Curriculum Design, Development and Planning Reflection

Sasha Melendez

Post University

Professor Kathy Milhauser

January 21, 2024

 Curriculum Design, Development and Planning Reflection

In the world of education one of the most common methods that can be used in the

setting is known as a curriculum. Curriculum is an interactive system of education and learning

that includes specified goals, material, tactics, measurements, and resources. The goal of

curriculum is to successfully transmit and/or develop information, skills, and attitudes. Now as

we dig deeper into the aspects of curriculum it can be broken up into design, development, and

planning.

Curriculum design is the process of establishing and constructing an educational

curriculum, which is a structured set of courses or instructional experiences that help students

achieve certain educational goals. It entails selecting the content, order, and organization of the

learning experiences available to pupils (Button, 2021). Curriculum design takes into account a

range of factors, such as educational objectives, student needs, teaching methods, assessment

systems, and available resources. Most times this can vary in educational setting as they go

depending on state or district needs. When looking into curriculum design it can be broken down

into parts such as:

 Looking up the goals and objectives that schools should aim to reach.

 Going through what subjects or contents should be covered in that curriculum.

 Picking in what order the topics will be shown to the students.

 Listing what methods work best with the materials and strategies needed to help those

learning.

 Coming up with the way to assess what the students are taking in.

But this is just the tip of the iceberg as we move on into what goes further after the design is in

place.
 Now as we pass design, we move onto the development of a curriculum. Curriculum

development is a more comprehensive process that includes the production, review, and

enhancement of educational curriculum (Button, 2021). It comprises the systematic and

purposeful planning, design, and implementation of a curriculum to meet the educational goals

and objectives of a certain educational institution or program. Curriculum development is an

important part of the whole educational planning process, and it is closely related to curriculum

design. While design is essentially the beginning planning of curriculum, development further

goes into the details as they hit schools and classrooms.

Just like design, development has its own components to help bring it about. Which will

start from:

 Coming up with what the students need. As well as their community and what is going on

in the world to help focus the curriculum more.

 Making sure the goals and objectives are clear and can be achieved.

 Picking subject matter and subjects, considering its relevance, importance, and

connection with educational objectives

 Planning instructional techniques, methods, and resources to help the success of the

teaching and learning.

 Similar to design, making a form of assessment to test the effectiveness of the

curriculum.

 Implementing the curriculum through teacher training, resource allocation, and classroom

instruction (Button, 2021).

Noticeably design and development still sound vastly similar while it outcomes and

implementation can differ. But we end up having one more step in the curriculum process. Which

can be moved onto planning.

In short, the planning is a systematic approach to creating and organizing the numerous

components of an educational program. It includes deciding what to teach, how to teach it, and

how to measure student progress. Curriculum planning is a critical component of the overall

curriculum creation process, and it focuses on building a blueprint for providing educational

material and experiences (Harve, 2023).

Curriculum design, development, and planning are all interrelated processes within the

larger context of educational program administration. While they similar in identical aims, their

approaches and phases differ significantly. Here are some of their similar and parallel differences

I found.

All three processes are driven by the goal of providing effective and meaningful learning

experiences for students. They aim to achieve educational objectives and meet the needs of

learners (Sawi, N.A). They also can all be used multiple times and require an array of activities

and dynamics to keep in check. They require on going evaluations and adaptions to help use in

case of change in educational standards. All work within one another to help the process move

along smoothly in educational systems.

The differences are slightly more noticeable but specific to each. The primary focus for

curriculum design is on planning the curriculum's structure and content, which includes setting

objectives, selecting content. While development is describing the full process of developing,

implementing, and modifying the curriculum. It encompasses not only the design phase, but also

the execution and evaluation stages. Lastly leaving planning to focus on organizing and
sequencing instructional content. It is a subset that focuses on daily activities and delivery

mechanisms for the curriculum. (Sawi, N.A).

In thinking of the terms, I find that in my current work setting Curriculum planning is in

more relation to me. Thinking of how to implement or make changes to the curriculum to best

suit my students and the needs they require. While also considering the materials at hand. But

considering it being my first year, I’m still working on my knowledge and experience with

curriculum. I have avoided most of it and taken into consideration other elements in trying to

implement objectives and goals in my setting. But my experience of seeing other teacher before

gave me a hand of what goes into curriculum in different school setting. One thing is for sure is

that while we may have similar curriculum for certain districts their implementations differ in

each school. Most of the days include different activities that get changes daily.

To summarize, curriculum design, development, and planning are interwoven procedures

with unique goals and stages. Curriculum design establishes the initial foundation; development

includes implementation and evaluation; and planning focuses on day-to-day teaching decisions.

These mechanisms collaborate to develop and implement effective educational programs.

 References

Button, L. (2021). Curriculum Design, development and models: Planning for Student Learning.

Curriculum Essentials A Journey.

https://oer.pressbooks.pub/curriculumessentials/chapter/curriculum-design-development-

and-models-planning-for-student-learning-there-is-always-a-need-for-newly-formulated-

curriculum-models-that-address-contemporary-circumstance-an/#:~:text=Curriculum

%20design%20refers%20to%20the,Curriculum%20models%20guide%20these

%20processes

Harve, A. (2023, December 20). The importance of curriculum planning for Effective Learning.

Hurix Digital. https://www.hurix.com/the-importance-of-curriculum-planning-for-

effective-learning/#:~:text=Curriculum%20planning%20is%20an%20essential,%2C

%20content%2C%20and%20assessment%20methods.

Sawi, G. E. (n.d.). Overview of the curriculum development process. Curriculum development

Guide: Population Education for non-Formal Education programs of Out-of-School Rural

Youth. https://www.fao.org/3/ah650e/ah650e03.htm