ORGANIZATION OF

KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOLS
 ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
IN SCHOOLS
• Various activities which encompass the entire varieties of learning experiences
(curricular and co-curricular)

• It covers the syllabi, courses of studies, the teaching methods, the characteristics of
teachers and students, the interactions taking place between the teacher and the taught,
between taught and the environment, the textbooks, teaching aids, library, the system of
evaluation, different co-curricular programmes such as morning assembly, prize giving
ceremony, sports, competitions, dramas, observation of different religious or national
festivals, etc.
 ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
IN SCHOOLS
• Organisation of knowledge:

• Should be flexible, so as
• to suit the requirements of the individual learners
• to enable them to grow freely, gradually bringing their innate potentialities to
the surface.
 ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
IN SCHOOLS ACCORDING TO:
• Rousseau: It needs to give freedom to the child to pursue his/her own pace
of progress.

• Mahatma Gandhi: Organisation of knowledge in schools needs to be

influenced by the social aims of education and the totality of experiences
carried out through a particular craft.
 ORGANIZATION OF KNOWLEDGE
IN SCHOOLS ACCORDING TO:
• Tagore: The totality of experience needs to be characterised by universal
brotherhood.

• Sri Aurobindo: Totality of experience should cover the physical, mental

and spiritual personalities of the child.

• Froebel: It should include rounded whole of the knowledge and experience

of the human race, achieved through play.
The organisation of knowledge in schools is a cyclic process, whose main
components are:

Objectives

Content
Feedback

Evaluation Method
 KNOWLEDGE INCLUDED IN
SCHOOL EDUCATION
• Learners need to be consulted in deciding the content and process of organisation of
knowledge.
• Organisation of knowledge in schools is an ongoing process.
• The process of organisation of knowledge begins with the development of curriculum
framework
• It specifies the topics and gives guidelines for the programmes of study including
assessment materials, class time and teaching methods.
• It provides directions for development of textbooks for various classes
 KNOWLEDGE INCLUDED IN
SCHOOL EDUCATION
• In India, the National Council of Educational Research and Training
(NCERT) has been developing school curriculum at intervals. The NCERT
has brought out four curriculum frameworks in 1975, 1988, 2000, and 2005.

• The States have been attempting to develop State version of the national
curriculum developed in 2005.
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
INCLUDED IN SCHOOL
EDUCATION
• The forms of knowledge included in the national school curriculum in India
are:
• Language: It is advocated that the home language(s) of children should be
the medium of learning in schools.

• The implementation of three-language formula (mother tongue, the regional

language and one foreign language) needs to be pursued in its spirit,
promoting multilingual communicative abilities of children.
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
INCLUDED IN SCHOOL
• Mathematics:
EDUCATION
• to develop among the learners the ability to think and reason mathematically, to pursue
assumptions to logical conclusions and to handle abstraction.

• Science:
• The NCF–2005 stated that the primary school science curriculum should include study
of the natural environment through exploratory and hands on activities to acquire the
basic cognitive and psychomotor skills through observation, classification, inference,
etc.
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE INCLUDED IN
SCHOOL EDUCATION
• At the primary stage, science and social science should be integrated as ‘Environmental
Studies’ and should also include health education.

• The science content at the upper primary stage should include working with hands to
design simple technological modules and health including reproductive and sexual health
through activities and surveys.

• Secondary school curriculum to include experimentation as a tool to discover facts, and

working on locally significant projects and should also cover issues surrounding
environment and health including reproductive and sexual health.
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
INCLUDED IN SCHOOL
EDUCATION
• Social Sciences: Social science curriculum at the primary stage should
cover the natural and the social environment.

• Social studies at the upper primary stage may be taught as history,

geography and political science.

• At the secondary stage, sociology and economics topics may be added.

 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
INCLUDED IN SCHOOL
EDUCATION
• The social studies curriculum should attempt to develop the values of
equality, liberty, justice, fraternity, dignity, plurality, and freedom from
exploitation in the learners.
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
INCLUDED IN SCHOOL
EDUCATION
• Art Education: The NCF–2005 was of the view that “Arts, visual and
performing, need to become an important component of learning in the
curriculum.”

• The curriculum needs to introduce students to the rich and varied artistic
traditions in the country.

• Arts education should cover all four main streams covered by the term arts
(i.e.,music, dance, visual arts and theatre).
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE INCLUDED IN
SCHOOL EDUCATION
• Health and Physical Education:
• The NCF– 2005 adopted a holistic definition of health.
• It included physical education and yoga for physical, social, emotional and mental
development of a child.
• Medical check-ups be made a part of the curriculum and education about health
be provided.
• It pointed out importance of age-appropriate interventions focused on adolescent
reproductive and sexual health concerns including HIV/AIDS and drug/substance
abuse.
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE INCLUDED IN
SCHOOL EDUCATION
• Work and Education: Mahatma Gandhi argued for craft-centred education.
• The Secondary Education Commission 1952-53 (Mudaliar
Commission1953) recommended craft subject for every student.
• To learn the dignity of labour and experience the joy of doing constructive
work.
• The Committee for Review of the Curriculum for the Ten Year School
(Patel 1978) suggested for Socially Useful Productive Work (SUPW).
 FORMS OF KNOWLEDGE
INCLUDED IN SCHOOL
EDUCATION
• Work-related competencies may include critical thinking, transfer of
learning, creativity, communication skills, aesthetics, work motivation,
work ethic of collaborative functioning and entrepreneurship-cum-social
accountability.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
• The selection of knowledge depends upon the educational goals which are
universal as well as culture specific.
• While selecting knowledge, one has to analyse the needs of the learning
community and also evaluate the existing curriculum.
• An efficient and scientific curriculum provides totality of experiences.
• Thus, a curriculum has to be need-based, flexible and adaptable to local
conditions, simple, functional, utility based and should not be heavily
loaded with content.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
The following principles are followed in developing a curriculum.
1. Totality:
• The basis of selection of knowledge categories keeps in view the totality of
the experiences that a child should receive for the development of his/her
integral personality.

• The curriculum should address human psychological functioning integrally.

 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
2. Variety and Elasticity:
• The knowledge categories need to develop varied talents among the individuals in
different areas of life and work.

• For example, multiple intelligences i.e., Linguistic, Spatial, Bodily-kinaesthetic,

Musical/rhythmic, Interpersonal, Intrapersonal, and Naturalistic intelligences can be
developed.

• Utilise varied instructional techniques such as the use of multimedia to make classroom
situations interesting for the learners.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
3. Community Centeredness:
• An effective school curriculum should be related to needs and aspirations of
the community.
• For example, in India, inclusive education (providing education to all
irrespective caste, gender, physical disability, etc.) is required.
• Knowledge categories are also selected according to the needs of the
community/society.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
4. Leisure:
• Training students for proper utilisation of leisure.
• Report of the Secondary Education Commission 1952-53 stated that the curriculum should
be designed to train the students not only for work but also for leisure.
• Knowledge categories are selected to have some areas of physical, aesthetic, and spiritual
education.
• For e.g., school clubs, hobby centres, activities like singing, dancing, painting, reading,
yoga, etc. will help in developing a sound personality of the child.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
5. Correlation: An effective school curriculum ensures effective correlation
among different subjects of study.
• The Report of the Secondary Education Commission 1952- 53 stated that
“Subjects should be inter-related and, within each subject the contents
should be ..correlated better with life.”

• Knowledge gained one subjects should be correlated with relevant

knowledge in other subjects and the hobby of the child and its life
expectations.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
6. Activity:
• Learning is at its best, when done through activity.
• Activity makes learning real.
• Knowledge categories, therefore, should have provision for project work,
team work, play and manual work, etc. to enable the child to think and
create knowledge oneself.
• Activity centeredness makes schools become place of work,
experimentation and discovery.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
7. Flexibility:
• The curriculum should change with the changing situations of the world.
• There should be scope for teacher to select appropriate learning categories
and change it with changing times.
• In ideal situations, teachers make knowledge categories adjust to the
motivation, and interest of the learners.
• “Evolving knowledge” in the day-to-day classroom transaction is
important.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
8. Utility:
• Effective knowledge categories are based on the principle of utility.
• These should be of utility to a learner, so that after finishing learning, a
learner is able to utilise the material learnt to improve his/her conditions of
living.
• Included in such type of knowledge are life-skills knowledge, vocational
education, health and hygiene, etc.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
9. Creativity:
• Effective knowledge categories are based on strategies that make children
creative.
• The creativity deals with the higher mental activities i.e. divergent
thinking.
• The task of education is to find out and enrich the creative interest areas of
the learners.
• This principle is more applicable in case of gifted children.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION
10. Play:
• Play way method is an effective strategy for early childhood care and
education.
• Work and play in education was suggested by Maria Montessori and
Froebel.
• Froebel made ‘play’ the basis of education. According to him, the work is to
be done in spirit of play.
• Play gives rise to qualities like, cooperation, tolerance, self-dependence,
freedom in thinking and action, etc.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION

11. Conservation:
• Every society makes attempts to preserve its culture and transmit the
same to the future generation.
• An education system is expected to perform this role efficiently.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION

12. Democratic values:

• Democratic approaches in education are ‘sine qua non’ of the modern
educational system.
• An ideal curriculum should be based on democratic ideas.
• Such a curriculum should try to make a child understand the role of
democracy for education and vice versa.
 BASIS FOR SELECTING CATEGORIES OF
KNOWLEDGE IN SCHOOL EDUCATION

13. Equality:
• Equality involves providing equal opportunity to all in access and
opportunities for education and success.

• NPE-1986 suggested a core curriculum for all school curriculum

development agencies.