Curriculum Decision Making in TESL * Dr. Azadeh Asgari

8/3/2019 Curriculum Decision Making in TESL * Dr. Azadeh Asgari

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Curriculum Decision Making

Dr.Azadeh Asgari

Curriculum & Syllabous Design in TESL


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Curriculum Decision MakingCurriculum decisions making is a sociopolitical process that

involves almost every one . Actions at the national level, including

funding decisions and legislation , influence curriculum even though

curriculum matters are supposed to be handled at state and locallevels . Curriculum decisions are numerous and often difficult ,

partly because of their interrelationships. Decisions are further

complicated by the numbers of people who participate in making

them .

The discussions that follow briefly describe the :

1) Nature of curriculum decisions making

2) Arenas for curriculum decision making


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1. Content : comes from the disciplines or other organized bodies ofknowledge and can take several forms , such as facts concepts and

generalization .2. Purposes ,goals and objectives : are labels applied to the results of students

participation in purposeful learning activities.

3. Materials and resources: include the objects , places and people used tofacilitate the learning process .

4. Activities and teaching strategies : are the ways in which students become

involved in learning the curriculum.5. Evaluation: includes the procedures for determining degrees of student

learning as well as methods of analyzing and interpreting results.

6. Grouping, time and space : refers to the clustering of students for particularexperiences either by grade , experiential background or ability levels .


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People who decide what to teach must contend with concerns

about time , money , working conditions and a host of other

constraints that can complicate decision making . Finally

decisions are made on the basis ofpeoples values and beliefs.

Values must satisfy the criteria of ideas chosen from alternative

a based on considerations of their consequences , cherished

enough to be made public , and acted upon in some way .

Beliefs refer to ideas accepted as true , but more susceptible to

change than values.


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The existence of several curriculum levels shows that practically every

body has ideas about school curricula and seeks to express them .

Curriculum decisions involve values that people express through actions atdifferent levels of a political decision making hierarchy encompassing

national , state , and local level .

National Level : The U.S Constitution assigns the primary power for

educational matters to state governments who delegate authority for certain

decisions to local educational authorities , usually school districts.

19501970

N.S.F used federal dollars for research on maths,science and technology curriculum project .

Federal funding pushed evaluation andbrought significant changes in programevaluation .

1975The E.A.H.C.A changed school curricula byrequiring

Reevaluating and changing public schoolcurricula to mainstream handicappedstudent into regular classrooms .


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State Level : have major responsibilities or curriculum decisions . States

have boards of education that set policies for public schools in matters such

as achievement testing , high school graduation requirements, state subject-specific curriculum guidelines , school evaluation and certification ,

materials selection processes, teacher certification requirements and

educational information management systems. Gubernatorial offices and

state legislatures through budgeting authority strongly influence the content

and purpose of curricula .Local Level : decision in all the catedgories are made or remade locally at

either the district , school or classroom level . Institutional curricula are

sometimes developed in schools , many are developed at the district level .

Local curricula must comply with federal and state guidelines .


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Community personnel include people not associated with particular schoolsor districts as employees or students. Citizens living in particular schooldistricts as well as people beyond district boundaries are consideredcommunity personnel and take part in forming societal curricula .

Community-at-Large : The community at large is composed ofindividuals and groups who influence curricula , particularly at societal andinstitutional levels and their agendas often dictate the purposes and howschool personnel are involved in curriculum decision making .

Governing Boards/Site-Based Groups : At one time virtually all schoolaperations were overseen by governing boards composed of citizens electedto serve their local school districts. In recent years decentralization has madelocal schools,rather than districts, the primary unit of management andeducational improvement in some locations .


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Three approaches can be conceived for curriculum decision

making at local levels:

District :District-based curriculum decision making is the normin many locations where boards of education govern schools.

School districts usually use technical approaches to curriculum

through an ongoing cycle .

School: School-based curriculum decision making can existunder a district board of education , but it flourishes when site-

based management of schools in the norm. It may use the technical

approach and cycle or stages. It may also follow the nontechnical

approach, provided teachers within a school , grade or course level

work together in preparing curriculum .


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Classroom : Classroom-based curriculum decision making may be

carried out in schools with site-based management because it is usually

developed by individual teachers who was a curriculum especially

designed for their students.

Local decisions

without school-based

Curriculum level

Local decisions

with school-based

school


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Overall review and

needs asessment

Evaluation

Development of

philosophy , goals

and objectives

Implementation

District-based

Curriculum

decision making

Curriculum Design

and writing

Piloting

District-based cycle


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School personnel are the people associated with a school or district

as employees or students. School staff are nonteaching personnel

who along with teachers and community members , can and often

do , make important contribution the curriculum processes at theinstitutional level . Teachers and students are involved with

curriculum at instructional and experiential levels.

School Staff : School staff includes the nonteaching certificatedpersonnel in district and school .

Administrators

Resources specialists

Counselors, Social workers, Health care providers


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Teachers and Students : are involved differently in curriculumdepending on the approach used. In school or classroom-based

approaches these individuals are active producers.

Teachers have several expertise that can be valuable in curriculumprocesses.

1.Contetnt knowledge

2.General pedagogical knowledge

3.Curriculum knowledge4.Pedagogical content knowledge

5.Knowledge of learners and their characteristics

6.Knowledge of educational contexts

7.Knowledge of educational philosophies


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Summary Information Concerning Local Curriculum Decision Making

Locus of

decision

Type of

governance

PersonnelType of

curriculum

approach

District Board of education

Administrations(curriculum/subjectmatter specialists/building),

teachers, community members,consultants

Technical

SchoolSite-based group orboard of education Teachers and administrators in a

school as needed-consultantsTechnical orNontechnical

ClassroomSite-based group orboard of education

Individual teachers, as needed -consultants

Nontechnical


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Curriculum Decision Making in TESL * Dr. Azadeh Asgari

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