Principles of Curriculum Development

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• Principles of Curriculum Development
• Tyler, Ralph Sections from Basic Principles of
  Curriculum and Instruction (U of Chicago Press,
  1969).
• Schwab, Joseph J. The Practical A Language
  for Curriculum and The Practical Translation
  Into Curriculum, from Science, Curriculum, and
  Liberal Education Selected Essays (U of Chicago
  Press, 1978), pages 275-321 and 365-383.
• National Research Council Designing Mathematics
  or Science Curriculum Programs A Guide to Using
  the Standards, 1999.

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I. Overview of Tylers Model of Curriculum
Development

• Tylers approach to curriculum design is
  related to four fundamental questions that need
  to be answered in developing any curriculum and
  plan of instruction.

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• 1. What educational purposes should the school
  seek to attain?
• 2. What educational experiences can be provided
  that are likely to attain these purposes?
• 3. How can these educational experiences be
  effectively organized?
• 4. How can we determine whether these purposes
  are being attained?

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Therefore the major components of Tylers Model
of Curriculum Development are

• State objectives
• Select learning activities
• Organize learning activities
• Develop means of evaluation

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• Tyler stated that objectives should be very
  simple (behavioral objectives).

Objectives should state a. what is to be
learned b. what changes should occur in students
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Other big ideas from Tyler

• All schools should develop their own educational
  philosophy and from this, objectives should be
  derived.
• Ideas from psychology of learning should be used
  in developing effective curricula.
• Curriculum works as a system learning
  experiences support objectives which support
  philosophy.

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II. Overview of Schwabs Ideas of Curriculum
Development

• Schwabs approach deals with the practical rather
  than the theoretical. Curriculum decisions do
  not require a curriculum theory.

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Aspects of Schwabs practical approach include

• Changes should be made by piecemeal improvement,
  not by major overhaul (if it isnt broke, dont
  fix it).
• Determine the whole array of possible effects of
  proposed changes. Diagnose the ills of the
  curriculum.

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More on Schwabs practical approach

• Deliberation is essential the careful
  consideration of a variety of alternative courses
  of action in specific situations.
• The deliberation process requires a sophisticated
  understanding of the existing practices and their
  effects.

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Example of the deliberative process

• Curriculum development team begins with a set of
  beliefs about content, students, their needs, and
  how they learn, about schools, classrooms,
  teachers, society and its needs, and about images
  of good teaching. They propose courses of
  action, discuss pros and cons of each proposal
  then make a judgment about best courses of action.

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Curriculum building involves

• Deliberation considering multiple facets of the
  learner, the classroom, the teacher and society.
  
• Focus on the particulars of the situation

• Consideration of a variety of alternatives
• Judgment --implies that we need to ask ourselves
  what our purposes are and how we might achieve
  them.

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National Research CouncilDesigning Mathematics
or Science Curriculum Programs A Guide for Using
Mathematics Science Education Standards

• Components of Coherent Science Education
  Curriculum Programs
• Goals
• Content Standards
• Curriculum Framework
• Instructional Materials that Support the
  Standards
• Teaching Strategies
• Assessment