APPROACHES TO CURRICULUM AUGUST 24, 2019

THREE WAYS OF APPROACHING A CURRICULUM

1. Curriculum as a Content or Body of

Knowledge
2. Curriculum as a Process
3. Curriculum as a Product
CURRICULUM AS A CONTENT
Common for traditionalist to equate a curriculum
as a topic outline, subject matter, or concepts to be
included in the syllabus or books
If curriculum is equated as content, then the focus
will be the body of knowledge to be transmitted to
students using appropriate teaching method.
CURRICULUM AS A CONTENT

There can be likelihood that teaching will

be limited to the acquisition of facts,
concepts and principles of the subject
matter; however, the content or subject
matter can also be taken as means of an
end.
CURRICULUM AS A CONTENT
All curricula have content regardless of their design or
models.
The fund of knowledge is the repository of accumulated
discoveries and inventions of man from the explorations
of the earth and as products of research.
In most educational setting, curriculum is anchored on a
body of knowledge or discipline.
CURRICULUM AS A CONTENT
There are 4 ways of presenting the content in the
curriculum.
1. Topical Approach, where much content is based on
knowledge, and experiences are included.
2. Concept Approach, with fewer topics in clusters
around major and sub-concepts and their
interaction, with relatedness emphasized
CURRICULUM AS A CONTENT
There are 4 ways of presenting the content in the
curriculum.
3. Thematic Approach as a combination of concepts
that develop conceptual structures.
4. Modular Approach that leads to complete units of
instruction.
CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT
Significance
Validity
Utility
Learnability
Feasibility
Interest
CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT
Significance
Content should contribute to ideas, concepts, principles and
generalization that should attain the overall purpose of the
curriculum.
It is significant if content becomes the means of developing
cognitive, affective or psychomotor skills of the learner.
As education is a way of preserving culture, content will be
significant when this will address the cultural context of the
learners.
CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT
Validity
The authenticity of the subject matter forms its
validity.
Knowledge becomes obsolete with the fast-changing
times. Thus, there is a need for validity check and
verification at a regular interval, because content which
may be valid in its original form may not continue to be
valid in the current times.
CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT
Utility
Usefulness of the content in the curriculum is relative
to the learners who are going to use these. Utility can be
relative to time. It may have been useful in the past, but
may not be useful now or in the future.
Questions like: Will I use this in my future job? Will it
add meaning to my life as a lifelong learner? Or will the
subject matter be useful in solving current concerns?
CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT
Learnability
The complexity of the content should be within
the range of experiences of the learners. This is
based on the psychological principles of learning.
Appropriate organization of content standards and
sequencing of contents are two basic principles that
would influence learnability.
CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT
Feasibility
Can the subject content be learned within the
time allowed, resources available, expertise of the
teachers and the nature of learners? Are there
contents of learning which can be learned beyond
the formal teaching-learning engagement? Are
there opportunities provided to learn these?
CRITERIA IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT
Interest
Will the learners take interest in the
content? Why? Are the contents meaningful?
What value will the contents have in the
present and future life of the learners? Interest
is one of the driving forces for students to learn
better.
ADDITIONAL GUIDE IN THE SELECTION OF CONTENT
Commonly used in the daily life
Appropriate to the maturity levels and abilities of
the learners
Valuable in meeting the needs and competencies
of the future career
Related to other subject fields or discipline for
complementation and integration
BASIC PRINCIPLE OF CURRICULUM CONTENT
Balance
Articulation
Sequence
Integration
Continuity
BASIC PRINCIPLE OF CURRICULUM CONTENT
Balance
Content should be fairly distributed in
depth and breadth. This will guarantee that
significant contents should be covered to avoid
too much or too little of the contents needed
within the time allocation.
BASIC PRINCIPLE OF CURRICULUM CONTENT
Articulation
As the content complexity progresses with the
educational levels, vertically or horizontally, across
the same discipline, smooth connections or bridging
should be provided. This will assure no gaps or
overlaps in the content. Seamlessness in the content
is desired and can be assured if there is
articulation in the curriculum.
BASIC PRINCIPLE OF CURRICULUM CONTENT
Sequence
The logical arrangement of the content refers
to sequence or order. This can be done vertically
for deepening the content or horizontally for
broadening the same content. In both ways, the
pattern usually is from easy to complex, what is
known to unknown, what is current to something in
the future.
BASIC PRINCIPLE OF CURRICULUM CONTENT
Integration
Content in the curriculum does not stand alone or in
isolation. It has some ways of relatedness or
connectedness to other contents. Contents should be
infused in other disciplines whenever possible. This will
provide a holistic or unified view of curriculum instead of
segmentation. Contents which can be integrated to other
disciplines acquire a higher premium than when isolated.
BASIC PRINCIPLE OF CURRICULUM CONTENT
Continuity
Content when viewed as a curriculum should
continuously flow as it was before, to where it is now, and
where it will be in the future. It should be perennial. It
should endure time. Content may not be the same form
and substance as seen in the past since changes and
developments in curriculum occur. Constant repetition,
reinforcement and enhancement of content are all
elements of continuity.
CURRICULUM AS A PROCESS
Curriculum is not seen as a noun, but as a verb or
action.
It is the interaction among the teachers, students and
content.
As a process, curriculum happens in the classroom as the
questions asked by the teacher and the learning activities
engaged in by the students.
CURRICULUM AS A PROCESS
It is an active process with emphasis on the content in which the
processes occur.
Curriculum as a process is seen as a scheme about the practice
of teaching.
It is not a package of materials or syllabus of contents to be
covered.
The classroom is only part of the learning environment where
the teacher places actions using the content to achieve an
outcome.
CURRICULUM AS A PROCESS
Hence the process of teaching and learning becomes
the central concern of teachers to emphasize critical
thinking, thinking meaning-making and heads-on, hands-
on doing and many others.
As a process, curriculum links to the content. While
content provides materials on what to teach, the process
provides curriculum on how to teach the content.
CURRICULUM AS A PROCESS
When accomplished, the process will result to various
curriculum experiences for the learners. The intersection
of the content and process is called the Pedagogical
Content Knowledge. It will address the question: If you
have this content, how will you teach it?
The content is the substance of the curriculum, how the
contents will be communicated and learned will be
addressed by the process.
CURRICULUM AS A PROCESS
To the teachers, the process is very critical. This is the other
side of the coin: instruction, implementation, teaching. These
three words connote the process in the curriculum.
In all of these, there are activities and actions that every
teacher and learner do together or learners are guided by
the teacher.
Some of the strategies are time-tested traditions while
others are emerging delivery models.
GUIDING PRICIPLES IN PRESENTING CURRICULUM AS
A PROCESS
Curriculum process in the form of teaching methods or
strategies are means to achieve the end.
There is no single best process or method. Its effectiveness
will depend on the desired learning outcomes, the learners,
support materials and the teacher.
Curriculum process should stimulate the learners’ desire to
develop the cognitive, affective, psychomotor domains in
each individual
GUIDING PRICIPLES IN PRESENTING CURRICULUM AS
A PROCESS
In the choice of methods, learning and teaching styles should
be considered
Every method or process should result to learning outcomes
which can be described as cognitive, affective and
psychomotor
Flexibility in the use of the process or methods should be
considered. An effective process will always result to learning.
Both teaching and learning are the two important processes
in the implementation of the curriculum
CURRICULUM AS A PRODUCT
Besides viewing curriculum as content that is to be
transmitted, or process that gives action using the content,
it has also been viewed as a product. In other words,
product is what the students desire to achieve as a
learning outcomes.
The product from the curriculum is a student equipped
with the knowledge, skills and values to function
effectively and efficiently.
CURRICULUM AS A PRODUCT
The real purpose of education is to bring about significant
changes in students’ pattern of behaviour.
It is important that any statement of objectives or outcomes
of the school should be a statement of changes to take place
in the students.
Central to the approach is the formulation of behavioural
objectives stated as intended learning outcomes or desired
products so that content and teaching methods may be
organized and the results evaluated.
CURRICULUM AS A PRODUCT
Products of learning operationalized as knowledge, skills,
and values.
Curriculum product is expressed in form of outcomes which
referred to as the achieved learning outcomes. There may be
several desired learning outcomes, but if the process is not
successful, then no learning outcomes are demonstrated by the
person who has meaningful content and processes in the
curriculum.