Topic 1: Concepts and Issues

in Curriculum
Part 1
• Definitions
• Planned, Enacted & Hidden
• Curriculum, Syllabus, Course & Programme?

Part 2
• Forces that influence curriculum construction
• Political, economic and social
• Concerns of different stakeholders in the Malaysian context
• Curriculum is a comprehensive plan for an educational course to offer
improved manpower to fulfil the rising needs of a dynamic society.
• A curriculum is a “plan or program of all experiences which the learner
encounters under the direction of a school”
• Features of curriculum:
- It comprises the experiences of children for which the school is
responsible.
- It has content.
- It is planned.
- It is a series of courses to be taken by students.
- The output and outcomes of a curriculum are evaluated.
 Characteristics Of A Curriculum
• Purposeful aims and objectives
- The aims and objectives must be clearly and precisely stated bearing in mind the societal
values and the needs of the child.
- In selecting and stating the aims and objectives, consideration should be given to the
learner’s age level of development, needs and interests.
- The economic attainment, religion, philosophy and norms of the people should also be
put into consideration.
• Functionality
- The curriculum planned must be workable, practicable and feasible.
- For a curriculum planned to be called functional, it must be stated in clear and
understandable terms.
- The curriculum should be able to succeed given the human and economic resources
available. It should also be acceptable by the people in a given society.
- It should strike a balance between theory and practice. Issues in the curriculum should
be attainable.
 Characteristics Of A Curriculum
• Flexibility
- The curriculum must be capable of adapting to the needs of the changing learner and the
society.
- Since education is not static, it should change with the society. It must be flexible and be
able to create an avenue for growth and development to attain the predetermined
objectives.
- In order words, it should be sufficiently flexible to enhance its adaptation to the changing
condition and needs of the people.

• Evaluation
- It should be subjected to evaluation to ensure that there is progress and that such a
progress is in the desired direction.
- Evaluation as a characteristic could facilitate learning and teaching. It could produce
records appropriate to the purpose for which records are essential and provide feedback
for curriculum planners and teachers.
 Curriculum Perspectives
• Rationalists say:
- True knowledge is achieved by the mind.
- Knowledge is a series of revelations.

• Empiricists think:
- True knowledge is derived from evidence.
- Authentic knowledge comes through the senses.

• Pragmatists believe that:

- Knowledge is hypothetical and changing constantly.
- Knowledge is experienced.
- Knowledge cannot be imposed on the learner.
- Knowledge is a personal activity.
- Knowledge is socially constructed.
 Curriculum Perspectives
• Existentialists or phenomenologists conclude that:
- Knowledge is personal and subjective.
- Knowledge is one’s own unique perception of one’s world.
- Education should be less formal.

ELEMENTS OF CURRICULUM
• The curriculum has four elements that are in constant interaction:
- purpose (goals and objectives)
- content or subject matter
- methods or learning experiences
- evaluation.
 Definition of the Malaysian National Curriculum
“… an educational programme that includes curriculum and co-curricular activities
which encompass all knowledge, skills, norms, values, cultural elements and beliefs
to help fully develop a pupil physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally as well
as to inculcate and develop desirable moral values and to transmit knowledge.”
(Akta Pendidikan, 1996)

Types of curricula
• Planned Curriculum (Overt/ Explicit/ Intended)
- The overt curriculum is the open, or public, dimension and includes current and
historical interpretations, learning experiences, and learning outcomes.
- The intended curriculum is captured most explicitly in state content standards.
- Statements of what every student must know and be able to do by some specified
point in time.
 - What students are supposed to learn.
- Openly discussed, consciously planned, usually written down, presented through the
instructional process
- Textbooks, learning kits, lesson plans, school plays etc.

• Enacted Curriculum
- The enacted curriculum refers to instruction (e.g. what happens in classrooms).
- The content actually delivered during instruction (i.e., instructional content), as well
as how it is taught (i.e., instructional practices). Typically, the content targets are based
on the intended/planned curriculum.
- In other words, the enacted curriculum is what students get the chance to learn, as
well as how teachers "deliver" the content.
- The “Enacted Curriculum” reflects the daily curricular experience of a student
within instructional settings exemplified by assignments, instructional practices,
and managed content.
• Hidden Curriculum (Invisible / Covert)
- Curriculum refers to all planned/intentional learnings that students are deliberately
exposed to in a programme
- Unplanned learnings are acquired as well
- Hiddenness – to students and teachers
- Unintended by scholars, planners, educators;
- A hidden curriculum is a side effect of an education, "[lessons] which are learned but
not openly intended” such as the transmission of norms, values, and beliefs conveyed
in the classroom and the social environment. Any learning experience may teach
unintended lessons.
- Not explicitly stated in curriculum and policy documents, teacher’s written or oral
list of objectives, curriculum projects; inferred over time; perceived as part of social
reality
- Levels - classroom, school and school system in societal context
- Through staff, students, text books, syllabuses, circulars, directives, pamphlets,
announcements, structures, rules, regulations, ceremonies, assemblies, field trips
 Forces That Influence Curriculum Construction
• Political Influences
- Politics determine and define the goals, content, learning experiences and evaluation
strategies in education
- Curricular materials and their interpretation are usually heavily influenced by political
considerations.
- Political considerations may play a part in the hiring of personnel.
- Funding of education is greatly influenced by politics.
- Entry into educational institutions and the examination systems are heavily influenced
by politics.

• Societal Influences
- Society has its own expectations about the aims and objectives that should be
considered when designing the curriculum. 
- It also has a perception of what the product of the school system should look like. It is
therefore necessary for curriculum designers to take into account these societal
considerations.  If this does not happen, the curriculum becomes irrelevant.
 Forces That Influence Curriculum Construction
• Societal Influences
- A number of religions co-exist in countries in the . Your own community may include
Christians, Muslims, Hindus and adherents of other religions. Their views must be
considered when designing a curriculum.
- The design of curricular materials and their presentation should accommodate the
culture of the society that the curriculum is seeking to serve.

• Economical Factors
- One of the reasons why education is financed by governments is to improve the
country’s economy. Therefore, the national curriculum should concern itself with the
requirements of the economy. Perhaps you are wondering how the economy of the
country affects the curriculum.
- The children you teach will need to be employed.
- The skills needed by industry should be translated into the content and learning
experiences of these children. The skills, knowledge base and attitudes required by
industry should be developed in the classroom.
 Forces That Influence Curriculum Construction
• Economical Factors
- As a teacher, you require classroom supplies such as; textbooks, charts, equipment,
and chemicals for science experiments. These materials are products of industry.
Without these materials, learning is compromised. It is therefore crucial that serious
consideration be given to economic demands when designing the curriculum.

• Technological Factors
- The computer is the latest technological innovation that will have a significant impact
on education and society. If you are not computer literate, you may feel that you are not
up-to-date.
- The intention is to equip the learners with the requisite computer skills and
knowledge. In addition to computers, other forms of electronic media are being used in
teaching.
- These have provided a variety of learning experiences and have facilitated
individualised learning. Curriculum designers cannot afford to ignore technology and
its influence on the curriculum.
 Forces That Influence Curriculum Construction
• Environmental Influences
- Over time, people have become insensitive to their surroundings and natural
resources.
- The end result is that humanity is being adversely affected by these in-considerations.
- People want this redressed. It is through education that remediation can be affected.
Consideration for the environment must of necessity influence curriculum design to
ensure the survival of future generations.

• Child Psychology Influence

- Curriculum design is also influenced by child psychology. 
- Theories of learning and child development must be considered when designing the
content of the curriculum and how it is delivered. 
- Learning can be maximised by ensuring that activities and experiences are introduced
at the most ‘teachable’ moment.
Topic 2: Models Of
Curriculum Design
• Product model – Tyler’s objective model, Taba’s interactive model
• Process model – Wheeler’s cyclical model, Walker’s naturalistic model

• Tyler’s Objective Model (1949)

- Tyler’s Objectives Model: sequential, rational, behavioural or means – end model
- Key Emphasis: Instructional Objective (a detailed description that states how an instructor
will use an instructional activity , innovation or program to reach the desired learning
objective(s).

- Purpose: To measure students progress towards objectives

- Method:
1. Specify Instructional Objectives
2. Collect performance Data
3. Compare performance data with the objectives/standards specified
Strengths of Tyler’s Model
• provides a clear direction by having precise objectives as first step
• provides a blueprint or a set of procedures to simplify the process – it helps those uncertain
about the process
• applicable to all learning areas and levels
• the sequence has logic and the model embodies ‘a practical theory that can inform and
guide argumentation for, and the conduct of schooling’

Weaknesses of Tyler’s Model

• curriculum development is rarely a fixed or linear process
• it does not explain where the objectives come from (‘arbitrary statements of belief’, 1995)
• the structure of knowledge cannot be expressed in pre-specified performance; the
outcomes of teaching are too complex and unpredictable
• may constrain what students can learn and limit the expression of inquiry, discovery and
creativity; unintended outcomes of learning are ignored
• over emphasizes measurable objectives; qualitative outcomes are difficult to measure
• ends (objectives) and means (content and method) are treated separately
Taba’s Interactional Model (1962)
- Learning and development of personality is not a one-way process of establishing
educational aims and deriving specific objectives from authority.

- Inductive approach: start with the specifics and build up to a general design

- Teacher approach: teachers are aware of the students’ needs so they should be the one to
develop the curriculum.

- Grass-root approach: the needs of the students are at the forefront of the curriculum.

- The reconstruction of a curricula and programme is a not ashort-term effort but a long
process, lasting for years.
Hilda Taba (1962) reduced Tyler's curriculum rationale into a simple procedure:

1. Diagnosis of learners needs and expectations of the larger society.

2. Formulation of learning objectives.

3. Selection of the learning content.

4. Organization of learning content.

5. Selection of the learning experiences.

6. Organization of learning activities.

7. Determination of what to evaluate and the means of doing it.

Strengths of Taba’s Model
• Dynamic- relationship among elements

• -Interactive approach - may begin with any of the elements; the model is a truer
reflection of curriculum development- progressively modifiable

• Developers not constrained by fixed procedure- legitimate to change direction, modify

and reappraise.

• Gives teachers a greater role by not just making them implementers of the curriculum but
also developers

• Follows any sequence among the elements and is psychologically more efficient i.e. it is
how people actually do things - COME 51%; CMOE 31%; OCME 13% (Brady, 1989)
Weaknesses of Taba’s Model
• Many similar aspects to the weaknesses of Tyler’s model

• A major weakness of a linear model is that it ends at the evaluation stage and there is no
scope for re-visiting the teaching methods or other elements of the curriculum;

• Linear models are static - they fail to consider the changing environment.

Wheeler’s Cyclical Model (1967)

• Contains similar key elements to those of Tyler’s objective model and Taba’s interactional
model:
- Situational analysis
- Identification of aims and objective
- Selection of content and organization
- Selection and organisation of learning activities
- Assessment and evaluation process
Wheeler’s Cyclical Model (1967)
 Wheeler’s Cyclical Model (1967)

• Aims should be discussed as behaviours referring to the end product of learning as

ultimate goals or outcomes

• Aims formulated from the general to the specific in curriculum planning - formulation
of objectives at both an enabling and a terminal level

• Content is distinguished from the learning experiences which determine the content

• Curriculum design is an ongoing process, dependent on emerging information and

practice, shaped by the beliefs, experiences, theories and philosophies held by those
planning the learning environment.
 Strengths Wheeler’s Cyclical Model (1967)
• Relevant - it is responsive to the needs of pupils

• Meaningful - cyclical models undertake situational analysis - context or situation is

thoroughly studied

• Flexible - the evaluation stage is not terminal, findings from the evaluation are fed back
into the objectives and goals

• Feedback mechanism provides students with a means to measure own progress

• Logical sequence - the objectives are tied to the outcomes and teachers are required to
refer to the objectives during the evaluative stage

• This model goes well beyond the core elements of objectives, content, method, and
assessment / evaluation, although these are recognized as part of the process.
 Weaknesses Wheeler’s Cyclical Model (1967)
• Difficult to ensure consistency of content coverage

• Quality of learning is very dependent on the quality of teaching. Attempts to compensate

for these aspects have contributed to discovery learning and problem-solving
movements.

• Objectives still largely behavioural

• It is not different from objective model since it adopts logical sequence;

• It takes time to undertake an effective situational analysis - once the revision of the cycle
starts, the whole cycle needs to be repeated, this could lead to rigidity eventually
Walker’s Naturalistic Model (1971)