APPROACHES TO
SCHOOL
CURRICULUM
THREE WAYS OF APPROACHING A
CURRICULUM
First, as content or body of knowledge
Second, as product of learning outcomes
Third, as process or actual practice
Curriculum as a Content
• Focus will be the body of knowledge to
be transmitted to students using
appropriate teaching method.
• The likelihood of 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 a means to an end.
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 around major and sub-concepts
and their interaction, with relatedness
Four ways of Presenting the
Content in the Curriculum:
3. Thematic approach - combination of
concepts that develop conceptual
structures.
4. Modular approach - leads to complete
units of instruction.
Criteria in the Selection of Content
(Scheffer,1970 in Bilbao, et al 2009)
1. Significance
2. Validity
3. Utility
4. Learnability
5. Feasibility
6. Interest
Criteria in the Selection of Content
(Scheffer,1970 in Bilbao, et al 2009)
1. 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 a significant when this will address the cultural
context of the learners.
Criteria in the Selection of Content
(Scheffer,1970 in Bilbao, et al 2009)
2. Validity
The authenticity of the subject matter forms of 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
(Scheffer,1970 in Bilbao, et al 2009)
3. 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.
Criteria in the Selection of Content
(Scheffer,1970 in Bilbao, et al 2009)
4. 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
(Scheffer,1970 in Bilbao, et al 2009)
5. Feasibility
Can the subject content be learned within the time allowed,
resources available, expertise of the teachers and the nature of
the learners?
Criteria in the Selection of Content
(Scheffer,1970 in Bilbao, et al 2009)
6. 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.
Guide in the Selection of the
Content in the Curriculum
•
1. Commonly used in the daily life.
2. Appropriate to the maturity levels and abilities of
the learners.
3. Valuable in meeting the needs and competencies
of the future career.
4. Related to other subject fields or disciplines for
complementation and integration.
5. Important in the transfer of learning to other
Basic Principles of Curriculum
Content
In 1952, Palma proposed the principle of BASIC as
a guide in addressing CONTENT in the curriculum.
B-ALANCE fair distribution of the content across
the subject
A-RTICULATION seamless flow of content
vertically or horizontally in the curriculum
S-EQUENCE arranging of contents from easy to
difficult
I-NTEGRATION allowing the transfer of content
to other fields.
C-ONTINUITY enduring and perennial content,
from past to future.
CURRICULUM AS A PROCESS
Curriculum links to the
content; Content is the
As a process is seen as a substance of the
It is the interaction
scheme about the practice Curriculum, how the
among the teachers,
of teaching contents will be
students and content.
communicated and learned
will be addressed by the
process
When curriculum is approached as a
PROCESS, guiding principles are
presented.
1. Curriculum process in the form of teaching
methods or strategies are means to achieve
the end
When curriculum is approached as a
PROCESS, guiding principles are
presented.
2. There no single best process or method.
Its effectiveness will depend on the
desired learning outcomes, the learners,
support materials and the teacher.
When curriculum is approached as a
PROCESS, guiding principles are
presented.
3. Curriculum process should stimulate the
learners’ desire to develop the cognitive,
affective, psychomotor domains in each
individual
When curriculum is approached as a
PROCESS, guiding principles are
presented.
4. In the choice of methods, learning and
teaching styles should be considered.
When curriculum is approached as a
PROCESS, guiding principles are
presented.
5. Every method or process should result to
learning outcomes which can be described as
cognitive, affective and psychomotor.
When curriculum is approached as a
PROCESS, guiding principles are
presented.
6. Flexibility in the use of the process or
methods should be considered. An effective
process will always result to learning
outcomes.
When curriculum is approached as a
PROCESS, guiding principles are
presented.
7. Both teaching and learning are two
important processes in the implementation
of the curriculum.
CURRICULUM AS A
PRODUCT
Product is what the students desire to achieve as learning
outcomes.
The program produces a student who is prepared with the
expertise, skills, and values needed to work effectively and
efficiently. The true goal of education is to effect major
improvements in the students’ behavioral patterns. It is
important that any statement of the school’s goals or expected
learning outcomes provide a statement of the improvements
CURRICULUM AS A
PRODUCT
Curriculum product is expected in the form of
outcomes which are 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 will be
achieved. These learned or achieved learning
outcomes are demonstrated by the person who has
meaningful experiences in the curriculum. All of
these are result of planning, content and process in
Thank You!
