Topic 1 Concepts and Issues in Curriculum

Lecturer: Yee Bee Choo

IPGKTHO

Topic 1 TSL 3143

Forces that influence curriculum construction

Political, economic and socialConcerns of different of stakeholders

in the Malaysian context

Concerns and issues in curriculum

DefinitionsPlanned, enacted and

hidden curriculum

Relationships between curriculum, syllabus,

course and programme

Definitions of Curriculum

Curriculum

Plan

Learner’s Experiences

System A Field of

Study

Subject Matter/ Content


Plan• “a plan for achieving goals.” (Tyler, 1949) • “a plan for learning.” (Taba, 1962)• “a plan for providing sets of learning

opportunities for persons to be educated.” (Saylor, 1981)

• “an organised set of formal education and/or training intentions.” (Pratt, 1984)

• “a four-step plan involving purpose, design, implementation and assessment.” (Wiles & Bondi, 2011)

(cited in Ornstein & Hunkins, 2014)


Learner’s experiences

• “all the experiences children have under the guidance of teachers” (Dewey, 1938; Caswell & Campbell, 1935).

• “ongoing experiences of children under the guidance of the school” (William & Shepherd, 1971).

• “experiences in the classroom [that are] planned and enacted” (Marsh & Willis, 2003).

(cited in Ornstein & Hunkins, 2014)


System

• A system for dealing with people.

• It can be linear or nonlinear.

• A linear system plots out the means to a desired end.

• A nonlinear system permits the curriculum specialist to enter at various points of the model, skip parts, reverse order, and work on more than one component at a time.

(David, 2003; Ronald, 1996; Peter, 2009)


A Field of Study

• It is a field of study with its own foundation, knowledge domains, research, theory, principles and specialist.

• It is more theoretical than practical.

(William, 1999)


Subject Matter or Content

• Subject matter: Math, Science, English, History, etc.

• Content: the way we organise and assimilate information.

• Also refers to grade levels.

(Ornstein & Hunkins, 2014)

Types of Curriculum

Planned Curriculum

(Intended)

• Formal curriculum focuses on goals, objectives, subject matter, and organisation of instruction.

Enacted Curriculum

(Unplanned)

• Informal curriculum deals with sociophychologicalinteraction among students and teachers, especially their feelings, attitudes and behaviours.

Hidden Curriculum (Unintended)

• The part of the curriculum that, while not written, will certainly be learned by students.

(Ornstein & Hunkins, 2014)

Types of Curriculum

• Intended curriculum is set forth in the content standards for a particular subject and grade level.

• Enacted curriculum is the content of instruction delivered by classroom teachers designates.

• Assessed curriculum is the content measured by student assessments.

(Porter, 2004)

Types of Curriculum

• The enacted curriculum refers to all the teaching-learning experiences that take place in the classroom between the teacher and the students that involve deliberate and explicit instructions of subject content knowledge and practices of the content, skills and values taught.

• The enacted curriculum is the content which is actually delivered during instruction (i.e. instructional content) as well as how it is taught (i.e. instructional practices). Typically, the content targets are based on the intended/planned curriculum. In other words, the enacted curriculum is the content that students have the chance to learn, as well as how teachers “deliver” the content.

Types of Curriculum

• The hidden curriculum refers to outcomes of education which are not explicitly stated.

• The examples of hidden curriculum can be found in any activities, programmes, rules (rituals, protocols, regulations, assemblies, arrangement for co-curricular activities etc. ) of a school have positive impact on learning in terms of:– Inculcating positive values and attitudes:– Love for school, nations– Respect for teachers, elders– Sense of justice, right and wrong– Autonomy, democracy– Inculcating good social behaviour:– Cleanliness, tidiness, punctuality, obedience, discipline

Types of Curriculum

(Malaysia Education Blueprint, 2012, p.103)

Types of Curriculum

• The Ministry enlisted the help of UNESCO and UniversitiKebangsaan Malaysia to assess different aspects of curriculum development and implementation. The Malaysian curriculum was analysed from three dimensions (Exhibit 4-1):

1. What is written in the curricula, or the “Written Curriculum”: • the knowledge, skills, and values that form the content, outlining

what is to be taught by teachers;2. What is taught in the classroom, or the “Taught curriculum”: • the knowledge acquired, skills developed, and values inculcated in

students; and3. What is examined, or the “Examined curriculum”:• students’ knowledge, skills, and values that are tested, either in

summative national examinations such as the UPSR, PMR, and SPM, or through formative and/or summative PBS that guide teaching.


Types of Curriculum

• The Written Curriculum should articulate a holistic education of international standard. Both the Taught and Examined Curricula should be closely aligned with the Written Curriculum. In other words, the curriculum that is taught in the class and examined at the national level should match the intent of the written curriculum.

• The curricula currently in place are the KBSR and KBSM. In 2011, the Ministry started rolling out the new KSSR in stages, starting from Year 1. By 2016, the KSSR will be in place for all primary school years. A comparable standard-based reform of the KSSM will be ready to rollout to Form 1 students in 2017. A revised version of the KSSR will also be rolled out in 2017.


Relationship Between Curriculum, Syllabus, Course and Programme

Curriculum can be defined, as an educational program which states:

a) “The educational purpose of the program (the ends)

b) The content teaching procedures and learning experience which will be necessary to achieve this purpose (the means)

c) Some means for assessing whether or not the educational ends have been achieved.”

(Richards, Platt & Platt, 1993,)


• A syllabus is essentially a statement of what should be taught, year by year – through language – syllabuses often also contain points about the method of teaching and the time to be taken” (Lee, 1980).

• “Syllabus is a more detailed and operational statement of teaching and learning elements which translates the philosophy of the curriculum into a series of planned steps leading towards more narrowly defined objectives at each level” (Dubin & Olshtain, 1997).


Difference of Curriculum and Syllabus

Curriculuma set of subjects or courses including their content which are being offered by the school, college or university to the students in different programmes.

an aggregate of all the courses which are to be studied by the students in a particular programme.

Syllabusa description outline and synopsis of topics in a course which are meant to be covered during an educational programme in a school, college, university or any other institution.

a brief statement or an outline of the main topics of a course which the lecturer or instructor will cover during all his lectures.


• A course is “an integrated series of teaching-learning experiences, whose ultimate aim is to lead the learners to a particular state of knowledge” (Hutchinson & Waters 1996).


• A programme consists of different degree or diploma courses available in various streams of study such as engineering, law, medicine, and MBA etc.


• Programme

Program Pensiswazahan Guru (PPG)

• Curriculum

a teacher educational plan with the aim to produce more primary school teachers with degree

• Syllabus

contained in Table 3

• Course

Curriculum Studies (TSL3143)

Factors that Influence Curriculum Construction

Economical

Social

Political


Political Factor• Politics determine and define the goals, content,

learning experiences and evaluation strategies in education.

• Curricular materials and their interpretation are usually heavily influenced by political considerations.

• Funding of education is greatly influenced by politics in the hiring of personnel, building and maintaining facilities and equipment.

• Entry into educational institutions and examination systems are heavily influenced by politics.


Social Factor

• Social diversity including religion, culture and social groupings affects curriculum development because these characteristics influence the types of topics and methods for teaching information.

• Developing relevant curriculum takes into account society's expectations, accommodating group traditions and promoting equality.


Economical Factor

• Curriculum developed for in-service teacher training in schools helps teachers for promotion in future career.

• Nations financing education expect an economic return from educated students contributing to the country's economy with global competition abilities in technical fields.

• Curriculum content influences learner goals, standards for academic achievement with an underlying influence of the nation's economy.

Concerns of Different Stakeholders in the Malaysian Context

Stakeholders

• Stakeholders are any individual internal or external to an organization that has a “stake” in the success of the institution (i.e. students, faculty (teacher), staff, system administrator, college council, etc)

• They are those who have an interest in a particular decision, either an individual or the representative of group. This includes people who influence a decision or can influence it, as well as those affected by it.

Concerns of Different Stakeholders in the Malaysian Context

Stakeholders in Malaysian Education Curriculum

Direct Stakeholders Indirect stakeholders

o The teachero The studento The parentso Administratorso School staffs

o Governmento Community leaderso Political leaderso Society

Tutorial 1a (Individual Writing Task)

• In one/two sentences, define the term ‘curriculum’.

• Differentiate the types of curricula.

• Identify the core curriculum at your college.

• Explain the characteristics of each type of curriculum.

Tutorial 1b

• Do you think that the syllabuses & textbooks used in your country adequately reflect your national ideology & the demands of your society?

• There are many stakeholders who are concerned with Malaysian education curriculum.

• Discuss one stakeholder and his role in curriculum implementation.

Tutorial 1c

References

Ornstein, A.C. & Hunkins, F.P. (2014). Curriculum: Foundations, principles and issues. (6th. ed). Essex: Pearson Edu. Ltd.

Ministry of Education, Malaysia. (2013). Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013-2025 (Preschool to Post-Secondary Education). Kuala Lumpur: KPM.

Porter, A. C. (2004). Curriculum assessment (Additional SCALE Research Publications and Products: Goals 1, 2, and 4). Nashville, TN: Vanderbilt University.