Topic 1: Concepts and Issues in Curriculum

Definitions; Planned, enacted and hidden curriculum; Relationship between curriculum, syllabus,
course and programme

Definitions:

 Curriculum refers to the materials with which students will interact for the purpose of
achieving identified educational outcomes.
 It is an agreed social document which expresses national priorities for education and
aspirations for the future of the nation.
 Hence, it is dynamic and is designed for both present and emerging purposes.

Types of Curriculum

(1) Planned Curriculum

 The planned curriculum refers to document that shapes the content to be covered when
teaching.

(2) Enacted Curriculum

 It is the implemented curriculum, i.e. the actual experiences provided to the students, which
reflects the decisions and strategies made by the teacher.
 Hence, the enacted curriculum relates to what is actually put in place for students in schools.

(3) Hidden Curriculum

 The hidden curriculum arises from interactions among students and between students and
teachers, in particular, the messages concerning values, beliefs, behaviours, and attitudes.

(4) Null Curriculum

 The null curriculum refers to what is not taught but actually should be taught in school
according to the needs of society.

Relationship between curriculum, syllabus, course and programme

 A programme is the length and requirements that are needed for a specific certificate. For
instance, a Bachelor of Arts program might require 120 credits. (e.g PISMP/KSSR)
 A curriculum is the set of courses, and their content, all designed to reach a particular
qualification. (e.g. PISMP TESL /KSSR English –DSKP for English)
 Course refer to subjects that a programme offers. (e.g. CS/English)
 Syllabus is set for a particular course/subject, i.e. It is the course outline, consists of
summary of topics to be covered in a course. (e.g. RMK for CS/DSKP for English Year 1)

Forces that influence curriculum construction

1. Political Force:
 How politics influences curriculum design and development starts with funding. Both private
and public educational institutions rely on funding for hiring personnel, building and
maintaining facilities and equipment.
 All aspects of curriculum depends on local, state and national political standards.
 For example, politics affects curriculum development from defining goals, interpreting
curricular material to approving examination systems.
 In Malaysian context:
 Political activities affect curriculum in many ways, right from curriculum development,
planning/design, implementation, evaluation and changing of curriculum.
 Educational policy is designated by politicians which should go in hand with the national
policy, this determines the kind of education we want to offer and the society we need to
build. Eg: National Education Policy, National Education Blueprint.
 The main decision makers in curriculum design are those who hold high position in the
education system (MOE) and the government itself.
 The government through the Ministry of Education defines and interpret the goals of
education based on identified national policy.

 The curriculum maker devises methods for attaining those goals, the test constructors
devises instruments to measure the extent to which the goals have been attained.
 Putting into effect the curriculum that was produced. It involves:
 Infrastructure (building)
 Human resource (hiring, recruitment and retention of personnel) - the government
has the mandate of training/hiring of new personnel like teachers.
 Funding - able to obtain funds (domestic/foreign); freedom to allocate funds
according to changing priority.
 Map the development of education in Malaysia from 1979 to now. Describe the
changes in curriculum and factors that influenced those changes. Identify the
programmes that were created/set up to support the curriculum. Explain the
relevance of the National Philosophy of Education to curriculum development.

2. Economic force
 A country expects an economic return from educated students contributing to its economy.
 For instance, a country expects its workforce to possess the followings:
 skills, knowledge, attitude
 compete globally
 expertise
 In Malaysian context:
 National Integrity Plan aligned with Vision 2020 influences the development and design of
the curriculum (moving towards industrialised country) -shift to K-economy.
 The education system must yield knowledge workers to push Malaysia into the K-economy.
 Malaysian education must engender knowledge and technology in every facets of its
education system.
 In Malaysian context:
 Political activities affect curriculum in many ways, right from curriculum development,
planning/design, implementation, evaluation and changing of curriculum.
 Educational policy is designated by politicians which should go in hand with the national
policy, this determines the kind of education we want to offer and the society we need to
build. Eg: National Education Policy, National Education Blueprint.
 The main decision makers in curriculum design are those who hold high position in the
education system (MOE) and the government itself.
 The government through the Ministry of Education defines and interpret the goals of
education based on identified national policy.
 3. Social Force

 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.
 For example, subjects which have gender education and political economy have proved
difficult to include in the curriculum because of the resistance from some religious groups
 Society has its own expectations about the aims and objectives that should be considered
when designing the curriculum - Curriculum designers need to take into account these
societal considerations to avoid the curriculum from becoming irrelevant.
 Social diversity including religion, culture and social groupings affects curriculum
development because these characteristics influence the types of topics and methods for
teaching information - for example, subjects such as sex education has proved difficult to
include in the curriculum because of the resistance from some religious groups. These
groups feel that including these subjects in the curriculum will undermine their belief
systems.
 The design of curricular materials and their presentation should accommodate the culture
of the society that the curriculum is seeking to serve.- Examples: three characters in
textbook which represent the three main races in Malaysia. Topics on celebrations like Hari
Raya, Deepavali, Chinese New year, hari Wesak.
 Sometimes, our curriculum can lead to inequities. - We can have a curriculum that is
gender biased - It incudes instructional materials that portray negative attitudes towards
women and girls. - example: women are always portrayed as the housewife, not working,
do the house chores -there are also cases in schools which the schools assign the boys to
take electrical and girls to take ERT.

Concerns of different stakeholders in the Malaysian context.

 Stakeholders are any individual internal or external to an ogranisation that has a "stake" in
the success of the institution (i.e. students, faculty (teacher), staff, system administrator,
college council, etc).
 They are individuals or institution that are interrelated in the school curriculum.
 They put into action and give life to the curriculum.
 Their interests vary in degree and complexity.
 They shape the school curriculum implementation.

Concerns of stakeholders

 Unrelated concerns: The person does not believe the new program will affect them.
 Personal concerns: How will it affect the person as an individual?
 Task-related concern: Specific concern over how to teach or implement the new curriculum,
what strategies and learning experiences to use, what equipment will be necessary, what
material may be needed, etc.
 Impact-related concerns: How the new program or curriculum will affect others within the
school and the community.

Stakeholders
(1) Learners:

 The very reason a curriculum is developed.

 The primary stakeholders in the curriculum.
 Make and unmake the curriculum by their active and direct involvement.
 The success of the curriculum can only be measured by the extent of learnig that the
learners have achieved.
 Considerations must be made such as the following:
a) Age; b) Gender; c) Physical, mental and emotional development; d) Cultural background;
e) aspiration and personal goals.

(2) Teachers
 A teacher is a curriculum maker, developer, implementer-planning and writing.
 Teacher writes a curriculum daily through a lesson plan, unit plan or a yearly plan.
 Addresses the goals, needs, interests of the learners by creating experiences from where
the students can learn.
 Designs, enriches and modifies the curriculum to suit the learners' characteristics.
 Teachers are part of textbook committee, faculty selection boards, school evaluation
committees or textbook writers themselves. Hence, they are stakeholders too.

(3) Curriculum Managers and Administrators

 Responsible to the kind of curriculum their school will offer and how these are
implemented (procure equipment and materials needed).
 Set the strategic directions for schools.
 Collaborate with schools to formulate effective policies and practices.
 They also plan for the improvement of school facilities.
 They have privilege to command but at the same time to lead the institution.
 They are responsible for the final decision making in terms of the school purpose.

(4) Parents
 Main supporter of the curriculum.
 Parents are the best supporters of the schools, especially because they are paying for their
child education. (My child and my money go to this school)
 How do parents shape the curriculum and why are they considered as stakeholders?
 Parents have strengthened the school curriculum by giving support to various activities and
assisting on the accomplishment of the school's curriculum = PTA
 Provide permission for their children to participate in various activities.

(5) Community Members

 The community members may provide materials in the existing local community can very
well substitute for what are needed to implement the curriculum - bookstores, YTL
(FrogAsia), 4G Internet access and a virtual learning environment via 1BestariNet.
 Respected community members maybe included in school boards –ALUMNI

(6)Other Stakeholders

 Professional Organisations
  They are being asked by the curriculum especially to contribute in curriculum review
because they have voice in licensure examination, curriculum enhancement and
others - 1119 (Cambridge)
 Government (MOE)
 It has a great stake in the curriculum implementation.
 It is represented by MOE for basic education curriculum.

 Business/Industries
 Offers scholarships and bursaries to students and teachers.
 Provides opportunities for the young to experience the world of work.
 Collaborates with schools to formulate effective programmes for the young such as
offering work related projects.
 Supports placement opportunities for the professional development of teachers.

 Professional Regulation Commission

 The third agency that has high stake in school's curricula because graduates of the
different tertiary degrees must be certified as professionals - Malaysian Qualification
Association (MQA).
 Supreme Courts
 Professional bar exam to certify lawyers and Medical Association through its medical
board exams for Licensure Examination for Doctors.