Curriculum and Assessment

Module 1

Course Description:

Covers the basic understanding of K-12 PE and Health curriculum. It covers the
analysis of K-12 Physical Education and Health Education curriculum and explores the
different curriculum models in PE and Health. Assessment in the K-12 PE and Health is
also tackled in the course. Curriculum and assessment analysis in the K-12 PE and Health
is expected at the end of the course.

Overview:

Curriculum can be defined in a variety of ways. Depending on which school of

thought one embraces, it is readily seen that curriculum is an indispensable ingredient in
the school. Without the curriculum, there is no school. What the constitution is to a state,
the curriculum is to an educational institution.

Learning Outcomes:

At the end of the chapter, the students are expected to:

o define the curriculum
o enumerate the criteria of a good curriculum

Indicated Learning Content

Definition of Curriculum
Criteria of a Good Curriculum
Criteria for Selecting Curriculum Content
Types of Curriculum
Elements of Curriculum
 Curriculum Design

Discussion:

Definitions of Curriculum:

• form the Latin root “currere”, which means to run: the course of the race.
• the sum of all learning content, experience and resources that are purposely
selected, organized and implemented by the school in pursuits of its peculiar
mandate as a distinct institution of learning and human development.

According to de la Cruz (1982), curriculum involves the general aims, which the school
are to pursue and about which the more specific objective of instruction are attained. The
major areas or subjects of the curriculum must be selected as well as the specific content
to be covered each. Choices must be made about the type of learning experiences with
which to implement both the content understanding and other objectives.
In the words of Garcia(1973), the term curriculum is “the collection of learning
experiences proposed as a result of deliberation for student attainment.”
In the words of Grayson (1977), the term “curriculum” is taken to mean the
organize set of content and activities that a school uses as basis for educating students.
The planning of a curriculum should begin with an analysis of technical manpower needs
and identification of education-occupation linkages.
Other writers on the subject define the curriculum as being all those learning
experiences of children that take place under the direction or control of the school, or as
all experiences which are utilized by the school to the attain aims of education. Such a
definition clearly reflects a shift away from thinking of the curriculum only in terms of “
subject matter to be thought” toward a broader interpretation of the curriculum deriving
its character from the nature of children or youth and their experiences.
Curriculum includes all experiences, which takes place under the sponsorships of
the school. The English courses, the publication of a school paper, the football games, the
senior prom, the debates are all parts of the school curriculum. The student does the
experiencing; the school provides the environments.
Krugs (1957) defines curriculum as “the instrumentality by which school seeks to
translate man’s hopes for education into concrete reality. It consists of the means of
instruction used by the school to provide opportunities for student learning experiences
leading to decide learning outcomes”. The means of instruction include the classroom
studies, the guidance and counselling program, school and community projects, school
related works experience, school health service school camps, the school library and
other activities known as “ extracurricular” or “extra-class”.
According Alice Miel (1946), the curriculum is the result of interaction of a
complex of factors, including the physical environment and the desires, beliefs,
knowledge, attitude and skills of the persons served by and serving the schools namely,
the learners, community adults and educators, (not forgetting the custodian, clerks,
secretaries, and other none teaching employees of the school).
Palma (1982) further defines curriculum as the basic infrastructure of a school’s
educational program. He said that without a curriculum, the school is exactly in the same
situation as aa contractor who embarks on a construction project without a master
blueprint and bill of specifications and proceeds to do the job with no better guidance.
Operationally, he also defines curriculum as the sum total of all the learning experiences,
which the school organizes and carries out for the learners thus enabling it to achieve its
missions and goals. He used the term broadly to embrace all and only those learning
experiences and activities for which the school accepts responsibility.

Criteria of a Good Curriculum

After a careful perusal of the works of curriculum expects, this writer summarizes he
criteria of a good curriculum. They include the following:
1. The curriculum is continuously evolving. To be viable and effective, the curricula
program must have continuous evaluation and reappraisal. A program must adapt its
educational activities and services to meet the needs of a modern and dynamic
community. A curriculum that is not all sensitive and responsive to the changing
society can never be settled once and for all. The effort to evaluate aims of education
in terms of current realities should be only a part of the continuing effort of educators
to reflect the needs of the individual and the society in their curriculum offering.
2. The curriculum is based on the needs, of the people. It is imperative in developing a
program to begin with those that concern the people themselves. Their years of
experience can be a good source that can be woven into the fabric of the classroom
presentation. Opportunity should be provided for student participation in developing
the curriculum and also in assessing its effectiveness. We plan the curriculum with
people.
3. The curriculum is democratically conceived. The minds and energies of many people
who are intimate contact with the interests, needs and resources of the community will
create a more effective product than the individual director could possibly provide by
working alone.
4. The curriculum is the result of long-term effort. Enthusiasm for a proposed curriculum
activity often impels proponents to push for immediate action. But a class or service
that is begun hurriedly and folds quickly may hurt the long-term continuance of the
program.
5. The curriculum is a complex of details. Good program planning provides the proper
instructional equipment and meeting places that are often most conducive to learning.
A friendly social meeting, good student-teacher relationships, effective guidance
opportunities, and a favourable attitude on the part of individuals, groups and
organizations within the community are necessary ingredients for a successful
program.
6. The curriculum provides for the logical sequence of subject matter. Classes and
activities should be planned so as to achieve an orderly development of subject matter
and steep-by-step progress of the learner. A familiar principle in educational
philosophy holds that we begin with the student “where he is”, whether he is illiterate
or the holder of a graduate degree. Curricular flexibility is required to accommodate
the various levels of educational attainment usually found in the student body.
Curricular content should be devised in such a way as to provide the student with a
progressive pattern that offers opportunity for further study in those areas of learning
important to him.
7. The curriculum complements and cooperates with other programs in the community.
The public school should not try to monopolize the education scene at the community
level. Its major concern should be to see that the jobs get done regardless of who does
it. The administrator of the program ought to familiarize himself with course offerings
in the community and offer his assistance in the improvement of ongoing programs,
rather than start a similar one of his own. He should determine gaps and omissions in
the total community effort and initiates those courses that are lacking. Cooperative
effort toward this will accomplish more than competitive zeal.
8. The curriculum has educational quality. The curriculum must be made up of offering
that pass the test of good and sound education. We speak of quality education but
there has to be quality curriculum as well.
The reason is obvious; the public supports the program financially and the taxpayer
has a right to expect his money to be well spent.
9. The curriculum has administrative flexibility. Flexibility is a good trait of good
curriculum. A curriculum must be ready to incorporate changes whenever necessary.

Criteria for Selecting Curriculum Content

The following are the criteria identified in selecting curriculum content:
 1. Self-sufficiency. This pertains to economic self-sufficiency. There are three phases
of such type. It can refer to economy of economy of teaching effort and
educational resources, economy of student’s effort, economy of the subject matters
generated.
2. Significance. This is the degree to which the curriculum contributes to basic ideas,
concepts, principles and generalizations of the overall aims of the curriculum.
3. Validity. This refers to the authority of content.
4. Feasibility. This criteria considers content in terms of time allotment, resources
available and expertise of staff.
5. Learnability. This refers to the placement and sequencing of subject content.
6. Interest. It covers the meaningfulness of the curriculum.
7. Utility. It supposes the usefulness of the curriculum content. It uses the pragmatic
criterion of truth.

Types of Curriculum

The following represents the many different types of curriculum used in schools today.

Type of Definition
Curriculum

1. Overt, Is simply that which is written as part of formal instruction of

explicit, or schooling experiences? It may refer to a curriculum document, texts,
written films, and supportive teaching materials that are overtly chosen to
curriculum support the intentional instructional agenda of a school. Thus, the
overt curriculum is usually confined to those written understandings
and directions formally designated and reviewed by administrators,
curriculum directors and teachers, often collectively.

2. Societal As defined by Cortes (1981). Cortes defines this curriculum as:…[the]

curriculum massive, ongoing, informal curriculum of family, peer groups,
(or social neighborhoods, churches, organizations, occupations, mass media, and
curricula) other socializing forces that “educate” all of us throughout our lives. 24

This type of curricula can now be expanded to include the powerful

effects of social media (YouTube; Facebook; Twitter; Pinterest, etc) and
 how it actively helps create new perspectives, and can help shape both
individual and public opinion.

3. The That which is implied by the very structure and nature of schools, much
hidden or of what revolves around daily or established routines.
covert
curriculum Longstreet and Shane (1993) offer a commonly accepted definition for
this term – the “hidden curriculum,” which refers to the kinds of learnings
children derive from the very nature and organizational design of the
public school, as well as from the behaviors and attitudes of teachers and
administrators…. ” 46

Examples of the hidden curriculum might include the messages and

lessons derived from the mere organization of schools — the emphasis
on: sequential room arrangements; the cellular, timed segments of formal
instruction; an annual schedule that is still arranged to accommodate an
agrarian age; disciplined messages where concentration equates to student
behaviors were they are sitting up straight and are continually quiet;
students getting in and standing in line silently; students quietly raising
their hands to be called on; the endless competition for grades, and so on.
The hidden curriculum may include both positive or negative messages,
depending on the models provided and the perspectives of the learner or
the observer.

In what I term floating quotes, popularized quotes that have no direct,

cited sources, David P. Gardner is reported to have said: We learn simply
by the exposure of living. Much that passes for education is not education
at all but ritual. The fact is that we are being educated when we know it
least.

4. The null That which we do not teach, thus giving students the message that these
curriculum elements are not important in their educational experiences or in our
society. Eisner offers some major points as he concludes his discussion of
the null curriculum. The major point I have been trying to make thus far
is that schools have consequences not only by virtue of what they do
 teach, but also by virtue of what they neglect to teach. What students
cannot consider, what they don’t processes they are unable to use, have
consequences for the kinds of lives they lead. 103

Eisner (1985, 1994) first described and defined aspects of this curriculum.
He states: There is something of a paradox involved in writing about a
curriculum that does not exist. Yet, if we are concerned with the
consequences of school programs and the role of curriculum in shaping
those consequences, then it seems to me that we are well advised to
consider not only the explicit and implicit curricula of schools but also
what schools do not teach. It is my thesis that what schools do not teach
may be as important as what they do teach. I argue this position because
ignorance is not simply a neutral void; it has important effects on the
kinds of options one is able to consider, the alternatives that one can
examine, and the perspectives from which one can view a situation or
problems. …97

From Eisner’s perspective the null curriculum is simply that which is not
taught in schools. Somehow, somewhere, some people are empowered to
make conscious decisions as to what is to be included and what is to be
excluded from the overt (written) curriculum. Since it is physically
impossible to teach everything in schools, many topics and subject areas
must be intentionally excluded from the written curriculum. But Eisner’s
position on the “null curriculum” is that when certain subjects or topics
are left out of the overt curriculum, school personnel are sending
messages to students that certain content and processes are not important
enough to study. Unfortunately, without some level of awareness that
there is also a well-defined implicit agenda in schools, school personnel
send this same type of message via the hidden curriculum. These are
important to consider when making choices. We teach about wars but not
peace, we teach about certain select cultures and histories but not about
others. Both our choices and our omissions send messages to students.

5. Phantom The messages prevalent in and through exposure to any type of media.
curriculum These components and messages play a major part in the enculturation
 of students into the predominant meta-culture, or in acculturating
students into narrower or generational subcultures.

6. What is taught, or emphasized at home, or those experiences that are part

Concomitant of a family’s experiences, or related experiences sanctioned by the
curriculum family. (This type of curriculum may be received at church, in the context
of religious expression, lessons on values, ethics or morals, molded
behaviors, or social experiences based on the family’s preferences.)

7. Rhetorical Elements from the rhetorical curriculum are comprised from ideas
curriculum offered by policymakers, school officials, administrators, or
politicians. This curriculum may also come from those professionals
involved in concept formation and content changes; or from those
educational initiatives resulting from decisions based on national and
state reports, public speeches, or from texts critiquing outdated
educational practices. The rhetorical curriculum may also come from
the publicized works offering updates in pedagogical knowledge.

8. The formal curriculum (written or overt) comprises those things in

Curriculum- textbooks, and content and concepts in the district curriculum guides.
in-use However, those “formal” elements are frequently not taught. The
curriculum-in-use is the actual curriculum that is delivered and presented
by each teacher.

9. Received Those things that students actually take out of classrooms; those
curriculum concepts and content that are truly learned and remembered.

10. The Processes, content, knowledge combined with the experiences and
internal realities of the learner to create new knowledge. While educators should
curriculum be aware of this curriculum, they have little control over the internal
curriculum since it is unique to each student. Educators can explore this
curricula by using instructional assessments like “exit slips,” reflective
exercises, or debriefing discussions to see what students really remember
from a lesson. It is often very enlightening and surprising to find out what
 has meaning for learners and what does not.

11. The Those lessons learned through searching the Internet for information,
electronic or through using e-forms of communication. (Wilson, 2004) These
curriculum types of curriculum may be either formal or informal, and inherent
lessons may be overt or covert, good or bad, correct or incorrect
depending on ones’ views. Students who use the Internet and
electronic media on a regular basis, both for recreational and
informational purposes, are bombarded with all types of media and
messages. What types of messages are they being exposed to through
varied social media and online interactions?
When they are researching subjects and topics online and gathering
information they are often bombarded with all types of ads, images and
messages. Much of this information may be factually correct,
informative, or even entertaining or inspirational. But there is also a
great deal of other e-information that may be very incorrect, dated,
passé, biased, perverse, or even manipulative.

The implications of the electronic curriculum for educational practices

are that part of the overt curriculum needs to include lessons on how to
be wise consumers of information, how to critically appraise the
accuracy and correctness of e-information, as well as how to
determine the reliability of electronic sources. Also, students need to
learn how to be artfully discerning about the usefulness and
appropriateness of certain types of information.

As well, when it comes to social media and interactions just like other
forms of social interaction, students need to know that there are
inherent lessons to be learned about appropriate and acceptable
“netiquette” and online behaviors, to include the differences
between “fair and legal usage,” vs. plagiarism and information
piracy.

In today’s world, of all the types of curriculum listed on this page, the
electronic curriculum needs to be actively appraised, discussed, and
 considered by today’s educators.

Activities:

1. Make a short reflection about BPED Curriculum.

2. Does physical education should always be included in the curriculum. Why or

why not?

Note: Answers should be not be less than 500 words.

Evaluation:

1. Define Curriculum.

2. Enumerate and describe the criteria of a curriculum.

3. As a future teacher, is it important to learn about curriculum? Why and why

not?

References:

https://thesecondprinciple.com/instructional-design/types-of-curriculum/

ilbao, P. P., Lucido, P. I., Iringan, T. C., and R. B. Javier (2008). Curriculum
development. Quezon City: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
https://simplyeducate.me/2015/01/09/foundations-of-curriculum/

http://www.khayma.com/muhannad/Dr%20Amer%20lectures/curiculum%20lectur
es%20en/curriculum%20elements.pdf