Module 3: NATURE, CONCEPTS AND PURPOSE OF CURRICULUM

COMPONENT 1 – CURRICULUM AIMS, GOALS AND OBJECTIVES

A formal curriculum is embedded in a formal institution called school. Schools are

established institutions which are either run by the government or by the private sector.

Based on the Philippine Constitution of 1987, all schools shall aim to:

a. Inculcate patriotism and nationalism

b. Foster love of humanity

c. Promote respect for human rights

d. Appreciate the role of national heroes in the historical development of the

country

e. Teach the rights and duties of citizenship

f. Strengthen ethical and spiritual values

g. Develop moral character and personal discipline

h. Encourage critical and creative thinking

i. Broaden scientific and technological knowledge and promote vocational

efficiency.

Aims of Elementary Education (Education Act 1982)

a. Provide knowledge and develop skills, attitudes, values essential to personal

development and necessary for living in and contributing to a developing and

changing society

b. Provide learning experiences

c. Promote knowledge with love for the nation

d. Promote work experiences and prepare the learner to engage in honest and

gainful work.

Aims for Secondary Education

a. Continue to promote the objectives of elementary education

b. Discover and enhance skills the different aptitudes and interests

c. To prepare them for tertiary schooling.

Aims for Tertiary Education

a. Provide general education to promote national identity, cultural consciousness

b. Train the nation’s manpower for national development

c. Develop the profession that will provide leadership for the nation

d. Advance knowledge through research and apply new knowledge for improving the quality of human
life.

School’s Vision – is a clear concept of what the institution would like to become in

the future. Example: A model performing high school where students are equipped

with knowledge, skills and strength of character to realize their potential to the fullest.

School’s Mission – it spells out how it intends to carry out its vision.

Example: To produce globally competitive lifelong learners.

COMPONENT 2 – CURRICULUM CONTENT OR SUBJECT MATTER

All curricula have content, regardless of their design or models. Content is more

than simply information to be learned in school. To some curriculum specialists,

content or subject matter is another term for knowledge.

The following are examples of subject areas in basic or general education:

a. Communication Arts – listening, speaking, reading and writing

b. Mathematics – numeric and computational skills

c. Science – branches of natural sciences, exploration and discovery

d. Music – music theory, practice listening, singing and playing musical

instrument

e. Physical Education – health and physical fitness, individual and team sports,

dances

f. Vocational Education – manipulative skills in basic crafts and trades, design,

work and work ethic

Here are some criteria which can be utilized in the selection of subject matter

content or knowledge for the curriculum.

1. Self- sufficiency – helping the learners to attain maximum self-efficiency in

learning but in the most economical manner.

2. Significance- if it will develop learning abilities, skills, processes and attitude.

3. Validity – subject matter should be checked or verified at regular intervals, to

determine if the content that was originally valid continues to be.

4. Interest – student’s interest should be considered and adjusted taking into

consideration.

(Maturity and prior experiences.)

5. Utility – usefulness of the subject matter may be relative to the learner who is

going to use it. “Will I use it in my future job?”

6. Learnability – subject matter in the curriculum should be within the range of

experiences of the learners.

7. Feasibility – Can the subject matter or content be learned within the time

allowed, resources available, expertise of the teacher, and the nature of the

learners?

The following are considerations that may be used in the selection of the

learning content.

a. Frequently and commonly used in daily life

b. Suited to the maturity level and abilities of the students

c. Competencies for future career

d. Important in the transfer of learning

The following are suggested principles in organizing or putting together the

different learning contents:

1. BALANCE – this refers to that content will be level or area will not be

overcrowded or less crowded.

2. ARTICULATION – each level of subject matter is smoothly connected to the

next, glaring gaps and wasteful overlaps in the subject matter will be avoided.

3. SEQUENCE – logical arrangement of the subject matter.

4. INTEGRATION – the horizontal connections are needed in subject areas that

are similar so that learning will be related to one another.

5. CONTINUITY – constant repetition, review and reinforcement of learning.

COMPONENT 3- CURRICULUM EXPERIENCES

The instructional strategies and methods will put into action the goals and use the

contents in order to produce an outcome. Whatever methods the teacher utilizes to

implement the curriculum, there will be some guide for the selection and use. Here are

some of them:

1. Teaching methods are means to achieve the end.

2. There is no single best teaching method.

3. Teaching methods should stimulate the learners desire to develop the

cognitive, affective, psychomotor, social and spiritual domain of the individual.

4. Learning styles of the students should be considered.

5. Flexibility should be a consideration in the use of the teaching methods.

6. Every method should lead to the development of the learning outcomes.

COMPONENT 4 – CURRICULUM EVALUATION

1. According to Worthen and Sanders (1987) all curricula to be effective must

have the element of evaluation. Curriculum evaluation here may refer to the formal determination of
the quality, effectiveness or value of the program,

process, and product of the curriculum. From the definitions, several models

of evaluation came up. The most widely used is Stufflebeam’s CIPP

(Context, Input, Product, Process)

2. The context refers to the environment of the curriculum. The real situation

where the curriculum is operating is its context. Simply put, context

evaluation refers to situation analysis.

3. The input refers to the ingredients of the curriculum which include the goals,

instructional strategies, the learners, the teachers, the contents and all the

materials needed.

The process refers to the ways and means of how the curriculum has been

implemented.

The product indicates if the curriculum accomplishes its goals. It will determine to

what extent the curriculum objectives has been achieved.