THOUGHTFUL WAYS TO DESIGN SCHOOL CURRICULUM:
Dave Ikiedei Asei
26/01/2023
Matters of education should be of interest to every person, parents, guardians, students, government, private educational managers and the general public. The reason is that education is a life time thing, so one way or the other, one is involved in education. That is why we should be keenly interested in matters concerning education.
CURRICULUM AND DESIGN:
Teachers design each curriculum with a specific educational objective in mind. Although improving student learning is the primary goal of curriculum design, there are other drivers as well. For example, keeping in mind the curricula for elementary and high school while designing a middle school curriculum helps to ensure that learning objectives are coordinated and built upon one another from one level to the next. Without taking into account prior knowledge from elementary school or upcoming knowledge in high school, a middle school curriculum may seriously affect the students
WHO MAKES THE CURRICULUM?
Let's review what Karen Schweitzer had to say about the curriculum. Curriculum design, according to him, is the purposeful, planned, and systematic organization of curriculum (instructional blocks) inside a class or course. To put it another way, it's a system for teachers to set up their lesson plans. When teachers create a curriculum, they select what will be done, who will execute it, and what schedule to follow.
WHY DO WE CREATE CURRENT WORK?
Every curriculum is developed with a certain educational objective in mind. Although improving student learning is the primary goal of curriculum design, there are other drivers as well. For example, keeping in mind the curricula for elementary and high school while designing a middle school curriculum helps to ensure that learning objectives are coordinated and built upon one another from one level to the next. Without taking into account prior knowledge from elementary school or upcoming knowledge in high school, a middle school curriculum may seriously affect the students.
THEMES FOR CURRICULUM DESIGN:
There are three different kinds of design forms:
a subject-centered, student-centered approach that emphasizes problem-solving
DESIGN WHILE CONSIDERING THE SUBTLE:
A curriculum that is subject-centered concentrates on a single subject or discipline. A subject-centered curriculum could put a strong emphasis on math or biology, for instance. This method of creating curricula prioritizes the topic over the student. Most K–12 public schools in local school districts and states around the country follow this kind of curriculum.
DESIGN OF A CURRICULUM FOCUSED ON STUDENTS:
A subject-centered curriculum centers on a particular subject or discipline. For example, a subject-centered curriculum may emphasize math or biology. With this approach to curriculum development, the topic takes precedence over the learner. a large majority of
A learner-centered curriculum has varied lesson plans that allow students to select their own tasks, lessons, and activities. Students may be inspired and encouraged to remain interested in the lessons they are learning as a result.
This method of curriculum creation has the problem of being labor-intensive. It is the teacher's responsibility to develop differentiated education that meets the needs of each student's learning and/or identify materials that support that instruction. Teachers might not have the time, expertise, or abilities to develop such a strategy. In order to create curriculum that is learner-centered, teachers must strike a difficult balance between the needs and interests of the students and the standards that must be met.
SOLUTION-FOCUSED CURRICULUM DESIGN:
Problem-centered curriculum design is a type of student-centered design, just as learner-centered design. The main goal of problem-centered curriculum is to educate students how to analyze a situation and find a solution. As a result, students are exposed to real-world problems, which aids in the development of transferrable abilities.
The relevance of the curriculum is increased through problem-centered curriculum design, which also encourages innovation and creativity in the pupils. This method of curriculum design has the issue of not always taking learning styles into account.
This method of curriculum creation has the problem of being labor-intensive. It is the teacher's responsibility to develop differentiated education that meets the needs of each student's learning and/or identify materials that support that instruction. Teachers might not have the time, expertise, or abilities to develop such a strategy. In order to create curriculum that is learner-centered, teachers must strike a difficult balance between the needs and interests of the students and the standards that must be met.
TIPS FOR CURRICULUM DESIGN:
The following suggestions for curriculum design can assist instructors in controlling each phase of the process.
Early on in the process of designing the curriculum, determine the demands of the stakeholders (i.e., the students). This may be accomplished through needs analysis, which entails the gathering and analysis of learner-related data.
This information may include what students already know and what they must know to master a certain subject or skill. Information on the perspectives, qualities, and shortcomings of the learner may also be included.
RESTRICTIONS IN CURRICULUM DESIGN:
One typical restriction that needs to be taken into account is time. The period has a finite number of hours, days, weeks, or months. Learning results will be affected if there is not enough time to give all of the scheduled teaching. In order to accurately assess the sequencing and coherence of training, you might want to consider developing a curriculum map (sometimes referred to as a curriculum matrix).
Visual diagrams or indexes of a curriculum are provided through curriculum mapping. An excellent technique to quickly and readily find any gaps, repetitions, or alignment problems in the sequence of teaching is to analyze a visual depiction of the curriculum. Curriculum maps can be made on paper, online, or using software or services established especially for this purpose.
Determine the teaching strategies that will be applied throughout the course and think about how they will support different learning styles of the students. The instructional design or curriculum design will need to be changed if the teaching techniques are not appropriate for the curriculum.
Establish the assessment procedures that will be utilized to evaluate students, teachers, and the curriculum at the conclusion of the school year and throughout. You may evaluate the curriculum design to see if it is successful or failing. The strengths and weaknesses of the curriculum and accomplishment levels in relation to learning outcomes are two examples of items that should be reviewed.
Continuous and summative evaluation is the most efficient. Keep in mind that creating a curriculum is a continual process that requires modification.
0 Comments