EDUCATION 105

Chapter 1 Foundations, Conceptions and Elements of Curriculum

Curriculum Foundations

There are three categories or sources for Curriculum Foundations:

1. Studies of learners and learning theory (Psychology)
2. Studies of life (sociology and anthropology) and
3. Studies of the nature and value of knowledge (Philosophy)
These sources or foundations influence curriculum developers in framing different
curriculum conceptions in developing curriculum.

Psychology
 deals with understanding human behavior, which is important in curriculum
development
 According to Print (1993), Psychology can provide information in five important
areas:
1. Educational objectives
2. Student characteristics
3. Learning processes
4. Teaching method
5. Evaluation Procedures

Sociology and Anthropology

 affect all curriculum processes
 Sowell (1996) pointed out that knowledge about the society and its culture is
important in selecting the CONTENT of the curriculum.
 it provides a clear understanding of the CONTEXT in which the curriculum is
developed.
 Studies about the society and culture help curriculum workers in understanding
several social and educational issues that affect curriculum processes and
education in general.

Philosophy
 helps curriculum workers in understanding the nature of knowledge and what
subjects or topics are worthwhile
 important in making decisions about the contents of the curriculum
 Ornstein and Hunkins (1993) mentioned that philosophy provides curriculum
workers with a framework or base for organizing schools and classrooms.
  It also provides educators with a framework for broad issues and tasks, such as
determining the goals of education, the content and its organization, and the
teaching and learning processes.

Curriculum Conceptions

McNeil (2006), Eisner (1985), and Print (1993) identified six curriculum conceptions:

1. Academic Rationalist Conception

 considered as the oldest among the curriculum conceptions

 stresses the importance of different bodies of knowledge, known as disciplines or
subject areas, as the focus of the curriculum

2. Cognitive Processes Conception

 seeks to develop a repertoire of cognitive skills that are applicable to a wide

range of intellectual problems
 the subject matters are instruments or tools for developing these cognitive skills
that are lasting in the lives of individuals.

3. Humanistic Conception

 stresses the idea that curriculum or education is an instrument for developing the
full potentials of individuals
 seeks to help individuals discover and develop their unique identities
 stresses that curriculum should focus on the NEEDS and INTERESTS of
individuals

4. Social Reconstructionist Conception

 views the school or schooling as an agency for social change

 stresses that curriculum should respond to the different needs, issues, problems
and demands of the society

5. Technological Conception

 preoccupied with the development of means to achieve curriculum or educational

goals
  views schooling as a complex system that can be analysed into its constituent
components.

6. Eclectic Conception

 is where curriculum workers find themselves aligning their ideas with two or more
curriculum conceptions
 reiterates the realities in curriculum development that each of the curriculum
conceptions is to be considered and is influential to a certain extent in designing
the curriculum

Elements of a Curriculum

 in general, there are four important elements of a curriculum:

Curriculum Intent

Content

Learning Experiences

Evaluation

1. Curriculum Intent

 the term used by Print (1993) to mean the direction that curriculum developers
wish to go to as a result of participating in the curriculum

 Aims = broad statements of social or educational expectations and includes what

is hoped to be achieved by the total curriculum
 Goals = more specific than the aims and general statements of what concepts,
skills, and values should be learned in the curriculum
 Objectives = specific learning outcomes, includes specific concepts, skills, and
values that should be learned by the students and used in making decisions or
planning about instruction

Content

 includes the different topics to be learned or covered in a curriculum

  topics are based on curriculum intents, which may include values, concepts, or
skills that are important for the learners to learn.

3. Learning Experiences

 include all instructional strategies that are useful for the implementation of the
curriculum
 these may appear in the form of activities, strategies, methods, or approaches
that are useful in implementing the curriculum or in teaching the content.

4. Evaluation

 includes the different ways and tools used for evaluating whether or not the
curriculum intent was realized
 evaluation tools are also used to evaluate the performance of the learners after
they have undergone the curriculum

 Hilda Taba (1962) observed that all curricula, no matter what their particular
design, are composed of certain elements.

 Curriculum usually contains a statement of aims and specific objectives.

 It indicates some selection and organization of content.
 It either implies or manifests certain patterns of learning and teaching, whether
because the objectives demand them or because the content organization
requires them.
 It includes a program of evaluation of the outcomes.