.

Meaning of Education
.

"Education" is derived from the Latin words "educare" and

"educere". Educare refers to "to bring up' or "to nourish",
whereas the word 'educere" means to "to bring forth" or "to
drag out".

The process of training and developing knowledge, skill, mind,

character, etc., esp. by formal schooling; teaching; training..

Knowledge, ability, etc. thus developed.

The process or art of imparting knowledge, skill and judgment.

However, the definitions of education given by the great
philosophers and educationists can broadly be categorized into
three major trends:

1. Education as a spiritual pursuit

2. Development of innate human potentialities:

"Education is the child's development from within". Rousseau
"Education develops in the body and soul of the pupil all the beauty
and all the perfection he is capable of . Plato
Mahatma Gandhi- "By education, I mean an all-round drawing out
of the best in the child and man - body, mind and spirit".
T.P. Nunn - "Education is the complete development of the
individuality of the child so that he can make an original
contribution to human life according to the best of his capacity".
 3. Social orientation of the human being:
According to some thinkers, education is a means to
achieve larger societal goals as it is a sub-system of
the macro societal system. Hence, education of an
individual should emphasize the orientation to
achieve the social goals.
Definitions and Aim of the Curriculum

Curriculum is a plan of action that is aimed at achieving desired goals and

objectives. It is a set of learning activities meant to make the learner attain
goals as prescribed by the educational system. Stotsky (2012),

“In seeking to understand better the role of the curriculum in the

21st century, the purpose should be to ensure that children and
young people are well equipped to handle whatever it is that
this century will call them to do and be ”
Brady
& Kennedy (2010)

Marsh and Willis (2007, as cited in Marsh, 2010, p.93) define

curriculum as “an interrelated set of plans and experiences
which a student completes under the guidance of the school”.
 Aims, Goals and Objectives
Education is purposeful. It concerns with outcomes that are
expressed at several levels

Aims : the most general level

Goals : reflect the purpose with outcomes in mind.
Objectives : reflect the most specific levels of
educational outcomes
Methods: are the instructional decisions, approaches, procedures
and routines that teachers use to engage all students in
meaningful learning. Methods are adjusted based on ongoing
review of student progress towards meeting the goals.

Materials are the tools selected to implement methods and

achieve the goals of the curriculum. Materials are intentionally
chosen to support a student's learning. Material choices reflect
student interest, cultural diversity, world perspectives, and
address all types of diverse learners.

Assessment in a curriculum is the ongoing process of gathering

information about a student‘s learning. Information from
assessment is used to make decisions about instructional
approaches, teaching materials, and academic supports needed to
enhance opportunities for the student and to guide future
Global Curriculum
Our inter-connected world demands that we not only understand our country,
but also have knowledge of nations, cultures, languages, and religions around
the world. (glocal)

UNESCO defines Global Education: As a goal to become aware

of educational conditions or lack of it, in developing countries
worldwide and aim to educate all peoples to a certain world
standards and a curriculum that is international in scope
which prepares today‘s youth around the world to function
in one world environment under teachers who are
intellectually, professionally and
humanistically prepared.
Global Education promotes:

1.Social justice and human rights

understanding of social justice and human rights and the
contribution they make to peace building and conflict resolution.

2. Sustainable futures
understanding of sustainable futures and the importance of developing
skills of critical and creative thinking and ethical understanding
Identity and cultural diversity

3understanding of identity and cultural diversity and its

importance in developing intercultural understanding and
personal and social capability.

4. Interdependence and globalization

understanding of our interdependence and the importance of working
for a just future in which all people have access to their basic needs
sustainably
Definition of Syllabus

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) define syllabus at its simplest level “as
a statement of what is to be learnt”.

Widdowson (1990) interprets a Syllabus as “the specification of a

teaching programme or pedagogic agenda which defines a
particular subject for a particular group of learners . . . a
syllabus specification, then, is concerned with both the selection
and the ordering of what is to be taught”.

In Wilkins' (1981) words, syllabuses are "specifications of the

content of language teaching which have been submitted to some
degree of structuring or ordering with the aim of making
teaching and learning a more effective process.

According to Breen (1984) a syllabus can also be seen as "a plan of

what is to be achieved through our teaching and our students'
Types of Syllabus
Task-Based Syllabus is based on task-based learning, an
approach where learners carry out tasks such as solving a
problem or planning an activity. The language learnt comes
out of the linguistic demands of the activity. A task-based
syllabus is structured around a series of these tasks.

The Situational Syllabus According to Wilkins the situational

syllabus has constructed on the analysis of situations and
behaviors. In a situational syllabus, the content is either real
or imaginary situations where language occurs.
Functional Syllabus This syllabus gives the communicative
functions that are to be taught to the learners like requesting,
suggesting, promising, describing, warning, identifying,
persuading, etc. The syllabus also lists the sentence patterns that are
used to realize these functions.
Notional Syllabus In the notional syllabus, the teaching points
are notions of language. Notions are meaning elements
that may be expressed through nouns, pronouns, verbs,
prepositions, conjunctions, adjectives or adverbs. The use of
notions depends on three major factors - the functions, the
elements in the situations and the topic being discussed .

Functional-Notional Syllabus

The starting point for the functional notional syllabus is the

communicative purpose and conceptual meaning of
language, i.e., notions and functions as opposed to grammatical
items and situational elements which remain but are
relegated(reduced) to a lesser role.
functional notional methodology attends to meaning more than
structure and form, contextualization is a basic premise,
language learning is learning to communicate, reading and
writing can start from the first day and communicative
competitive is the desired goal.

the teaching activity in the classroom should be learner centered,

and all course components are viewed as a systematic whole.
Finocchiaro and Brumfit (1983) give the merits of functional
notional syllabus four perspectives –
In the sociolinguistic perspective, emphasis is on the
communicative purpose of the speech act.

In the psycholinguistic perspective, focus on the

requirements of learners at the very center of the teaching
program.

In the linguistic perspective, it gives prominence to the

dialectical requirements recognized by the foreign learners.

In the educational perspective, it makes a serial of,

essential components for any educational level.
 Curriculum Theory
Curriculum theories are a set of related educational concepts that afford
a systematic and illuminating perspective of curricular phenomena.

Four categories, based upon their domains of

inquiry.

1.Structure-oriented theories are concerned primarily with analyzing the

components of the curriculum and their interrelationships. Structure-oriented
theories tend to be descriptive and explanatory in intent.

2. Value-oriented theories are concerned primarily with analyzing the values

and assumptions of curriculum makers and their products. Value-oriented theories
tend to be critical in nature.

3. Content-oriented theories are concerned primarily with determining the content

of the curriculum. Content-oriented theories tend to be prescriptive in nature.

4. Process-oriented theories are concerned primarily with describing how

curricula are developed or recommending how they should be developed. Some
process-oriented theories are descriptive in nature; others are more prescriptive.
Structure –oriented theories examine
1. What are the essential concepts of the curriculum field and how
may they most usefully be defined? For example, what does the
term curriculum mean?

2. What are the levels of curriculum decision making and what

forces seem to operate at each of those levels? For example, how
do classroom teachers make decisions about the curriculum?

3. How may the curriculum field be most validly analyzed into its
component parts? For example, how does a program of study
differ from a field of study?

4. What principles seem to govern issues of content selection,

organization, and sequencing? For example, how can curricular
elements be articulated?
value-oriented theorists tend to examine issues such as
1. In what ways do the schools replicate the power differentials
in the larger society?

2. What is the nature of a truly liberated individual, and how

does schooling inhibit such liberation?

3. How do schools consciously or unwittingly mould children and

youth to fit into societal roles predetermined by race and class?

4. As curriculum leaders determine what constitutes legitimate

knowledge, how do such decisions reflect their class biases and
serve to inhibit the full development of children and youth?

5. In what ways does the schools‘ treatment of controversial

issues tend to minimize and conceal the conflicts endemic to
the society?
 Curriculum Design Process I
Curriculum and Educational Philosophy
Philosophy is the search for wisdom by philosophers. Philosophy is
the foundation, the mother and engine of all other disciplines. It is
wide since it involves all other studies.

Education borrows from philosophy and puts that knowledge into practice. In this
regard, philosophy is the theory about knowledge while education is the practice
of the said knowledge. Philosophy is closely related to education. For example, all
educational programs are generally philosophical in nature hence any
educational theory is related to philosophy.
 Educational Philosophies in Relation to
Curriculum
Perennialism – Here the focus in curriculum is classical
subjects‘ literary analysis and considered curriculum as constant.
The curriculum must emphasize enduring, long lasting, skills,
values and knowledge.
Essentialism – Here the essential skills and essential subjects
of English, Science, History, Mathematics and Foreign language is
the focus of the curriculum.
Progressivism – The curriculum is focused on students‘
interest human problems and affairs. The subjects are
interdisciplinary, integrative and interactive.
Re-constructionism – Here the focus of the curriculum is on
present and future trends and issues of national and international
interest. Educational philosophy lays a strong foundation of any
curriculum in that a curriculum specialist, implementer of
evaluator anchors their decision making process on a sound
Psychological Foundation of Curriculum
Psychology provides basis for the teaching and learning process in
that it unities element of learning process and some of the questions
which can be addressed by psychological foundations. The following are
major groups of learning theories:
1.Behaviorist Psychology Considers that learning should be organized in order for the students to
experience success in the subject matter and hence method of teaching is done step by step with
proper sequencing of task.

2 Cognitive Psychology Focuses their attention on how individuals process information and how
to monitor and manage thinking. Here learning constitutes a logical method for organizing
and interpreting learning. Learning in this group is rooted in the tradition of subject matter where
teachers use a lot of problem and thinking skills in teaching and learning. These are exemplified
by practices like reflective thinking, creative thinking, intuitive thinking, discovery learning
among others

3Humanistic Psychology Concerned with how learners can develop their human potential based
on Gestalt psychology where learning can be explained in term of the wholeness of the problem
and where the environment is changing, making the learner continuously recognize his/her
perceptions. Schools exist within the social context since societal culture affects and
shapes schools and their curricula. The relationship of curriculum and society is mutual
and encompassing. Hence to be relevant the curricula should reflect and preserve the culture of the
society and its aspirations. Equally society should take in the changes brought about by the formal
How Philosophy has influenced the Establishment of
Educational Policy
Education policy refers to the collection of laws and rules that
govern the operation of education systems. Education occurs in
many forms and for many purposes through many institutions, that
is, early childhood education, kindergarten, primary level, secondary
level, college and adult education. The policy can address or debate
on the size of the school, number of learners, the teacher‘s
profession and their pay, teaching methods applied among
others. Education policy analysis is the scholarly study of education
which seeks answers from philosophical thinking.
The education policy also looks into the purpose of education, the
objectives and goals to be achieved, and the research to be carried out
in order to come out with the best system and all this requires philosophical
thought.

Philosophy addresses stressful questions facing educational policy by

creating a smooth ground (atmosphere) of getting solutions in a more
logical way.

Philosophy unifies pedagogy, curriculum, learning theories and the

purpose of education

Philosophy projects that higher education helps the soul to search for
truth.

Different philosophers focus on education differently. Kant supported learning by doing

which is one of the set rules and laws of education. Learners acquire more by doing and
touching rather than listening to the teachers. Aristotle on his part supports educational
policy by considering human nature, habit and reason to be so important forces that
should be cultivated in education.
 Curriculum Models

Process Models of Curri.

Learner Centered Models

Product Models Problem

Centered

Subject Centered Models of Curriculum


. Characteristics of Student-Centered
Learning

Students learn from Classmates - Students can learn from and with each
other. Certainly the teacher has the expertise and an obligation to share
his/her knowledge, but teachers can learn from students as well.

Students learn more by experiences and active involvement - Teachers

nurture students‘ natural curiosity as students ask questions to complete
the assignments.

Students apply new learning to real-life, authentic experiences - Classes

focus more on skills that students can use in real-life. Classes that don‘t
have real-life application hardly ever motivate students to engage in
meaningful learning.

Students receive frequent directed, and timely feedback - Another

characteristic of student-centered learning and teaching is that as students
complete some assignments, teachers typically ask learners or groups of
learners to talk and compare their results with peers.
Students are Encouraged to Explain Material to Themselves and Others

Students regularly engage in communication-Students need to

communicate with each other and that‘s why this approach to teaching
brings more beneficial

Students know what they are learning and why -Teachers who have
adopted a learner-centered approach state what they expect their learners
to accomplish by the end of the class and make sure they give clear
instructions about the behavior and dynamics he/she expects to see in
class.

Students Use Personalized Technology to Produce -Students learn by using

technology, especially mobile phones and tablets which are easier to handle
and use and also can really boost engagement and motivation.

A higher Degree of Engagement -Students standing up and talking to others

to complete some assignments creates more opportunities to talk and learn
from others. Since receptive skills are the ones necessary to learn new
things, listening to others is crucial for the successful repetition of new
 Curriculum Design Process
II
In existing educational literature, opinion on what is the best
approach to the design of curricula and courses is divided between
those who believe that

1.design should begin with a statement of the purpose

(objectives) of the course, for example, Tyler (1949),

2. it should begin with a statement of the content to be learned,

for example, Stenhouse (1975).
The objectives approach to systematic course design involves

decision making and action in five major steps:

1 Situational Analysis

2 Objectives Formulation

3 Content Derivation Step

4 Selection of Appropriate Methods and Media

5 Determination of Evaluation Procedures and

Schedules.
 Curriculum Evaluation
Meaning of Curriculum Evaluation

Evaluation of curriculum is an integral and essential part of the whole process

of curriculum development. Evaluation essentially is the provision of

information for the sake of facilitating decision making at various stages of

curriculum development. It includes obtaining information for use in judging the

worth of a programme and procedure.

 Objectives of Curriculum Evaluation
1. To determine the outcomes of a programme.
2. To help in deciding whether to accept or reject a
programme.
3. To ascertain the need for the revision of the course
content.
4. To help in future development of the curriculum material
for continuous improvement.
5. To improve methods of teaching and instructional
 Types of Curriculum Evaluation

1. Formative Evaluation.
It occurs during the course of curriculum development. Its purpose is to
contribute to the improvement of the educational programme. The merits of a
programme are evaluated during the process of its development. The
evaluation results provide information to the programme developers and enable
them to correct flaws detected in the programme.

2.Summative Evaluation.
In summative evaluation, the final effects of a curriculum are evaluated on
the basis of its stated objectives. It takes place after the curriculum has
been fully developed and put into operations.

3. Diagnostic Evaluation. Diagnostic evaluation is directed towards two

purposes either for placement of students properly at the outset of an
instructional level (such as secondary school), or to discover the underlying
cause of deviancies in student learning in any field of study.
 Determination of Evaluation Procedures and
Schedules

In course design, evaluation is important for two reasons:

1. It enables us to determine the extent to which course

objectives have been achieved by our students;

2. It provides us with feedback information on the basis of

which we can improve our course.
Course Evaluation for Improvement
When designing a course, we should also plan for its evaluation.
The purpose of the evaluation is to assess the effectiveness of
the course so as to improve it for the benefit of future students. To
do this, it is necessary that we review the
Objectives;
Content and organization
Methods and media
Evaluation processes
 Introduction to 21st Century
Curriculum
The Partnership for 21st Century Skills prepared educational
standards for the next generation in order to present an
appropriate strategy to apply them. The 21st century standards
according to P21‘s website are:

• Focuses on 21st century skills, content knowledge and expertise

• Builds understanding across and among core subjects as well as
21st century
interdisciplinary themes
• Emphasizes deep understanding rather than shallow knowledge
• Engages students with the real world data, tools, and experts
they will encounter
in college, on the job, and in life
According to Paige(2009) adopting a 21st century curriculum
should blend knowledge, thinking, innovation, skills, media,
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) literacy,
and real life experience in the context of core academic
subjects.
And also develop 21st century skills such as
critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, Creativity (4Cs)

Therefore, curriculum in the 21st century should focus on the construction of

knowledge

and encourage students to produce the information that has value or

meaning to them in

order to develop new skills. Preparing curriculum to be connected with the

real world can

support student participation, their motivation and understanding for the

academic

subjects, as well as preparing them for adult life (Lombardi)

Curriculum developers of P21 stated that curriculum should
be designed in a way that allows students to master
knowledge and understand core academic disciplinary
knowledge. Also, this curriculum should give students the
opportunity to learn and develop various literacies such as
civic, financial, environmental, health, and global awareness.
―multiliteracy‖ can enable students to make informed
decisions that prepare them to face challenges in the global
community and give them the opportunity to be successful in
the workplace
Today, curriculum and educational decisions should be reviewed
and redesigned to integrate future skills explicitly. In the 21st
century curriculum, educators must integrate over 75% of
future skills

Researchers argued that these skills should be both part of the

school curriculum and integral to the academic content ..

Herrington and Kervin (2007) argued, ―A thinking curriculum is

one that provides a deep understanding of the subject and the
ability to apply that understanding to the complex, real-world
Teachers should apply different strategies and methods
for teaching these skills because there is not one specific
strategy or model to achieve this goal.

Teaching Learning Skills Coupled with Cross

Curricular Elements
Teachers play a significant role in helping students develop 21st
century skills by applying methods that increase students' abilities.
They should use innovative strategies and modern learning
technologies that help integrate cognitive and social skills
with content knowledge as well as increase student participation in
the learning environment in order to promote these future skills.
There are many strategies that enhance both learning content and
skills while also allowing students to engage in real life.
Teachers can make use of the following pedagogical practices and
strategies to enhance 21st century skillls.

problem-based learning.
cooperative learning.
authentic learning
integrating multimedia tools in teaching.
(Multimedia tools are the best way to increase student performance and
motivation to learn by encouraging discussion, collaboration, problem
solving, and innovation, promoting cognitive processes and constructing
knowledge.)