CRAFTING THE CURRICULUM

Module II

Lesson 1

Curriculum Design Models

is like writing a lesson plan. It is like making something with the different components, and putting them together in a very creative way. It is a task that all teachers should know and understand, or better still, to know how to craft one.

Crafting a curriculum

Generally speaking, a curriculum can be organized either horizontally or vertically. Horizontally organization means, that the direction of the curriculum elements is sideways. For example, the subject social studies move horizontally along history, geography, civics and culture. Taking contents in mathematics and relating these to science is also an example of horizontal curriculum design. On the other hand, using a vertical arrangement or sequence of curricular elements follows a vertical design. For example in social studies content, putting the “family” ahead the topic “community” is vertical articulation or in science the bigger topic on “living things” comes ahead of topics on “plants” and “animals”.

Curriculum design may also follow the following structures.

1. Subject-centered design model

This model focuses on the content of the curriculum. The subject centered design corresponds mostly to the textbook, written for the specific subject. Henry Morrison and William Harris are the few curricularists who were firm believers of this design. In this instance, schools divide the school hours to different subjects such as reading, grammar, literature, mathematics, science, history, and geography. In the Philippines, our curricula in any level are also divided in different subjects or courses. Most of the schools using this kind of structure aim for excellence in the subject matter content.

Examples of subject-centered curriculum are included below.

a. Subject design

Subject design curriculum is the oldest and so far the most familiar design for teachers, parents and other laymen. According to the advocates, subject design has an advantage because it is easy to deliver. Complementary books are written and support instructional materials are commercially available. Teachers are familiar with the format, because they were also educated using the design. In the Philippine education system, the number of subjects in elementary education is fewer than in the secondary level. In college, the number of subjects also differs according to the degree programs being pursued.

b. Discipline design

This curriculum model is related to the subject design. However, while subject design centers only on the cluster of content, discipline design focuses on the academic disciplines. Discipline refers to specific knowledge learned through a method which the scholars use to study a specific content of their fields. Students in history should learn the subject matter like historians, students in biology should learn how biologists learn, and so with students in mathematics should learn how mathematicians learn. In the same manner, teachers should teach how the scholars in the discipline will convey the particular knowledge.

c. Correlation design

This comes from a core, correlated curriculum design that links separate subject designs in order to reduce fragmentation. Subjects are related to one another but each subject maintains its identity. For example, English literature and social studies are correlated well in the elementary level. In the two subjects, while history is being studied, different literary pieces during the historical period are being studied. The same is true when science becomes the core; mathematics is related to it, as they are taken in chemistry, physics and biology. Another example is literature as the core and art, music, history, geography will be related to it.

d. Broad field design

Broad field or interdisciplinary design is a variation of the subject – centered design. This design was made to prevent the compartmentalization of subjects and integrate the contents that are related to each other.

2. Learner-Centered Design

Among the progressive educational psychologists, the learner is the center of the educative process. This emphasis is very strong in the elementary level, however more conce4rn has been placedon the secondary and even the tertiary level.

Here are some examples of learner-centered designs

a. Child-centered design

This design is often attributed to the influence of John Dewey, Rouseae, Peztallozi and Froebel. The curriculum design is anchored on the needs and interests of the child. The learner is not considered as passive individual but as one who engages with his/her environment.

b. Experienced-centered design

This design is similar to the child-centered design. Although, the child remains to be the focus, experience-centered design believes that the interests and needs of learners cannot be pre-planned.

c. Humanistic design

The key lead personalities in this curriculum design were Abraham Maslow and Carl Rogers. Maslow’s theory of self actualization explains that a person who achieves this level is accepting of self, others and nature; is simple, spontaneous, and natural; is open to different experiences; possesses empathy and sympathy toward the less fortunate , among many others. Carl Rogers, on the other hand, believed that a person can enhance self-directed learning by improving self understanding and basic attitudes to guide behavior.

Carl Rogers

Carl Rogers (January 8, 1902 – February 4, 1987) was an influential American psychologist and among the founders of the humanistic approach to psychology. Rogers is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of psychotherapy research and was honored for his pioneering research with the Award for Distinguished Scientific Contributions by the American Psychological Association in 1956.

The person-centered approach, his own unique approach to understanding personality and human relationships, found wide application in various domains such as psychotherapy and counseling (client-centered therapy), education (student-centered learning), organizations, and other group settings. For his professional work he was bestowed the Award for Distinguished Professional Contributions to Psychology by the APA in 1972. Towards the end of his life Carl Rogers was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize for his work with national intergroup conflict in South Africa and Northern Ireland. In an empirical study by Haggbloom et al. (2002) using six criteria such as citations and recognition, Rogers was found to be the sixth most eminent psychologist of the 20th century and second, among clinicians, only to Sigmund Freud.

Abraham Maslow

Abraham Harold Maslow (April 1, 1908 – June 8, 1970) was an American psychologist. He is noted for his conceptualization of a "hierarchy of human needs", and is considered the founder of humanistic psychology.

Maslow created to explain his theory, which he called the Hierarchy of Needs, is a pyramid depicting the levels of human needs, psychological and physical. When a human being ascends the steps of the pyramid he reaches self actualization. At the bottom of the pyramid are the “Basic needs or Physiological needs” of a human being, food and water and sex. The next level is “Safety Needs: Security, Order, and Stability.” These two steps are important to the physical survival of the person. Once individuals have basic nutrition, shelter and safety, they attempt to accomplish more. The third level of need is “Love and Belonging,” which are psychological needs; when individuals have taken care of themselves physically, they are ready to share themselves with others. The fourth level is achieved when individuals feel comfortable with what they have accomplished. This is the “Esteem” level, the level of success and status (from self and others). The top of the pyramid, “Need for Self-actualization,” occurs when individuals reach a state of harmony and understanding. (The Developing Person through the Life Span, (1983)

Henry Morrison

Henry Clinton Morrison (1871-1945) was the New Hampshire state superintendent of public instruction from 1904 to 1917, superintendent of University of Chicago Laboratory Schools from 1919 to 1928, professor of education, and an author.

Morrison entered as the teaching principal at Milford High School from 1895 through 1899. He taught mathematics, Latin, history, and science but became known for his ability to deal with misbehaved students. The reputation Morrison built led to the offer to be the superintendent of schools for Portsmouth, New Hampshire from 1899-1904. Morrison married Marion Locke and the two had three sons together.

In 1904, Morrison was promoted to New Hampshire State Superintendent of Public Instruction. He held this position for thirteen years and during that time he examined and approved all schools throughout the state, served on the state medical board, examined teachers, and supervised attendance and child labor laws. During the year of 1908, he was elected president of the American Institute of Instruction. In 1912, the dean of the School of Education at the University of Chicago, asked him to be the guest speaker for a summer session in Chicago. Morrison later became great friends with the dean, Charles Hubbard Judd, which proved to be important later in Morrison’s career. From 1917 to 1919 Morrison lived in Connecticut and took a position on the Connecticut State Board of Education.

John Dewey

John Dewey (October 20, 1859 – June 1, 1952) was an American philosopher, psychologist, and educational reformer whose ideas have been influential in education and social reform. Dewey, along with Charles Sanders Peirce and William James, is recognized as one of the founders of the philosophy of pragmatism and of functional psychology. He was a major representative of the progressive and progressive populist philosophies of schooling during the first half of the 20th century in the USA.

Although Dewey is known best for his publications concerning education, he also wrote about many other topics, including experience, nature, art, logic, inquiry, democracy, and ethics.

Dewey's educational theories were presented in My Pedagogic Creed (1897), The School and Society (1900), The Child and the Curriculum (1902), Democracy and Education (1916) and Experience and Education (1938). Throughout these writings, several recurrent themes ring true; Dewey continually argues that education and learning are social and interactive processes, and thus the school itself is a social institution through which social reform can and should take place. In addition, he believed that students thrive in an environment where they are allowed to experience and interact with the curriculum, and all students should have the opportunity to take part in their own learning.

In addition to his ideas regarding what education is and what effect it should have on society, Dewey also had specific notions regarding how education should take place within the classroom. In The Child and the Curriculum (1902), Dewey discusses two major conflicting schools of thought regarding educational pedagogy. The first is centered on the curriculum and focuses almost solely on the subject matter to be taught. Dewey argues that the major flaw in this methodology is the inactivity of the student; within this particular framework, “the child is simply the immature being who is to be matured; he is the superficial being who is to be deepened” . He argues that in order for education to be most effective, content must be presented in a way that allows the student to relate the information to prior experiences, thus deepening the connection with this new knowledge.

Friedrich Froebel

Friedrich Wilhelm August Fröbel (or Froebel) ( April 21, 1782 – June 21, 1852) was a German pedagogue, a student of Pestalozzi who laid the foundation for modern education based on the recognition that children have unique needs and capabilities. He developed the concept of the “kindergarten”, and also coined the word now used in German and English.

Fröbel’s idea of the kindergarten found appeal, but its spread in Germany was thwarted by the Prussian government, whose education ministry banned it on 7 August 1851 as “atheistic and demagogic” for its alleged “destructive tendencies in the areas of religion and politics”. Other states followed suit. The reason for the ban, however, seems to have been a confusion of names. Fröbel’s nephew Karl Fröbel had written and published Weibliche Hochschulen und Kindergärten (“Female Colleges and Kindergartens”), which apparently met with some disapproval. To quote Karl August Varnhagen von Ense, “The stupid minister von Raumer has decreed a ban on kindergartens, basing himself on a book by Karl Fröbel. He is confusing Friedrich and Karl Fröbel.”