Module -3 TYPES OF CURRICULUM
- 1.
Activity based – Child centred-
Subject centred- Community based- Core- Hidden
- 2.
Differentiated Curriculum to
meet Individual differences-Gifted-Creative Learners-Slow learners-Under
achievers-Learning Disabled
- 3.
Curriculum Reforms and
Revisions with Reference to NCF/KCF, NCERT
- 4.
Critical Evaluation of New
Curriculum at Secondary school Level.
ACTIVITY BASED – CHILD CENTRED- SUBJECT CENTRED- COMMUNITY
BASED- CORE- HIDDEN
ACTIVITY BASED CURRICULUM
When course material is taught in
the form of an activity or hands-on project, the curriculum is considered
activity based. The learning takes place as
students are working in labs completing experiments or collaborating in group
work through games or competitions, according to Study Lecture Notes.
Each activity or project in an activity-based
curriculum serves as the means for students to learn concepts and skills. For
example, students may be asked to re-enact a movie, story or play to physically
and visually learn the plot of the piece. Through actions and physical
activity, students are often motivated and enthusiastic about learning concepts
versus sitting in the classroom and merely observing a lecture about the course
concepts.
Activity-based learning does not always include
physical activity. Students can complete a project together by brainstorming
ideas, designing a web page and collaboratively writing literature. Students
can also complete math problems as a group, identify science definitions and
make a diagram of planets together in an activity-based curriculum.
Play-based therapy in early childhood and
elementary school programs is also a type of activity-based curriculum. Through
play, such as drawing, building, constructing and painting, students have the
opportunity to express themselves while learning their strengths and weaknesses
in the classroom.
"Activity
curriculum means curriculum design in which the interests and purposes of
children determine the educational programme of activities being planned
co-operatively by teacher and pupils and activity learning/ teaching means any
learning or teaching situation, such as project work which is characterized by
participation on the part of learner, as opposed to passive learning of
information from a lecture, talk or observed demonstration."
(International Dictionary of Education).
Activity
curriculum is also called 'Project curriculum or Experience curriculum' whereas
its origin can be traced back to the beginning of the twentieth century, its
fundamental ideas date back to Rousseau and a few others as far back as even to
Plato. In1897, Dewey used the term 'activity programme', a form of activity
curriculum. In the same year, Dewey established a laboratory at the University
of Chicago which was a joint venture of parents, teachers and educators. They
placed emphasis on occupations (cooking, sewing, embroidery, carpentry etc.)
rather than on conventional subjects, but at the same time, it may be mentioned
that this does not mean vocational training. This approach thus provides a
sound base of experimental background. According to the opinions of Bruner,
Piaget and other advocates of scientific revolution, the children are to be
given first hand experiences suggested under play category. This approach,
especially in 5 Chapter 1 Intmdiion the developing countries, is likely to
close the gap between eleme~ltary knowledge and the advanced knowledge.
Action is the design of life. Curriculum should provide variety of physical and mental activities.
Learning by doing. Elementary
stage-activities of hand head and heart. Primary-project. Secondary-creative
and constructive activities
Activity Based Learning
Activity Based Learning (ABL) is a methodology
where children of different ages are grouped together in one class and learn at
their own pace through teacher-facilitated exercises.The key
feature of the Activity Based Learning (ABL) method is that it uses
child-friendly educational aids to foster self-learning and allows a child to
study according to his or her aptitude and skill. ABL serves as one model of
child-centered, child-friendly education, which is the mandate of the Right to
Education (RTE) Act in India.
According to observers, the ABL method has created
a visible improvement in children’s learning and psychology. Children learn to
make independent decisions at a young age, from choosing their activity card
for the day, to marking their own attendance. Under the system, the curriculum
is divided into small units, each a group of Self Learning Materials (SLM)
comprising attractively designed study cards for English, Tamil, Maths, Science
and Social Science. When a child finishes a group of cards, he completes one
`milestone.’
Activities
in each milestone include games, rhymes, drawing, and songs to teach a letter
or a word, form a sentence, do maths and science, or understand a concept. The
child takes up an Exam Card only after completing all the milestones in a
subject. If a child is absent one day, he continues from where he left unlike
in the old system where the child had to learn on his own what he missed out
on. Integrated in the curriculum are activities to create awareness about the
environment, sanitation, health, and nutrition. These are brought across
through innovative methods like Bommalattam (a puppetry show) in Tamil and
through song and rhymes.
i) Student cantered instruction where students have freedom to
choose a problem and formulate strategies to solve them and ii) Teacher
cantered instruction where the teacher takes the lead role.
Advantages of Activity Based Instruction:
1) The most important feature of activity based instruction is
learning by doing. So this method of instruction can fulfil the natural urge of
a growing child on one hand also can help them learn their lesson.
2) The method also promotes better understanding of a lesson
among students as they learn the lesson by practicing the task themselves.
3) It inspires the students to apply their creative ideas,
knowledge and minds in solving problems as well as promoting competitive spirit
among them.
4) It also helps learner psychologically as they can express
their emotions through active participation in something useful.
5) The method also helps in developing their personalities,
social traits and inter-personal management skills.
Disadvantages of Activity Based Instruction:
1) The activity based instruction method requires long-term
planning with minute details of the whole process because before engaging the
learners, the teacher has to make sure that all students have sufficient
knowledge and skills regarding the task they are going to perform. So this
method can not be used on a regular and daily basis as it involves a lengthy
procedure.
2) The objectives of the method can only be fulfilled if the
planning of the lesson is flawless. If there is slightest flaw in the planning,
this method would do more harm than good.
3) Learners have varied levels of merit and understanding. So
less meritorious students might not prepare for a task as other which might lead
to failure of objectives of the whole process.
4) Many renowned educationists also are of the opinion that the
activity based method is more suitable for branches of experimental sciences
and less useful for subjects of social sciences.
Activity Based Curriculum:
The Activity Based Curriculum is also called project curriculum
or an experience curriculum but the name activity is a fundamental
conception. Activity Curriculum has a long history. The title
“Activity Curriculum”, however, did not come into general use before 1920,
although Dewey used the expression “Activity Programme” as early as 1897 in a
talk to the parents and teachers at his laboratory school in Chicago (U.S.A).
Activity is the natural urge of the child. He wants to do things by himself.
When curricular material is translated in terms of activity, it is known as
activity curriculum. Learning of the prescribed material takes place through
activities. Activity is used as a media or means for imparting knowledge and
skills.
Activity is the greatest motivation for child. he enjoys the
freedom of expressing his potentialities during activities.
These activities should not merely be considered as physical
activity but also intellectual activity. The educator (teacher) should engage
pupils in activities in such a way that while manual skills are gained there
should be mental satisfaction found in the work. The students should not be
passive listener they should be active participants in the process of learning.
True learning is experiencing, while activity is the process
then experience becomes the product of activity. Activity results in
experience, in fact activity and experience cannot be separated from each
other. A purposeful activity must end in gainful experience. The school must,
therefore, plan its activities in such a way that students gain mastery on
various experiences. Such type of projects should be completed under a
problematic situation in a natural setting.
Characteristics of Activity Curriculum:
1.
Children’s Interest Determines the
Educational Programme:
The primary principle of the activity curriculum is that the
interests and purposes of children determine the educational programme. The
basic principle of the activity programme refers to the felt needs of children
and not of adults. Because the educational programs are aimed at doing
something in the best interest of the children and not for an adults only. It
is the task of the teacher to discover these interests and to build educational
activities upon them.
Whims (urges) must not be considered as basis of an
educational programme. The interest of the students must be carefully
analyzed and then accepted, These intended courses of actions
are accepted after their consequences are reviewed. The subject matter is a
mean of fulfilling the purposes of an individual or a group and as a result of
manipulating subject matter children learn within the boundaries of group
interests. The teacher’s responsibility is to find out the interest of
individual students and of the groups. He helps children to select the most
interesting activity for study; Building a cage for an animal,
making preparation for a field trip, gathering information on a current
political affair, running a school store, planning family budget
The Activity Curriculum is not planned in Advance:
The teacher discover the interests of students in
group or individually. He guides the students in the selections of activity and
their interest among activities. He helps them to plan and carry out these
activities according to their interests. He also guides the individual or group
in assessing what they have accomplished in the process. This is the
responsibility of the teachers to make plans for himself how to guide
the students and their activities in the classrooms. Although
teacher does not come into the classroom with a preplanned subject matter. He
does come with ideas and a background of experience of the students and their
interests. These are his working tools.
Activities are Planned Co-operatively by Students and the
Teacher:
The teacher and the students plan the activities cooperatively
what needs to be done? And how, first of all objectives are formulated with the
help of the teacher, and then the class students considers means of teaching
the objectives e.g. a group has determined to improve the beauty of its own
classroom. The class may be divided into small groups so that students can talk
with their seat mates.
A student from each of these groups report to the total class.
There should be ample opportunity to organize for investigating, seeking
information, selecting materials, interviewing people and carrying on the
activities needed to solve the problem, in each of these steps the students
take part in making decisions and they assume full responsibility for it. Here
the teacher is guide in the process of learning, he guide the students how to
select group leaders and how to make intelligent decisions. Most important is
the quality of thinking that goes in the group. There is a given and take of
ideas in the group. The opinions of different students in the group are
evaluated by the students to select the best idea of all. It is
really a laboratory for learning group processes.
Problem solving is the Dominant Method of Activity Curriculum:
In the activity curriculum, the teaching learning process
consists largely of problem solving. In the pursuit of interests in the groups
to complete an activity various difficulties will arise. The teacher
and his students are to find ways of overcoming these obstacles. As the
interests of children lead to problems requiring a great diversity of content
so the subject matter from almost every field of Knowledge is used in the
activity curriculum. But the subject matter is studied as a means of solving
problems and not as subject.
The Teacher Assists the Group as a Resource Person:
Here the teacher works as a guide and resource person. He serves
to small groups, to individual students. He sometimes leads the discussion to
help the students to analyses the problem. He works with them in improving
their skills. He is a part of the total learning situation rather than task
master.
Practice and Individual Assistance are provided as needed:
In activity curriculum the need for practice grows out of the
learning situation. As the students show the need for working on spellings of
certain words, or grammar, the teacher gives them the opportunity to learn and
practice these skills. If the students ask the teacher to help them in writing
a letter to invite a speaker, the teacher will not write the letter for them,
but he will guide them. He will work with them on the use of words and thus he
will encourage them to write a letter inviting the guest speaker.
a. Requirements for Optimum Operation of Activity Curriculum:
1.
Training of Teachers:
Teachers should have a broad general education with specialized
training in child and adolescent development, guidance and methods of teaching.
1.
Physical Features of the School:
Activity base curriculum needs spacious Building, grounds and
classrooms to permit as many activities as possible. Will light rooms and have
ample facilities; for displaying and decorations devised by children. The ample
use of school grounds in addition to outdoor class work and for other countless
outdoor activities in which children may engage as they follow their interests.
To complete these possibilities the school will require several
times more space then they have now.
Tentatively ten acres of land (one acre= 4940 sq. yards) would
likely be the minimum to meet the needs of an activity curriculum. To those
critics who criticize the activity curriculum as the most expensive pattern of
curriculum organization, the advocates of an activity programme will give a
reply that there is no such thing as “a good cheap education:.
CHILD CENTRED
CURRICULUM
Curriculum is
mainly for the students. So, the age, interest, capability,
capacity,aspiration, needs and psychology of the learner should be taken
in to an account. Based on
the needs, requirements, and circumstances of the child. Child needs more experience than instruction. Meaningful activities to promote co-operation, social
responsibility. Should be framed in
accordance with the child’s developmental characteristics as well as his
capabilities and needs at the stage.
‘Child-centred’ pedagogy means giving primacy to children’s
experiences, their voices, and their active participation. This kind of
pedagogy requires us to plan learning in keeping with children’s psychological
development and interests. The learning plans therefore must respond to
physical, cultural and social preferences
within the wide diversity of characteristics and needs. Our school
pedagogic practices, learning tasks, and the texts we create for learners tend
to focus on the
socialisation of children and on the ‘receptive’ features of
children’s learning. Instead, we need to nurture and build on their active and
creative capabilities—their inherent interest in making meaning, in relating to
the world in ‘real’ ways through acting on it and creating, and in relating to
other humans. Learning is active and social in its character. Frequently, the
notions of ‘good student’ that are promoted emphasise obedience to the teacher,
moral character, and acceptance of the teacher’s words as ‘authoritative’
knowledge.
Learner-Centered Curriculum
The supporters of learner-centered Curriculum give importance to
individual development and they wants to organize the curriculum according to
the needs and interest of learners, there are fundamental differences in this
approach and the subject-centered design.
This movement from the traditional curriculum towards a
programme that stresses the interests and needs of students, This approach was
used by Rousseau in the education of Emile, then Dewy in his
laboratory School in 1896-1904. it is believed that all of these
twentieth-century efforts reflect, the influence of Dewey.
it is a fundamental principle of education that the beginning
of each instruction it shall be connected with the previous
experience of learners. The purpose is that the experience and the capacities
that have been developed in early lessons, it should
provide a starting point for further learning. The current
importance given to student-centered programmes may not always acknowledge the
Dewey’s philosophy and influence on the movement to incorporate more
student-serving learning opportunities into the curriculum.
The association for the Advancement of Progressive Education
formed in 1919, had its aim “The development of the individual, based upon the
scientific study of his mental, physical, spiritual, and social characteristics
and needs”. The views of this association, later called the Progressive Education
Association (PEA), were compatible with the ideas of Dewey’s as indicated by
their principles:
1.
Freedom to develop naturally.
2.
Interest is the motive of all work.
3.
The teacher is a guide, not a
task-master.
4.
Scientific study of pupil
development.
5.
Greater attention to all that affects
the child’s physical development.
6.
Co-operation between school and home
to meet the needs of child-life.
7.
The progressive school a leader in
educational movement.
The aim of using the learner-centered curriculum on the part of
curriculum planners to interpret the needs and interests design as one based on
common needs and interests of learners rather than on those of the particular
population to be served. Reflected in curriculum plans, this interpretation
could and sometimes did, become the rationale for teaching. Research on learner
centered curriculum in recent years made it possible for curriculum planners to
develop a better learner-centered curriculum. Modern learning theories and
dissatisfaction of students and parents from the old curriculum, are moving
curriculum and instruction toward a design that focus on real student needs and
interests.
a.
Characteristic:
the curriculum design on the needs and interests of student has
these characteristic and features.
1.
The curriculum plan is based on
knowledge of learner’s needs and interests in general and diagnosis the
specific needs and interests of the population served by the plan.
2.
The curriculum plan is flexible, to
accept new modification to conform to the needs and interests of particular
learner’s In fact, in some curriculum designs the learner may develop his or
her own curriculum plan with the guidance of a teacher.
3. The learner is consulted and tutored
individually at difficult points in the curriculum and
instructional process.
Learner centered approach is an example of the applications of
needs and interests (activities) approach. Subject obstacles were lowered or
removed as teachers combined subjects to study social problems identified by
students.
Students in the experimental schools were more successful in
college. This practice has ever lasting effect on secondary education.
a.
Applications of learner Centered
Curriculum:
If the learning opportunities are not based on the needs and
interests of the learners then there is no assurance that the learners well
equipped with the skills to participate effectively in social activities;
students as adults and good citizens. Therefore we see that the needs and
interests design as especially appropriate for the personal development, but
not for the social competence domain.
The most common approach to meet the needs and interests of
learners is the grouping of students for special programmes believed by the
planners to match the needs and interests of the students concerned.
The major use of the needs and interests design in curriculum
planning is in the provision of options for individual students. For example,
the middle schools provide many special interests activate, exploratory courses
and other experiences aimed at giving each student opportunities to explore his
own interest.
Currently the movement in higher education and expansion of it
by “Open University” arrangements illustrates the feature of the needs and
interests design. Drunker (1969) argues for continuing education which assumes
“that the more experience in life and work people have, the more eager they
will be to learn and the more capable they will be of learning.
Curriculum plans emphasizing the option concept:
1.
The options are based on knowledge of
learner characteristic.
2.
Scheduling and other arrangements
facilitate, selection and choice of options, with counseling
services available to help students.
3.
Students are actively involved in
planning and evaluating the options in general and for themselves in particular.
SUBJECT CENTRED
CURRICULUM-
Subject centred curriculum follows principle of contemporary knowledge.Curriculum
should give the modern or current knowledge and theories to the students. That will give the
knowledge of utilization of local resources (salt, plants, soil) to the
students.
Subject Based Curriculum
Subject matter is the most used and accepted curriculum Design,
it is also the oldest curriculum Design. We see the earliest example in the
medieval era in the Middle Ages the monastery and Cathedrals and the
organizations of the seven liberal arts in the schools of ancient Greece and
Rome. The seven liberal arts were consisted of two divisions:
1. Trivium
2. Quadrivium
These subjects were broad. In the modern period the Trivium was
further divided to include literature and history and the quadrivium to include
algebra, trigonometry, geography, botany, zoology, physics and chemistry. In
this manner subjects added one after the other so much so that in 1930 there
were over 300 different subjects.
After centuries the curriculum design of the seven liberal arts
are still the nucleus of the subject curriculum. In a subject base curriculum
every subject is separate unit. In this kind of curriculum four or five subject
are placed in curriculum and each subject has a separate teacher. Every teacher
try to teach his own subject, no one intervene in the subject of other teacher
Characteristics of Subject Curriculum
Information for future use
Importance is given to acquire
knowledge and information for future use, only those subjects are considered
important which have a value and the individual have benefit from it in future
(vocational importance). Adult problems are given importance and the problems
of children in youth are ignored
Progress is measured to the extent the students
learned the subject
In this type of curriculum subject matter is the most important
thing to learn therefore the learning is measured by how much and well the
subject matter has been mastered by the pupil. Frequent tests are given to
students to check the degree of the achievement in the subject.
Predetermined uniform standard of knowledge:
There is a uniform standard for all the students to pass the
subject else they well have to repeat the subject therefore the experts of the
subject centered approach strongly support the minimum standards for
examination so all achieved the set standard and qualify the
examination. The teacher tries to help the weak students and to bring him to
the set standard and pass the exam or repeat a grade.
Each subject is a separate entity (unit) with a logical
organization of its own:
Importance is given to the acquisition of skills, facts and
information for vocational purpose in different logically organized subjects.
The teaching staff teaches different subjects and they do not discuss or plan
subject together.
Practice in skills is emphasized:
The main aspect of subject base curriculum is the continues
practice or drill in a specific skill, it is one of the typical characteristics
of the subject base curriculum. For this purpose multiple methods are used;
evaluations, Exercise session, tutoring classes are often dedicated to such
type of practices and all the students are given equal opportunities to
participate.
Subject matter is selected by adults/experts for teaching
learning situation:
The content of the subject is selected in advance before the
teaching learning process; the subject matter is logically organized from
simple to complex with the help of the experts, specialists, teacher’s
supervisors, planners, writers and administrators.
Learning subject matter is an end in itself:
The main focus of the teachers,
administrators and students are to complete the subject matter, to cover all
the topics which are provided in the course out line by Listening to lectures,
studying the recommended textbook. It is all preparation for examination on the
part of students and teachers and it shows the influence of the subject
centered approach. For the teacher to finish the textbook on time is a great
accomplishment,
Requirements for the Optimum Operation of Subject Curriculum
Trained Teachers with mastery in a
subjects and expert in methodology are required to teach.
A separate classroom for each subject
and each level.
A fixed time table is required for
different subjects according to importance of the subjects and age in
curriculum.
Special arrangements for guidance
physical education, Indoor and outdoor activities, tours and examinations etc.
Need of Text books and
guide books for subject based curriculum.
Criticism on Subject Curriculum:
Teacher has the control over pupil experiences, Learning
activities and conduct. The teacher follows the decision of others in the
planning and evaluation process. The teacher and headmaster formulate the rules
for the classrooms management. They demand a very stern discipline and they
want a quite classroom atmosphere, teacher thinks it is the best situation for
teaching learning process.
1.
It is compartmentalized and
fragmentary.
The critics believed that there is no unity and continuity in
the subject base matter. The subject is learned in parts. Every teacher is
specialist in one subject and he feel pride to have the knowledge of his own
subject and teaching and denying any responsibility for any other subject. Here
they say that the learner acquire scraps of information not actual knowledge.
2. Subject
base curriculum ignores the interest and activities of the learner. The critics
think that the arrangement of the course content is useless and inefficient and
not suitable for teaching learning process. The subjects are logically
organized.
3. The
critics also have a viewpoint that the fact is the students know about the
history what a few men had done in the past but they do not know about the
current situation in their own country and what are the hopes and desires
of people and what are the social problems they
have today here .
1.
The critics
also said that subject base curriculum fails to develop habits of effective and
critical thinking. This curriculum gives importance to mastery of conclusions
of thought (the end result) rather than the process through which that
conclusion were derived. Which support this conclusion that it lead to
uncritical thinking? The traditional assumption is that anybody who has learned
the facts and information can think effectively, but the evidence does not
support this assumption.
Defense of Subject Curriculum:
Defense of
Subject Curriculum
1.
The supporter of the subject base
curriculum rejects the claim that it did not develop child’s thinking. They
argue that it is the most suitable method for the development of critical
thinking in an individual but if one cant then the problem lies in the
instruction not in the curriculum itself. A vast majority of countries select
this method and they are producing botanist, doctors and geologist and so on.
2. The other claim that it is fragmentary and compartmentalized
is also not true about subject base curriculum alone because no one can study
one subject in one session at once in any kind of curriculum. They use the
principle of selection in the selection of course contents. In a
sense anything that is learnt is a fragment and is a part of some larger unit.
3. It gives the teacher
the idea what to teach and the student what he suppose to learn and how much
time they have to cover the course of the subject. This provides them with a
constant source of security and a self evaluation process through which they
know how much course they have cover and how to complete.
4. Subject base curriculum use a
logically sound framework for the organization of subject matter, it used the
cause and effect principle in science and the chronological order of the
historical events but they assumed an order and are reliable for learning
experiences
5. The evaluation of subject base curriculum is easy. It use the
achievement based testing in the evaluation to find the mastery of the subject
matter in the individual.
6. It has a bright future. Subject approach is useful for
specialization in any branch of knowledge. It is more effective
COMMUNITY BASED-
Community based curriculum
follows the principle of community-centeredness. The social needs and the
local needs of the learner should be taken in toaccount while
we construct the curriculum. It should be reflect the values of democracy,ethos and main concerns of the
country.
In Community-Based Curriculum students engage in field studies and community
service projects, internships and apprenticeships, and community-based schedules have been designed with the block
scheduling and flexibility that allows teachers ample opportunity to schedule
labs and activities in the field. A diverse group of community partners provide
students with extensive internship and community service opportunities.
A core concept explored across the disciplines
through community-based projects is the relationship between human and
natural systems. Exploring this "missing link" in traditional
high school curriculum allows students to appreciate how the natural world
supports our social and economic activity in our region, from the power
generated from waterfalls and the commerce made possible by
waterways, to how neighborhood development was impacted by our hills
and wetlands. Our classroom encompasses our many local parks
and farms, partnerships with local nonprofits such as the Classroom, our downtown neighborhoods, College and Univerity.
Students can also be seen
regularly serving their community in partnership with many local organizations,
including:
·
Reading/homework buddy groups
·
Teaching technology skills to older
adults at Life Long Education
·
Playing games and doing crafts with
residents at Community Centers.
·
Enterprenureship training and small scale industry for low-income residents
·
Refurbishing and recycling used
·
Forming a peer education mental health
·
role-playing theater troupe in collaboration
with Theatre Art Education
Students learn first-hand about community needs through ongoing
service learning, a method of teaching, learning and reflecting that
combines academic classroom curriculum with meaningful service. Research
consistently shows that service-learning is a powerful way to engage students
with diverse learning styles and levels of academic achievement, and that
students who engage in service learning projects in high school are more likely
to be community leaders later in life.
Community Participation
Community representatives provide
educational experiences for students and are partners in the evaluation of
student performance and program objectives. Community representatives
participate on the Community Curriculum Planning Committee to provide advice and
guidance for all educational experiences in the Community Based Education
Program. This committee, composed of students, faculty and community members,
reflects a long standing community-university collaboration. The time and
expertise provided by community agency staff are major contributions to the
goal of excellence in teacher
education. The University recognizes
these contributions through annual receptions, certificates of appreciation and
faculty appointments.
Advantages
Benefits of community-based program
design include gaining insight into the social context of an issue or problem,
mutual learning experiences between consumer and provider, broadening
understanding of professional roles and responsibilities within the community,
interaction with professionals from other disciplines, and opportunities
for community-based
participatory research projects. Increased sustainability is
an advantage of community-based program design. The program sustainability is
ensured by the identification of solutions to problems based on existing
resources accessible to all community members. Also, the involvement of local
community leaders and local volunteers reinforce the sustainability of the
impact of the program. Other advantages of community-based program design
are collaborative participation, enriching diversity, serving clients in their
community, and Addressing and meeting the needs of the community.
A core
concept explored across the disciplines through community-based
projects is the relationship between human and natural systems.
Exploring this "missing link" in traditional high school
curriculum allows students to appreciate how the natural world supports
our social and economic activity in our region, from the power generated
from waterfalls and the commerce made possible by waterways, to
how neighborhood development was impacted by our hills and wetlands.
Our classroom encompasses our many local parks and farms,
partnerships with local nonprofits such as the Cayuga Nature Center
and the Floating Classroom, our downtown neighborhoods, and Cornell and
Ithaca College.
Students
learn first-hand about community needs through ongoing service learning, a
method of teaching, learning and reflecting that combines academic classroom
curriculum with meaningful service. Research consistently shows that service-learning
is a powerful way to engage students with diverse learning styles and levels of
academic achievement, and that students who engage in service learning projects
in high school are more likely to be community leaders later in life.
Challenges
Some challenges of community-based
program design are the limited availability of resources, propensity for high
levels of staff turnover, the reliance upon unpaid volunteers, participant
retention, and the evaluation of a dynamic task environment. For the same
reasons that sustainability is an advantage of this approach, utilizing limited
available resources is a challenge. Based on free market principals
and resource scarcity, programs often operate below pareto efficiency.
Limited resources result in high levels of staff turnover and reliance upon unpaid volunteers.
CORE CURRICULUM
The courses or other components of an educational program which are foundational, prerequisite, or mandatory, as opposed to the elective, secondary, or variable components of a program.
The
Core Curriculum is the set of common courses required of all undergraduates and
considered the necessary general education for students, irrespective of their
choice in major. The communal learning--with all students encountering
the same texts and issues at the same time--and the critical dialogue
experienced in small seminars are the distinctive features of the Core.
WHAT
IS A CORE CURRICULUM?
Introduction:
What Is a Core Curriculum?
Educators define "core
curriculum" as the knowledge and skills expected to be learned by a
student by high school graduation. Generally, the core curriculum consists of
knowledge and skills related to academic subjects. Mastery of the core
curriculum is what both parents and teachers stress as essential for academic
success in school, and later in life. In most states, opportunities are
provided for students to meet other criteria in cases when those students cannot
meet the academic demands of the core curriculum.
There are many versions of the
core curriculum. In our country, each state assumes responsibility for minimum
standards for high school graduation. This core curriculum becomes the
foundation for almost all learning, from kindergarten through high school.
Although states determine the
content of the core curriculum individually, most states demand that
competencies in basic subjects be mastered
EXPANDED CORE CURRICULUM FOR
INCLUSION
With respect to blind and
visually impaired students, the existing core curriculum, as developed for
sighted students, is entirely appropriate and generally available. Because
educators of visually impaired students have developed expertise in curriculum
adaptation, it should be possible to take any curriculum that has been
developed and make it readily available for visually impaired learners. If
blindness or visual impairment presents only the problem of accessibility to
learning materials, then the issue of education of visually impaired students
is solved by adaptation of the existing core curriculum.
Some educators of visually
impaired students believe that it is true that the child in a regular classroom
who has access to all curricular materials is as equally prepared to learn as
her sighted classmates. But most professionals hold a strong position that
there is an expanded core curriculum for visually impaired students that
requires additional areas of learning.
There are experiences and
concepts casually and incidentally learned by sighted students that must be
systematically and sequentially taught to the visually impaired student. The
core curriculum for visually impaired students is not the same as for sighted
students. Indeed, it is much larger and more complex.
The concept of a core
curriculum for visually impaired learners has been discussed by professionals
and parents for many years. It has been called many things. It has been
referred to as the specialized curriculum, or specialized needs, the unique
curriculum, or unique needs, the non-academic curriculum, the dual curriculum,
and most recently, the disability-specific curriculum.
These other terms are sometimes
a distraction to the important issue. The term core curriculum has been used to
define the basic educational needs of sighted students for many years. It is
proposed that the term core curriculum for blind and visually impaired students
be used to define the basic educational needs for this population. It conveys
the same message as the original core curriculum. Words like specialized,
unique, and disability-specific are not needed, and, indeed, may give an
erroneous connotation to basic educational needs. The terms imply two separate
lists of educational needs for visually impaired students. One list contains the
elements of a traditional core curriculum. The other is a list of
"disability-specific" needs. Two lists provide educators with
options, such as one list being required and the other consisting of electives.
There should be only one list, and that should consist of the required core
curriculum for visually impaired students.
The existence of special needs,
or a unique core curriculum for blind and visually impaired students, has been
known for years. References to the subject of grooming skills date back as far
as 1891. The need for social interaction skills appears in the literature in
1929 and again in 1948. Between the years 1953 and 1975, there are more than
two dozen references to books and articles written about daily living skills
and visually impaired students. Many more articles and documents have been
written about orientation and mobility and career education. The expanded core
curriculum now being promoted is not new--its need has been known for decades.
HIDDEN CURRICULUM
Definition: Hidden curriculum
is a concept that describes the often unarticulated and unacknowledged things
that students are taught in school and is an important issue in the
sociological study of how schools generate social inequality. For example,
female students, students in lower-class families, or those belonging to
subordinate racial categories, are often treated in ways that create or
reinforce inferior self-images. They are also often granted little trust,
independence, or autonomy and are thus willing to submit to authority for the
rest of their lives. On the other hand, students who belong to dominant social
groups tend to be treated in ways that enhance their self-esteem, independence,
and autonomy and are therefore more likely to be successful.
Hidden curriculum refers
to the unwritten, unofficial, and often unintended lessons, values, and
perspectives that students learn in school. While the “formal” curriculum
consists of the courses, lessons, and learning activities students participate
in, as well as the knowledge and skills educators intentionally teach to
students, the hidden curriculum consists of the unspoken or implicit academic,
social, and cultural messages that are communicated to students while they are
in school.
The hidden-curriculum concept is based
on the recognition that students absorb lessons in school that may or may not
be part of the formal course of study—for example, how they should interact
with peers, teachers, and other adults; how they should perceive different
races, groups, or classes of people; or what ideas and behaviors are considered
acceptable or unacceptable. The hidden curriculum is described as “hidden”
because it is usually unacknowledged or unexamined by students, educators, and
the wider community. And because the values and lessons reinforced by the
hidden curriculum are often the accepted status quo, it may be assumed that
these “hidden” practices and messages don’t need to change—even if they are contributing
to undesirable behaviors and results, whether it’s bullying, conflicts, or low
graduation and college-enrollment rates, for example.
It should be noted that a hidden
curriculum can reinforce the lessons of the formal curriculum, or it can
contradict the formal curriculum, revealing hypocrisies or inconsistencies
between a school’s stated mission, values, and convictions and what students
actually experience and learn while they are in school. For example, a school
may publicly claim in its mission or vision
statement that it’s committed to ensuring
that all students succeed academically, but a review of its performance data
may reveal significant racial or socioeconomic discrepancies when it comes to
test scores, graduation rates, and other measures of success. And because what
is not taught in school can sometimes be as
influential or formative as what is taught, the
hidden curriculum also extends to subject areas, values, and messages that are
omitted from the formal curriculum and ignored, overlooked, or disparaged by
educators.
While the hidden curriculum in any
given school encompasses an enormous variety of potential intellectual, social,
cultural, and environmental factors—far too many to extensively catalog
here—the following examples will help to illustrate the concept and how it
might play out in schools:
·
Cultural expectations: The
academic, social, and behavioral expectationsestablished by
schools and educators communicate messages to students. For example, one
teacher may give tough assignments and expect all students to do well on those
assignments, while another teacher may give comparatively easy assignments and
habitually award all students passing grades even when their work quality is
low. In the high-expectations class, students may learn much more and
experience a greater sense of accomplishment, whereas students in the
low-expectations class may do just enough work to get by and be comparatively
uninterested in the lessons they are being taught. Similarly, schools may
unconsciously hold students from different cultural backgrounds—for example,
minorities, recently arrived immigrant students, or students with
disabilities—to lower academic expectations, which may have unintended or
negative effects on their academic achievement, educational aspirations, or
feelings of self-worth.
·
Cultural values: The
values promoted by schools, educators, and peer groups, such as cliques, may
also convey hidden messages. For example, some schools may expect and reward
conformity while punishing nonconformity, whereas other schools might celebrate
and even encourage nonconformity. In one school, students may learn that
behaviors such as following the rules, acting in expected ways, and not
questioning adults are rewarded, while in other schools students learn that
personal expression, taking initiative, or questioning authority are valued and
rewarded behaviors. Similarly, if biased or prejudicial behaviors and
statements are tolerated in a school, students may embrace the values that are
accepted or modeled—either explicitly or implicitly—by adults and other
students.
·
Cultural perspectives: How
schools recognize, integrate, or honor diversity and multicultural perspectives
may convey both intentional and unintended messages. For example, some schools
may expect recently arrived immigrant students and their families to
“assimilate” into American culture—for example, by requiring the students to
speak English in school at all times or by not providing translated
informational materials or other specialized assistance. Other schools,
however, may actively integrate or celebrate the multicultural diversity of the
student body by inviting students and parents to share stories about their home
country, for example, or by posting and publishing informational materials in
multiple languages. In one school, non-American cultures may be entirely
ignored, while in another they may be actively celebrated, with students and
their families experiencing feelings of either isolation or inclusion as a
result.
·
Curricular topics: The
subjects that teachers choose for courses and lessons may convey different
ideological, cultural, or ethical messages. For example, the history of the
United States may be taught in a wide variety of ways using different
historical examples, themes, and perspectives. A teacher may choose to present
the history of the world or the United States from the perspective of the
European settlers and explorers, or she may choose to present it from the
perspective of displaced Native Americans or colonized African and Asian
peoples. In the first case, teaching American history from a strictly
Eurocentric perspective would likely minimize or ignore the history and
suffering of Native Americans (a common educational practice in past decades).
Curricular topics may also often intersect with, or be influenced by,
political, ideological, and moral differences that are broadly contentious in
American society—e.g., teaching evolution in science courses, multiculturalism
in social studies, or sex education in health courses.
·
Teaching strategies: The
way that schools and teachers choose to educate students can convey both
intentional and unintended messages. For example, if students earn good grades
or extra credit for turning in homework on time, listening attentively, participating
during class, raising their hands, and generally doing things they are told to
do, the students may learn that compliance is important and that certain
behaviors will be academically rewarded and allowed to compensate for learning
deficiencies. On the other hand, instructional strategies such as project-based learning or community-based learning,
to name just two of many possible options, may communicate specific
messages—for example, that skills such as critical thinking and problem
solving, and attributes such as persistence, resourcefulness, and
self-motivation, are valued and important (in the case of project-based
learning) or that being informed about and involved in local issues are valued
and important (in the case of community-based learning).
·
School structures: The
way that a school or academic program is organized and operated can convey
messages to students. For example, if non-English-speaking students are
largely separated from their peers for most of the school day, or students with
physical or learning disabilities are enrolled in specialized programs that are
relegated to windowless classrooms in the basement, these organizational
decisions may have unintended effects on the students’ sense of cultural
belonging, self-worth, or academic potential. In addition, the structure of a
school program can also mirror or reinforce cultural biases or prejudices. For
example, students of color and students from lower-income households are often
disproportionately represented in lower-level courses, and special-education
programs may inadvertently reinforce some of the social stigmas that children
and adults with disabilities experience outside of school.
·
Institutional rules: The
formal rules in a school may communicate a wide variety of intentional and
unintentional messages to students. For example, some schools require students
to wear school uniforms, some ban certain types of attire (short skirts,
clothing with images and language considered to be inappropriate), and others
have very liberal or permissive clothing policies. While the intent of formal
school rules and policies is to tell students how they are expected to behave,
the degree to which they are enforced or unenforced, or the ways in which they
are enforced, may communicate messages the undermine or contradict their stated
intent. In this case, stricter dress-code policies may communicate that
students will be judged on appearances both inside and outside of school, while
looser policies might communicate that they will be judged on other qualities.
Reform
Generally speaking, the concept of a
hidden curriculum in schools has become more widely recognized, discussed, and
addressed by school leaders and educators in recent decades. Ideas such as “white privilege,” equity, voice,
and multicultural education—to
name just a few—have arguably led to greater tolerance, understanding, and even
celebration of racial, cultural. physical, and cognitive differences in public
schools. In addition, school communities, educators, and
students are more likely than in past decades to actively and openly reflect on
or question their own assumptions, biases, and tendencies, either individually
or as a part of a formal school policy, program, or instructional activity. For
example, topics such a bullying and diversity are now regularly discussed in
public schools, and academic lessons, assignments, readings, and materials are
now more likely to include multicultural perspectives, topics, and examples.
Political and social pressures, including factors such as the increased
scrutiny that has resulted from online media and social networking, may also
contribute to greater awareness of unintended lessons and messages in schools.
For example, harmful, hurtful, or unhealthy student behaviors are now regularly
surfaced on social-networking sites such as Facebook or Twitter, which often
leads to greater awareness of student behaviors or social trends.
That said, a “hidden curriculum” is, by
nature, obscured or unacknowledged, which means that many of its lessons and
messages are difficult to perceive or measure for any number of reasons. For
example, long-standing policies may become so deeply embedded in a school
culture that people simply forget to question them, or a school faculty that
prides itself on celebrating multicultural diversity may find it emotionally
difficult to acknowledge and openly discuss behaviors that might contradict
that self-perceived identity. For this reason, every school will always
have some form of hidden curriculum.
Definition of Hidden Curriculum
According to the book, “Curriculum
Development” (Bilbao et al., 2008),
hidden curriculum refers to the physical condition of the classroom or the
school environment, the mood of the teachers or the students, the
teacher-learner interaction, the peer influence, and other factors that may
affect the delivery of the lesson.
Another term for hidden curriculum is the unintended curriculum
which is not actually planned but may change the behavior or affect the
learning outcomes of students. So, what does it mean? More often than not, when
teachers plan for a lesson (by writing lesson plans or syllabi), there are some
parts that are not fully implemented due to the presence of the “hidden
curriculum”.
Actually, hidden curriculum is one of
the types of curriculum operating in schools according to Allan Grathon (2000)
as cited by Bilbao et al., (2008). The
curriculum exists but maybe, not everybody is aware of this. So, in
simple words, it is hidden because it is not planned or just simply ignored when planning
for a lesson. However, it might suddenly come out depending on the factors
mentioned above.
How Hidden Curriculum Can Affect Learning: Some Examples
1.
Physical Conditions of the Classroom or School Environment
Is the classroom conducive to learning? Is it well-lighted and
well-ventilated? Are there enough chairs and tables for students? Is there
enough space for students to do group activities or online activities? Is there
always electricity in the place or is brown-out or power outage frequent?
If the answer to these questions is no, then learning among
students will be more difficult. An uncomfortable classroom will make students
uneasy thus affect their academic performance. The physical environment is not
conducive to learning.
2.
The Mood of the Teachers or Students
Are the teachers always on the mood to deliver the lesson? Are
they given teaching loads and schedules that are fair?
As human beings, no matter how teachers hide their emotions
or feelings from the students, they are affected by the strains and
stresses that may come along. However, many will argue that teachers must leave
their problems at home and pretend like actors and actresses in the classroom.
Students may also be in a bad mood. They may be hungry, or
emotionally affected due to their parents’ lack of time or financial support,
or they have misunderstandings with their friends, or loved ones.
While ideally the mood of teachers and students should be right
for effective interaction, this is not always the case. Bad moods will
hinder learning to take place.
3.
The Teacher-Learner Interaction
Having a limited background on the needs of the students, their
interests and learning styles, the teachers may find it hard to interact well
with the students. They should have a good repertoire of strategies or
activities in order to implement the instructional objectives and reach the
learning outcomes. More often than not, the mood of the students and teachers
may also affect their interaction.
4.
Peer Influence
Students learn more with their friends. For example, Liza is
interested in studying or learning during that day; but if many of her
friends are noisy due to stress, she will be affected and influenced to be
noisy too. So, the success of the lesson can be determined when the learning
outcomes have been achieved by the students.
Classroom Implications
Knowing some of the examples of hidden curriculum will help the
department chairpersons, course directors and course coordinators to be more
humane in giving loads, and in rating the performance of their teachers
through classroom observations. They should also consider the hidden
factors that may affect the learning outcomes. But of course, recognition of
the hidden curriculum should not be used as an excuse to cover up the
teachers’ inefficiency in class. Instead, teachers should be creative, flexible
and positive in teaching the students in spite of their personal problems and
anxieties in life.
To the administrators, they should ensure that the school
environment and learning resources are conducive for teaching and learning.
They should figure out ways to combat the hidden curriculum.
In conclusion, the lessons may not be implemented as planned.
Many teachers may write excellent lesson plans or syllabi but when they are
already in class, they would realize that there are aspects in the lesson plans
that cannot be implemented due to hidden curriculum.
Reference
Bilbao, P. P., Lucido, P. I., Iringan, T. C., Javier, R. B.,
(2008). Curriculum development. Philippines: Lorimar Publishing, Inc.
© 2014 December 1 M. G. Alvior
DIFFERENTIATED
CURRICULUM TO MEET INDIVIDUAL
DIFFERENCES
What is curriculum differentiation?
A differentiated
curriculum is a program of activities that offers a variety of entry points for
students who differ in abilities, knowledge and skills. In a differentiated
curriculum teachers offer different approaches to what students learn (content), how students learn (process) and how students demonstrate what they have
learned (product).
The creation of a differentiated curriculum
requires some pre-planning. It is important to find out what the students
already know and their level of skill attainment. There are different ways that
students' prior knowledge can be determined, for example, brainstorming or
producing a concept map or a series of questions on a test. These types of
pre–tests can provide valuable information about individual differences in
ability within the class. The curriculum can then be compacted to delete
outcomes that have already been achieved if some students demonstrate mastery
of them.
Differentiated
Curriculum to meet Individual differences-Gifted
The purpose of
differentiating the curriculum is to provide appropriate learning opportunities
for gifted and talented students. Three important characteristics of gifted
students that underscore the rationale for curriculum differentiation (Van
Tassel–Baska, 1988) are the capacity to:
- learn at faster rates
- find, solve and act on problems
more readily
- manipulate abstract ideas and
make connections.
Gifted students
need the opportunity to work through the curriculum at a faster pace and need
less time on basics and revision.
Writing programs for gifted students
Gifted students can be catered to by
providing extension and enrichment opportunities and through accelerative
practices. Further information on acceleration is available from the Acceleration
support package and from the Professional
support: Acceleration page on this web site.
What are extension and enrichment?
Extension means providing opportunities
at a greater level of challenge to the student. A combination of practices
including acceleration, grouping and differentiation of the curriculum enable
gifted students to access meaningful learning opportunities. Substantial gains
in learning can be made when gifted students are grouped together and when they
are accelerated but this can only be achieved if they have access to a
developmentally appropriate curriculum ( Rogers , 2002).
Enrichment means providing breadth to
the curriculum at the same level of challenge to the student. All students
should have access to enrichment at the appropriate intellectual level.
However, appropriate enrichment for gifted students would not be suitable for
all students. This is because the activities would not match the learning needs
of every student.
When creating programs for gifted
students it is important to discover their current level of knowledge, skills
and understanding. This means determining their level of achievement of
learning outcomes. Some students may not have achieved a substantial number of
outcomes at their stage level but may benefit from exposure to a more demanding
curriculum. This means that outcomes need to be differentiated to cater for the
need of a more abstract curriculum, a faster pace of learning and the ability
to make connections across disciplines.
Students who have achieved
substantially at their stage level should have the opportunity to access
outcomes at higher stages. This needs to be made explicit and written into
programs. The Kaplan model (pdf
68kb) provides a useful template and reflection tool for planning a
differentiated curriculum.
The learning environment
Environmental conditions are also
important for gifted students to maximise learning. Teachers of the gifted
devote less time to instruction and more time to questioning. They tend to ask
many divergent questions and use questions to stimulate discussions and to
understand thought processes. Most teachers rely heavily on feedback but some
teachers of the gifted avoid doing this. They behave like counsellors:
attentive and interested but not judgmental. This stimulates self–evaluation
and reduces dependency on teacher reinforcement. Teachers of the gifted also
control the classroom differently, using humour, non-verbal cues and
unobtrusive ways of refocusing students' attention on tasks. There seems to be
more equality among gifted students and teachers than among the general school
population (Silverman,1988).
Resources
Reading material, sample units of work
and examples of strategies for supporting students, referred to in the Policy and
implementation strategies for the education of gifted and talented students:
Support package: Curriculum differentiation (2004) (pdf
1345kb) may be accessed using the information below.
Additional examples
of units of work are available as individual
schools implement GATS initiatives.
CURRICULUM REFORMS AND REVISIONS WITH REFERENCE TO NCF/KCF,
NCERT
NATIONAL CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK 2005
The Executive Committee of NCERT had taken the decision, at its
meeting held on 14 and 19 July 2004, to revise the National Curriculum
Framework, following the statement made by the Hon’ble Minister of Human
Resource Development in the Lok Sabha that the Council should take up such a
revision. Subsequently, the Education Secretary, Ministry of HRD communicated
to the Director of NCERT the need to review the National Curriculum Framework
for School Education (NCFSE – 2000) in the light of the report, Learning Without Burden (1993).
The revised National Curriculum Framework (NCF) opens with a
quotation from
Rabindranath Tagore’s essay, Civilisation
and Progress, in which the poet
reminds us that a ‘creative spirit’ and ‘generous joy’ are key in childhood,
both of which can be distorted by an unthinking adult world. The opening
chapter discusses curricular reform efforts made since Independence. The
National Policy on Education (NPE, 1986) proposed the National Curriculum
Framework as a means of evolving a national system of education, recommending a
core component derived from the vision of national development enshrined in the
Constitution. The Programme of Action (POA, 1992) elaborated this focus by
emphasising relevance, flexibility and quality.
IMPLICATIONS FOR CURRICULUM AND PRACTICE
The present NCF proposes five guiding principles for curriculum
development:
(i) connecting knowledge to life outside the school; (ii) ensuring
that learning shifts away from rote methods; (iii) enriching the curriculum so
that it goes beyond textbooks; (iv) making examinations more flexible and
integrating them with classroom life; and (v) nurturing an overriding identity
informed by caring concerns within the democratic polity of the country
In all the four familiar areas of the school curriculum, i.e.
language, mathematics,
science and social sciences, significant changes are recommended with
a view to making education more relevant
to the present day and future needs, and in order to alleviate the stress with
which children are coping today. This NCF recommends the softening of subject
boundaries so that children can get a taste of integrated knowledge and the joy
of understanding. In addition, plurality of textbooks and other material, which
could incorporate local knowledge and traditional skills, and a stimulating
school environment that responds to the child’s home and community environment,
are also suggested.
In language, a renewed attempt to implement the three-language
formula is suggested, along with an emphasis on the recognition of children’s
mother tongues, including tribal languages, as the best medium of education.
The multilingual character of Indian society should be seen as a resource to promote
multilingual proficiency in every child, which includes proficiency in English.
This is possible only if learning builds on a sound language pedagogy in the
mother tongue. Reading and writing, listening and speech, contribute to the
child’s progress in all curricular areas and must be the basis for
curriculum planning. Emphasis on reading throughout the primary classes is
necessary to give every child a solid foundation for school learning.
Teaching for Construction of Knowledge
In the constructivist perspective, learning is a process of the
construction of knowledge. Learners actively construct their own knowledge by
connecting new ideas to existing ideas on the basis of
materials/activitiespresented to them (experience).
Designing Learning Experiences
The quality of the learning task influences its learnability and its
v alue for the learner. Tasks that are too easy or too difficult, that are
repetitive and mechanical, that are based on recalling the text, that do not
permit self-expression and questioning by the child and that depend solely on
the teacher for correction, make the child assume the passive stance of
obedience. Learners learn not to value their own ability to think and reason,
that knowledge is created by others and
that they must only receive it. The onus f alls teacher to ‘motivate’
children who do not seem to be naturally motivated.
Approaches to Planning
Our educational practice is still based on limited ‘lesson plans’
aimed at achieving measurable ‘behaviours’; according to this view, the child
is akin to a creature
that can be trained, or a computer that can be programmed. Hence,
there is too much focus on ‘outcomes’, and presenting knowledge divided into
bits of information to be memorised directly from the text or through
activities after ‘motivating’ children, and finally on evaluating to see if
children remember what
they have learnt. Instead, we need to view the child as ‘constructing
knowledge’ all the time. This is true notonly of ‘cognitive subjects’ such as
mathematics and
science, language and social science, but equally of values, skills
and attitudes.
Critical Pedagogy
Teacher and student engagement is critical in the classroom because
it has the power to define whose knowledge will become a part of school-related
knowledge and whose voices will shape it. Students are not just young people
for whom adults should devise solutions. They are critical observers of their
own conditions and needs, and should be participants in discussions and problem
solving related to their education and future opportunities. Hence children
need to be aware that their experiences and perceptions are important and
should be encouraged to develop the mental skills needed to think and reason
independently and have the courage to dissent. What children learn out of
school — their capacities, learning abilities, and knowledge base — and bring
to school is important to further enhance the learning process. This is all the
more critical for children from underprivileged backgrounds, especially girls,
as the worlds they inhabit
and their realities are under represented in school knowledge.
Participatory learning and teaching, emotion and experience need to
have a definite and valued place in the classroom. While class participation is
a powerful
strategy, it loses its pedagogic edge when it is ritualised, or
merely becomes an instrument to enable teachers to meet their own ends. True
participation starts from the experiences of both students and teachers.
Critical pedagogy provides an opportunity to reflect
critically on issues in terms of their political, social, economic and moral
aspects. It entails the acceptance of multiple views on social issues and a
commitment todemocratic forms of interaction. This is important in
view of the multiple contexts in which our schools
function. A critical framework helps children to see social issues from
different perspectives and understand how such issues are connected to their li
ves. For instance, understanding of democracy as a way of life can be
chartered through a path where children reflect on how they
regard others (e.g. friends, neighbours, the opposite sex, elders, etc.), how
they make choices (e.g. activities,
play, friends, career, etc.), and how they cultivate the
ability to make decisions. Likewise, issues related to human rights, caste,
religion and gender can be critically reflected on by children in order to see
how these issues are connected to their ever yday experiences, and also how
different forms of inequalities become compounded and are per petuated.
Critical pedago gy facilitates collective decision making through open
discussion and by encouraging and recognising multiple views.
Why should stereotypes persist?
These perceptions are grounded in the notion that
inferiority and inequality are inherent in gender,caste and physical and
intellectual disability. Realising the constitutional values
of equality is possible only if we prepare teachers to
treat all children equally. We need to train teachers to help them cultivate an
understanding of the cultural
and socio-economic diversity that children bring with them
to school.
Many of our schools now have lar ge numbers of first
generation school goers. Pedagogy must be reoriented when the child’s home
provides any direct suppor t to formal schooling. First-generation school
goers, need all the assistance they can get. Mobilising intersectoral support for freeing children
from such constraints, and for designing a curriculum sensitive to these
circumstances, therefore is essential.
The role of teachers is to provide a safe space for children to
express themselves, and simultaneously to build in certain forms of
interactions. They need to step out of the role of ‘moral authority’ and learn
to listen with empathy and without judgement, and to enable children to listen
to each other.
Knowledge can be conceived as experience organised through language
into patterns of thought (or structures of concepts), thus creating meaning,
which
in turn helps us understand the world we live in. It can also be conceived
of as patterns of activity, or physical dexterity with thought, contributing to
acting in the world, and the creating and making of things. Human beings over
time have evolved many bodies
of knowledge,
which include a repertoire of ways of thinking ,
of feeling and of doing things, and constructing more knowledge. All children
have to re-create a significant part of this wealth for themselves, as this
constitutes
the basis for further thinking and for acting appropriately in this
world. It is also important to learn to participate in the very process of
knowledge creation, meaning making and human action, i.e. work. Conceiving
knowledge in this broad sense directs us to the importance of examining
knowledge in terms of not only the ‘product’, but also the underlying
principles of how it is created, how it is organised, who accesses it, and what
it is used for. It suggests that in the curriculum, there must be as much focus
on the process of learning, on how learners engage with and reconstruct
knowledge, as on the content of what is learnt.
Language and other
forms of expression provide the basis for meaning making, and sharing with
others. They create possibilities of development of
understanding and knowledge, providing the ability to symbolise,
codify, and to remember and record. Development of language for a child is
synonymous with development of understanding and identity, and also the
capability of relating with others. It is not only verbal languages with
scripts, but also languages without scripts, sign languages, scripts such as
Braille and the performing arts, that provide the bases for making meaning and
the expression.
Language education
The linguistic diversity of India poses complex challenges but also a
range of opportunities.
Multilingualism, which is constitutive of theidentity of a child and a typical
feature ofthe Indian linguistic landscape, must be used
as a resour ce, classroom strategy and a goal by a creative language teacher.
This is
not only the best use of a resource readily available, but also
a way of ensuring that every child feels secure and accepted,
and that
no one is left behind on account of his/her linguistic background.
Literature can also be a spur to children’s own creativity.
After hearing a story, poem
or song, children can be encouraged to write something of
their own. They can
also be encouraged to integrate various forms of creative
expression.
The goals for a second-language curriculum are Two fold : attainment
of a basic proficiency, such as is acquired in natural language learning, and
the development of language into an instrument for abstract thought and
knowledge acquisition through (for example) literacy. This argues f or an
across-the-curriculum approach that breaks down the barriers between English
and other subjects, and English and other Indian languages. At the initial
stages, English may be one of the languages for learning activities that create
the child's awareness of the world. At later stages, all learning happens
through language. Higher-order linguistic skills generalise across languages;
reading, (for example) is a transferable skill. Improving it in one language
improves it in others, while reading failure in
one’s own languages adversely affects second-language
reading.
The aim of English teaching is the creation of multilinguals who can
enrich
all our languages; this has been an abiding national vision. English
needs to find its place along with other Indian languages in different states,
where children's other languages strengthen English teaching and learning; and
in "English-medium" schools, where other Indian languages need to be
valorised to reduce the perceived hegemony of English. The relative success of
"Englishmedium"
schools shows that language is learnt when it is not being taught as
language, through exposure in meaningful context. Thus English must be seen in
relation to other subjects; a language across the curriculum is of particular
relevance to primary education, and later all teaching is in a sense language
teaching. This perspective will bridge the gap between "English as
subject" and "English as medium". We should in this way move
towards a common school system that does not make a distinction between "
teaching a language" and "using a language as a medium of
instruction".
Input-rich communicational environments are a prerequisite for
language learning, whether first or second. Inputs include textbooks,
learner-chosen texts, and class libraries, allowing for a variety of genres:
print (for example, Big Books for young learners); parallel books and materials
in more than one language; media support (learner magazines/newspaper columns,
radio/audio cassettes); and "authentic" materials. The language environment of disadvantaged
learners needs to be enriched by developing schools into community learning
centres. A variety of successful
innovations exists whose generalisability needs exploration and encouragement.
Approaches and methods need not be exclusive but may be mutually supportive
within a broad cognitive philosophy (incorporating Vygotskian, Chomskyan, and
Piagetian principles). Higher-order
skills (including literary appreciation and role of language in
gendering) can be developed once fundamental competencies are ensured.
Teacher Education
Teacher education needs to be ongoing and onsite (through formal or
informal support systems), as well as preparatory. Proficiency and professional
awareness
are equally to be promoted, the latter imparted, wherever necessary, through the teachers' own
languages. All teachers who teach English should have basic proficiency in
English. All teachers should have the skills to teach English in ways
appropriate to their situation and levels based on some knowledge of how
languages are learnt. A variety of materials should be available to
provide an input-rich curriculum, which focuses on meaning.
Language evaluation
Language evaluation need not be tied to "achievement " with
respect to particular syllabi, but must be reoriented to the measurement of
language proficiency. Evaluation is to be made an enabling factor for learning
rather than an impediment. Ongoing assessment could document a learner's
progress through the portfolio mode. National benchmarks for language
proficiency need to be evolved preliminary to designing a set of optional
English language tests that will balance curricular freedom with
standardization of evaluation that certification requires, and serve to counter
the current problem of English (along with Mathematics) being a principal
reason for failure at the Class X level. A student may be allowed to "pass
without English" if an alternative route for English certification (and
therefore instruction) can be provided outside the regular school curriculum.
INNOVATION IN IDEAS AND PRACTICES
Plurality of Textbooks:Given the perspective that curricular content must meaningfully
incorporate experiences of children and their diverse cultural contexts,
including languages, it is important that textbook writing is decentralised
keeping in view the capacities that are required as well as the systems that
will make this possible. The writing of textbooks requires a range of
capacities that include academic and research inputs, understanding of children's
developmental levels, effective skills of communication and design, etc. While
SCERT, which has been given the task of textbook writing at present, can
continue to be the nodal organisation for this purpose, the actual envisioning
of the process, selection and writing of content must be done in a
collaborative
manner by teams rather than by individual subject experts
Encouraging Innovations
Individual teachers often explore new ways of transacting the
curriculum in addressing the needs of students within their specific classroom
context (including constraints of space, large numbers, absence of teaching
aids, diver sity in the student body, the compulsions of examinations, and so
on).
The Use of Technology
The judicious use of technology can increase the reach of educational
programmes, facilitate management ofthe
system, as well as help address specific learningneeds and requirements. For
instance, mass media can be used to support teacher training, facilitate
classroom learning, and be used for advocacy. Possibilities of teaching and
learning at varied paces, self-learning, dual modes of study, etc. could all
benefit from the use of technology, particularly ICT.
Examination reforms constitute the most important systemic measure to
be taken for curricular renewal and to find a remedy for the growing problem of
psychological pressure that children and their parents feel, especially in
Classes X and XII. Specific measures include changing the typology of the question
paper so that reasoning and creative abilities replace memorisation as the
basis of evaluation, and integration of examinations with classroom life by
encouraging transparency and internal assessment. The stress on pre-board
examinations must be reversed, and strategies enabling children to opt for
different levels
of attainment should be encouraged to overcome the present system of
generalized classification into ‘pass’
and ‘fail’ categories. Finally, the document recommends partnerships between the
school system and other civil society groups, including non-governmental
organisations and teacher organisations.
The innovative experiences already available should be mainstreamed,
and awareness of the challenges implied in the Universalisation of Elementary
Education (UEE) should become a subject of wide-ranging cooperation between the
state and all agencies concerned about children.
****
KERALA CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK - 2007
Prepared by: State Council of Educational Research and
Training (SCERT)KERALA
The curriculum revision programme in Kerala was
conceptualised on the basis
of the recommendations of the National Curriculum Framework
(N.C.F-2005).
The curriculum revision initiated in 1996 in Kerala had a
strong influence in the
formation
of National Curriculum Framework.
The present concept of languages in the curriculum also has to
change. The
mother tongue should be the medium of instruction. The
trilingual system
that is followed has to be continued. But, the existing method
of learning
English and Hindi has to change. Learners should acquire
proficiency in all
the three languages by the time they complete their secondary
level. They
should have the ability to interact with the society, using all
these languages.
The increasing demand for English and the societal pressure on
the learners
to achieve proficiency in that language should be considered in
designing the
curriculum
of English language.
Instead of banking on the behavioural psychology, the new
curriculum aims at
utilizing the innate competency of the child to use the
language. This method
makes use of the child's ability to use the linguistic skills
he/she already has and
enables him/her to engage in daily activities and express
his/her ideas creatively. The experiences gained in learner centric situations
in and outside Kerala assume meaning in this context.
The idea of Social Constructivism put forward by Vygotsky and
Bruner and the
findings by Noam Chomsky in Linguistics form the foundation of
this curriculum. Besides the ideas emerging from gestalt psychology and
humarism also helped in shaping the perspective of language learning.
The method of learning one follows has a crucial role in one’s
learning. It also helps
one to acquire ideas in a natural way. It is a set of
competencies that enable an individual
to approach knowledge or objects, to collect information and to
analyze them.
Competencies like:
· Intervening
in group activities
·
Participating in activities
·
Establishing relationship with others
· Solving
problems
influence one’s method of learning
A recognition of the method of learning will help the teachers
to choose the responsibilities
to be allotted in the process of learning. It will also help
the teachers to select the tools
that can be used. Teachers should be aware that students have
different methods of
learning and that the experience of learning should be suited
to the individual's unique
method.
Whole-Language Approach
The important features of Whole- Language Approach are given
below:
• learner autonomy promotes learning. Learning gets maximised when the
learners engage in activities. A community of learners who take
up activities controlled by themselves is
envisioned
• the innate abilities of the children to grow and learn are taken
into account. This ability needs to be nourished
• learning gets enriched by social interaction. It is advisable to engage the children in discussion, share ideas and act collectively in finding answers to
problems
• major part of language learning does not take place as a
result of direct
teaching. One learns language non consciously by interacting with elders
• the learner has the ability to acquire even the complex processes and it is essential
to provide them opportunities to engage in such
processes
• language has multiple functions in daily life and participation in such
functions provides for development of language proficiency
• language learning progresses from whole to part. It is
natural and
psychologically meaningful to move from the holistic form of ideas to the
elemental form of words
Like the whole-language approach, the theory of Multiple Intelligence is another
source of influence in the curriculum reform effort. The theory outlines that the
different parts of the brain are related to different abilities of the individual. As
brain development takes place at a great pace in early ages, the child needs to get
exposed to a variety of experiences. More researches are needed for unfolding the
various aspects of Multiple Intelligence.
The new approach recognises the social aspect of learning. The construction of
knowledge takes place by means of social interaction and sharing. This is essential to
enable the child to understand the world that he/she lives and also to
develop the skills essential to react creatively and
effectively. Generally, this
form of learning seeks dialogical, collaborative and co-operative atmosphere.
Learning materials
Though we recognise the fact that a variety of learning
materials, instead of a single textbook is essential for learning language,
this has yet become a reality.
Organised efforts are needed in this direction. The school and class libraries
ought to provide better facilities. If necessary, reading
materials have to be
developed at the district level or at the local level.
At the State level, we need focus on a common curriculum, a
framework for the
textbook and teachers’ handbook. The textbooks may be prepared at the district
level, considering the regional elements. As a first step, this can be initiated at the primary stage.
Movies that would be interesting to children, extracts from newspapers which
contain social issues and interactive CDs could be used for
language learning. This will be of help in deciding the mode of study of each
learner and once the mode of study is
identified, learning becomes enjoyable.
The teacher
Our vision of language teachers suggest that they:• demonstrate
keen interest in reading and developing knowledge. They also engage in
cultivating reading
habits in children
• should be capable of interacting with the learners
effectively
• should be capable of clarifying the doubts raised by the
learners and kindle the spirit of enquiry in them
• should have the ability to ask thought provoking questions and
lead the
learners in the process of learning
• should be creative and possess the ability to provide
constructive suggestions on the work of the learner
• develop a critical perspective of the world around them and
also equip
the learners to do the same.
Formation of such a community of teachers would result in the
creation of a
generation that uses language for critical and creative
purposes. Keeping this in
view, well-conceived teacher empowerment programmes are to be
planned and executed covering all theteachers of the state. Evolving a
monitoring mechanism for ensuring the quality of curriculum transaction is
equally important. A mechanism involving local self-government, education
officers, DIETs and BRCs
would help in strengthening teacher quality.
Evaluation
We should carry out a comprehensive and continuous evaluation
programme in
order to assess the level of achievement of the learner and to
plan activities on a
regular basis. Practical methods that help us to classify every
learning activity
under specific areas of study should be developed. The
evaluation programme
should gradually upgrade itself by reducing the importance of
terminal examination and by strengthening the continuous evaluation process.
Learning English
Language learning has great importance in
empowering the individual. As a
universal language, English has been given due
importance in the curriculum.
In Kerala, learning of English language begins at
class I. At the higher secondary
level, English is taught as the First Language.
The present learning materials and pedagogic
practices do not consider the
innate linguistic ability and thought process of
the learner. The inherent
limitations of language-learning packages based on
behaviouristic ideas
have been realised recently. Yet, this aspect is
not considered in our
discussions on language teaching. It is in this
situation that we need to analyse the real issues embedded in the learning of
English rather than trying to
switch over the medium to English. Ensuring quality
in the process of learning
English assumes primacy in this context. We must
provide essential conditions for the acquisition of language in a natural
manner. The basic premises are:
• there is an innate linguistic ability in children
• language learning is a non-conscious process
• language-learning takes place by developing an
intuitive theory construction in the learner
• language ability is the development of an inner
competence to make use
of all language skills
• language learning is a spiral process
• language learning takes place from whole to part
• texts that generate organic experience must be
provided to the child to help
him/her traverse through a variety of discourse
forms
• the language used should influence the emotional
orbit of the learner
• the quality of the language used matters more
than its quantity
• language exists as meaningful discourses and the
child gains experiences at the discourse level
• free thinking and the expression of ideas need to
be stressed at all levels
The Primary level
• integrated approach is significant at this level
• simple discourses such as conversation, rhymes
and story need to be focused
• it is desirable to introduce children to writing
at class II
• English language learning could be started in standard
I without making it a burden for the child
• code Switching will be an effective strategy at
the lower levels in order to make the students imbibe discourse forms in
language
• avoid written examinations at the Lower Primary
level
• at the Upper Primary level, comparatively higher
discourses like story, poem, conversation, proverb, notice, letter, poster,
report and diary could be included
The Secondary level
• at this stage, discourse forms like one act play,
autobiography, travelogue, screenplay and biography could be attempted, apart
from the ones envisioned in the upper primary level
The Higher Secondary level
• at this stage higher order discourses like novel,
essay, screenplay, script
and seminar could be included along with the
discourses that are included
at the secondary level
• the learner has to be given opportunities to
realise the possibilities of these discourses in the visual and print media
• critical analysis of texts to realise how
semiotics work in manufacturing consent is relevant at this level
• at present, Communicative English and English
Literature are part of the
higher secondary syllabus. The communicative aspect
of any language is an essentiality and as such both need not be seen as
separate entities.
Local Resources
The importance of local resources should be realized in the
field of art education,
health and physical education and work experience. By
identifying the social
setup and possibilities for each school, resource mapping
should be conducted.
Each resource centre can be considered as a study centre. This can be done with the help of local self-government bodies. The collective effort of the PTA can also be sought in this regard.
IT-Assisted Education
IT should be used in education as suggested in National Curriculum
Framework. We should employ IT
education by taking into consideration,
the available resources in a school, the needs of the school, its limitations and
possibilities. In every school, a technology plan should be prepared.
Evaluation
Evaluation is an inevitable part of the process of education. This helps the
teacher to identify the areas of excellence in the learner.
Changes have to be affected at various levels of school education in accordance
with the visions put forward by the Kerala Curriculum Framework 2007.
Children with Special Educational Needs
Inclusive education is to be encouraged with a view to helping learners with
physical and mental difficulties to come to the mainstream of society. However,
to higher secondary level should be flexible enough in order to augment the
student's
ability to acquire knowledge.
Reforms in In-Service
Teacher Training
In-service training for teachers serves asthe source that
brings in changes that are in concurrence with the curriculum reforms that take
place from time to time.
It maintains the research aptitude, technical excellence and
professional
updating of the teachers. There are different agencies in
Kerala that provide in-service training. Several days are dedicated for this
every year. Still, we find a lot of unscientific methods and confusions in the
field. There is no convergence among the agencies in organizing programmes,
monitoring them or in holding follow-up programmes. The yardstick to measure
the quality of in-service training is to check if it serves the needs of the
teachers. Scientific studies are not conducted to identify the training needs
of the teachers.
When the teachers stay away from schools for longer periods in
order ton undergo training, it creates a lot of difficulties back at the
school. To overcome this, a phase of training can be conducted during the
summer holidays every year. After the completion of a particular period of
service all teachers
have to undergo a training programme of one month duration.
Long-term in-service teacher training programmes could be
conducted only
through distance education. Teachers should be encouraged to
take part in these. Monitoring and follow-up could be done making use of the
strategies of
the distance mode of learning. Teacher educators and teacher
training institutions stay away from in-service training programmes. Their
participation
in such programmes must be ensured.
An annual calendar for in-service teacher training converging
different agencies
should be prepared. The selection of trainers, the duration of
training period, its monitoring and follow-up should be continuously evaluated
and improved.
Along with in-service training, there should be facilities to
achieve higher
degrees. In the primary level, there are teachers who have not
received pre-service teacher education. These are language teachers
who teach Hindi, Sanskrit, Urdu and Arabic. Those who are in
the service
should be given in-service training. Instead of examinations
conducted by the
DPI for the teachers of these languages, teacher education
programmes in the
model of TTC should be conducted for two years. The siksha
visharad and
siksha sastri courses should be restructured in order to match
the teacher
education curriculum in Kerala. An expert committee has to be
constituted for
this.
The Process of Curriculum Framing
The process of curriculum framing is envisioned in a democratic
manner. Large scale action programmes that are related to the development of
Kerala have been designed. There are opportunities for social activist,
educationists, teachers, people's representatives, officials in the education
department and cultural activists to suppliment the ideas put forward in the
curriculum draft. The nature of discussions were published in the website and
transparency in the reform process has been ensured. Discussions on the draft
curriculum have been held even at school and panchayat levels. Media also
reflected the nature of discussions that have taken place in Kerala society.
Incorporating all relevant suggestions an open and transparent approach has
been taken in formulating the curriculum.
The Course of Curriculum Revision
Based on the National Curriculum Framework 2005, efforts to
revise the Kerala School Curriculum began in August, 2006. The first phase of
the revision process is culminated by the publication of the Kerala Curriculum
Framework 2007.
***
CRITICAL EVALUATION OF NEW CURRICULUM AT SECONDARY SCHOOL
LEVEL.
Curriculum
organization is a scientific process which involves basic principles on which
its credibility exists. It is not just collection of topics, because it
reflects ethos (philosophy / culture) of the society: themes of
the subject and learning variability.
The curriculum is the totality of experiences that the child gains
through the multifarious activities in the school. Curriculum should give the
modern or current knowledge and theories to the students. That will give the knowledge of utilization of
local resources (salt, plants, soil) to the students. While organizing the curriculum the following principles also should be
followed: Principle of Sequencing,
Principle of Continuity,
Principle of Accuracy, Principle of
Adequacy, Principle of Interest, Principle of Readiness, Principle of Meaningfulness and Principle of Continuous Evaluation.
Area
Of English Curriculum: Aim: Study
and use English language and literature. Language development consists
of : 1)learning language – control of the
basic skills (LSRW ) 2)Learning through language-study skills &
literary skills 3)Learning about language –Vocabulary, structure, communication
skills.
The review of the present curriculum reveals that it is
subject oriented, examination
ridden, not in conformity with the aims and objective of the teaching science,
rigid and outfits the different age group. So, it is imperative that
the present curriculum should be reorganized in the light of the
following Language Curriculum
Principles
Language Curriculum Principles
1)The
language strands (LSRW skills) are interrelated , interdependent and
reciprocal.
2)Integrated
language curriculum for a balance of experience in all the language skills.
3)Provides
opportunity for using language in purposeful and meaningful situation.
4)Ability
to use multiple cueing systems like: a)pragmatic cueing system-socio-linguistic
competence. b)textual cueing system-organizational competence c)syntactical
cueing system–word order d)semantic cueing system-meaning e)grapho phonic cueing system-sound letter
association
5)develops
linguistic competence –grammatical rules , conventions, mechanics of language
skills and usage
6) Scope
for active and strategic responses to language tasks- construction ,
evaluation, direct, and guided
instruction and independent activities.
7)
assessment and evaluation as natural ,
integral and ongoing part of teaching learning process.
8)Be
sensitive to the needs and developmental levels of the learner.
9)exposure
to new culture.
10)
develop the use of English for : a)
social interaction b) academic achievement c)
cultural enrichment
-Content based integrated teaching –learning
approach spiral curriculum for English.
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY
Critically analyse any English Course book of Kerala
syllabus at secondary level.
***
CURRICULUM CONSTRUCTION
IN ENGLISH
FOLLOW UP ACTIVITY
Critically analyse any English Course book of Kerala
syllabus at secondary level.
***
References:
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