Criteria for the selection of subject matter or content of the curriculum

Selection of subject matter or content of the curriculum

1. Criteria for the Selection of Subject-matter or Content of the Curriculum Dr.M.Deivam Assistant Professor Department of Education The Gandhigram Rural Institute (Deemed to be University) Gandhigram, Dindigul , Tamil Nadu – 624 302 Curriculum and School

2. Introduction There are seven criteria that commonly applied in the selection of subject-matter/content, subjects needed for the curricular programme or course of a curriculum. They are: ( i )Self-sufficiency of Learners, ii)Significance of Domains of Learning, (iii)Validity of the Subject matter, (iv)Interest of the Learners, (v)Utility of the Subject-matter, (vi) Learnability of the Students, and (vii)Feasibility of Completion.

3. (1) Self-sufficiency of Learners ‘ 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

4. (2) Significance of Domains of Learning The subject-matter should respond to the need and interest of the learners. It 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 - the cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills; and considers the cultural aspects of the learners. Particularly, if students come from different cultural backgrounds and races, the subject-matter must be culture-sensitive. In short, selection of content or subject-matter is to be done to achieve the overall aim of the curriculum.

5. (3) Validity of the Subject-matter Validity refers to the authenticity of the subject-matter or content that we select. For example, inclusion of content on Computer or Information Technology is more useful than inclusion of typewriting as a skill to be learned by college students. There is a need to check regularly the subject-matter or content of the curriculum, and replace it according to the emerging trends and demands of the learners. The content should also be changed and updated according to the changing need of the society and the individual’s growth.

6. (4) Interest of the Learners Teacher must consider the interest of the learners, their developmental stages, cultural, and ethnic background. That is, the subject-matter should be learner-centered curriculum . Students’ learn best if the subject-matter is meaningful to them. It becomes meaningful, if students’ are interested in it. But, if the curriculum is subject-centered, teachers have no choice but to finish the pacing schedule and teach only what is in the book. This causes uninterest in students and fails in the subjects.

7. (5)Utility of the Subject-matter Another criterion of selection of content 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 and as a result, they don’t study. So that selection of subject-matter need to be done in such a way that students’ must value the subject-matter or content as useful to them.

8. (6) Learnability of the Students 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.

9. (7) Feasibility of Completion Feasibility of completion means that the subject-matter can be fully implemented within the prescribed time schedule. Content should be selected by considering the real situation of the educational institutions, the government, and the society in general. Students’ must learn within the allowable time and the use of resources available to them. And also, the essential content can be covered in the amount of time available for instruction.

10. Cont., For example, when teachers 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. Likewise, we should not offer a computer subject, if there is no provision of electricity in the area, or there are no computers available to the students, or no teachers who are experts in that field. Similarly, for example, do not offer English for Business Communication, if there is no teacher to teach the subject, English. And also, there is a need to consider the nature of the learners. The organization and design of the subject-matter or content must be appropriate to the nature of the students.

11. Thank You