Curriculum Development

Prepared by:
Albert C. Santos, Ph.D.
• Curriculum is from New Latin (a post-medieval
form of Latin used mainly in churches and schools
and for scientific coinages), in which language it
means “a course of study.” It shares its ultimate
root in classical Latin, where it meant “running” or
“course” (as in “race course”), with words such as
corridor, courier, and currency, all of which come
from Latin currere “to run.”

• http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/curriculum
Characteristics of Curriculum
• It includes all the experiences of children for which the school is
responsible
• It has content
• It is a system of for dealing with people
• It is planned
• It is a series of courses to be taken by the students
Types of Curriculum
• Recommended Curriculum- proposed by scholars and
professional organizations

• Perhaps you have asked these questions: Why should I take all these subjects and
follow the course flow religiously? Why is there a need to implement the K to
12?The answer is simple! The Ministry of Education, the Commission on Higher
Education, or any professional organization can recommend and implement a
curriculum. In the Philippines, for example, what is being implemented by the
Department of Education (DepEd) or the Commission on Higher Education
(CHEd), is an example of a recommended curriculum.
• http://simplyeducate.me/2015/01/07/seven-school-curriculum-types-and-their-classroom-implications/
• Written Curriculum- This refers to a lesson plan
or syllabus written by teachers. Another example
is the one written by curriculum experts with the
help of subject teachers.
• This kind of written curriculum needs to be pilot
tested or tried out in sample schools to
determine its effectiveness.
• Taught Curriculum- This is about the implementation
of the written curriculum. Whatever is being taught or
an activity being done in the classroom is a taught
curriculum.
• So, when teachers give a lecture, initiate group work,
or ask students to do a laboratory experiment with
the their guidance, the taught curriculum is
demonstrated. This curriculum contains different
teaching styles and learning styles to address the
students’ needs and interests.
• Supported Curriculum- Instructional materials, such
as textbooks, audio visual materials, blogs, wikis, and
others are examples of support curriculum.
• Other examples are playgrounds, zoos, gardens,
museums, and real life objects. It is called supported
curriculum because it helps teachers implement a
written curriculum thus enables the students to
become life-long learners.
• Assessed Curriculum- When students take a quiz
or the mid-term and final exams, these series of
evaluations are the so-called assessed
curriculum.
• Teachers may use the pencil and paper tests, and
authentic assessments like portfolio and
performance based assessments in order to
know if the students are progressing or not.
• Learned Curriculum- This type of curriculum
indicates what the students have actually
learned. This can be measured through learning
outcomes.
• A learning outcome can be manifested by what
students can perform or do either in their
cognitive, affective or psychomotor domains.
The learning outcome can be determined by the
results of the tests, and it can be achieved by the
students through the use of learning objectives.
• Hidden Curriculum- This refers to the unplanned
or unintended curriculum but plays an important
role in learning.
• Let’s assume that you are a college student taking up
Bachelor of Secondary Education, major in English.
Your course or degree program is a recommended
curriculum prescribed by CHED.
• The syllabi given to you by your teachers are the
written curriculum. When your teachers start to
teach, that is a taught curriculum. And when they
ask you to use the internet and search information
about a given topic, this is a supported curriculum.
• Furthermore, teachers need to evaluate your
performance. So, when you are given a test or exam
that is the assessed curriculum. The results of the
assessed curriculum will determine what you have
actually learned – and that is the so-called learned
curriculum. However, the hidden curriculum can
affect what will be taught and assessed by your
teachers, and eventually may affect what you will
learn.
• To sum it up, curriculum is not only about a course
or a simple listing of subjects but it is the total
learning experience of students as indicated by the
seven types of curriculum.
• Philippine Educational System
• Higher Education
• CHED
• Technical Vocation education
• TESDA
• Department of Education
• Basic Education
• K12
Teacher as a Curricularist
1. Knows the curriculum
2. Writes the curriculum
3. Plans the curriculum
4. Initiates the curriculum
5. Innovates the curriculum
6. Implements the curriculum
7. Evaluates the curriculum
Traditional Points of View of Curriculum
• A traditional curriculum typically involves a teacher
conveying facts to students.
• The curriculum focuses on a specific body of knowledge to
be transmitted to students and relies heavily on
memorization and drilling of facts and formulas. Education
systems founded on traditional curricula often focus solely
on the subject matter being taught and favor measurement
of educational objectives via a great deal of testing
• Robert M. Hutchins- “permanent studies”… the
3Rs should be emphasized
• Arthur Bestor- mission of the school should be
intellectual training, hence should focus on the
fundamental intellectual disciplines of grammar,
literature and writing.
• Joseph Schwab- Science, Mathematics, Social
Studies, English and more.
• Philip Phonix- asserts that curriculum should
consist entirely of knowledge which comes from
various discipline
Progressive points of View of Curriculum
• A Progressive Curriculum is based on the students’ interests. Teachers
have themes and objectives, but they do not just design a course of
study for their students; they design it with them, and they have to be
prepared to welcome unexpected detours. The learning sessions have
to be organized around problems and questions that allow students
to explore difficult issues in theory and practice; and that engage
students in active learning, inquiry, and problem solving.
• Progressive Education focuses on experienced-based learning. That is,
much of what children learn is attained through experience-based
activities related to a study which is developmentally appropriate for
them.
• http://progressive643.blogspot.com/2011/03/progressive-curriculum.html
• John Dewey
• John Dewey is a famous proponent of progressivism. He argues that reflective thinking is
important. It is a tool to unify all the curricular elements, such as aims, goals, and
objectives; subject matter/content; learning experiences; and evaluation approaches. For
him, it is important to test the knowledge or thought through application, or the learning
by doing, which became influential in education. His famous philosophy is pragmatism.
• Hollis Caswell and Doak Campbell
• Hollis Caswell and Doak Campbell define curriculum as “all experiences children have
under the guidance of the teachers.” In this regard, curriculum should contain all the
experiences needed by the children to learn, and a teacher should only act as a guide or
facilitator.
• B. Othanel Smith, William O. Stanley, and J. Harlan Shores
• Smith, Stanley and Shores share the same view that the curriculum, as the way Caswell &
Campbell view it, as “a sequence of potential experiences set up in the schools for the
purpose of disciplining the children and the youth while doing group activities.”
1. Teachers are required to teach the book from cover
to cover.
2. If the students can memorized the content, then the
curriculum is the best.
3. Children are given opportunity to play outdoors.
4. Parents send children to a military school type with
rigid discipline.
5. Teachers are reluctant to teach beyond the written
curriculum.
6. Prerequisite to promotion for the next grade
are skills in reading, writing, and arithmetic only.
7. Teachers provide varied experiences for the
children.
8. Learning can only be achieve in school.
9. Systematic arrangement of contents in the
course syllabus.
10. Co-curricular activities planned for all to
participate.
3 Ways of Approaching a Curriculum
1. Curriculum as Content or Body of Knowledge
2. Curriculum Approached as a Process
3. Curriculum as a Product
Curriculum as Content or Body of Knowledge
• Curriculum is focus on the body of knowledge to be transmitted to
students using appropriate teaching method
• 4 ways of presenting the content in the curriculum
• Content is based on knowledge and experience
• Concept approach with few topics in clusters around major and sub concepts
• Thematic approach as a combination of concepts that develops conceptual
structures
• Modular approach
7 Criteria for the Selection of Subject-Matter or
Content of the Curriculum
• 1. Self-sufficiency
• To help learners attain maximum self-sufficiency at the most
economical manner is the main guiding principle for subject matter or
content selection (Scheffler, 1970) as cited by Bilbao et al., (2008).
Economy of learning refers to less teaching effort and less use of
educational resources; but students gain more results. They are able
to cope up with the learning outcomes effectively.
• This means that students should be given chance to experiment,
observe, and do field study. This allows them to learn independently.
• s://www.linkedin.com/pulse/7-criteria-selection-subject-matter-content-dr-mary-alvior
7 Criteria for the Selection of Subject-Matter
or Content of the Curriculum
• 2. Significance
• The subject matter or content is significant if it is selected and
organized for the development of learning activities, skills, processes,
and attitude. It also develops the three domains of learning namely
the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills, and considers the
cultural aspects of the learners. Particularly, if your students come
from different cultural backgrounds and races, the subject matter
must be culture-sensitive.
• In short, select a content or subject matter that can achieve the
overall aim of the curriculum.
7 Criteria for the Selection of Subject-Matter
or Content of the Curriculum
• 3. Validity
• Validity refers to the authenticity of the subject matter or content you
selected. Make sure that the topics are not obsolete.
• For example, do not include typewriting as a skill to be learned by college
students. It should be about the computer or Information Technology (IT).
• Thus, there is a need to check regularly the subject matter or contents of
the curriculum, and replace it if necessary. Do not wait for another 5 years
in order to change it.
• Modern curriculum experts are after current trends, relevance and
authenticity of the curriculum; otherwise, your school or country will be
left behind.
7 Criteria for the Selection of Subject-Matter
or Content of the Curriculum
• 4. Interest
• This criterion is true to learner-centered curriculum. Students learn
best if the subject matter is meaningful to them. It becomes
meaningful if they are interested in it. But if the curriculum is subject-
centered, teachers have no choice but to finish the pacing schedule
religiously and teach only what is in the book. This may somehow
explain why many fail in the subject.
7 Criteria for the Selection of Subject-Matter
or Content of the Curriculum
• 5. Utility
• Another criterion is the usefulness of the content or subject matter.
Students think that a subject matter or some subjects are not
important to them. They view it useless. As a result, they don’t study.
• Here are the questions that students often ask: Will I need the subject
in my job? Will it give meaning to my life? Will it develop my
potentials? Will it solve my problem? Will it be part of the test? Will I
have a passing mark if I learn it?
• Students only value the subject matter or content if it is useful to
them.
7 Criteria for the Selection of Subject-Matter
or Content of the Curriculum
• 6. Learnability
• The subject matter or content must be within the schema of the
learners. It should be within their experiences. Teachers should apply
theories on psychology of learning in order to know how subjects are
presented, sequenced, and organized to maximize the learning
capacity of the students.
7 Criteria for the Selection of Subject-Matter
or Content of the Curriculum
• 7. Feasibility
• It means that the subject matter can be fully implemented. It should
consider the real situation of the school, the government, and the
society, in general. Students must learn within the allowable time and
the use of resources available. Do not give them a topic that is
impossible to finish.
• For example, you have only one week to finish the unit but then, the
activities may take a month for the students to complete it. This is not
feasible.
• Do not offer a computer subject if there is no even electricity in the
area or there are no computers at all.
Basic Principles of Curriculum content
• 1. Balance – means that the curriculum is fairly distributed in deep
and breath of the particular learning area or discipline.
• The elementary curriculum is really fairly distributed. Though the
number of competencies is not equal in every quarter but this
doesn’t mean that they are not fairly distributed because the
competencies are actually budgeted base on the number of days of
teaching per topic which would fit in to the number of days per
grading period.
• http://olga-syscurriculum.blogspot.com/2011/05/basic-principles-in-organizing-learning.html
Basic Principles of Curriculum content
• 2. Articulation – means the smooth connection of the
subject matters.
• The subject matters in the elementary curriculum are really
connected. The former is connected with the latter. That is
why in the learning process, review is encouraged to really
establish and deepen the connection of the subject matters
to make it more meaningful to the children.
Basic Principles of Curriculum content
• 3. Sequence – this is the logical arrangement of the subject
matters.
• Based on observation and experience, the subject matters
are logically arranged from easy to difficult, basic to complex.
Topics in other learning areas, like HEKASI, Science and Math,
are actually arranged from where the students can find a
closer connection to their selves and experience so that they
can easily relate to it.
Basic Principles of Curriculum content
• 4. Integration – this is the horizontal connections in subject
areas.
• Well, this is actually encouraged. The fact is that there are
subject matters that can be integrated in other subject area.
Like the integration of values in all subject areas, the
integration of Science and Math concepts in teaching
English; and HEKASI and MSEP concepts in teaching Filipino.
Basic Principles of Curriculum content
• 5. Continuity – refers to the constant repetition, review and
reinforcement of learning.
• Meaning, a lesson should not stop after an evaluation. It has
to be repeated through review and reinforcement. Thus, this
is the principle in the elementary curriculum. We even
targeted that the learning in school should be applicable and
applied to the daily life.
Curriculum Approached as a Process
• Curriculum as a process is seen as a scheme about practice in
teaching.
• In this sense curriculum is not a physical pre-defined set of resources
or facts to be taught and learned, but rather the interaction of
teachers, students, and knowledge. In other words, curriculum is
what actually happens in the classroom and what people do to
prepare and evaluate.
Curriculum as a Product
• It used to be that there were certain skills to master and facts to
know.
• Knowledge was seen as something similar to a product that is
manufactured.
• Generally, one starts knowing nothing, is taught, and then uses the
gained knowledge, often by transmitting it into action. For the most
part, this point of view worked for quite some time, as it organized
learning quite neatly.
There was a series of steps leading to the product,
and curriculum could be designed accordingly.
• The steps were:
• Step 1: Diagnosis of need
• Step 2: Formulation of objectives
• Step 3: Selection of content
• Step 4: Organization of content
• Step 5: Selection of learning experiences
• Step 6: Organization of learning experiences
• Step 7: Determination of what to evaluate, and the ways and means of
doing it.

• http://wikieducator.org/Teachers_Without_Borders/Effective_Management_and_Methods/Curriculum_Design
Curriculum Development Process
1. Curriculum Planning
• School VMGO
• Philosophy of Education
• Desired Learning Outcomes

• http://www.fao.org/docrep/009/ah650e/ah650e03.htm
• (1) Identify Issue/Problem/Need
• The need for curriculum development usually emerges from a concern
about a major issue or problem of one or more target audience. This
section explores some of the questions that need to be addressed to define
the issue and to develop a statement that will guide the selection of the
members of a curriculum development team. The issue statement also
serves to broadly identify, the scope (what will be included) of the
curriculum content.
• (2) Form Curriculum Development Team
• Once the nature and scope of the issue has been broadly defined, the
members of the curriculum development team can be selected. Topics
covered in this section include: (1) the roles and functions of team
members, (2) a process for selecting members of the curriculum
development team, and (3) principles of collaboration and teamwork. The
goal is to obtain expertise for the areas included in the scope of the
curriculum content among the team members and develop an effective
team.
• (3) Conduct Needs Assessment and Analysis
• There are two phases in the needs assessment process. The first is
procedures for conducting a needs assessment. A number of
techniques are aimed toward learning what is needed and by whom
relative to the identified issue. Techniques covered in this section
include: KAP - Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice Survey; focus
groups; and environmental scanning.
• Analysis, the second part of this needs assessment step, describes
techniques on how to use the data and the results of the information
gathered. Included are: ways to identify gaps between knowledge and
practice; trends emerging from the data; a process to prioritize needs;
and identification of the characteristics of the target audience.
Curriculum Development Process
2. Curriculum Design
• Selection and organization of content, learning experiences,
assessment procedure
• (4) State Intended Outcomes
• Once the issue is defined, the curriculum team is formed, the needs
assessed, analyzed and prioritized, the next step is to refine and
restate the issue, if needed, and develop the intended outcomes or
educational objectives. An intended outcome states what the learner
will be able to do as a result of participating in the curriculum
activities.
• This section includes: (1) a definition of intended outcomes, (2) the
components of intended outcomes (condition, performance, and
standards), (3) examples of intended outcomes, and (4) an overview
of learning behaviors. A more complete explanation of the types and
levels of learning behaviours is included in the Addendum as well as
intended outcome examples from FAO population education
materials.
• (5) Select Content
• The next challenge in the curriculum development process is
selecting content that will make a real difference in the lives of the
learner and ultimately society as a whole. At this point, the primary
questions are: "If the intended outcome is to be attained, what will
the learner need to know? What knowledge, skills, attitudes, and
behaviours will need to be acquired and practiced?"
• The scope (breadth of knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviours)
and the sequence (order) of the content are also discussed. Intended
outcomes of population education with content topics is provided in
the Addendum section as an example and application of how
intended outcomes are linked with content.
• ( (6) Design Experiential Methods
• After the content is selected, the next step is to design activities
(learning experiences) to help the learner achieve appropriate
intended outcomes. An experiential learning model and it's
components (i.e., experience, share, process, generalize, and apply)
are discussed in this section.
Curriculum Development Process
3. Curriculum Implementing
• Teaching and learning in the school environment
• (7) Produce Curriculum Product
• Once the content and experiential methods have been agreed upon,
the actual production of curriculum materials begins. This section
includes: 1) suggestions for finding and evaluating existing materials;
2) evaluation criteria; and 3) suggestions for producing curriculum
materials.
• (8) Test and Revise Curriculum
• This step includes suggestions to select test sites and conduct a
formative evaluation of curriculum materials during the production
phase. A sample evaluation form is provided.
• (9) Recruit and Train Facilitators
• It is a waste of resources to develop curriculum materials if adequate
training is not provided for facilitators to implement it. Suggestions
for recruiting appropriate facilitators are provided with a sample
three-day training program.
• (10) Implement Curriculum
• Effective implementation of newly developed curriculum products is
unlikely to occur without planning. Strategies to promote and use the
curriculum are discussed in this step.
Curriculum Development Process
4. Curriculum Evaluating
• The extent of desired learning outcomes
• (11) Design Evaluation Strategies
• Evaluation is a phase in the curriculum development model as well as
a specific step. Two types of evaluation, formative and summative,
are used during curriculum development.
• Formative evaluations are used during the needs assessment, product
development, and testing steps.
• Summative evaluations are undertaken to measure and report on the
outcomes of the curriculum. This step reviews evaluation strategies
and suggests simple procedures to produce valid and reliable
information. A series of questions are posed to guide the summative
evaluation process and a sample evaluation format is suggested.
• (12) Reporting and Securing Resources
• The final element in an evaluation strategy is "delivering the pay off
(i.e., getting the results into the hands of people who can use them).
In this step, suggestions for what and how to report to key
shareholders, especially funding and policy decision makers, are
provided and a brief discussion on how to secure resources for
additional programming.
• Formative assessment
• The goal of formative assessment is to monitor student learning to
provide ongoing feedback that can be used by instructors to improve
their teaching and by students to improve their learning. More
specifically, formative assessments:
• help students identify their strengths and weaknesses and target
areas that need work
• help faculty recognize where students are struggling and address
problems immediately
• Formative assessment
• Formative assessments are generally low stakes, which means that
they have low or no point value. Examples of formative assessments
include asking students to:
• draw a concept map in class to represent their understanding of a
topic
• submit one or two sentences identifying the main point of a lecture
• turn in a research proposal for early feedback
• Summative assessment
• The goal of summative assessment is to evaluate student learning at the
end of an instructional unit by comparing it against some standard or
benchmark.
• Summative assessments are often high stakes, which means that they have
a high point value. Examples of summative assessments include:
• a midterm exam
• a final project
• a paper
• a senior recital
• Information from summative assessments can be used formatively when
students or faculty use it to guide their efforts and activities in subsequent
courses.

• https://www.cmu.edu/teaching/assessment/basics/formative-summative.html