A curriculum is an important tool of educational change.

A teacher, who is essentially an

important part of the learning process, faces various problems on account of curriculum
development due to which he cannot play his role effectively in the education process. Numerous
reasons can be held responsible for this state of affairs.

Russel, in his essay The Functions of a Teacher points out reasons for such ineffective
implementation of the curriculums in schools which acts as a hindrance in the performance of the
teachers. He asserts that the tradition of political and state interference within the curriculum
development leaves the teacher ignorant of many aspects of the curriculum which ultimately
affects not only their performance but also the process of teaching and learning in schools. He
further opposes the dogmatic and oppressive imperialism that arises out of such custom.
Imperialism is a policy of extending rule over people and other countries, for extending political
and economic access, power, and control for which education can prove to be an essential tool.
Political access over the school curriculum is noxious as it results in nothing but propagation of a
specific agenda and exploitation of people. In order to validate his point, he gives an example of
the barbaric group of Nazis that ascended from Germany as a result of Roman Catholicism being
mixed with their curriculum.

A curriculum can only be supportive in the teaching field if it has been developed through
intense partnership between the teachers and the students. (Russel) In the developing countries
like the U.S., teachers are invited to participate in the process of curriculum design and
development. These curriculum materials are then developed through careful and extended work
with teachers and as well as diverse students, which ultimately serve as a tool that allows the
teacher to showcase their best work in their respective courses.

State control under the imperialist powers use education indiscriminately as a tool to take control
of such colonized nations like Pakistan. In Pakistan, we are used to thinking of a curriculum as
something that robs the teacher of their professional ability. Perhaps the education system in
Pakistan has been devoid of effective curricula for so long that we have naturally set quite low
expectations about what curriculum materials can actually provide. The usual criticism on the
curricula of government and private schools in Pakistan is that they are outdated, fixed, irrelevant
and outdated. The teachers in primary and secondary schools are confined to teaching through
textbooks that remains fixed and unchanged throughout decades. They are not motivated to have
a look at the curriculum and are made to continue to work within the old paradigm. One possible
reason for their lack of participation in deciding the curriculum is that it is thrust upon them by
some external agency. Consequently, it renders them helpless and leaves little space for
professional freedom.

References:

https://investigations.terc.edu/inv2/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/RoleOfCurric.pdf