I.

UNIT TITLE/CHAPTER TITLE: Curriculum Development Reforms and Enhancement

II. LESSON TITLE:

1. Gearing Up for the Future: Curriculum Reforms

1.1. The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (K to 12)
2. Outcome-Based Education for Teacher Preparation Curriculum
2.1. Outcomes Based Education for Teacher Preparation Curriculum

III. LESSON CONTENT

LESSON 1: The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 (K to 12)

Curriculum designers need to enhance the curriculum and propose curricular

innovations to respond to the changing educational landscape in the country as well as in
other parts of the globe. It is most necessary that as a future curricularist and a teacher,
you should be familiar with what is happening and will happen in our curriculum. There is
no substitute for being READY and INFORMED.

Curriculum designers need to enhance the recommended curriculum purpose

curricular innovations to respond to the changing landscape cation regionally and
globally. Are you aware of some curricular reforms in the Philippines and other countries?
Republic Act 10533, otherwise known as the Enhanced Basic Education Act of
2013, is the latest educational reform in Philippine education signed into law by President
Benigno Aquino III last May 2013. It is an act enhancing the Philippine Basic Education
system strengthening its curriculum and increasing the number of years for c education
appropriating funds therefore and for other purposes.
The Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013 popularly known as K 12 includes
one (1) year of kindergarten education, six (6) years of elementary education, and six (6)
years of secondary education. This six-year secondary education includes four (4) years
of junior high school and two (2) years of senior high school. With K to 12, the existing 10
years of basic education is increased to 12 years with Kindergarten education as a
prerequisite to entry in Grade 1.

Why K to 12?
K to 12 makes the Philippine education system at par with the international
standard of 12-year basic education thereby contributing to a better-educated society
capable of pursuing productive employment, entrepreneurship, or higher education studies.
After going through kindergarten, elementary, junior high, and a specialized senior high
school program, every K to 12 graduate is ready to go into different paths - higher
education, middle-level skills development, employment, or entrepreneurship. The K to 12
graduates are also expected to be equipped with 21" century skills like information, media,
and technology skills, learning and innovation skills, effective communication skills, and life
and career skills.
When K to 12 was launched in 2012, many Filipinos were apprehensive because
of the addition of two (2) more years in secondary schooling. Some said, the additional two
years are added burden for the average Filipino family. Others said, the K to 12 program is
doomed to fail since it does not address the basic problems in education like lack of
classrooms, chairs, books, teachers, quality teaching and many more. Amidst criticisms, the
Department of Education pushed for the K to 12 implementations. What could be the
reasons?
Let's consider these existing realities in Philippine education that became the
bases of the K to 12 implementations:

1. Mastery of basic competencies is insufficient due to congested curriculum

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 The table below presents the national achievement test results of 4th year
students in Mathematics and Science. In 2005-2006 Mathematics results, only 15% of the
students acquired mastery the Mathematics competencies while majority (59.09%) of the
high school students belonged to the low mastery level. The achievement results in Science
were even more discouraging since only 3% of the 4th year high school students in 2005-
2006 mastered the Science processes and skills. Majority belonged to the low mastery
category and a few were in the near mastery level.

Achievemen Comparative Achievement Levels in Achievemen Comparative Achievement Levels in

t Mathematics t Science
Level Level

SY 2004- % SY & SY % SY &

2005
2005- 2004- 2005
2006 2005 -
2006
Near Mastery 168, 371 16.41% 149,92 15.21% Mastery 17,921 1.75% 29, 2.99%
2 479

Near Mastery 321, 305 31.31% 253, 25.71% Near Mastery 246, 207 23.99 196, 19.89%
396 % 938

Low Mastery 536, 439 52.28% 582, 59.09% Low Mastery 761, 987 74.26 759, 77.039
436 % 337 7

TOTAL 1,026,11 100.00 985, 100.01 TOTAL 1,026,11 100% 985, 100%
5 % 754 % 5 754

National Achievement Test - Fourth Year (SY 2004-2006)

Source: www.deped.gov.ph

In international examinations, the Philippines performed poorly as revealed in 2003

TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science) scores. In Grade IV Science and
Math, the Philippines ranked 23 out of 25 participating countries. In High School II Science,
the Philippines ranked 43 out of 46 and in Math ranked 34 out of 38. Even with the science
high schools participating in the Advanced Mathematics category in 2008 TIMMS, the
country's ranking did not improve. In fact, it ranked the lowest (10) among ten participating
countries.
One of the factors that contribute to the low performance in achievement tests is the
congested basic education curriculum. What other countries teach in twelve (12) years the
Philippines teach only in ten (10) years. The ten (10) years would not be enough to master
the competencies. Adding two years would make possible the decongestion of the
curriculum for comprehensive acquisition of basic competencies and the 21st century skills.

2. The Philippines is the only remaining country in Asia with a 10- year basic education
program.

The Philippines is the only country in Asia that has a ten-year education program.
The short duration of the basic education programs also puts millions of overseas Filipino
workers, especially the professionals, and those who intend to study abroad at a
disvantage. Graduates of Philippine schools are not automatically recognized as
professionals outside the country due to the lack No years in basic education. Bologna
Accord imposes twelve 12) years of education for university admission and practice of
profession in European countries. Washington Accord prescribes twelve (12) years basic
education as an entry to recognition of engineering professionals.
With K to 12, Filipino professionals would have the same competitive edge with
professionals in other countries having gone through 12 years of basic education.

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 By the way, the recommendation to improve and to lengthen the short basic
education in the Philippines has been given since 1925. As one of the most well studied
reforms, recommendations of either adding or restoring 7th grade or adding an extra year to
basic education have been put forward. (See Table 5).

 Table 5 - Researches on Philippine Basic Education Curriculum and their

Recommendations

Year Source Recommendation

1925 Monroe Survey Training of graduate students in agriculture, commerce, and

industry because secondary education did not prepare students for
life

1949 UNESCO Restoration of Grade VII in primary education

Mission Survey

1950 Swanson
Survey

1953 Education Act Revising the Primary school system by adding one year (Grade VII)

1960 Swanson Restoring grade 7 in Primary education

Survey

1970 PCSPE Extending secondary education by one year to better prepare

students who have no plans to take up university education

1991 EDCOM Report Retaining the 10-year basic education phase while institutionalizing
career counseling in primary and secondary schools in preparation
for higher education

1998 Philippines Prioritizing student learning through curricular reforms, the

Education provision of textbooks, the use of the vernacular in lower Primary
Sector Study grades, and the institution of a longer basic education cycle
(World Bank
and ADB)
2000 PCER Implementing a compulsory one-year pre-baccalaureate stage as
prerequisite for students interested in enrolling in higher education
degree programs

2006 Philippine EFA Lengthening the educational cycle by adding two years to formal
2015 National basic education (one each for Primary and high school)
Action Plan

2008 Presidential Extending pre-university education to a total of 12 years bench the

Task Force on content of the eleventh and twelfth years with international
Education programs

One frequently asked question raised during the advocacy period the K to 12
Curriculum was this: "Filipino students can do in 10 years what students in foreign countries
do in twelve (12) years. A number of our Filipino graduates who went through ten years of
basic education excel in studies as well as in their place of work abroad, so why add two
years more?"
This may be true. But for as long as the international standard is twelve years of
basic education that will remain to be the standard and will apply to all including brilliant and
exceptional Filipino students and graduates.
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 In fact, there are cases where our Filipino scholars with Master's degrees who have
to enroll in additional Master's subjects before being allowed to pursue their doctorate
degrees applied for. Why the additional Master's subjects? The reason given is the short,
ten-year basic education in the Philippines. In other words, the Philippines has no choice
but to comply with the twelve-year basic education. In the first place, this has been a
consistent recommendation of past surveys done on the Philippine educational system.

Employability of Filipino high school graduates

The K to 12 Curriculum prepares the students for the world of work, middle level
skills development, entrepreneurship and college education. As early as Grade 7 and Grade
8, the student is made to explore at least 8 subjects in the four (4) areas of Technology and
Livelihood Education (TLE) namely: Home Economics, ICT, Industrial Arts and Agriculture
and Fishery Arts. In Grade 10 and Grade 12. the student is supposed to have obtained a
National Certificate (NC) Level 1 and NC Level II from TESDA. NCI and NC II make a
Grade 12 graduate employable.
The short duration of basic education in the Philippines resulted to 15 year old
graduates who are not legally employable. With the implementation of the K to 12, the
graduates of senior high is 18 years old who is legally employable.

The K to 12 Curriculum

Section 5 of the Enhanced Basic Education Act of 2013, stipulates the following
curricular standards which the curriculum developers adhered to in crafting the K to 12
curriculum:
a) The curriculum shall be learner-centered, inclusive developmentally appropriate,
based;
b) The curriculum shall be relevant, responsive and research-based
c) The curriculum shall be culture-sensitive:
d) The curriculum shall be contextualized and global;
e) The curriculum shall use pedagogical approaches that are constructivist, inquiry-
based, reflective, collaborative and integrative;
f) The curriculum shall adhere to the principles and framework of Mother Tongue-
Based Multilingual Education (MTB-MLE) which starts from where the learners are
and from what they already knew proceeding from the known to the unknown,
instructional materials and capable teachers to implement the MTB-MLE curriculum
shall be available;
g) The curriculum shall use the spiral progression approach to ensure mastery of
knowledge and skills after each level, and
h) The curriculum shall be flexible enough to enable and allow
schools to localize, indigenize and enhance the same based on their respective
educational and social contexts. The production and development of locally produced
teaching materials shall be encouraged and approval of these materials shall devolve
to the regional and division education units.

Core Curriculum

Below are the learning areas comprising the core curriculum. The description is
based on DepEd Memo 13 s 2013.

The Senior High School Curriculum

There are four tracks in Senior High School. These are Academic track, TechVoc
track, Sports and Arts and Design Track. The academic track has four strands namely 1)
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Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) 2) Humanities and Social Sciences
(HUMSS), 3) Accounting, Business and Management (ABM) and 4) General Academic
Strand (GAS). This means that at Grade 11, a student chooses which track to pursue and if
he/she chooses the academic he/she must also choose which strand. If a student intends to
go to college after Grade 12. then he/she must take the academic track. The college
program which he/she wants to enroll in determines which strand to take - STEM, HUMSS.
ABM. If a Senior High School student wants to pursue TechVoc courses in Technical
Education Skills Development Authority (TESDA), he/she takes the TechVoc track. He/She
who is interested in Arts and Design will pursue the Arts and Design track. The Sports track
will be for any sports-minded Senior High School student.

The Senior High School Curriculum has a total of thirty-one subjects. The thirty-one
subjects are grouped into fifteen (15) core subjects, seven (7) contextualized/applied
subjects and nine (9) specialization subjects.

Figure 3 - Tracks in Senior High School

Academic

Grade 11
Tech Voc

Sports
Grade 12

Arts and Design

Figure 4 - Academic Track - 4 Strands

STEM HUMSS

General
ABM
Academic

Total =
4

Strands

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 The following are the core subjects to be taken by all student regardless of track.
There are also common subjects for different tre and the highly specialized courses for each
track:

Core subjects

Language Oral Communication

Reading & Writing

Komunikasyon at Pananaliksik sa Wikang Filipino at

Kulturang Filipino

Pagbasa at Pagsusuri ng Iba't Ibang Teksto Tungo sa

Pananaliksik

Humanities 21st Century Literature from the Philippines and the World

Contemporary Philippine Arts from the Regions

Communicatio Media & Information Literacy

n

General Mathematics

Mathematics Statistics & Probability

Science Earth and Life Sciences Lecture and Laboratory

Physical Sciences Lecture and Laboratory

Social Science Personal Development / Pansariling Kaunlaran

Understanding Society & Culture

Philosophy Intro to Philosophy of the Human Person / Pambungad sa

Pilosopiya ng Tao

PE and Health - Physical Education and Health

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 Below are the 7 contextualized subjects. The contextualized y to all tracks and
strands but the subjects are taught in the context of the track. For example, English for
Academic and Professional context of the track. For example, English for Academic
Purposes for the TechVoc track will center on techvoc terms, describing and reporting
techvoc-related procedures while for the Sports track, the English subject will focus on the
language for sports. Research may be a presentation and a defense of a paper in
management for ABM track or in STEM but may be a culminating activity or exhibit for the
Arts and Design track and end-of-the- term exhibits for the Arts and Design track.

Academic Track Tech-voc, Sports, Arts and

Design

Tracks

English for Academic and English for the Professions

Professional Purposes

Introduction to Research Methods Research Skills 1

- Quantitative

Introduction to Research Methods Research Skills 2

- Qualitative

Filipino course Mga Diskurso sa Trabaho

ICT for Learners ICT applications

Entrepreneurship Entrepreneurship

Research Project Research Project / Culminating

Activity

Other Descriptive Titles for the 7 Contextualized/Applied Subjects for All the Tracks

1. English for Academic and Professional Purposes

2. Research in Daily Life 1
3. Research in Daily Life 2
4. Pagsulat sa Filipino sa Piling Larangan
5. Entrepreneurship
6. Empowerment Technologies (E-Tech): ICT for Professional Tracks
7. Research Project/Culminating Activity

Specialization Subjects, Academic Track, ABM

1. Applied Economics
2. Business Ethics and Social Responsibility
3. Fundamentals of Accountancy, Business and Management 1
4. Fundamentals of Accountancy, Business and Management 1
5. Business Math
6. Business Finance
7. Organization and Management P
8. Principles of Marketing
9. Immersion/Research/Career Advocacy/Culminating

Specialization, Academic Track, STEM

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 1. Pre-Calculus
2. Basic Calculus
3. General Biology 1
4. General Biology 2
5. General Physics 1
6. General Physics 2
7. General Chemistry 1
8. General Chemistry 2
9. Work Immersion/Research/Career Advocacy/Culminating Activity

Specialization, Academic Track, HUMSS

1. Creative Writing
2. Creative Non-Fiction: The Literacy Essay
3. World Religions and Belief Systems
4. Trends, Networks and Critical thinking in the 21st Century
5. Philippine Politics and Governance
6. Community Engagement, Social Participation and Citizenship
7. Disciplines and Ideas in the Social Sciences
8. Disciplines and Ideas in the Applied Sciences
9. Work Immersion/Research/Career Advocacy/Culminating Activity

Specialization, Academic Track. General Academic Strand

1. Humanities 1*
2. Humanities 2*
3. Social Science 1**
4. Applied Economics
5. Organization and Management
6. Disaster Readiness and Risk Reduction
7. Elective 1 (from any track/strand)
8. Elective 2 (from any track/strand)
9. Work Immersion/Research/Career Advocacy/Culminating Activity

Specialization, Sports

1. Safety and First Aid

2. Human Movement
3. Fundamentals of Coaching
4. Sports Officiating and Activity Management
5. Fitness, Sports and Recreation Leadership
6. Psychosocial Aspects of Sports and Exercise
7. Fitness Testing and Exercise Programming
8. Practicum (in-campus)
9. Work Immersion/Research/Career Advocacy/Culminating Activity

Specialization, Arts and Design

1. Introduction to Applied Arts and Design Production

2. Introduction to Performing Arts
3. Understanding Elements and Principles of the Different Arts
4. Work Environment in Various Arts Fields
5. Developing Filipino Identity in the Arts
6. Leadership and Management in Different Arts Fields.

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 7&8 . Apprenticeship Exploration of Different Arts Fields

(Production and Performing: Music, Dance, and Theater)

9. Apprenticeship and Exploration of Different Arts Design Production (Media Arts,

Visual Arts and Literary Arts)

LESSON 2: Outcome-Based Education for Teacher Preparation Curriculum

In recent years, there has been an increasing attention on outcomesbased education

for several reasons. These include retum of investments and accountability which are driven
by political, economic and educational reasons.

Definition of Outcomes-Based Education (OBE)

Among the many advocates of OBE in the early years was W. Spady (1994). He
defined OBE as clearly focusing and organizing everything in the educational system
around the essential for all the students to do successfully at the end of their learning
experiences. it starts with a clear picture of what is important for students to do. then
organizing the curriculum, instruction and assessment sure that learning happens. This
definition clearly points to results of education which are the learning outcomes. This are
made up of knowledge, understanding, skills and attitudes that students should acquire to
make them reach their full potential and lead fulfilling lives as individuals in the community
and at work.
To define and clarify further, answers to the following questions chould be addressed
by the teachers.
1. What do we want these students to learn?
2. Why do we want students to learn these things?
3. How can we best help students to learn these things?
4. How will you know when the students have learned?

Spady premised that in Outcomes-Based Education;

 all students can learn and succeed, but not at the same time or in the same way;
 successful learning promotes even more successful learning and
 schools and teachers control the conditions that will determine if the students are
successful in school learning.

Four Essential Principles in OBE

In order to comply with the three premises, four essential principles should be
followed in either planning instruction, teaching and assessing learning.

Principle 1: Clarity of Focus

A clear focus on what teachers want students to learn is the primary
principle in OBE. Teachers should bear in mind, that the outcome of teaching is
learning. To achieve this, teachers and students should have a clear picture in
mind of what knowledge, skills, values must be achieved at end of the teaching-
learning process. This is like looking straight ahead so that the target will be
reached.

Principle 2: Designing Backwards

This principle is related to the first. At the beginning of a curriculum
design, the learning outcome has to be clearly defined. What to achieve at the
end of formal schooling is determined as the beginning. Decisions are always
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 traced back to desired results. This means that planning, implementing
(teaching) and assessing should be connected to the outcomes.

Principle 3: High Expectations

Establishing high expectations, challenging standards of performance
will encourage students to learn better. This is linked to the premise that
successful learning, promotes more successful learning as mentioned by
Spady in 1994 This is parallel to Thorndike's law of effect, which says that
success reinforces learning, motivates, builds confidence and encourages
learners to do better.

Principle 4: Expanded Opportunities

In OBE all students are expected to excel, hence equal expanded
opportunities should be provided. As advocates of multiple intelligences say,
"every child has a genius in him/ herself, hence is capable of doing the best."
Learners develop inbom potentials if corresponding opportunities and support
are given to nurture.

Teaching-Learning in OBE
Teaching is teaching if learners learn. Learning is measured by its outcome.
Whatever approach to teaching is used, the intent should focus on learning rather
than on teaching. Subjects do not exist in isolation, but links between them should be
made. It is important that students learn how to learn, hence a teacher should be
innovative. How then should teaching-learning be done in OBE? Here are some tips:

 Teachers must prepare students adequately. This can be done if the teachers
know what they want the students to learn and what learning outcomes to achieve.
Prerequisite knowledge is important; thus a review is necessary at the start of a
lesson.
 Teachers must create a positive learning environment. Students should feel that
regardless of individual uniqueness, the teacher is always there to help. Teacher
and student relationship is very important. The classroom atmosphere should
provide respect for diverse kind of learners.
 Teachers must help their students to understand what they have to learn, why they
should learn it (what use it will be now and in the future) and how will they know
that they have learned.
 Teachers must use a variety of teaching methods. The most appropriate strategy
should be used taking into account the learning outcome teachers want the
students to achieve. Also to consider are the contents, the characteristic of the
students, the resources available and the teaching skill of the teacher. Even if
OBE is leamer-centered, sometimes more direct, time-tested methods of teaching
will be appropriate.

 Teachers must provide students with enough opportunities to use the new
knowledge and skills that they gain. When students do this, they can explore with
new learning, correct errors and adjust their thinking. Application of learning is
encouraged rather than mere accumulation of these.

 Teacher must help students to bring each learning to a personal closure that will
make them aware of what they learned.

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 Here are additional key points in teaching-learning in OBE which show the shifts
from a traditional to an OBE view.

From Traditional View To OBE View

Instruction
Inputs and Resources
Knowledge is transferred by the
teacher.
Teacher dispenses knowledge
Teacher and students work
independent and in isolation
Learning
Learning Outcomes
Knowledge already exists in the
minds of the learners
Teachers are designers of methods
in Teachers and students work in
teams

Assessment of Learning Outcomes in OBE

Assessment in OBE should also be guided by the four principles of OBE which are
clarity of focus, designing backwards, high expectations and expanded opportunity. It
should contribute to the objective of improving students' learning. Since in OBE, there is a
need first to establish a clear vision of what the students are expected to learn (desired
learning outcome), then assessment becomes an embedded part of the system.
To be useful in OBE system, assessment should be guided by the following
principles:
1. Assessment procedure should be valid. Procedure and tools should actually assess
what one intends to test.
2. Assessment procedure should be reliable. The results should be consistent.
3. Assessment procedure should be fair. Cultural background and other factors should
not influence assessment procedure.
4. Assessment should reflect the knowledge and skills that are important to the
students.
5. Assessment should tell both the teachers and students how students are
progressing.
6. Assessment should support every student's opportunity to learn things that are
important.
7. Assessment should allow individuality or uniqueness to be demonstrated.
8. Assessment should be comprehensive to cover a wide range of learning outcomes.

Learner's Responsibility for Learning

In OBE, students are responsible for their own learning and progress. Nobody can
learn for the learner. It is only the learner himself/herself who can drive himself/herself to
learn, thus learning is a personal matter, Teachers can only facilitate that learning, define
the learning outcomes to be achieved, and assist the students to achieve those outcomes.
Students have the bigger responsibility to achieve those outcomes. In this way, they will be
able to know whether they are learning or not.
One of the great benefits of outcomes-based education is that it makes students
aware of what they should be learning, why they are learning it, what they are actually
learning, and what they should do when they are learning. All of these will conclude with the
achieved learning outcomes.
In terms of students' perspectives there are common questions that will guide them
as they learn under the OBE Curriculum framework. To guide the students in OBE learning,
they should ask themselves the following questions.

As a student,
1. What do I have to learn?
2. Why do I have to learn it?
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 3. What will I be doing while I am learning?
4. How will I know that I am learning, what I should be learning?
5. Will I have any say in what I learn?
6. How will I be assessed?

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