curriculum development in special education

this belongs to special education

1. INTRODUCTION TO
CURRICULUM
Course Coordinator
DR. ZAHEER AHMAD

2. Objectives of the Unit
•Discuss the nature of curriculum.
•Explain the meaning of curriculum.
•Classify curriculum definitions into their distinct
type.
•Define the terms of curriculum development,
curriculum construction, curriculum
implementation, curriculum formulation,
curriculum design, curriculum change and
curriculum innovation.
•Explain the scope of curriculum.
•Discuss why a study of curriculum is important.

3. INTRODUCTION TO CURRICULUM
•The word curriculum originated in ancient Rome
and meant a chariot race course.
•The concise Oxford Dictionary definition “Course of
Study”
•The idea of a curriculum as a race with a series of
‘hurdles’ to be overcome might still be a view.

4. INTRODUCTION TO CURRICULUM
•Curriculum is the base on which the subject,
activities and experiences are planned. It is more
than textbooks, more than the subject matter or
course of studies.
•It is totality of all the learning to which you are
exposed during study in the school.
•When we talk about the school curriculum and
curriculum guides which are documents from the
results of planning and development. Therefore, are
these documents the curriculum? Or what is a
definition of curriculum?
INTRODUCTION TO CURRICULUM

5. Definitions of Curriculum
•Curriculum probably has a greater variety
ofdefinitionsthan any other word used in education.
•Curriculum iseverythingthat happens within the
school, including extra class activities, guidance, and
interpersonal relationships.
•Curriculum is that which is taught
bothinsideandoutsideof schooldirectedby the
school.
•Curriculum is everything that isplannedby school
personnel.
•Curriculum is aseriesofexperiencesundergone by
learners in school.
•Curriculum is that which an individual
learnerexperiences as a result of schooling.

6. Definitions of Curriculum
•The definition you select will effect the way you "do
curriculum".
•If you accept a definition of curriculum as a set of
subjects you face a much simpler task than a school
system which takes on the responsibility for all
experiences the learner has both inside and outside
of the school.
Be aware, you may select or favor a particular
definition, but others exist and are just as favored
by others and should not be rejected lightly as all
have advantages and disadvantages.

7. Curriculum definitions fit 5 categories:
•If you review curriculumdefinitionsyou will find they
can be classified into five categories:
•Curriculum as aproduct-program, document,
electronic media, or multimedia
•Curriculum as aprogram of study-usually courses
offered, curriculum sequences of study in standards as
benchmarks, gateways,
•Curriculum asintended learnings-goals, content,
concepts, generalizations, outcomes
•Curriculum asexperiencesof the learner -activities,
planned and unplanned.
•Hiddencurriculum -what students learn that isn't
planned -unless you plan for this -or is it possible?

8. Curriculum asproduct
Defining curriculum as aproduct-program, document,
electronic media, or multimedia has
•Disadvantages
▪Limits curriculum to specific programs, courses, activities, or
outcomes described in those documents.
▪Assumes all possible outcomes can or will be described in
such documents.
▪May separate processes of learning from what is to be
learned.
•Advantages
▪Can be described in concrete terms and definite ways.
▪Provides direction for planning and development by
producing a document.
(Authors with related works: James Macdonald, Hilda Taba,
Beauchamp)

9. Curriculum as program of study
Defining curriculum asprogram of studyor list of courses in
school is usually used to describe activities or events used to
achieve specific purposes. From required courses of study to
electives.
•Advantages
•Easily described in concrete terms.
•Recognize learning takes place in many different settings in
school.
•Disadvantages
•View that all students' learning is contained in programs.
•Programs imply that what is described, is what students will
actually learn.
(Authors with related work: Bestor, Phenix)

10. Curriculum as program of study
Curriculum as program of study usually centers on
asubject presentation approachsuch as nationally
standards classified by subject, national and other subject
related assessment testing, which encourage school
districts to organize class schedules around subject areas,
hiring teachers according to their certification in subject
areas and hence teachers set subject related yearly goals.
Select subject oriented textbooks and use them as a
course of study, create plans for a course of study based
on a subject orientation and sequence subject related
activities for a school year with a daily schedule divided
into subject areas.

11. Curriculum as program of study
•Advantages
•Easy to understand as it has been the traditional approach
•Linear development
•Easily revised, usually one text per subject,
•Easily managed,
•Disadvantages
•Mastery of content can be deceiving if mastery is defined at
lower levels ofBloom'sTaxonomy.
•Predominately goal oriented.
•Less likely to have heterogeneous grouping and grouping
across grades levels.
•Less likely to offer students choices or a personalized
instruction so learning is not at each student's level and rate.

12. Defining curriculum asintended learnings
Defining curriculum asintended learningsor what is
to be learned, not how or why.
•Advantages
▪Curriculum becomes a concept rather than a
product.
▪More manageable focus by limiting the scope.
•Disadvantages
▪Fragmentation by not including: how to achieve
and why it needs to be achieved.

13. Curriculum asexperiences of the learner
•Advantages
▪Focuses on learning and the learner, rather than teaching.
▪includes all experiences planned and unplanned.
▪Can allow for broader experiences.
▪Can be more meaningful learning if it relates to student
interests, needs, or if students help select meaningful
learning activities.
▪Can be greater retention of learning as subject matter
takes on a more increasingly personal significance, and
progress becomes a means to achieve power.
•Disadvantages
▪more abstract and complex
▪makes curriculum so comprehensive that it cannot be
described in simple terms or short phrases

14. Curriculum asexperiences of the learner
•Anexperienced centered approachis most likely
implemented with a unit, project, portfolio
approach. Where a topic like: people and
transportation is selected and modifies the subject
content for a specific purpose usually related to and
based on student's needs. It is more flexible to
meet changing needs of the students, correlate
learning across subject by themes and relate to the
real world.

15. Curriculum asplanned and hidden
•Intended learningsand experiences are not the only
elements of curriculum. It's helpful when thinking
abut curriculum to remember that all curriculum
planning can be thought of as the 1) planned
curriculum and what isn't planned as the 2)hidden
curriculum. Both of these are important to consider
when we think about education and how or
students will be prepared for their future lives.

16. Other Considerations
•Students learn in accordance with their purposes and
experiences, therefore we must look to a responsive
interactive relationship with students to know whether
they are or not learning and if so what. What students
learn is dependent on what they choose to actively
perceive and how they are able to perceive and
negotiate their perceptions to construct meaning, and
connect it to their current understandings.
•No matter what we do, nothing is possible without
student involvement. Therefore, any of these
descriptions of curriculum must include a student
centered approach that is responsive to the students'
needs.

17. Other Considerations
•Different school systems and different teachers may
use different approaches and achieve the same
goals, but no one can achieve their goals without
the student's involvement.
•MOST curriculum change
iscutandpastereorganization, more of this and
less of this, move physical science to 8th grade and
biological science to 7th, switch short stories and
poetry from semester to semester, add a special
class for media/computers, bring the guidance
counselor into the classroom once every two weeks
to work with the students,...

18. Other Considerations
•These kind of changes, usually well meaning and
based on students' needs, don't truly have much of
a chance for large scale success. Yes, there are
anecdotal, proof by selective instance kinds of
stories, but overall a really significant impact for a
curricular change must change the way a majority
of the faculty, staff, and students go about learning.

19. Curriculum Construction
(decisions about elements of design)
Curriculum Implementation
(decisions about elements of design)
Includes
Curriculum
Development
(Total Process)
Leading to
Curriculum Foundations
Which is based on
Curriculum Design
Source: Taylor and Richard (1979. p.11)
Demands that decisions be
made about overall

20. Curriculum Development
•Curriculum development can be defined as the
step-by-step process used to create positive
improvements in the courses offered by a school,
college or university. The world changes every day
and new discoveries have to be roped into the
education curricula. Innovative teaching techniques
and strategies (such as active learning orblended
learning) are constantly being devised in order to
improve the student learning experience. As a
result, an institution has to have a plan in place for
acknowledging these shifts and then be able to
implement them in the school curriculum.

21. What are the models of curriculum
development?
•Current curriculum models can be broken down into
two broad categories
❑The product model and
❑The process model.
•The product modelis results-oriented. Grades are the
prime objective, with the focus lying more on the
finished product rather than on the learning process.
•The process model, however, is more open-ended, and
focuses on how learning develops over a period of
time. These two models need to be taken into account
when developing curriculum.

22. What is curriculum planning?
•Curriculum planning involves the implementation of
differenttypes of instructional strategiesand
organizational methods that are focused on
achieving optimal student development and
student learning outcomes. Instructors might
structure their curriculum around daily lesson plans,
a specific assignment, a chunk of coursework,
certain units within a class, or an entire educational
program.

23. What is curriculum planning?
•During the curriculum planning phase, teachers
consider factors that might complement or hinder
their lesson curriculum. These include institutional
requirements. Each administrator at a university or
college will have guidelines, principles and a
framework that instructors are required to
reference as they build out their curriculums.
Educators are responsible for ensuring that their
curriculum planning meets the students’
educational needs, and that the materials used are
current and comprehensible.

24. What is curriculum planning?
•During the curriculum planning phase, teachers
consider factors that might complement or hinder
their lesson curriculum. These include institutional
requirements. Each administrator at a university or
college will have guidelines, principles and a
framework that instructors are required to
reference as they build out their curriculums.
Educators are responsible for ensuring that their
curriculum planning meets the students’
educational needs, and that the materials used are
current and comprehensible.

25. What is curriculum planning?
Educators should employ the curriculum process that
best incorporates the six components of effective
teaching. These components are applicable at both
the undergraduate and graduate level:
•To demonstrate knowledge of content;
•To demonstrate the knowledge of students;
•Select suitableinstructional strategygoals;
•To demonstrate knowledge of resources;
•To design coherent instruction;
•Assess student learning.

26. What is curriculum design?
•Curriculum design is the deliberate organization of
curriculum within a course or classroom. When
instructors design their curriculums, they identify what
will be done, who will do it and when, as well as what
the objective of each courseis.
•Remember that the curriculum contains the knowledge
and skills that a student needs to master in order to
move to the next level. By thinking about how their
curriculum is designed, teachers ensure they’ve
covered all the necessary requirements. From there,
they can start exploring various approaches and
teaching methods that can help them achieve their
goals.

27. What are the types of curriculum design?
•There are three basic types of curriculum design
•Subject-centered,
•Learner-centered, and
•Problem-centered design.

28. Subject-centered curriculum design
•Subject-centered curriculum designis not student-
centered, and the model is less concerned with
individual learning styles compared to other forms
of curriculum design. This can lead to problems
with student engagement and motivation and may
cause students who are not responsive to this
model to fall behind.

29. Learner-centered curriculum design
•Learner-centered curriculum design, by contrast,
revolves around student needs, interests and goals.
It acknowledges that students are not uniform but
individuals, and therefore should not, in all cases,
be subject to a standardized curriculum. This
approach aims to empower learners to shape their
education through choices.

30. Learner-Centered Curriculum Design
•Differentiated instructional plans provide an
opportunity to select assignments, teaching and
learning experiences, or activities. This form of
curriculum design has been shown to engage and
motivate students. The drawback to this form of
curriculum design is that it can create pressure on
the educator to source materials specific to each
student’s learning needs. This can be challenging
due to teaching time constraints. Balancing
individual student interests with the institution’s
required outcomes could prove to be a daunting
task.

31. Problem-centered curriculum design
•Problem-centered curriculum designteaches
students how to look at a problem and formulate a
solution. Considered an authentic form of learning
because students are exposed to real-life issues,
this model helps students develop skills that are
transferable to the real world. Problem-centered
curriculum design has been shown to increase the
relevance of the curriculum and encourages
creativity, innovation and collaboration in the
classroom. The drawback to this format is that it
does not always consider individual learning styles.

32. Curriculum Implementation

33. •Putting into practice the written curriculum that has
been designed in the syllabi, course of study,
curricular guides, and subjects. It’s a process
wherein the learners acquire the planned or
intended knowledge, skills and attitudes that are
aimed at enabling the same learners to functions
effectively in the society.
Curriculum Implementation

34. Curriculum Implementation Ornstein and
Hunkins
•as the interaction between the curricula that has been
written and planned and the persons(teachers) who are
in charged to deliver it. It implies the following:
▪Shift from what is the current to a new or enhanced
curriculum
▪Change knowledge, actions attitudes of the person
involved
▪Change behavior using new strategies and
resources.
▪Change which requires efforts hence goals should
be achievable

35. THE ROLE OF STAKEHOLDERS IN
IMPLEMENTING THE CURRICULUM
•STAKEHOLDERS are individuals or institutions that
are interested in school curriculum. These
stakeholders shape the school curriculum
implementation.
▪Stakeholders in Curriculum Implementation
▪Parents
▪Teachers
▪Community
▪Curriculum Managers & Administrator
▪Learners

36. CURRICULUM FOUNDATIONS
•Curriculum foundations are generally referred to as
the basic forces or ideas which influence and shape
the curriculum. It is usually considered that these
include philosophical ideas about the nature of
education and knowledge, the influence of society
and culture and views about the person (or child)
and how he or she learns.
•The foundations of curriculum are sometimes called
the ‘source’ of the curriculum. Tyler refers to three
sources of the curriculum, i.e. the learner,
contemporary life, and the subject.

37. FOUNDATIONS OF
CURRICULUM
PSYCHOLOGICAL
FOUNDATIONS
HISTORICAL
FOUNDATIONS
SOCIAL
FOUNDATIONS

38. Role of Curriculum in National
Development
•Curriculum plays crucial role in national integration
and harmony. Curriculum role as observed in the
National Education Policy (1979) should aim enable
the learners to learn knowledge, develop
conceptual and intellectual skills, attitudes, values
and aptitudes conductive to the all round
development of their personality and proportionate
with the societal, economic and environmental
realities at national and international level.