Topic 3

Principles in Curriculum Design

Selecting, Grading, Sequencing, Staging, Recycling

The principles of curriculum design should have the following characteristics:

 The principles must be taken into account for all children/young people.
 The principles will assist teachers and schools in their practice and as a basis for continuing
review, evaluation and improvement.
 They apply to the curriculum at national, school, and individual levels and must be taken into
account for all children/young people
 Although all should apply at any one stage, the principles will have different emphases as a
child or young person learns and develops.

Principles in Curriculum Design:

1. Selecting
 Select content: relevancy, censorship issues, futurism, trends & innovations in content in the
subject areas, strategies.

2. Grading
 Grading of vocabulary.
 Grading of contents

3. Sequencing
 When considering sequencing, curricularists seek a curriculum that will foster cumulative,
continuous learning.
 Specifically, curricularists must decide how content, and experiences can build on what
came before.
 To sequence and contents and experiences, they can draw on some learning principles:

(1) simple-to-complex learning

(2) Part-to-whole learning

(3) whole-to-part learning

(4) chronological learning

4. Staging
 Stage goals/time
 Stage the learning process e.g. listening and reading precede speaking and writing.

5. Recycling
 Recycle of materials.
 Recycle activities.
 Recycle language to maximise opportunities for learning.
 Recycle data/information.

 The curriculum should be designed on the basis of the following principles:

  Challenge and enjoyment
 Breadth
 Progression
 Depth
 Personalisation and choice
 Coherence
 Relevance.

(1) Challenge and enjoyment

 Children and young people should find their learning challenging, engaging and motivating.
 The curriculum should encourage high aspirations and ambitions for all.

(2) Breadth

 All children and young people should have opportunities for a broad, suitably weighted
range of experiences.
 The curriculum should be organised so that they will learn and develop through a variety of
contexts within both the classroom and other aspects of school life.

(3) Progression

 Children and young people should experience continuous progression in their learning.
 Each stage should build upon earlier knowledge and achievements. Children should be able
to progress at a rate which meets their needs and aptitudes, and keep options open so that
routes are not closed off too early.
 Progression in the experiences and outcomes

(4) Depth

 There should be opportunities for children to develop their full capacity for different types of
thinking and learning.
 As they progress, they should develop and apply increasing intellectual rigour, drawing
different strands of learning together, and exploring and achieving more advanced levels of
understanding.

(5) Personalisation and choice

 The curriculum should respond to individual needs and support particular aptitudes and
talents.
 It should give each child and young person increasing opportunities for exercising
responsible personal choice as they move through their school career.
 Once they have achieved suitable levels of attainment across a wide range of areas of
learning, the choice should become as open as possible. There should be safeguards to
ensure that choices are soundly based and lead to successful outcomes.

(6) Coherence

 Taken as a whole, children and young people's learning activities should combine to form a
coherent experience.
 There should be clear links between the different aspects of children and young people's
learning, including opportunities for extended activities which draw different strands of
learning together.
(7) Relevance

 Children and young people should understand the purposes of their activities.
 They should see the value of what they are learning and its relevance to their lives, present
and future.

Development of the Malaysian Curriculum

• National Philosophy of Education

-“Education in Malaysia is a continuous effort towards enhancing potentials of individuals in a

holistic and integrated manner in order to create individuals who are well-equipped intellectually,
spiritually and emotionally. This effort aims to produce knowledgeable, ethical and responsible
Malaysian citizens who are can contribute towards the harmony and prosperity of the community
and nation.”

- acts as a guide for all educational activities in Malaysia.

Study of the current Malaysian English Language school curriculum

 KSSR has one new word in it ‘Standard’. In this new curriculum, there are set standards of
learning that our children have to achieve at the different levels of their schooling.

 The new curriculum has also been designed to go beyond acquiring communication skills,
self-development and the child’s immediate environment as in the KBSR.

 to enhance and embrace the use of science and technology, develop values, understand
humanitarian issues and also focus on the child’s physical and aesthetical development.

 For Level 1 the modules taught are:

-Module 1 (Listening and Speaking)

-Module 2 (Reading)

-Module 3 (Speaking)

-Module 4 (Language Arts)

 Level 2 (+ grammar)

 Apart from the 3Ms (reading, writing and counting), the new curriculum has 4Ms, with
‘Reasoning’ added to the original 3Ms.

 The long-term objective of the KSSR is to produce individuals who have positive self-image
and high self-esteem.

Comparison of other Malaysia English Language school curriculum

The Integrated  divided into two phases that is Phase 1 (Year1-3) and Phase II (Year 4-
Primary School 6).
Curriculum
 The content is divided into six components: basic skills, humanities, art
(ICPS) – KBSR
and recreation, values and attitudes, living skills and communication
skills.
The Integrated  put emphasis on providing a general education and consolidation of
Secondary skills acquired in the primary grades.
School
 continued to focus on the development of positive attitudes and
Curriculum
values among students.
(ICSS) – KBSM