheets included? The product needs to be "directed" toward a specific
audience.
3. Format is important. "Form follows function." If the product is for a facilitator,
determine what a facilitator needs to have and do to facilitate an experiential learning
process. The experiential learning model provides guidance (i.e., activity /experience,
share, process, generalize, and apply). If the learner is the direct user of the product:
determine what the learner will do; provide opportunities for them to reflect on their
actions; and encourage them to apply what they learn to a new situation.
4. Validity in curriculum materials is essential. Validity is when activities (what is
done) aligns with the stated intended outcome (what we said we intended to
do). Intended outcomes must be matched with supporting activities.

Keynote:

1. Develop the curriculum only if necessary.

2. Keep the user of the product in mind.
3. Make it usable.
4. Make it valid.

Produce a draft copy of the curriculum product

The final step is to produce a draft copy of the curriculum product for the pilot test. It should be
reviewed by several members of the curriculum development team, revised, and edited at least
once before pilot testing. Allow time for revisions and rewrites. Quality takes time. Curriculum
development is a creative process that requires gestation before it bears fruit. Ideally, the draft will
include illustrations and resemble the final product.

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(8) Test and revise curriculum

This step includes suggestions on how to pilot test the materials and to conduct a formative
evaluation of the produced curriculum materials. Formative assessment is a process used to
determine if a curriculum product is valid (if it does what is intended) and reliable (it consistently
does what it is intended to do). Facilitators (teachers in this case) test the curriculum product with
target audience groups and provide the writer and the curriculum development team feedback. This
step is divided into two separate phases: 1) the selection of group facilitators and pilot test sites
and 2) the selection of evaluation tools to assess the effectiveness (validity and reliability) of the
curriculum product.

Selection of pilot test sites and facilitators

Determine pilot test sites. For example, if the new curriculum materials are developed for all
secondary TVET schools in Rwanda, then the number of pilot test sites in each province and
district would depend on the number of TVET schools in each province. The goal is to test the
curriculum with a representative sample of schools from each province and district to evaluate its
effectiveness. The facilitators will be determined in relation to the sites selected. The sample size
can be determined using sample size determination techniques. Feedback from the pilot
facilitators will provide information and to help identify content and method training needs for
additional facilitators.

Formative evaluation for testing curriculum materials

The purpose of a formative evaluation is to get feedback from the "end users" of the curriculum
product. Feedback should identify if the learners attained the intended outcomes with the planned
activities. If they had difficulty, items or activities causing the problem are identified and
eliminated or changed before the final product is released.

Summary of formative evaluation check points:

√ Do early trials with a few learners show that the product content is suitable for the target
audience, the experiences (activities) are appropriate, and the learners enjoy the learning

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 experience? If not, revise your pilot materials and methods (activities) and try again. Pay
careful attention to what your target audience members and facilitators say. They make the
curriculum meaningful and realistic.

√ Does the curriculum product satisfactorily achieve specified learner outcomes with the
target audience? Even when your first pilot effort enables you to say "yes" to this last
question, your product may not be in its final form. The version you publish and distribute
may later be improved. Input from users will provide feedback for future revisions and
improvements.

√ From the perspective of the learner, does the learning product have value? Most students
today have a choice of more activities than time to explore them. Is your curriculum going to
actively engage the learners? Will they consider it worth their time?

√ Do the pilot versions in all settings (delivery modes and conditions) work as intended
(reliability)?
If not, there are two choices: 1) narrow the delivery modes or conditions where you use the
materials or 2) modify the curriculum products to work in all settings (conditions).
√ Do tools such as pre- and post-test attitude questionnaire responses for learners and
facilitators, transcripts of interviews, and evaluations of observers show that each
learner outcome planned for in the curriculum is being met by a majority of the learners?
Use effective evaluation tools to ensure the new curriculum product accomplishes what you
want it to accomplish. Keep improving it until it achieves what you want and need.
√ Do pilot groups include the diversity of conditions and settings of the groups you expect
to use the final product?
√ In preparation for final pilot testing, have you trained the facilitators as they will be
trained with the final product, using the same materials?
√ Will the program or product you design (and its marketing plan) assure a sizable and
demonstrably reachable market?
New curriculum products are of no use if they do not reach the intended audience. The
activities must be interesting (fun and usable) to the target audience and facilitators.
Enthusiasm is a vital measurement of program success. The development of attitudes and

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 values (e.g., population education) is as important as facts, concepts, and principles. A positive
attitude toward the subject is more likely to have a more lasting impact.
√ Are the learners and facilitators aware of what has been accomplished?
Good education curricula include simple self-assessments. They are ways to gather benchmark
data and help youth assess their skills and abilities. They can also be used for reporting impact
and are effective as reinforcement to learners and facilitators. Your imagination will be taxed
to develop assessments that are appropriate, but they are worth the effort.
√ Does the curriculum product satisfactorily achieve specified learner outcomes with the
target audience?
Even when your first pilot effort enables you to say "yes" to this last question, your product
may not be in its final form. The version you publish and distribute may later be improved.
Input from users will provide feedback for future revisions, changes, and improvements over
the years.
√ From the perspective of the learner, does the learning product have value?
Most youth today have a choice of more activities than time to explore them. Is your
curriculum going to actively engage the learners? Will they consider it worth their time?

This step included procedures to evaluate existing curriculum materials and to evaluate the pilot
testing of the curriculum.

(9) Recruit and train facilitators

It is a waste of time and resources to develop curriculum materials if facilitators are not adequately
trained to use and implement the program. Even professional trainers and educators need to be
trained in new content and methods. The facilitators who help learners attain program outcomes
(i.e., teachers, trainers, leaders, guides, or mentors) must be trained. When the content includes
sensitive issues (as is the case with population education) and group interaction is the primary
method used to process content, training is critical.

Recruit facilitators to facilitate and implement the new curriculum: First, identify the skills,
knowledge, and characteristics needed for group facilitators to implement the curriculum. Next,

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perform a group facilitator task analysis (i.e., list everything that a facilitator would do to
implement the curriculum) and develop a job description for the position and advertise the position.
Recruiting competent facilitators is essential for successful curriculum implementation.

Facilitator training: A training curriculum is developed using the same process used for the
curriculum product but adapted for training facilitators. First, an overall strategy is developed that
considers the skills and characteristics of the group facilitators as well as the tasks to facilitate
group learning. Review the characteristics of adult learners before planning the training
curriculum. Establish intended outcomes for each major training component. The outcomes will
enable the facilitator to learn group process techniques as well as the content and activities to
support the intended outcome for the learner. Each training component should have a measurable
intended outcome. It should be clear to the facilitators what they need to master to be a skilled
facilitator.

The experiential learning model provides excellent guidance on content and group process (do,
reflect, apply). Keep the characteristics of adult learners in mind when choosing the types of
activities and experiences you want them to do, reflect on, and apply when they are facilitating
youth groups.

(10) Implement curriculum

Effective implementation of newly developed curriculum products is unlikely to occur without
planning. Strategies to promote and use the curriculum are discussed in this step.
Key national and local leaders or collaborating organizations must be convinced of the value of
the curriculum product and the potential success of the program to benefit individuals and the
community. Facilitators should be enthusiastic and see the curriculum as important. They should
also recognize the personal benefits they may receive from curriculum implementation.

The promotion and implementation of curriculum materials requires attention and sensitivity to
the customer (i.e., the target audience), the environment in which it is presented, and
the issues it addresses (with focus on the benefits to individuals). Know where a strong interest
exists among students, identify then build on successes, learn from experiences and strive for
continuous improvement, be inclusive and collaborative in selecting the support.

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Although the implementation step is discussed near the end of the curriculum development
process, it should be part of the overall planning strategy from the beginning. By "keeping the
end in mind" throughout the whole development process, most of the considerations in this step
will already be known.

Phase IV: Curriculum evaluation and reporting

This phase of the curriculum development process is divided into two steps, 1) evaluation
strategies and 2) reporting and securing resources. These two steps are important to make
judgements regarding the extent the intended outcomes are achieved, to determine accountability
(i.e., was the outcome worth the investment of time and resources), and to provide evidence that
further investments will have a greater impact on the problem.

(11) Design evaluation strategies

If You Don't Know Where You Are Going,

You'll End Up Somewhere Else."

Evaluation is to make a specific assessment about the value of all or part of the curriculum by
collecting evidence to determine if acceptable standards have been met. Two types of evaluation,
formative and summative, are used during curriculum development. Formative evaluations are
used during the needs assessment, product development, and testing steps (Step 3: needs
assessment and step 8: test and revise). The aim of formative evaluation is to provide information
helpful to final product design. It also provides baseline data and lays the foundation for the
summative evaluation (i.e., the sum of all parts). Summative evaluations are undertaken to measure
and report on the outcomes of the curriculum. The aim of a summative evaluation is to step back,
put all the parts together, and make judgements as to how well the overall intended outcomes have
been achieved. It answers the question: Did we achieve what we intended?
The purpose of evaluation is to:
• Determine what happened (or did not happen)
• Improve future curriculum development processes.
• Communicate results to current and future shareholders (stake holders)

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 • Effect organizational, programmatic, local, regional, and national policy
The evaluations either improve activities to help learners attain the intended outcome or assess if
the intended outcomes have been achieved.
Six phases of program or curriculum development where evaluation is useful:
1. Needs assessment (Formative). Who is the target audience and what are their needs and
characteristics? Provides information to help design the product or program.
2. Pilot test and revision (Formative). What works well and what needs improvement?
3. Beginning of the implementation of the program, project, or curriculum using pre- and
post-tests (Formative). Are there ways to help learners achieve the intended outcomes
better?
4. During the implementation (Formative). Assesses if intended outcomes are being
attained.
5. Completion of implementation (Summative). Provides evidence of the extent intended
outcomes have been achieved.
6. Follow-up data sometime after the program or implementation for long term impact
analysis (Summative). Provides evidence the curriculum or program has had long term,
lasting impact on the learners. Identifies areas of changed attitudes, skills, behavior, and/or
practices.
Procedures for developing an evaluation include:
1. Establish standards or criteria of measurement to determine the extent to which an
outcome has been attained. Review intended outcomes and baseline data during the needs
assessment. Transform them into a criterion (a standard of measurement) to collect
evidence. Consider the levels of need (knowledge, attitude, and practices) and the levels of
learning (knowledge, attitude, skills, aspirations, and behavior).
Example of a criterion from intended outcome from population education
Intended outcome = Through participation in the curriculum activities, learners will be
able to identify three ways overpopulation effects agricultural production.
Criterion = ability to recall one or more of the six ways agricultural production is directly
affected by overpopulation.
2. Gather evidence about the criteria. Identify indicators: words, numbers, or things
as proof of the extent to which the criteria are present.

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 Example of evidence (indicators) from an criterion from population Education
Criterion = ability to recall one or more of the six basic elements of agricultural production
most directly affected by overpopulation.
Evidence = Eighty percent of the learners were able to recall three of the six major impacts of
overpopulation on agricultural production. Ten percent recalled all six and six percent recalled
two.
There are three primary methods used to gather evidence:
✓ Question learners:
• Group discussions
• Questionnaires
• Informal conversations
• Exposition: learners write
• Interviews: personal, telephone, structured, & unstructured.
• Learners keep a running log or diary of their experiences.
✓ Observe learners.
✓ Examine documents.
Before gathering data, consideration should be given to the type of data needed for the reports
generated. "Once again, start with the end in mind", know where you are going, and the data needed
to support the intended outcome. Planning how to report impact must be based on the knowledge
already gained from formative evaluations and pilot testing the materials and training program.
A report can include several types of information based on the evidence in data. Decisions about
what to include or the focus of the report must also be determined before gathering the data. A
useful guide to the kinds of information reported is Bennett's (1976) seven categories of
evaluation evidence:
Categories of evaluation evidence:

• End results. The changes or actions by people and communities. Emphasis is on the
economy, environment, or social and cultural adjustments and improvements.

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 • Practice Change. The focus is on specific actions the learner is now doing (e.g., accounting
practices, farm practices, business procedures, nutritional practices, or relationships within
a family).
• KASA change. This category refers to changes in knowledge, attitudes, skills, and
aspirations. The measurements may be validated, or they may simply be opinions on the
extent of change.
• Reactions. The views of the learners often are useful in a report. These views can reveal
feelings about the value of a program.
• People involvement. Data on the number of people participating in a program can be
used in a variety of ways in a report. Numbers can be described in terms of student-contact
hours, as a percentage of the total population, of social-economic groups, or of professional
groups.
• Activities. The inclusion of information about what was made available through various
learning opportunities is useful in a report. This type of information illustrates the efforts
of the programmer to assist people through educational opportunities.
• Inputs. This category includes the staff and other resources that are put into the program.

After evidence (data) is gathered, it is tabulated and analyzed to determine trends. The objective
is to gather information to judge the value of the curriculum or program.

3. A judgement is made about the value of the curriculum or program by comparing the
evidence (presence of indicators) with the criteria.

Example of Judgement from population education

Evidence = Eighty percent of the learners were able to recall three of the six major impacts
overpopulation has on agricultural production. Ten percent were able to recall all six and six
percent recalled two. Four percent did not respond.

Judgement = Evidence suggests learners understood the relationship between overpopulation and
agricultural production given the comparison between the pre-test (needs assessment) results
where only 29% of the learners could identify two or more of the six major impacts of

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overpopulation on agricultural production compared to 80% of the learners who recalled three or
more of the impacts after participation in the curriculum activities.

Once the value of the program has been determined, by the evidence supplied by the indicators, the
next step is to report the value of the program to clients, stakeholders (shareholders), funding
sources, and policy makers.

(12) Reporting and securing resources

This step includes two important aspects of the curriculum development process: 1) reporting
curriculum impact and 2) securing resources for future development, expanding training and the
scope of the program through the curriculum and/or the development of additional curriculum.

Reporting

Perhaps one of the most neglected, yet one of the more important steps in the curriculum
development process, is reporting the value and impact of the curriculum and the program it
supports. The evaluation provides the evidence of the program's value and the impact it has had
on the lives of the learners. The report is a vehicle to communicate that information.

Functions of reports are to:

• Provide a basis for further program (curriculum) development and improvement.
Reporting the effectiveness of a program will allow various clientele and support groups
to suggest new directions for programs, new topics, and needed changes in format,
promotion, and methodology.
• Provide the necessary information or data for support and defense for continuing or
expanding programs where such action is appropriate. Individuals who hold financial
decision-making responsibilities are supportive of quality or success. They want
continuous evidence that they are making correct decisions.
• Provide the basis for promotion and public relations. Findings and conclusions for
evaluations are useful in creating a positive image for the institution and in the promotion
of future program efforts. A strong promotional effort is essential for maintaining the
interests and commitment to continuing education.

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Similar to the curriculum development process, the first consideration in the reporting process is
to identify the target audience for the report. The rest of the process is focused on what is being
communicated, to which audience, and for what purpose.

Tips for preparing reports:

1. Know who you are reporting to and why. Clarify the purpose of the report. Clarify what
you want to report. More than one report may be necessary if the audiences are quite
different. Consider: clients, members of the community, funding sources, and policy
makers.
2. Keep the report short, to the point, and well organized. Do not clutter it with
information not relevant to the central message. The main ideas should be clear.
3. Relate the information to a few questions that need to be answered for the reader and to
recommended actions.
4. Put the most important information up front. The summary should be at the beginning
(for those who will not read the entire report). Start each part or section with the most
important information.
5. Make the report interesting and appealing. Use simple visuals, graphs, and illustrations.
The style and layout of the report is important no matter how simple it is. Explore using
more than printed formats, (e.g., use video tapes).
6. Use clear and concise wording. Keep the reader in mind. Define basic terms that may be
unfamiliar to the reader.
7. Include anecdotal remarks or comments by learners to help make the report "come alive.

The content of the report will depend on the evaluation evidence (refer to Categories of
Evidence (Bennett) and the targeted audience of the report. Be sure to recognize the whole
curriculum development team, including the test facilitators and participants.

Reports should be interesting to read as well as useful to promote and explain the program, its
impact, and to secure resources. But if it is not disseminated and used for what it was intended, it
is a waste of time and effort to gather the data and prepare it. One of the most important strategies
is your plan for using die report effectively to accomplish the outcomes you intend.

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Securing resources

An area of primary importance in the program and curriculum development process is the project’s
source of funding. Whether funds are secured from non-governmental or governmental
organizations, justification and accountability are essential. The evaluation and reporting strategies
are focused on providing evidence the curriculum developed is justifiable in terms of cost-benefit
analysis and expenditures.

The same basic principles used throughout the curriculum development process apply to securing
additional resources. A list of the key components of a funding proposal includes:

• Know your audience. Know the priorities of the funding source and how your project
meets their priorities (needs). Help them understand what benefits they get from funding
the project.
• Clearly communicate the needs of the targeted audience and the intended outcomes.
• Outline the expected subject matter (content) and methods to help the targeted audience
achieve the intended outcomes.
• Link budget items to each phase of the project: planning, implementation (producing
products, testing, and revising, recruiting and training volunteers, and promoting the
program and/or product), evaluating, and reporting. The cost of each phase is the basis of
the budget and need for funding. Show "in-kind" values (i.e., projected costs of volunteer
services and/or staff salaries) as well as direct and indirect costs.
• Outline your evaluation strategy. Show how you will measure the project achievement by
the intended outcomes. The evaluation section should be very clearly communicated.
• Include a reporting and communications schedule with key components identified.

This completes the curriculum development process and provides a foundation to "begin all over
again." The curriculum development process is much like program development. It is a continuous
cycle where the completion of one cycle leads to the next either because of new issues and needs
or for revision and updating.

"It takes a whole village to raise a child" An African proverb

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3.7 Curriculum change

Curriculum change refers to the process of modifying, revising, or updating the content, structure,
and delivery of a curriculum. The purpose is to improve the effectiveness of education and to better
align it with the needs of students, society, and the workforce.

Why does curriculum need to change?

The short answer is because our world is constantly changing. Our students need to be able to
change with it. What better example than for them to see change in action while they are
learning? As a general rule, the reason curriculum needs to change is because it is outdated,
demand for knowledge changes, knowledge grows, and students need to both see the big picture
and stay engaged.

1. It is outdated

While it is generally the responsibility of the teacher to adapt the curriculum to the particular
classroom (i.e., students) that are being taught, having an updated curriculum is paramount to
success. It allows the teacher to use that curriculum without having to research to find
supplemental, up-to-date information. That saves the teacher huge amounts of time, allowing
him/her to spend more time focusing on preparation and teaching than on research. Most updating
of curriculum is going to occur in subjects like history, science, and technology fields, where things
are constantly changing.

2. The Demand for Knowledge Changes

The biggest reason for a change in education based on demand for knowledge lies in the fact that
the world around us is always changing. The past century has seen unprecedented changes that
have caused even more change at the classroom level.
For example, we now think globally instead of locally. That shifts the way we process information
because we know so much more about other cultures and countries than in times past. In the past,
people read about other countries and cultures. Now we see them firsthand on tv, internet, books,

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magazines, and social media at the very least. We are so immersed in other cultures globally that
it automatically affects how we receive education.
In addition to that, we now also think in terms of modern technology. We use our phones to do
myriad things every day. If we had been told specific things our phones can now do fifty years
ago, we would have laughed and thought that person was crazy. But those myriad things we can
do with our phones allow us to connect to the whole world. And they allow us to connect to more
information and education than anybody in history has ever had access to.

3.Seeing the big picture

And that takes us to why curriculum needs to change based on a much larger demand for
knowledge. We no longer live as small communities in our small communities. We live as part
of a very large world. And that large world comes with a much larger knowledge base.
That is an amazing concept to take in. But it is also incredibly overwhelming when we realize that
we will never be able to take in all of the knowledge, or even necessarily a good-sized chunk. But
we can arrange the best way to take in the best of that knowledge based on our current classroom
needs.
In addition to that, we now also think in terms of modern technology. We use our phones to do
myriad things every day. If we had been told specific things our phones can now do fifty years
ago, we would have laughed and thought that person was crazy. But those myriad things we can
do with our phones allow us to connect to the whole world. And they allow us to connect to more
information and education than anybody in history has ever had access to.

4. Technology advances
Curriculum needs to change because technology advances that have occurred outside of the
classroom have a huge impact on what happens inside the classroom. The way we all do things
now compared to even a decade ago is so drastically different. We generally don’t realize how
much technology impacts almost every area of our lives.
Technology has always been a part of the classroom. It is just that in the past century technology
has increased exponentially. This has made it look like a totally different issue in the
classroom. And indeed, the super-fast progression of technology has greatly affected the current
day classroom.

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We can supplement our students’ lessons with a video that develops what they have learned in
multiple ways. That video can be a YouTube video that expands on that subject. But even cooler,
that video can be in interview (possibly even live) with someone who is an authority on the subject
they are learning.
Technology can also be used to assign students work that allows them to develop what they have
learned in the classroom. It allows them to apply those concepts to real-life situations. And that
means that they aren’t just learning academics. They are learning life!

5. Our world (and worldview) changes

Life changes just a bit every single day. In fact, life changes by the moment. We tend to not notice
that so much. But we do notice the huge events that shape our lives. Everybody knows about the
World Trade Center tragedy, when JFK was assassinated, the moon landing, and other huge events
that happened. But very few people know what day the internet was invented, how computers
were being used in the mid-20th century, or about specific medical advances that have been
happening for decades (unless there are specific family members going through related issues
maybe).
regardless of how aware we are of the changes that are going on around the world, they all change
the way we think, feel and function. And the classroom is not immune from that.
Some examples of how it affects our students and classroom are the vocabulary that we use,
terminology of subjects, processes, and routines. In fact, the routines themselves change over time
based of what is going on in the world around us.
Being flexible is key, as well as using change in the classroom as an educational opportunity. Kids
love open communication. Thus, they don’t feel left out of the loop, and they aren’t worried about
what is coming next. Also, it is great preparation for the life they will live outside of the classroom,
now and later.
Conclusion
Curriculum needs to change because everything changes. The classroom is not a bubble. In fact,
it is the best place to reflect on and learn from what is going on in the world. Whether that is done
through math class, science, history, social studies, literature, or any class, it still is done best when
it is done with an eye on what is going on in the world.

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And how much more prepared will our students be to enter into a world that they have already
seen in action and learned about!

Factors influencing curriculum change

Curriculum change is often driven by various factors such as changes in societal needs,
advancements in technology, new knowledge, and research, and shifts in student demographics
and learning styles.
1. Societal Changes: Changes in society’s values, beliefs, and expectations can prompt
curriculum changes. For example, the increasing importance of technology in our daily
lives has led to a greater emphasis on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics) education in school curriculums.
2. Technological Advances: Advancements in technology can also influence curriculum
changes. For example, the widespread availability of digital learning tools and online
resources has led to a greater focus on blended learning and personalized instruction.
3. Globalization: The increasing interconnectedness of the world has led to a greater
emphasis on global education and cultural competency in school curriculums.
4. Economic Factors: Economic factors such as changes in job markets, workforce needs,
and funding can also impact curriculum changes. For example, a shift towards more
service-oriented jobs may prompt a greater emphasis on vocational training in schools.
5. Research and Development: Advances in educational research and development can
also influence curriculum changes. For example, new research on how students learn
and retain information may lead to changes in teaching methods and curriculum design.
6. Political Factors: Political factors such as changes in education policy and government
funding can also impact curriculum changes. For example, changes in government
leadership or policies may result in changes to education funding or mandates for certain
subject areas.

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Steps involved in curriculum change

The process of change involves a thorough analysis of the existing curriculum, identification of
the strengths and weaknesses, and the development of a plan for modifying or updating the
curriculum. Curriculum change can be a complex and challenging process that requires the
involvement of various stakeholders such as educators, administrators, subject matter experts,
students, and parents. Effective change also requires careful planning and implementation,
ongoing evaluation, and continuous improvement.

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The following are steps involved in curriculum change.
1. Needs assessment: It typically begins with an assessment of current needs and an
analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the existing curriculum. This may involve
data gathering, consultations with stakeholders, and a review of current research and
best practices.
2. Goal setting: Once the needs have been identified, the next step is to establish clear
goals and objectives for the It. These goals and objectives should be specific,
measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).
3. Planning: It requires a well-designed plan that outlines the steps and strategies for
implementing the changes. The plan should include a timeline, resources needed, and
the roles and responsibilities of stakeholders.
4. Implementation: The next step is to implement the changes to the curriculum. This
may involve the development of new course materials, changes to teaching methods
and approaches, and the adoption of new technologies.
5. Evaluation: It should be evaluated regularly to ensure that it is achieving its goals and
objectives. This may involve data gathering, assessments of student learning outcomes,
and feedback from stakeholders.
6. Continuous improvement: Based on the evaluation, it may need to be revised,
modified, or updated to ensure that it remains relevant and effective.

For curriculum change to be successfully implemented, five guidelines should be followed:

1. Innovations designed to improve student achievement must be technically sound. Changes
should reflect research findings regarding what does and does not work, not designs that simply
are popular.
2. Successful innovation requires change in the structure of a traditional school. The way students
and teachers are assigned to classes and interact with one another must be significantly modified.
3. Innovation must be manageable and feasible for the average teacher. For example, one cannot
innovate ideas concerning critical thinking or problem solving when students cannot read or write
basic English.
4. Implementation of successful change efforts must be organic rather than bureaucratic. A
bureaucratic approach of strict rules and monitoring is not conducive to change. Such an approach

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should be replaced with an organic and adaptive approach that permits some deviation from the
original plan and recognizes grassroots problems and the school’s conditions.
5. Avoid the “do something, anything” syndrome. A definite curriculum plan is needed to focus
efforts, time, and money on sound, rational content, and activities.

Types of curriculum change

1. Substitution. This depicts alteration in which one element may be substituted for another. A
teacher can, for example, substitute one textbook for another. By far, this is the easiest and most
common type of change.
2. Alteration. This type of change exists when someone introduces, into existing materials and
programs, new content, items, materials, or procedures that appear to be only minor and thus are
likely to be adopted readily.
3. Perturbations. These changes could at first disrupt a program but can then be adjusted
purposefully by the curriculum leader to the ongoing program within a short time span. An
example of a perturbation is the principal’s adjusting class schedules, which would affect the time
allowed for teaching a particular subject.
4. Restructuring. These changes lead to modification of the system itself; that is, of the school or
school district. New concepts of teaching roles, such as differentiated staffing or team teaching,
would be a restructuring type of change.
5. Value-orientation changes. These are shifts in the participants’ fundamental philosophies or
curriculum orientations. Major power brokers of the school or participants in the curriculum must
accept and strive for this level of change for it to occur. However, if teachers do not adjust their
value domains, any changes enacted are most likely going to be short-lived.

Resistance to change

Thomas Harvey, writing on the nature of change, provided an analysis of the obstacles to getting
people involved in change—and why they resist it. The list is still useful.

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1. Lack of ownership. Individuals may not accept change if they think it is coming from outside
their organization; interestingly, much of the current demand for school reform and restructuring
is coming from national commissions or state legislatures.
2. Lack of benefits. Teachers are likely to resist a new program if they are unconvinced that it will
benefit students (in terms of learning) or themselves (e.g., by bringing them greater recognition
and respect).
3. Increased burdens. Often, change means more work. Many teachers are hostile to changes that
will add work to their already-heavy schedules.
4. Lack of administrative support. People will not embrace change unless those officially
responsible for the program have shown their support for the change.
5. Loneliness. Few people desire to innovate alone. Collaborative action is necessary to implement
new programs successfully.
6. Insecurity. People resist what appears to threaten their security. Few will venture into programs
with obvious threat to either job or reputation.
7. Norm incongruence. The assumptions underlying a new program must accord with those of
the staff. Sometimes new programs represent philosophical orientations to education that are at
odds with the staff’s orientations.
8. Boredom. Successful innovations must be presented as interesting, enjoyable, and thought-
provoking.
9. Chaos. If a change is perceived as lessening control and order, it is likely to be opposed. We
desire changes that make things more manageable and enable us to function more effectively.
10. Differential knowledge. If we perceive those who advocate change as being considerably
better-informed than we are, we may see them as having excessive power.
11. Sudden wholesale change. People tend to resist major changes, especially changes requiring
complete redirection.
12. Unique points of resistance. Unexpected circumstances and events can retard change. Not
everything can be planned in advance; people or events outside the organization can impede our
innovative spirit.

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Also, resistance to change can benefit change agents by requiring them to think carefully about
proposed innovations, consider the human dynamics involved in implementing programs, and
avoid advocating change for its own sake or in order to allow some educational fad.

3.8 Contemporary issues and trends in curriculum development

Issues and trends in curriculum development refer to the challenges and changes that impact the
creation, design, and implementation of educational curricula. Some of the current issues and
trends in curriculum development include:

1. Technology integration: As technology continues to advance, it is important to

incorporate it into the curriculum to prepare students for the future job market.
2. Inclusive education: The need to design curricula that are inclusive of all students,
including those with disabilities and from diverse backgrounds, has become a growing trend
in curriculum development.
3. Personalized learning: The shift towards personalized learning, which allows
students to tailor their learning experience to their individual needs and interests, is gaining
momentum.

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4. Global education: Preparing students for a global society is another trend in
curriculum development, which includes the incorporation of global issues, cultural
awareness, and language learning.
5. Social-emotional learning: The importance of addressing students’ social and
emotional needs is increasingly being recognized, and curriculum developers are
incorporating social-emotional learning into their curricula.
6. Environmental education: The need to educate students about environmental
issues and sustainable practices is also a growing trend in curriculum development.
7. Career readiness: Preparing students for their future careers is a critical issue, and
curricula are being developed with a focus on job skills, internships, and vocational training.
8. Assessment and evaluation: Effective assessment and evaluation of student
learning outcomes are crucial for ensuring that the curriculum is meeting its intended goals
and objectives.

Overall, the key issues and trends in curriculum development are focused on creating a
more holistic and inclusive educational experience that prepares students for the challenges
and opportunities of the future.

END!

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