Unit 3

Phases and Processes of

Curriculum Development
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Intended Learning Outcomes:
At the end of the unit, the pre-service teacher (PST) must have:
Picture Not Mine. Credits to the Owner.
1. demonstrated the knowledge of curriculum planning, design and organization, implementation,
evaluation and improvement (BTI 4.1.1; CLO 2); and
2. prepared developmentally-sequenced lesson plans with well-aligned learning outcomes and
competencies based on curriculum requirements (BTI 4.1.1; CLO 2) Picture Not Mine. Credits to the owner.
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PREPARE for Take-Off…

Quote Analysis: “Instead of a national curriculum for education, what is really needed is an
individual curriculum for every child.” --- Charles Handy

Get on and PRESENT…

Lesson 1: Rudiments of Curriculum Designing

Building on Peter Oliva’s 1- Axioms for Curriculum Designers

1) Curriculum change is inevitable, necessary, and desirable . Earlier it was stated that
one of the characteristics of curriculum is its being dynamic. Because of this, teachers should
respond to the changes that occur in schools and in its context. Societal development and
knowledge revolution come so fast that the need to address the changing condition requires
new curriculum designs.
2) Curriculum reflects as a product of its time . A relevant curriculum should respond to
changes brought about by current social forces, philosophical positions, psychological
principles, new knowledge, and educational reforms. This is also called timeliness.
3) Curriculum changes made earlier can exist concurrently with newer curriculum
changes. A revision in a curriculum starts and ends slowly. More often, curriculum is gradually
phased in and phased out thus the change that occurs can coexist and oftentimes overlaps for
long periods of time.
4) Curriculum change depends on people who will implement the change . Teachers who
will implement the curriculum should be involved in its development, hence should know how
to design a curriculum. Because the teachers are the implementers of the curriculum, it is best
that they should design and own the changes. This will assure an effective and long lasting
change.
5) Curriculum development is a cooperative group activity . Group decisions in some
aspects of curriculum development are suggested. Consultations with stakeholders when
possible will add to a sense of ownership. Even learners should participate in some aspect of

The Teacher and the School Curriculum

 curriculum designing. Any significant change in the curriculum should involve a broad range of
stakeholders to gain their understanding, support, and input.
6) Curriculum development is a decision-making process made from the choices of
alternatives. A curriculum developer or designer must decide what contents to teach,
philosophy or point of view to support, how to provide for multicultural groups, what methods
or strategies, and what type of evelaution to use.
7) Curriculum development is an ongoing process. Continuous monitoring, examination,
evaluation, and improvement of curricula are to be considered in the design of the curriculum.
As the needs of learners change, as society changes, and as new knowledge and technology
appear, the curriculum must change.
8) Curriculum development is more effective if it is a comprehensive process, rather
than a “piecemeal”. A curriculum design should be based on a careful plan, intended
outcomes clearly established, support resources and needed time available and teaching staff
pedagogically equipped.
9) Curriculum development is more effective when it follows a systematic process. A
curriculum design is composed of desired outcomes, subject matter content complemented
with references, set of procedures, needed materials and resources and evaluation procedure
which can be placed in a matrix.
10) Curriculum development starts from where the curriculum is. Curriculum planners and
designers begin with existing curriculum. An existing design is a good starting point for any
teacher who plans to enhance and enrich a curriculum.

Building upon the ideas of Oliva, let us continue learning how to design a curriculum by identifying its
components. For most curricula the major components or elements are answers to the following
questions:
1) What learning outcomes need to be achieved? (Intended Learning Outcomes)
2) What content should be included to achieve the learning outcomes? (Subject Matter)
3) What learning experiences and resources shall be employed? (Teaching-Learning Methods)
4) How will the achieved learning outcomes be measured? (Assessment of Achieved Learning
Outcomes)

Elements or Components of a Curriculum Design

I. Behavioral Objectives or Intended Learning Outcomes
Begin with the end in view. The objectives or intended learning outcomes are the reasons for
undertaking the learning lesson from the student’s point of view. It is desired learning outcome that is
to be accomplished in a particular learning episode, engaged in by the learners under the guidance of
the teacher. As a curriculum designer, the beginning of the learning journey is the learning outcomes
to be achieved. In this way, both the learner and the teacher are guided by what to accomplish.
The behavioral objectives, intended learning outcomes or desired learning outcomes are
expressed in action words found in the revised Bloom’s Taxonomy of Objectives (Andersen and
Krathwohl, 2003) for the development of the cognitive skills. For the affective skills, the taxonomy
made by Krathwohl and for the psychomotor domain by Simpson.

The Teacher and the School Curriculum

 The statement should be S M A R T: Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Result-oriented, and Time-
bound. For a beginner, it would help if you provide the Condition, Performance and Extent/ level of
Performance in the statement of the intended learning outcomes.

For example, a lesson intends the students to identify the parts of a simple flower or stated in
desired learning outcomes should be “ must have identified the parts of a simple flower.”

Sometimes the phrase intended learning outcomes is used to refer to the anticipated results after
completing the planned activity or lesson. In framing learning outcomes, it is good to practice to:
 Express each outcome in terms of what successful students will be able to do. For example,
rather than stating Students will be able to explain the reason why …. it should be : “Students
must have explained the reason why…” This helps students to focus on what they have to
achieve as learning. It will also help curricularist devise appropriate assessment tasks.
 Include different kinds of outcomes. The most common are cognitive objectives (learning
facts, theories, formulae, principles, etc.) and performance outcomes (learning how to carry
out procedures, calculations and processes, which typically include gathering information and
communicating results). In some contexts, affective outcomes are important too (developing
attitudes or values, e.g. those required as a person and for a particular profession).
II. Content / Subject Matter
 Subject matter should be relevant to the outcomes of the curriculum. An effective curriculum is
purposive, clearly focused on the planned learning outcomes.
 Subject matter should be appropriate to the level of the lesson or unit. An effective curriculum
is progressive, leading students towards building on previous lessons. Contents which are too
basic or too advanced for the development levels of learners make students either bored or
baffled, and affect their motivation to learn.
 Subject matter should be up-to-date and, if possible, should reflect current knowledge and
concepts.
III. References
The references follows the content. It tells where the content or subject matter has been taken.
The reference maybe a book, a module, or any publication. It must bear the author of the material
and if possible, the publications. Some examples are given below.
1. Project Wild (1992). K to 12 Activity Guide, An Interdisciplinary, Supplementary Conservation
and Environmental Education Program. Council of Environmental Education, Bethesda, MD.
2. Shipman, James and Jerry Wilson, et al (2009). An Introduction to Physical Science. Houghton
Mifflin Co. Boston MA
3. Romo, Salvador B. (2013). Horticulture an Exploratory Course . Lorimar Publishing Inc. Quezon
City.
4. Bilbao, Purita P. and Corpus, Brenda B., et al (2012). T he Teaching Profession, 2nd Ed., Lorimar
Publishing Inc. Quezon City.
IV. Teaching and Learning Methods
These are the activities where the learners derive experiences. It is always good to keep in mind the
teaching strategies that students will experience (lectures, laboratory classes, fieldwork, etc) and

The Teacher and the School Curriculum

make them learn. The teaching-learning methods should allow cooperation, competition as well as
individualism or independent learning among the students.
 Cooperative Learning Activities – allow students to work together. Students are guided to learn
on their own to find solutions to their problems. The role of the teachers is to guide the
learners. Democratic process is encouraged, and each one contributes to the success of
learning. Students learn from each other in ways. Group projects and activities considerably
enhance the curriculum.
 Independent Learning Activities – allow learners to develop personal responsibility. The degree
of independence to learn how to learn is enhanced. This strategy is more appropriate for fast
learners.
 Competitive activities – where students will test their competencies against another in a
healthy manner allow learners to perform to their maximum. Most successful individuals in
their adult life are competitive, even in early schooling. They mostly become the survivors in a
very competitive world.
 The use of various delivery modes to provide learning experiences is recommended . Online
learning and similar modes are increasingly important in many curricula but these need to be
planned carefully to be effective.
V. Assessment / Evaluation
Learning occurs most effectively when students receive feedback, i.e. when they receive
information on what they have (and have not) already learned. The process by which this information
is generated is Assessment. It has three main forms:
 Self-assessment – through which a student learns to monitor and evaluate their own
learning. This should be a significant element in the curriculum because we aim to produce
graduates who are appropriately reflective and self-critical.
 Peer assessment – in which students provide feedback on each other’s learning. This can
be achieved as an extension of self-assessment and presupposes trust and mutual respect.
Research suggests that students can learn to judge each other’s work as reliably as staff.
 Teacher assessment – in which the teacher prepares and administers tests and gives
feedback on the student’s performance.

Assessment may be formative (providing feedback to help the student learn more) or
summative (expressing a judgment on the students’ achievement by reference to stated criteria).
Many assessment tasks involve an element of both, e.g. an assignment that is marked and returned
to the student with detailed comments.
Summative assessment usually involves the allocation of marks or grades. This helps the
teacher make decisions about the progress or performance of the students.
Students usually learn more by understanding the strengths and weaknesses of their work
than by knowing the mark or grade given to it. For this reason summative assessment tasks (including
unseen examinations) should include an element of formative feedback, if possible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2bE58ki2TXk

The Teacher and the School Curriculum