APPROACHES TO SCHOOL

CURRICULUM
Approaches to school curriculum
• Curriculum can be approached or seen in three ways. It
can be defined as a content, a process or an outcome. If
we examine the definitions provided by the experts in the
field, there are three ways of approaching a curriculum.
First, is to approach it as content or body of knowledge to
be transmitted. Next, is to approach it as a process or
what actually happens in the classroom when the
curriculum is practiced. And is to approached as a product
or the learning outcomes desired of learners.
THREE WAYS OF APPROACHING CURRICULUM

Curriculum as a content or body of knowledge

Curriculum approached as a process

Curriculum as a product
1. CURRICULUM AS A CONTENT OR BODY OF
KNOWLEDGE
Traditionalist equate curriculum with the ff:
- Topic outline
-Subject matter
-Concept to be included in the syllabus
> Focus will be the body of knowledge to
be transmitted to students using
appropriate teaching method.
Four Ways of presenting the content in the curriculum
1. Topical approach – much content is based on knowledge,
and experiences are included.
2. Concept approach – fewer topics in clusters among major
and sub-concepts and their interaction, with relatedness
emphasized;
3. Thematic approach – combination of concepts that
develop conceptual structures
4. Modular Approach – leads to complete units of
instruction
 Criteria in Selection of Content
1. Significance
- Content should contribute to ideas, concepts, principles and
generalization that should attain the overall purpose of the
curriculum.
- Content become the means of developing
cognitive, affective or psychomotor skills of
the learners.
- Address cultural context of the learners
 2. Validity
-Authenticity of the content
-Make sure that the topics are not obsolete
-There is a need for validity check and verification at a
regular interval, because content may not continue to
be valid in the current times.
Example: Do not include typewriting as a skill to be
learned by college students. It should be about the
computer or Information Technology (IT)
 3. Utility
- It is concerned with the usefulness of the content.
- Students may think that a content or subject matter
are not important to them. They view it useless.
- Some questions that students often ask: Will I use this
in my future job? Will it add meaning to my life as a
lifelong learners? Will it develop my potentials? Or will
the subject matter be useful in solving current
concerns?
 4.Learnability
- The complexity of the content must be within the range of
experiences of the learners.

-Teachers should apply theories in the psychology of learning

to know how students are presented, sequenced, and
organized to maximized the learning capacity of the learners
 5. Feasibility
• Can the subject be learned within the time allowed,
resources available, expertise of the teachers and the
nature of the learners?
• Are the contents of learning which can learned beyond
the formal teaching-learning engagement?
• Do not offer a computer subject if there is no even
electricity in the area, or there are no computer at all.
. Further, feasibility means that there should be teachers
who are experts in that area.
 6. Interest
- Will the learners take interest in the content?
- Are the contents meaningful?
- What value will the contents have in the present and
future life of the learners?
-This criterion is true to the learner-centered
curriculum. The students learned best if the subject is
meaningful to them . It Becomes meaningful if they are
interested in it.
Interest is one of the driving forces for the students to
learn better.
 Guide in the selection of the Content in the Curriculum

1. Content is commonly used in the daily life.

2. Content is appropriate to the maturity levels
and abilities of the learners.
3. Content is valuable in meeting the needs and
competencies of the future career.
4. Content is related to other subject fields or
discipline for complementation and integration.
5. Content is important in the transfer of
learning in other disciplines.
 BASIC Principles of Curriculum Content
In 1952, Palma proposed the principle of BASIC as a guide in addressing CONTENT in the curriculum.

B ALANCE -significant contents should be covered

A RTICULATION -To assure no gaps or overlaps in the conten
S EQUENCE -the pattern is usually from easy to complex
I NTEGRATION -relatedness or connectedness to other
contents
C ONTINUITY -constant repetition, reinforcement and
enhancement of content are all elements of
continuity
2. CURRICULUM APPROACHED AS PROCESS

It is the interaction among teachers, students and content.

 AS PRO C ESS
PPR OACHE D
R I CUL UM A
CUR

Curriculum happens in the classroom

Concern of teachers to emphasize
• Critical thinking
• Meaning-making
• Heads-on
• Hands-on
• and many others
 AS PRO CESS
PPR O ACHE D
RR I CUL UM A
CU

Pedagogical Content Knowledge is specific for teaching. Teachers need

PCK so that they can “package” everything they understand (about the
learners, the activity, program goals, schools, students and the
community) in order to help the students learn.
 P R O C E SS
C H ED A S
A P P RO A
C U L U M
CURRI To teachers, the process is very critical.
What curriculum are
you using?
 Problem-based
 Hands-on, Minds-on
 Cooperative learning
 Blended Curriculum
 On-line  Case-based
 and many more
 CURRICULUM APPROACHED AS
PROCESS
When curriculum is approached as a PROCESS, guiding principles are presented:
1. Curriculum process in the form of teaching methods and
strategies are means to achieved the end.
2. There is no single best process or method.
3. Stimulate learner’s desire to develop holistically
4. In the choice of methods, learning and teaching styles
should be considered.
5. Every method or process should result to learning outcomes
6. Flexibility in the use of the process or methods should be
considered
7. Both teaching and learning are the two important processes
in the implementation of the curriculum.
 A PRO DU C T
RI C U LU M AS
3. C U R  is what students desire to
achieve as a learning
outcomes
>KNOWLEDGE
>SKILLS
>VALUES
These learned or achieved learning outcomes are demonstrated
by the person who has meaningful experiences in the curriculum
 A P RO D U CT
C U L U M AS
CURRI
The real purpose of education is to bring about significant changes in students’ pattern of behavior.

Curriculum product is expressed in form of outcomes which

are referred to as the achieved learning outcomes.
There maybe several desired learning outcomes, but if the
process is not successful, then no learning outcomes will be
achieved.
These learned or achieved outcomes are demonstrated by
the person who has meaningful experiences in the curriculum.
All of these are result of planning, content and processes in
the curriculum.
 Curriculum Development:
Processes and Models
In curriculum development, there are always changes
that occur that are intended for improvement
To do this, there are models presented to us from
well-known curricularists like Ralph Tyler, Hilda Taba,
Galen Saylor and William Alexander which would help
clarify the process of curriculum development.
There are many models, but let us use the three for
this lesson
 en t P ro c e ss
D e v e l o p m
C ur r i c u l um

Curriculum is a dynamic process involving many different

people and procedures. Development connotes changes which
is systematic. A change for the better means alteration,
modification, or improvement of existing condition.
To produce positive changes, development should be
purposeful, planned and progressive. Usually it is linear and
follows a logical step-by-step fashion involving the following
phases: curriculum planning, curriculum design, curriculum
implementation and curriculum evaluation.
Generally, most models involve four phases.
1.Curriculum planning considers the school vision,
mission and goals. It is also includes the philosophy of strong
education belief of the school. All of these will eventually be
translated to classroom desired learning outcomes for the
learners.
2. Curriculum designing is the way curriculum is
conceptualized to include the selection and organization of
the content, the selection and organization of learning
experiences or activities and the selection of the assessment
procedure and tools to measure achieved learning outcomes.
3. Curriculum implementing is putting into
action the plan which is based on the curriculum design
in the classroom setting or the learning environment.
The teacher is the facilitator of learning and, together
with the learners, uses the curriculum as design guides
to what will transpire in the classroom with the end in
view of achieving the intended learning outcomes.
Implementing the curriculum is where action takes
place.
4. Curriculum evaluating determines the extent
to which the desired outcomes have been achieved.
 This procedure is on-going as in finding out the
progress of learning (formative) or the mastery of
learning (summative). Along the way, evaluation will
determine the factors that have hindered or supported
the implementation. It will also pinpoint where
improvement can be made and corrective measures,
introduced. The result of evaluation is very important
for decision making of curriculum planners, and
implementers.
 Curriculum Development Process Models
1. Ralph Tyler Model: Four Basic Principles
The Tyler curriculum model is a curriculum design approach focusing
on four core principles. Determining objectives, identifying
experiences, organizing experiences, and evaluating effectiveness. To
begin the process, school officials need to determine the specific
learning objectives that they want students to meet.

THE TYLER MODEL

- one of the best known models for curriculum development
- known for the special attention it gives to the planning phases
- deductive for it proceeds from the general to the specific
. Tyler recommends that curriculum planners identify general objectives by
gathering data from three sources: the learners; contemporary life outside the
school; and the subject matter.
 . After identifying numerous general objectives, the planners refine them by
filtering them through two screens: the philosophical screen; the psychological
screen
. The general objectives that successfully pass through the two screens
become what are now popularly known as instructional objectives
Tyler’s Four fundamental questions:
1. What education purposes should schools seek to attain?
<Purposes of the school>
2. What educational experiences can be provided that are
likely to attain these purposes?
<Educational experiences related to the purposes>
3. How can these educational experiences be effectively
organized?
<Organization of the experiences>
4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being
attained or not?
<Evaluation of the experience>
2. Hilda Taba Model: Grassroots Approach
Hilda Taba improved on Tyler’s model. She believed that
teachers should participate in developing a curriculum. As a
grassroot approach Taba begins from the bottom, rather than
from the top as what Tyler proposed. She presented 7 major
steps to her linear model which are the ff:
1. Diagnosis of learner’s needs and expectations of the larger society
> The teacher who is also the curriculum designer starts the process by
identifying the needs of students for whom the curriculum is planned.
For example, the majority of students are unable to think critically.
2. Formulation of learning objectives
> After the teacher has identified needs that require attention, he or
she specifies objectives to be accomplished.
3. Selection of learning contents
> The objectives selected or created suggest the subject matter or
content of the curriculum. Not only should objectives and content
match, but also the validity and significance of the content chosen
needs to be determined. i.e. the relevancy and significance of content.

4. Organization of learning contents

> A teacher cannot just select content, but must organize it in some
type of sequence, taking into consideration the maturity of learners,
their academic achievement, and their interests.
5. Selection of learning experiences
> Content must be presented to students and students must be
engaged with the content. At this point, the teacher selects
instructional methods that will involve the students with the content.
6. Organization of learning activities.
> Just as content must be sequenced and organized, so must the
learning activities. Often, the sequence of the learning activities is
determined by the content. But the teacher needs to keep in mind the
particular students whom he or she will be teaching.
7. Determination of what to evaluate and the means of doing it.
> The curriculum planner must determine just what objectives have
been accomplished. Evaluation procedures need to be designed to
evaluate learning outcomes.
 The Taba-Tyler Rationales
.When comparing just the two rationale it is difficult to
ascertain who borrowed from whom and when, but we
have to admit the basic difference of the two design
approaches, which has a critical meaning not only for
the researchers of modern times, but also for those
developing curricula for current school praxis
 Tyler’s Model Taba’s Model
deductive inductive
argues from administrator approach reflects the teacher’s approach
believes that administration believes that the teachers are aware
should design the curriculum and of the student needs; hence
the teachers implement it. teachers should be the ones to
develop the curriculum and
implement in practice
lays the main stress on aims, her rationale does not start with
evaluation and control objectives, as she believes that the
demand for education in a particular
society should be studied first.
This approach may be perfect, perhaps, Pays attention to the selection of
for market-oriented education, but the content and its organization with
inadequate for the development of
an aim to provide students with an
responsible and creative individuals able
opportunity to learn with
 3. Galen Saylor and William Alexander Curriculum Model
Galen Saylor and William Alexander (1974) viewed curriculum
development as consisting of four steps. Curriculum is “a plan
for providing sets of learning opportunities to achieve broad
educational goals and related specific objectives for an
identifiable population served by a single school center.
1. Goals, Objectives and Domains. Curriculum planners begin by
specifying the major educational goals and specific objectives they
wish to accomplish. Each major goal represents a curriculum domain:
personal development, human relations, continued learning skills and
specialization.
 2. Curriculum Designing. Designing a curriculum
follows after appropriate learning opportunities are
determined and how each opportunity is provided.
3. Curriculum implementation. A designed
curriculum is now ready for implementation. Teachers
then prepare instructional plans where instructional
objectives are specified and appropriate teaching
methods and strategies are utilized to achieve the
desired learning outcomes among students.
4. Evaluation. The last step of the curriculum model is evaluation. A
comprehensive evaluation using a variety of evaluation techniques is
recommended. It should involve the total educational programmed of
the school and the curriculum plan, the effectiveness of instruction and
the achievement of students. Through the evaluation process,
curriculum planner and developers can determine whether or not the
goals of the school and the objectives of instruction have been met.
 

All the models utilized the process of

(1) curriculum planning
(2) curriculum designing
(3) curriculum implementing
(4) curriculum evaluating
THANK YOU