AED18A

Course Outline
Aug-Nov 2019
BA/BSc/B(Ed) – General

AED18A CURRICULUM DESIGN

LECTURER/TUTOR Ms. Teo Juin Ee

juinee.teo@nie.edu.sg
Office: NIE 7-03-3E
Tel: 6790 3281

DAY / TIME Mondays, 2 to 5pm

VENUE NIE Tutorial Room 718

CONSULTATION By appointment

Course Description

Recent developments in Singapore education encourage schools and teachers to design

school-based programmes for their students. This is in line with the view that teachers, as
professionals, should not merely enact a national curriculum, but engage their intellectual
and emotional investments in their work on behalf of, and sometimes in collaboration with,
the students they know best. It is crucial that teachers understand their professional role in
curriculum making, which includes (but is not limited to) making sense of the official syllabus,
scoping and sequencing the content in a way that is relevant to their students, and designing
meaningful learning experiences. This course will introduce seminal views on the aims of
education and the philosophies underpinning these views. The course invites you to explore
a range of issues and considerations that constitute teacher’s agency in curriculum design in
the context of Singaporean classrooms today. Ultimately, this course aims to develop your
awareness of the fundamental issues and considerations in curriculum design, inviting you to
become critically reflective curriculum thinkers and makers. Each lesson in the course builds
on the previous, but each lesson also provides opportunity to revisit ideas and issues
previously discussed in greater depth and at higher levels of sophistication.

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Envisioned Course Structure

Group Curriculum Analysis (30%) + Online Discussion (10%)

Make sense of your

What can curriculum design do Compare four influential positions on learning through
to/for human beings? the aims of education and evaluate how collaborative analysis
they affect curriculum design. and discussions of
[Latter half of the course] real-world curriculum
designs and issues.
What does it mean to Experience why teachers and students need to
design curriculum? make sense of designed curriculum (on paper), Ongoing, at the
in order to co-construct their design/s of individual, peer
live-action curriculum (beyond documents). and class levels
[Ongoing, this course as a live case]
What is
curriculum? Synthesise your
Unpack the complexities of curriculum making understanding and
in an education system with different levels, form your own
participants and contexts of curriculum work. contextualised views on
[Earlier half of the course] the aims of education
and curriculum design.

What am I learning and who am I becoming in Mid-Term Essay (25%) + Final Essay (35%)
this encounter with AED18A Curriculum Design?

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 Redesigned Assignments
Have an impactful/creative title
Mid-Term Essay (25%) Due 30 Sep
This essay invites you to make sense of and with your
prior knowledge and experiences. Please use at least
one concept/idea from a relevant reading to reflect on
your learning. Your essay should engage with at least
two of the following queries:
a) My initial view of curriculum and new
understandings or questions?
b) My experience of good/bad curriculum and
why it was good/bad for me but maybe not for
other people?
c) A metaphor/image/symbol to explain my
current view of curriculum design?
You can design your own way to present and organize
the essay. Appropriate use of diagrams, photos and
other sources with acknowledgement are welcome.
Please do not name any actual people or organisations
in your essay if avoidable. Your essay should be
between 3-5 pages, inclusive of any visuals, use 12pt
font and 1.5 line spacing. You may have a 6th page for
reference list if needed. Submission will be by softcopy
only. You are encouraged to share your essay with the
class but this is not a must, you can decide.
Grading criteria and standards will be shared in due time for our sense-making and for your self-assessment of work-in-progress. For now, you can explore the
following resources, my proposed rubrics will be designed based on the “universal intellectual standards”. Do you agree with their claim that these are “universal”?
https://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/universal-intellectual-standards/527; http://www.criticalthinking.org/pages/college-wide-grading-standards/441
Online Discussion (10%) until 15 Nov
Please participate by posting and
responding to others. You can self-
determine what you think is
reasonable evidence of your attending
to online discussion. There will be
teacher-designed and student-initiated
discussion topics. Your participation
will be assessed for overall quality and
value in enriching everyone’s learning.
Curriculum Analysis Seminar (30%) on 21 Oct
This task will be launched, co-developed and
enacted in class from 23 Sep to 28 Oct. More
details will follow. In brief, the class will be
divided into four groups and each group will
take charge of helping the whole class to
learn more deeply about one of four
influential views on the aims of education
and how this view affects curriculum design.
Your group will prepare to lead a 40-min
seminar, to share your learning and for
further class-level learning.
Final Essay (35%) My Curriculum Creed,
Due 18 Nov
This essay invites you to synthesise and
consolidate your learning. Your essay
should re-engage with the core questions
and ideas we have explored in AED18A
(see course structure and itinerary). You
should design your own themes, questions
and structure for this final essay. For
example, what are the most valuable
insights I have gained, what are my beliefs
about curriculum design and can I explain
them as a coherent “creed”?
We will discuss the possibilities and
specific page guidelines etc. when the time
comes. I would like to give more specific
guidance only after learning from our mid-
term essays.
You may also design (imagine) your own
context or situation, to give meaning and
purpose for this final essay. For example,
you can write it as a letter to your future
self, what do you want to remind yourself
about regarding curriculum design? Why?
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Itinerary for course-in-formation
Weeks Sessions Themes / Focus
1 Public Holiday Online
Hari Raya Haji Discussion What is curriculum? What does it mean to design curriculum?
2 19 Aug • Consider how and why curriculum design relates with human being/becoming
• Designer’s need for working definition/s of curriculum-in-context
3 26 Aug • Different levels of curriculum work in an education system
• Different forms of curriculum and curriculum trans-formation
4 2 Sep • Basic curriculum questions/components and tools for framing curriculum design
• Five core activities in curriculum development and their interrelation
5 9 Sep • Consider how different values/perspectives (and blindspots) inter-act with curriculum design

6 16 Sep
What can curriculum design do to/for human beings?
7 23 Sep • Explore four influential positions on the aims of education and compare how they affect curriculum design
• Form four curriculum analysis groups and define the purpose, context, scope and focus of analysis
Recess Mid-Term Essay, due by 30 Sep, before midnight.
8 7 Oct
• In-class consultations and preparation for group curriculum analysis seminars + feedback on mid-term essay
9 14 Oct
10 21 Oct
• Four Curriculum Analysis Seminars, each group will have 40mins to share learning with class and lead
11 Public Holiday Online
discussion (face-to-face and online)
Deepavali Discussion
12 4 Nov
What am I learning and who am I becoming through this encounter with AED18A Curriculum Design?

13 11 Nov • Closing and consolidation, final posts for Online Discussion, due by 15 Nov, before midnight.
• Guidance and in-class consultations for Final Essay, due by 18 Nov, before midnight.

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