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OVERVIEW

6.0 Introduction

6.1 What is Curriculum Design?

6.2 Content Selection

6.2.1 What is content?

6.2.2 How should content be

learned?

6.2.3 Criteria for selection of

content

6.3 Principles of Content

Organisation

6.3.1 Scope

6.3.2 Sequence

6.3.3 Integration

6.3.4 Continuity

6.4 Selection of Learning

Experiences

6.4.1. What are learning

experiences?

6.4.2 Selection of learning

experiences

6.5 Types of Curriculum Design

Models

6.5.1 Subject-Matter Design

6.5.2 Learner-Centred Design

6.5.3 Problem-Centred Design

Discussion Questions

Readings

LEARNING OUTCOMES

When you have completed this module, you will be able to:

Define what is curriculum design

Recognise the criteria for the selection of content

Explain the principles of content organisation

List the criteria for the selection of learning experiences

Compare and contrast subject matter-centred, learner-centred

and problem-centred curriculum design models.

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‘Prevention is Better than Cure’

[Source: adapted from Critical issues: Infusing prevention into the curriculum,

NCREL. http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa300.htnm]

The curriculum development process aims

towards producing a plan that stipulates the kinds of

teaching-learning experiences students will engage

in. In Module 5, we discussed the initial step in the

curriculum development process which is curriculum

planning in which decisions are made as to what we

want students to be able to do. This is derived from

the educational philosophy and aims of education. It

also includes the kinds the objectives that are to be

achieved by teachers or instructors at the classroom

level. To guide discussion of the curriculum

development process, three well-known models were examined; namely, the Tyler

model, the Taba model and the Saylor & Alexander model. In this Module, we will

6.0 Introduction

using existing school subjects.

Adopting the curriculum

infusion approach, educators have

designed lesson plans to include

prevention issues in the regular

curriculum. They have used real-life

issues as the context for addressing the

critical health and social issues while

teaching academic subjects. In fact

prevention strategies are ideally suited

to infusion into academic subjects.

Some educators are beginning to

resent having to be the sole ‘custodian’

of society with parents and the

community not doing enough to prevent

such negative behaviours among

students and youths. Through the years,

more and more societal issues have been

brought into the curriculum and schools

are expected to teach them in an already

crowded curriculum.

As society becomes

increasingly complex, the incidence of

various at-risk behaviours among

students has increased. These include

substance abuse (tobacco and drugs),

teen pregnancies, road safety, sexual

promiscuity, violence, HIV infection,

gangsterism, bullying and others.

Parents and society have not

adequately taught students to avoid

such high-risk behaviours and have

passed on the task to schools. As such

we see “add-on” programmes which

often are a series of brief, fragmented

units on critical life issues, squeezed

into the regular curriculum.

Unfortunately there is never

enough hours in a school day and they

have to compete for valuable class

time. So, instead of “doing more”,

curriculum planners have decided to

introduce prevention programmes by

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6.1 What is Curriculum Design?

deal with the next phase of the curriculum development process which is curriculum

design.

Curriculum design is deciding about the “shape” or “configuration” of a

curriculum plan. It involves selection of content in line with the goals and objectives

of the curriculum. The selected content will have to be arranged in a form that will

help the teacher in choosing and organising appropriate learning experiences for the

classroom. Sometimes, curriculum design is also referred to as ‘curriculum

organisation’. In short, designing the curriculum involves the task of organising or

arranging the four components; namely, objectives, subject matter, teaching-learning

experiences and evaluation procedures into a cohesive and comprehensive plan that

can be implemented with minimal difficulties. According to Giles (1942) these four

components; are intertwined and interactive. Unfortunately, not all curriculum plans

give equal emphasis to each component. There are cases of plans that emphasise the

subject matter or the content while others stress mainly the objectives and evaluation

procedures. Still, others give primary emphasis to learning experiences or activities

(Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998).

In this chapter, we will focus on two main aspects of curriculum design,

namely;

o selection and organisation of content (or subject matter) for learners,

o selection and organisation of learning experiences (or activities).

Among the questions to be addressed are: What content or subject matter is to be

included? What learning activities should be planned for learners? What teaching-

learning or instructional strategies should be used? What educational resources should

be used in the teaching-leaning situations?

Obviously, the selection of content and learning experiences will be based on

a sound theoretical framework. This is where one’s philosophical beliefs and

conceptions of human learning come into play [Discussed in Module 2 and Module

3]. Your philosophical stance and your understanding of human learning will affect

your interpretation and selection of objectives which in turn will influence the content

selected and how it will be organised and how it will be taught or delivered. This is

what Ralph Tyler meant by the philosophical screen and the psychological screen in

his curriculum development model [refer to Module 5: Curriculum Development

Process].

ACTIVITY 6.1 Read the report on ‘Prevention is Better than Cure’

1) To what extent is this happening in your school?

2) Give other examples of critical issues your schools have to deal with.

3) Do you agree that prevention issues should be included in the school

curriculum?

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6.2.1 What is Content?

All curricula have content and how individuals view content is affected by

their view of knowledge and philosophical position. There are varying conceptions of

content. Some curriculum designers conclude that content is really another term for

knowledge consisting of a collection of facts, concepts, generalisations, principles and

theories. For example, an important concept in geography would be spatial

relationships while in physics it would be acceleration. However, a distinction has to

be made between disciplines and content.

The disciplines such as biology, chemistry, sociology and psychology are

concerned with advancement of understanding and the exploration of the unknown. In

contrast, content as found in school subjects (or even undergraduate courses) do not

provide students with opportunities for advancing understanding or creation of new

knowledge in the strictest sense. The content selected is aimed towards helping

students understand knowledge that may be new to them but is already known by

scholars and practitioners in the field. From this body of knowledge or discipline,

content is selected for educational purposes and organised according to the cognitive

level of learners.

6.2.2 How should students learn content?

Some people feel that content should be prescribed and transmitted to learners

(behaviourism) while others feel that content should be constructed by learners

(constructivism) based on their experiences. In the former setting, learners are passive

recipient of the facts, concepts and generalisations of a subject while in the latter

situation learners seriously engage in the construction of meaning. Content is not just

something told to students but rather something that students personally construct.

Similarly, some educators argue that it is more important to learn the processes of

content than the products of content itself. Such a view divides content as consisting

of product and process, when in reality both should be given equal emphasis [We

discussed this in Module 1]. Cognitive psychologists refer to:

o content as declarative knowledge or what students should know (the facts,

concepts and principles of a body of knowledge), while

o process as procedural knowledge or what should be able to do (the procedures,

thinking skills and methods of inquiry embedded in any body of knowledge)

6.2.3 How should content be selected?

There is so much pressure from parents, academics, the government, the

business community, religious institutions, non-governmental organisations and so

forth as to what to content should be selected and taught in schools. In addition, there

is abundant information and it is doubling at a very rapid rate. Schools do not have the

luxury of time to include all the concerns of society in its curriculum. Choices have to

be made on what to include in the curriculum. Ornstein and Hunkins (1998) list the

following 5 criteria to guide the selection of content:

Significance: It is obvious that content selected should be significant. But, the

definition of significance varies with an individual’s beliefs. For example,

curriculum developers who favour subject matter designs think of significance

6.2 Content Selection

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in terms of the concepts and principles of each subject area. Those who favour

learner-centred designs think of significance in terms of the needs and

interests of the learner. While those who favour a problem-centred design

would regard the problems and issues in society as significant. Taba (1962)

further argues that we should not just select content based on the cognitive

aspects of learners, but also on their affective dimensions.

Utility: Utility refers to the usefulness of content. This again depends on your

philosophical beliefs. If you subscribe to the subject-centred design, then you

believe that the content learned from the various subject areas will be useful in

the workplace. If you subscribe to the learner-centred design, then you will

take into consideration the needs and interests of learners which will enable

them to realise their potential to function effectively in the workplace.

Alternatively, if you subscribe to the problem-centred design, then you believe

that learning about societal issues will enable students to apply directly what

they have learned to their daily lives and the world of work.

Validity: Validity refers to whether the information passed on to students is

authentic and obtained from credible sources. This is especially significant

today with the deluge of information that is easily accessible which may not

necessarily be credible or reliable. How much of the billions of pages on the

internet are credible? Content needs to be checked to determine its accuracy

and constantly updated.

Learnability: It may seem strange that anyone would select content that is not

learnable. Unfortunately, it does happen. Can you give examples of this

happening? For example, the content selected for a particular age group might

be too difficult and teachers need more time but insufficient time is allotted.

Eventually, teachers will end up rushing through the material and some

students left behind not understanding the content.

Feasibility: Educators who select content have to take into consideration the

constraints of time, expertise of staff, funding and other educational resources

that schools might face when implementing the curriculum. For example, the

number of days allotted for teaching may be insufficient to cover all the

content because schools have to allocate time for extra-curricular activities and

other schools events. Content selection has to be considered within the context

of existing reality of economics and the role of the government.

SELF-TEST 6.1 What is the difference between content and a discipline?

What is the difference between significance and utility in the

selection of content?

What is the difference between validity and feasibility in the

selection of content?

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After having decided on the content, the next step is to organise the content in

a form that will facilitate learning. The following principles have been proposed when

deciding on content organisation (Sowell, 2000; Ornstein & Hunkins, 1998):

6.3.1 Scope

Scope refers to both the breadth and depth of content and includes all topics,

learning experiences and organising threads found in the curriculum plan. Scope not

only refers to cognitive learning but also affective learning, and some would argue

spiritual learning (Goodland and Zhixin Su, 1992). Sometimes the scope of a

curriculum is narrow, consisting of just a simple listing of key topics and activities.

When we talk of scope, we are concerned with questions such as: How much science

should students in primary school know? What is the level of mathematics required of

students before they graduate from secondary school? When curriculum developers

are engaged in deciding how much content should be included, they are determining

the scope of the curriculum. When deciding about the scope of a curriculum, the

following guidelines may be useful:

You might want to ask about the usefulness of the content selected.

You might want to ask whether the content caters to diverse student abilities

You might want to ask if the amount of content selected can be covered in the

specified period of time

You might want to ask if there is a balance in the content selected between

cognitive, psychomotor and affective or spiritual outcomes

6.3 Principles of Content Organisation

“The physics syllabus is overloaded”

“Laboratory sessions has increased with the

introduction of the new chemistry curriculum”

“Scientific literacy of secondary school students is

low”

ACTIVITY 6.2 1. Do you think the scope (breadth and depth) of the subject you

teach (or are familiar with) appropriate?

2. Give examples of subjects which you think the scope is

inappropriate. Explain.

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6.3.2 Sequence

Sequence refers to the organisation of content and the extent to which it

fosters cumulative and continuous learning (referred to as vertical relationship among

sections of the curriculum). Do students have the opportunity to make connections

and enrich their understanding of content? It is important that the sequencing of

content lead to cumulative development of intellectual and affective processes.

The sequence of content and experiences should be based on the logic of the

subject matter and the way in which individuals learn. It should be based on

psychological principles and understanding of human development and learning [refer

to Chapter 3: Psychological Foundation of Curriculum]. The following are some

principles identified as guidelines in sequencing the curriculum: (Ornstein and

Hunkins, 1998, Taba, 1962, Bruner, 1960).

a) Simple to complex – content is organised going from simple subordinate

components to complex components depicting interrelationships among

components. Optimal learning occurs when students are presented with easy,

often concrete content and to more difficult and abstract content.

b) Spiral - In a ‘spiral curriculum’, concepts may be introduced on a simple level

in the early grades, then revisited with more and more complexity and

application later on (Bruner, 1960)

c) Prerequisites – it works on the assumption that bits of information or learning

must be grasped before other bits of information can be understood.

d) Whole to part – content is better understood if an overview (whole) is first

presented to show the connections between the parts.

e) Chronology – this is a useful organiser for sequencing content especially in

subjects such as history, political science and world events.

f) Vertical organisation - This simply means that content and skills are arranged

so that they build on one another; that they align with the general sequence of

cognitive development. They indicate what students have learned and what

they will learn later.

g) Horizontal organisation - It involves how skills and content that are taught

during one level or one period of time relate to another. For example, in a

social science course, you might consider particular issues from a historical,

sociological, political and economic point of view.

6.3.3 Integration

Integration is the bringing together of the concepts, skills and values of

different subject areas to reinforce each other. Bits of information from different

subject areas are brought together in such a way to present the learner with a unified

picture of knowledge. Some have argued that however much curriculum planners try

to integrate information; it is the learners who integrate what they are learning in their

minds. It is something that happens within the individual learner.

The idea of integration was popularised in the 60s by Hilda Taba because of

concern that school curriculum was too disjointed, fragmented and detached. Lately,

there has been a surge of interest in curriculum integration due to rapid accumulation

of information that is doubling in a shorter period of time. Increasingly, there is a

realisation that knowledge has to be viewed in a much broader sense, particularly in

dealing with ideas that cut across disciplines. When faced with real-world situations,

seldom is one area of content sufficient to explain complex phenomena. The need to

examine phenomena drawing from various disciplines has intensified interest in the

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integrated curriculum. Examples of the integrated curriculum include science-

technology-society and reading across the curriculum. In the science-technology-

society (STS) curriculum, science is combined with social sciences in attempting to

solve practical, everyday problems. The integrated approach takes the student outside

the laboratory and away from the textbook into the local community.

6.3.4 Continuity

Continuity ensures that ideas, themes and skills are repeated as the learner

progresses through the grades. Why? This is because students may not grasp certain

concepts and skills in one experience and have to be presented again before they

become clear. For example, students in the primary grades are taught the principles of

essay writing. The same principles are repeated in the succeeding years. Continuity

ensures the reappearance of certain major ideas at different grade levels at increased

depth and complexity over the length of the curriculum. For example, doing

experiments is a learning experience that is repeated throughout the teaching of

science at increasing levels of complexity and abstraction.

6.3.5 Case Study: The Integrated Curriculum

The integrated curriculum is receiving much attention even

though it is not necessarily a new way of looking at teaching

and learning. The expanding body of knowledge, concerns

about curriculum relevancy, lack of connection among

subjects and the need for future workers to have the ability to

draw from many fields in solving problems has been cited as

reasons for a moving towards an integrated curriculum. The

integrated curriculum is organised in such a way that cuts

across subject matter, bringing together various aspects of content to focus upon

broad areas of study. It views teaching and learning in a holistic way that reflects

the real world.

Among the common areas of integration are: 1) art, mathematics and

reading; 2) writing across the curriculum; 3) history, science and mathematics; 4)

history and literature; 5) integrated humanities; 6) health and reading; 7) social

studies, health and the arts; 8) physical education, the arts, health and literature; and

9) science, social studies, health and the arts. For example, ‘water’ as a theme can

be studied from the following areas: science (composition of water), geography

(distribution of water resources), literature (poems on water), language (vocabulary

related to water), history (disputes related to water), economics (supply and demand

of water) and so forth.

SELF-TEST 6.2 1. Name the different ways of sequencing content.

2. What do you understand by integration as one of the

principles of content organisation?

3. Why is there need to ensure continuity in content

organisation for certain concepts and skills?

4. Give examples of continuity other than those given in the

text.

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Education journal and teachers’ own anecdotal records report many

examples of educators linking subject areas to provide meaningful learning

experiences. It has been suggested that the integrated curriculum helps students

apply skills, leads to faster retrieval of information, encourages depth and breadth in

learning and promotes positive attitudes (improved team spirit and work habits).

Successful implementation of an integrated curriculum requires a great deal

of planning. It requires teachers to go out into the community to see what

mathematics, science, social sciences, language arts, artistic and occupational skills

are required in the contemporary workplace. Representatives from business,

industry, government and labour need to provide suggestions for curriculum

redesign.

[Source: Integrated Curriculum, Kathy Lake, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.

http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/8/c016.html]

6.4.1 What are Learning Experiences?

While content is the “meat” of the curriculum plan, we can consider learning

experiences planned for the students as the “heart” of the plan (Ornstein and Hunkins,

1998). The learning experiences are the means towards achieving the goals and

objectives of the curriculum. Tyler (1960) used the term ‘learning experiences’ in his

curriculum development model (discussed earlier in Module 5). Learning experiences

is the instructional component of the curriculum providing for the interaction between

teacher, student and the content. Learning experiences, designed for the purpose of

achieving the goals and objectives of the curriculum plan can be divided into:

o teaching methods adopted, and,

o learning activities.

There are many types of teaching methods and some examples of teaching methods

include; the inquiry method, the discovery approach, the lecture method, small group

discussion, role-playing, fieldwork and so forth. The term learning activities was used

by Taba (1962) in her curriculum development model (discussed in Module 5).

Learning activities are opportunities for students to question, clarify, create and apply

knowledge. Examples of learning activities are answering questions, solving

problems, journal writing, viewing videos, doing experiments, playing games and so

6.4 Selection of Learning Experiences

ACTIVITY 6.3 Refer to the Case Study: The Integrated Curriculum and

answer the following questions:

1. Why is there a revival of interest in the integrated curriculum?

2. What are some positive effects of curriculum integration?

3. Suggest ways in which the subjects or courses in your institution

may be integrated.

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forth. Both teaching methods and learning activities are equally important parts of the

learning experience and should be carefully planned. In many instances, there is

overlap between teaching methods and learning activities and some people may find

the distinction problematic.

6.4.2 Criteria for Selection of Learning Experiences

Learning experiences (teaching methods and learning activities) are selected to

translate the goals and objectives of the curriculum plan. It includes all the actions of

teachers necessary to influence student behaviour and ultimately, their learning. The

particular actions of the teacher may vary according to the teaching method adopted

and learning activities used, but they all are aimed towards bringing about learning.

The most important criterion for the selection of learning experiences is to

ensure that there is alignment between objectives, content and learning experiences.

Will the learning experiences selected achieve the objectives of the curriculum? This

criterion is termed as validity. Learning experiences should also be selected in terms

of feasibility. In other words, whether the experiences suggested can be carried out

given the time, available facilities and expertise of teachers. It would be futile to

ACTIVITY 6.4

Malaysian Primary 6 Science

Topic: Conservation

Objectives:

List waste materials that can be reused and recycled

Explain the paper recycling paper

Carry out recycling projects

Content:

Concept of recycling and reusing

Components of the paper recycling process

Learning Experiences:

View photos and video-clips on recycling of waste materials

Class project on collecting newspapers for recycling

Visit to a paper recycling plant

[Source: Curriculum Specifications for SMART SCHOOLS, Curriculum

Development Centre, Ministry of Education Malaysia, July, 1997]

1. How are the objectives, the content selected and learning

experiences related?

2. Suggest other learning experiences for the same content.

3. Does the subject or course you teach make the distinction

between content and learning experiences?

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propose learning experiences which may be good on paper but difficult to implement

in the classroom because teachers are not trained and facilities are inadequate. For

example, learning experiences which require using the internet when the school does

not have internet connection.

Learning experiences should also be selected on the basis whether they will

enhance students’ learning of the content as well as motivate them to continue

learning. The learning experiences should also attempt to develop thinking skills of

students and to stimulate greater understanding of their own existence as individuals

and as members of groups. In other words, the learning experiences selected should

encourage group interaction and collaborative learning which are skills required in

the world of work. Learning experiences should foster cognitive, affective,

psychomotor and spiritual development of the learner.

In the selection of learning experiences, educators should not separate content

and experiences. In reality, both content and learning experiences do not exist in

isolation. For example, a student cannot just engage in learning or studying without

experiencing some activity and some content. Likewise, teachers cannot deal with

content without being engaged in some experience or some activity. [You will notice

that each chapter in this course has a number of learning activities such as ’self-test’

&’activity’ to encourage you to ‘play’ with the content]

Most curriculum designs can be grouped into the following three basic

designs; namely, subject-centred designs, learner-centred designs and problem-

centred designs (see Table 6.1). Subject-Centred Designs include 5 types of designs:

academic subject designs, discipline designs, broad field designs, correlation designs

and process designs. Learner-Centred Designs include 3 types of designs identified as

child-centred, romantic/radical designs and humanistic designs. Problem-Centred

Designs include 3 types of design identified as life-situations design, core design and

social problems design (Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998).

6.5.1 Subject-Centred Designs

Subject-Centred Designs are by far the most popular and widely used

curriculum design. This is because knowledge and content are well accepted as

integral parts of the curriculum. Since acquiring a body of content is integral in any

school system, much thought has focussed on how best to present the knowledge,

skills and values of subjects to learners and five approaches have been proposed:

a) Academic Subject Design: The academic subject design is both the oldest and

best known design to most people because it was the way many of them were

educated. Is this true of you? This design is based on the belief that humans

are unique because of their intellect and the quest for and acquisition of

knowledge is to feed this intellect. In the 1930s, Robert Hutchins indicated

that the academic subject design model for American schools should

comprise; language and its uses (reading, writing, grammar, literature),

mathematics, science, history and foreign languages. Has it changed today?

Why is this model of curriculum design widely adopted? One reason

given is that it is much easily interpreted in textbooks and commercially

6.5 Curriculum Designs

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available support materials. Since teaching is essentially a verbal activity

(whether it be lecture, recitation, group discussion) teachers find it easier to

communicate the ideas and knowledge of a subject presented in verbal form in

textbooks. Also, people are familiar with this format, having gone through

themselves when in school.

However, critics argue that this design deemphasises the learner by

taking away their rights to choose the content that is most meaningful to them.

Stress on subject matter fails to foster social, psychological and physical

development and to some extent fosters an elite ruling class based on

knowledge (Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998). Do you agree?

b) Discipline Design: A discipline is a specific body of knowledge that has its

own methods of inquiry, has its specialised words and terminology, has a

tradition, has a collection of literature and persons involved in the field as

theoreticians and practitioners. Proponents of the discipline design model

emphasise the teaching of the disciplines in its pure form. In other words, a

student who studies biology would approach the subject as a biologist while

those who study history will study it as historians. What is the rationale for

teaching the disciplines? According to its proponents, the school is a mini

version of the world of intellect and that the disciplines reflect that world.

c) Broad Fields Design: The broad fields design is also known as the

interdisciplinary design. The main reason for this design arose from the

concern that subjects taught were too compartimentalised and fragmented. For

example, geography, geometry, literature, algebra and so forth. The suggestion

was to bring together content from different subject to form one logical

subject. For example, economics, sociology, political science, geography and

history were combined to form the social studies. Another example is

language arts (composed of literature, grammar, linguistics and spelling) and

general science (composed of biology, chemistry and physics). At one time

there was a subject called Man and the Environment (Alam dan Manusia)

implemented in Malaysian primary schools.

What do you see as some problems with this model? One is the issue

of breadth versus depth. For example, in studying the social studies over one

year, students are exposed to a variety of social science concepts compared to

only studying economics concepts for one year. Certainly, treatment of the

various social science concepts will be superficial. For sure, a year of

economics will expose students to more economics concepts and principles

than would a year of social studies. However, some may argue whether

SELF-TEST 6.3 1. Why is curriculum based on the academic subject

design model popular even today?

2. What is the main difference between the academic

subject design model and the discipline based design

model? Give examples

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students need such in-depth knowledge of a particular subject. If the

educational philosophy is to give students an overview of the social sciences,

then the social studies might be a logical choice.

Subject-Centred Designs

a) Academic Subjects

Design

b) Discipline Based

Design

c) Broad Fields

Design

d) Correlation

Design

e) Process Design

Separate subjects or courses

----------------------------------------------------------

Use structure of the discipline

Approach physics as a physicist

Use inquiry methods of the discipline

----------------------------------------------------------

Interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary

Eg. Integrated science, whole language

----------------------------------------------------------

Relate one subject to another with each

keeping its identity

Thematic approach or Team teaching

----------------------------------------------------------

Teaching thinking processes such as critical &

creative thinking, problem solving

Metacognitive training

Learner-Centred Designs

a) Child-Centred

Design

b) Radical Design

c) Humanistic

Design

Child’s interest, need and experiences are

emphasised

Eg. project method

----------------------------------------------------------

Learning is reflective and not externally

imposed

Society is flawed and curriculum should

emancipate the learner

----------------------------------------------------------

Stress development of self-concept of students

Uniqueness of individuals and importance of

self-actualisation

Problem-Centred Designs

a) Life-Situations

Design

b) Core Design

c) Social Problems

Design

Life situations design

Subject matter focuses on pressing social

issues and solutions

---------------------------------------------------------

Social functions core

Students work on problems crucial in today’s

society

---------------------------------------------------------

Social problems and reconstructionist designs

Analyse severe problems confronting

humankind

Table 6.1 Summary of major curriculum designs

[Source: adapted from Allan Ornstein and Francis Hunkins, Curriculum: Foundations,

Principles and Issues. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1998. p.264]

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d) Correlation Design: The correlation design model lies in between the

academic design model and the broad fields design. If you do not want your

curriculum to consist of five separate subjects and neither do you want the five

different subject areas to be fused into one subject, then the correlation design

model might be an alternative. For example, you may want to just fuse or

correlate history with literature at the secondary school level. For example, in

a history lesson the class learns about the Japanese occupation of Malaysia.

During the literature class, students read novels about life during that time

period. However, each subject retains its own distinct identity.

e) Process Design: In the discipline based design discussed earlier, students learn

the methods of inquiry used by experts in the respective discipline. For

example, in studying anthropology, students will learn the various

ethnographic procedures used in the field. Advocates of the process design

model stress the learning of general procedures and processes that are not

applicable to any particular discipline. The most popular example of the

process design model is the teaching of thinking skills. Various educators have

suggested that students should be taught to think. Curriculum has focussed on

the teaching of decision making, problem solving, critical thinking and

creative thinking. Ennis (1963) identified a list critical thinking skills that

should be taught, such as identification of fallacies, checking the credibility of

sources and so forth.

In the process design curriculum students are also taught to be

aware of their thinking and to take action when necessary. The good thinker is

able to monitor his or her thinking and take steps to remedy faulty thinking.

The general assumption is that there are general thinking skills and processes

are common regardless of the subject area. The aim of the curriculum is to

enhance these process skills applicable to all disciplines. Thinking critically is

not unique to geography or physics. Neither is thinking creatively the sole

domain of art or literature.

6.5.2 Learner-Centred Designs

While subject-centred designs are popular, there is also an emphasis on

learner-centred designs. The early supporters of the child-centred curriculum were

largely the progressives [we have covered this in chapter 2]. Emphasis was on the

development of the whole child and this was most evident in primary schools.

a) Child-Centred Design: Proponents of the child-centred design believe that

learners should actively participate in the teaching-learning process. Learning

SELF-TEST 6.4 1. What is the main difference between the broad field

design model and the correlation design model? Give

examples.

2. How is the teaching of thinking skills in the discipline

based design model and process design model different?

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should be related closely to the daily lives of students unlike the subject-

centred design which tends to separate content from the daily lives of learner.

In the child-centred design focus is on the needs and interests of learners. An

early advocate of the child-centred curriculum was French philosopher Jean-

Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) who in his book Emile made the child the

focus of the educational process. He emphasised that “Living is the business

that I wish to teach him. When he leaves my care he, I grant, be neither

magistrate, nor soldier, nor priest: he will be, primarily, a man” (cited in

Michel Soetard, 1994, p.423). This did not mean children were allowed to run

free. Children need to be guided by the teacher according to their level of

development.

Perhaps, the most well-known advocate of the child-centred design is

John Dewey [we have discussed some of his ideas in Chapter 2-

Progressivism]. He argued that children are not blank slates and they bring

with them four basic impulses – the impulse to communicate, to compare and

contrast, to inquire and to express themselves through language. In the child-

centred design teaching and learning draw on the experiences of learners and

the vast amount of information they bring to the classroom. Using this design

teachers and students negotiate what if of interest to learners and what content

is to be included in the curriculum. Teachers and students participate in

planning lesson units, its purposes, the focus of the content, the learning

activities to be introduced in the teaching-learning situations. Hence, in

meeting the needs of students, the child-centred curriculum will be constantly

changing.

In the child-centred model, the interests and experiences of the learner

become subject-matter of the curriculum. Children are given the freedom to

discover, first hand, by doing things for themselves rather that being told how

to do something. The “project method” became a popular pedagogical strategy

in the child-centred design in which children solved problematic situations

calling on their knowledge and skills of science, history, art and so forth. In

other words, the traditional subjects are not rejected but rather used to solve

problems that are of interest to learners.

b) Radical Design: In this design, the focus is the learner which is quite similar

to the child-centred design. The difference being that greater emphasis is

placed on the need for the curriculum to reform society [we dealt with this in

Chapter 2 – Reconstructionism]. Proponents of the radical design operate on

the assumption that society is corrupt and repressive. Children should be

educated towards the goal of social reform. A well-known proponent of the

radical design was Paulo Freire who opposed treating students as empty

vessels to be filled with knowledge by the teacher. He objected to the teacher-

student dichotomy and proposed the relationship between teacher and student

be reciprocal, that is, ‘the teacher who learns and the learner who teaches’.

According to proponents of this curriculum design, learning is

reflective and not externally imposed by those in power. The curriculum

should be so designed to free the learner from indoctrination. Knowledge is

not the finished product to be acquired by learners because this is

indoctrination. Learning is something that results from the interaction between

and among people. Learners should challenge content and allowed to give

their opinions about the information given to them. Learners will value what

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they learn if they are allowed to construct their own knowledge. [These ideas

have been discussed in Module 3 – Constructivism]. When learners create

meaning, they have ownership over what they have learned resulting in

genuine thought.

c) Humanistic Design: The humanistic design became popular in the 60s and

70s in response to excessive overemphasis on the disciplines during the 50s

and early 60s in the United States. Proponents of the humanistic design based

their arguments on the principles of humanistic psychology [we have

discussed this in Module 3 – Humanistic Psychology]. A basic question asked

is whether the curriculum has allowed a person to truly achieve his or her full

potential. The curriculum should be designed to empower learners to be

involved in the process of realising their potential. Greater emphasis was to be

placed on the affective domain to permit students of feel and value.

One of the proponents of the humanistic curriculum design was Carl

Rogers (1902-1987) who argued that the aim of education is the facilitation of

learning. To facilitate learning, the teacher accepts learners as persons, placing

importance on their feelings, their opinions and caring for them. In other

words, the teacher is able to view the world through the student’s eyes. With

such a curriculum, learners will be able to become fully functional persons,

capable of intelligent choice, are critical learners and able to approach

problems situations with flexibility and work cooperatively with others

(Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998). The humanistic curriculum design focuses on

the interconnectedness of the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.

The design stresses the development of positive self-concept and interpersonal

skills of learners. The humanistic curriculum requires teachers with great skills

and competence in dealing with individuals. This may be difficult to obtain in

all teachers. There is also a tendency to overemphasise the individual and

ignore the needs of society.

6.5.3 Problem-Centred Designs

Besides the Subject-Centred and Learner-Centred curriculum design models, a

third category called the Problem-Centred Designs is proposed. The focus of this

category of models is the problems faced by society. Problem-centred designs are pre-

determined before the arrival of students. In other words, genuine life problems are

selected and teaching-learning activities organised around these issues. The learner is

placed in the social setting to address the problem. Unlike the learner-centred designs,

the problems or issues discussed originate from issues that are of concern to society. It

aims to prepare students with relevant knowledge and skills to fit into society when

they leave school.

SELF-TEST 6.5 1. What is the main focus of curriculum based on the

Learner-Centred Designs?

2. What is the main difference between the child-centred

design model and the radical design model?

3. What is the main feature of the humanistic design model?

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a) Life-centred situations: In any society there are persistent life situations that

are crucial to a society’s successful functioning. Examples of such life

situations are healthy living, use of leisure time, ethical character, racial

tolerance, citizenship skills and so forth. It was argued by its advocates that it

makes educational sense to organise a curriculum around such life situations.

Students will see direct relevance in studying such social issues when they are

related to their world. Also, having students study social or life situations will

encourage them to see ways to improve society. The life situations that need to

be emphasised in schools will depend on what students’ need before entering

the world of work and assuming adult responsibilities. However, some needs

and interests have already been met by the family, religious institutions and

other community organisations. So, the school should address those needs not

met through these institutions.

This life-centred situations curriculum has been criticised because

students do not learn much subject matter. However, proponents of the model

state that this is not true because the design draws heavily from the traditional

subject areas. The content is organised in a manner that allow students to see

problems faced by society. In addressing society’s pressing problems, content

is drawn from different subject areas to explain and find solutions to current

issues.

b) Core-design: A variation of the life-centred situations design is the core-

design model. Focus is still on the pressing problems of society. The

difference being that certain problems are selected to form the core. It is

carefully planned before students enter school and adjusted when necessary.

The core problems are taught to all students in a block-time format whereby

two or more periods of class time is used. A problem solving approach is

adopted in analysing social problems. Students select a problem through

consensus and work either individually or in groups. Data is collected,

analysed, interpreted and presented in class. Findings are evaluated and

discussed.

SELF-TEST 6.6 1. What is the main focus of curriculum based on the

Problem-Centred Designs?

2. What is the main difference between the life-centred

design model and the core- design model?

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DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:

1) Choose a course or subject you teach or have taken. Explain how the

content in the course is organised.

2) “The content selected and organised in a particular curriculum is closely

related to the textbook”. How does this affect the scope of the

curriculum? Its sequence? Its continuity? Its integration?

3) Would a learner-based design be easier or more difficult to implement

compared to a subject-based design for your subject or course?

4) Which curriculum design model is more prevalent in your institution?

Explain why?

5) What is your preferred curriculum design? Why?

6) How much freedom are you given to change the curriculum design for

the course or subject you teach?

ACTIVITY 6.5

The following are some problems with the problem-centred designs:

The difficulty in determining the scope and sequence of social

problems faced by society

Textbooks and other teaching material do not support the

problem-centred design

Teachers are uncomfortable with the design because it departs too

much from their training

The design requires an exceptional teacher, well versed in subject

matter, problem-solving skills and general knowledge.

You are leading a team in designing a curriculum for the primary school

using the problem-centred design. Suggest how you would overcome the

problems listed above.

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READINGS

Wragg, T. (1997). Cubic curriculum. London: Routledge. Chapter 2:

Subjects, the first dimension [available at eBrary].

Gatewood, T. (1998). Integrated curriculum in today’s middle schools. The

Education Digest. Vol. 63 (9). p. 24-29 [available at ProQuest]

Ornstein, A. and Hunkins, F. Curriculum: Foundations, principle and issues.

(1998). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Chapter 8: Curriculum design. pp. 232-

267.

Sowell, E. (2000). Curriculum: An integrative introduction. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Chapter 3: Curriculum organization. pp. 41-64.