The Role of Curriculum Concepts in Shaping Education - Essay Example

The Role of Curriculum Concepts in Shaping Education INTRODUCTION Curriculum is a broad-based educational domain that encompasses instructional content, planning and development, implementation, evaluation, and instructional strategies. Curriculum design involves a decision-making process that determines the content and scope of education. Instruction involves methodology that determines how curriculum should be taught. The general scope of curriculum encompasses the following educational parameters: * education activities/lessons/classroom activities (Instructional) * course content by subject matter (content) * the personal experiences of students in the classroom (experiential) * educational and learning objectives (scope and sequence) * educational outcome based on assessment (competence) There are multiple conceptions of curriculum that range from theoretical to practical approaches. The fundamental basis that defines the way an individual approaches curriculum may be defined as curriculum concept. These conceptual foundations have many sources, including personal and educational experiences, personal philosophy and values. The basic conception of curriculum represents the foundation for all other areas of curriculum design, development and implementation. Many practitioners believe that curriculum development originates in content areas that are taught to the students. Other educators feel that the organization stage is the primary stage of curriculum development that deals with the conceptualisation of curriculum and its educational goals (Print, 1993).. . My personal conception of curriculum involves the humanistic conception as it applies to special needs education. I believe that this curriculum conception has the greatest relevance to the education of children with special needs. Curriculum conceptions are an integral component of curriculum presage, which involves a wholistic assessment of the many areas of inquiry necessary to formulate curriculum design and content (Print, 1993). Conceptions of curriculum reflect fundamental personal attitudes and perceptions about the nature of education and its relationship to curriculum content (Stenhouse, 1975). The six basic concepts of curriculum are: 1. Academic rationalist conception. This conception of curriculum involves the traditionalist viewpoint that the main purpose of curriculum is to deepen one?s intellectual understanding of important areas of academic study. It concerns itself with the cognitive process as well as in providing educational materials that enhance the learning process and mastery of designated subject areas. Academic rationalist approaches are teacher-centered and emphasise content mastery of traditionally important subject areas. The academic rationalist conception of curriculum affects education by specifying a major emphasis on traditional curriculum content. This conception of curriculum does not address social questions or current issues so much as placing a heavy emphasis on the core content of traditional academic disciplines. This is reflected also in outcomes measurements which generally involve traditional content-based examinations. 2. Cognitive processes conception. This conception of curriculum involves an emphasis on the learning process that facilitates the acquisition of knowledge. It is a process oriented conception that focuses on the development of cognitive skills such as critical thinking and problem solving approaches that can be applied to diverse areas of curriculum. The subject area serves as a framework for developing broad-based cognitive skills. The educational impact of the cognitive processes conception is exemplified by the inclusion of problem solving approaches and skills mastery into curriculum content. These approaches often involve group activities and individualized approaches to critical thinking and the development of problem solving reasoning tools. These areas receive a greater focus than specific course content in this curriculum conception. 3. Humanistic conception. The humanistic conception embraces the notion that the value of education lies in its role in personal development. This conception is rooted in psychological principles that argue that the most important outcome of education is its role in self-actualisation. The curriculum focus stresses an integration of content and a learning process that emphasises cognitive and psychosocial areas of individual development. These goals may be achieved by experiential learning. The humanistic conception has shaped educational curriculum profoundly where it has been implemented as it addresses the development of the individual rather than the specific mastery of course content. The purpose of education is seen as an integration of the cognitive, psychosocial and motor domains that define the individual from a wholistic perspective. The curriculum is flexible, highly integrated with respect to content and attempts to personalize the learning experience. This is in marked contrast to the academic rationalist conception in which the content is the driving force that defines curriculum. In the humanistic conception, the self-actualisation of the individual is the educational goal. 4. Social reconstructionist conception. This conception of curriculum has the goal of enriching society through the educational process. Social reform is a major element of this conception. The curriculum stresses social and cultural content areas and may focus on the problems of society as major problems to be addressed by the educational process. Social reconstructionist conceptions of curriculum influence education by stressing content that involves the needs and issues of society. The social perspective is given the greatest weight in curriculum design and development. Science curriculum, for example, would address issues such as global warming in the context of teaching basic principles. Historical perspectives are viewed in the context of current geopolitical events. This approach stresses individual involvement in issues and in constructing problem solving approaches to address societal needs. 5. Technological conception. The use of technology as a learning tool is a central component of this curriculum conception, which emphasizes the understanding of technological advancements and their application to education. Technological conceptions of curriculum emphasise the implementation of technology as an educational tool as well as comprising an important focus of education as technological development is perceived to be critical to solving problems and making advances in many areas of inquiry. Hands-on approaches are an important educational approach and there is overlap with the cognitive processes conceptions of curriculum in this area. 6. Eclectic conception. This conception of curriculum reflects a viewpoint in which elements of more than one conception are integrated to generate a more unique perspective on the educational process. The eclectic conception may integrate different components of the five major areas of curriculum conception to generate unique conceptualizations of the educational process. For this reason, eclectic conceptions of curriculum shape education by incorporating diverse curriculum approaches in novel ways that may be highly individualised in regard to their application and implementation. According to Print, the study of conceptions of curriculum helps to provide educators with a greater understanding of the fundamental sources of curriculum foundations. This study also helps educators formulate their own perceptions and attitudes regarding curriculum conception (Print, 1993). Each of these curriculum conceptions has worthwhile components as each contributes to the model of a well-educated individual. The ideally educated individual is one with significant mastery of important academic areas, but who also possess the ability to think critically, engage in creative problem solving and address new areas of study independently (Rowe, 2004). Likewise, the well-educated individual should understand the principles of modern technology, their applications and should be able to utilize important technologies appropriately. The education process should instill humanistic ideals of self worth and play a role in facilitating self-actualisation and personal achievement (Lovat & Schofield, 1998). Finally, the education process ultimately should uplift society by providing individuals with an understanding of societal needs and the motivation to endeavor in these areas of concern (Lovat, 2000). In the area of special needs education, I feel that the humanistic conception of curriculum is best adapted to the specialized educational needs of this group of children Special needs education is, by definition, a specialized educational areas in which curriculum standards must constantly be adapted and adjusted to meet the unique educational requirements of each individual child. Moreover, many children with special needs require attention to developing their feelings of self worth and the sense that, despite their difficulties and limitations, they are valuable individuals capable of making unique contributions to society. I believe that the humanistic conception of curriculum most closely reflects my personal philosophy of education. It is essential that educators reflect on conceptions of curriculum, as these perspectives play a critical role in determining one?s educational priorities (Lovat, 1992). Many prominent educators have stated that one?s personal conceptions of education and curriculum have a great effect on the educational process (Smith & Lovat, 2003; Wilson, 2003). The foundations of curriculum conceptions may be found in psychology, sociology and philosophy (Pinar, 2004). One?s personal beliefs about knowledge impact all areas of education, including teaching, curriculum, and criteria for assessment (Lovat, 1994). These instructional beliefs are ultimately translated into an educational paradigm encompassing curriculum design, education standards and assessment criteria (Hirst, 1993). This awareness of the importance of personal beliefs and perspectives must be incorporated into any program for educational reform or curriculum design (Newmann, 1996). According to Lovat, the personal belief system of teachers plays a powerful role in determining their effectiveness as teachers (Lovat, 1995). The role of the teacher involves an essential link between the student and the educational structure: the curriculum, standards and criteria for accomplishment (Lovat & Smith, 2003). The rapidly changing educational system requires that teachers have a well-formed philosophy of education and knowledge. The foundations of personal conceptions of curriculum have been defined in the context of axiology, the philosophy of value (Print, 2003). Ultimately, one conception of curriculum encompasses a value system that frames one?s perspective. Additional philosophical foundations for curriculum conception include ontology, the nature of reality and epistemology, the study of knowledge. These are among the theoretical underpinnings that drive essential conceptions of curriculum (Print, 2003; Moore & Young, 2001). A unified curriculum approach that was developed in conjunction with educators and curriculum specialists is the Victorian Essential learning Standards (VELS) (ACDE, 2001). This standardized curriculum incorporates three essential areas into a core curriculum that covers Prep to year 10. These core areas are: 1. Physical, personal and social learning; 2. Discipline based learning; 3. Interdisciplinary learning. Each of these core areas are further defined by domains and dimensions designed to cover all areas of curriculum. The domains of the first core curriculum are health/physical education, interpersonal development, personal learning, and civic and citizenship. These domains embrace the social dimension of education and are designed to enhance self-worth, inter-personal relationships and awareness and concern for society. This core curriculum area bears similarity to the humanistic conception of curriculum and, to a slight extent, the social reconstructionist conception as these conceptions are also concerned with the development of the individual and an awareness of social needs. The second core area of VELS involves discipline based learning and its domains include the major academic disciplines including the arts, languages, the humanities and the sciences. The curriculum dimensions involve mastery of curriculum content in these areas. This second core area most resembles the Academic rationalist curriculum conception, in that both emphasise curriculum content and mastery of traditional academic disciplines. The third core area of VELS involves interdisciplinary learning and includes domains in the areas of communication, Design/creativity and technology, information/communications technology (ICT) and thinking processes. The dimensions embrace creativity, critical thinking, reflection, technological competence, analytic skills and presentation. This curriculum area shares a similar focus to the curriculum cognitive processes conception, which shares the educational goal of process and integration. It also includes some aspects of the technological conception in its focus on ICT. VELS also includes guidelines for the education of students with disabilities. These guidelines are established at both the state and national level and reflect an adaptation of curriculum standards to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Thus, each of the three core curriculum areas is represented in the disabilities guidelines. The core focus is that of inclusive education principles and practices. The implementation requires a whole school curriculum plan that is adapted to the individual with special needs using an individualized learning plan. VELS was initiated in 2003 by the Minister for Education and Training to implement the Blueprint for Government Schools. The Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority developed a new, centralized curriculum for all schools in the state that would reflect national and international educational standards (Gill, 2004). These standards of achievement were to be assessed at specific intervals of the educational process. VELS was established as the official curriculum in 2006. The implementation of VELS reflects an increasing centralization of education in Australia, a process that began in the 1990s. This trend towards centralisation is reflected in standardized curricula, standardized educational goals and assessment criteria. There are many positive benefits to centralized curriculum approaches, in that they ensure that acceptable high standard educational principles are maintained throughout the state so that all children receive a high quality education (Louden et al, 2004). The curriculum principles that underscore these centralized curriculum standards are assimilated from many reliable resources to ensure high quality education practices in all areas. The centralisation of curriculum standards has also effected high quality education principles for special needs education (Smith & Lovat, 2003). These curriculum guidelines ensure that all children, regardless of individual differences, receive equivalent opportunity to achieve educational milestones. The downside of centralisation is that it embodies uniform curriculum requirements that may not reflect the best curriculum standards for individual local schools (Lovat & Schofield, 2004). This is especially true for special needs education, where the individual and the community may work best together at the local level to provide curriculum standards that are best suited to individual and community needs. I feel that the curriculum standards as established by VELS requires a more standardized curriculum approach to special needs education than favoured by the humanistic conception of curriculum. Each of the three core curriculum standards is included in the special needs curriculum guidelines. While I believe that it is necessary to provide curriculum opportunities in each of these areas for special needs children, the humanistic conception has a focus that emphasizes the individual and the personal in ways that I feel are extremely well-suited to special education curriculum goals. Moreover, the centralized curriculum focus, exemplified by VELS, reflects a standardized approach to curriculum and assessment that may not best serve the needs of special education programs. In this area, a localised curriculum standard adapted to individual and community requirements may be a more suitable curriculum paradigm. One of the most important issues in the education of special needs children involves the question of inclusive education (Darling-Hammond, 1997). From the perspective of a humanistic conception of curriculum, I believe that every effort should be made to include special needs children in an inclusive, mainstream educational setting. The goal of self-actualisation is more likely to be attained in an educational setting where the child is surrounded by all types of children (Hargreaves, 1994). In the inclusive classroom, the child learns to accommodate his disability in a realistic environment where children learn to respect and validate each other regardless of abilities or disabilities. Inclusion should not be mandated, however, from a centralized curriculum authority. Each child is unique and some children may benefit from a more specialized learning environment. This is an important issue in special needs education and one?s curriculum conception may play an important part in constructing one?s viewpoint in regard to inclusive education. From the humanistic conception, inclusion represents an important educational goal. Another important issue that applies to the humanistic conception of curriculum and special education involves the perceived role of education in addressing the wholistic development of special needs children and the acquistion of knowledge and skills required for real world accomplishment. Special needs children are a very diverse group; each child has unique issues that must be addressed to facilitate development in all areas. Does the humanistic approach and its focus on the individual meet the curriculum content needs of this group? Is the humanist conception so specialized that it is impossible to measure educational outcome in a meaningful way? These are important questions that may affect the success of humanist conceptions in fulfilling educational goal in special needs children. While I believe that this conception addresses many issues of special needs children, its focus on the individual may impede the successful implementation of important curriculum standards of achievement, which constitute important goals of special needs education. CONCLUSION In conclusion, my personal conception of curriculum involves a humanistic viewpoint that has significant application to special needs education. The humanistic conception focuses on the individual and provides a flexible framework for curriculum design that addresses the unique needs of each child. References ACDE (2001) New Learning: A Charter for Australian Education, Australian Council of Deans of Education, Canberra Darling-Hammond, L. (1997) The Right to Learn: a Blueprint for Creating Schools that Work. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass. Gill, J. (2004). Having Our Work Cut Out! 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