Curriculum and Shaping of Education - Essay Example

Curriculum and Shaping of Education Since education is an orderly and deliberate effort, some plan is needed to guide this effort. The term curriculum generally refers to this plan. The way in which curriculum is defined reflects value judgments regarding the number of education. The definition used also influences how curriculum will be planned and utilized. Bobbitt’s (1918) The Curriculum has usually presented a particular conception of the curriculum. Many of these conceptions have contained similar elements, if not phraseology, and some efforts at their classification have been made. Lewis and Arthur (1972) identified definition of curriculum in the following categories: course of study, intended learning outcomes, intended opportunities for engagement learning opportunities provided, learner’s actual engagement, and learner’s actual experiences. They defined curriculum as “a set of intentions about opportunities for engagement of persons-to-be-educated with other persons and with things (all bearers of information, processes, techniques, and values) in certain arrangements of time and space.” Tanner and Tanner (1980) traced the history of curriculum definitions showing that “curriculum has been variously defined as: 1) the cumulative tradition of organized knowledge; 2) modes of thoughts; 3) race experience; 4) guided experience; 5) a planned learning environment; 6) cognitive/affective content and process; 7) an instructional plan; 8) instructional ends or outcomes; and 9) a technological systems of production.” My own analysis of past and present concepts of the curriculum benefits from and relates to those just cited but employs somewhat different categories. i. The Curriculum as Subject and Subject Matter Historically and currently, the dominant concepts of the curriculum is that of subjects and subject matter therein to be taught by teachers and learned by students. In high schools and colleges, the term curriculum has been and still is widely used to refer to the set of subjects or courses offered, and also to those required or recommended or grouped for other purposes; thus, terms as the college preparatory curriculum, science curriculum, and premedical curriculum are commonly used. In curriculum terminology, program of studies is more properly used in these connections. Despite efforts for over a half century to achieve broader and different curriculum foci, the concept of curriculum as subject matter persists as the basis of the dominant curriculum design. It was central to and emphasized by the wave of curriculum development in the subject fields that began in the 1950s and was stimulated by the Russian advance into out space and subsequent pressure to improve American education. The concept of the curriculum as subjects and subject matter has been reflected in a plethora of theories relating to principles for selection, sequence, and grade placement of subject matter. Comprehensive state merits of the theory underlying curriculum planning for a subject curriculum are of relatively recent origin, perhaps because the process was so long unchallenged and in a general sense is well known. Curriculum planning for a subject curriculum follows a fairly common formula: 1. Use export judgment (based on various social and educational factory to determine what subjects to teach). 2. Use some criterion matter for particular populations (grouped, for example, by state. District age, or grade) and subjects. 3. Plan and implement appropriate methods of instruction to ensure mastery of the subject matter selected. Even with the more sophisticated theories and processes new now available, we reject as inadequate any conception of the curriculum which confines education to the fields of organized knowledge, earner, when subject planning and materials development were well done that they are today, curriculum theorizing generally tended to be focused on moving away from the subject design. ii. The Curriculum as Experience The concept of the curriculum as the experiences of the learner, including those utilizing organized subject matter, was introduced in early curriculum publications. Caswell and Campbell (1938) embraced the experiences concept of the curriculum as they observed the sterility of instruction based on textbooks and courses of study outlining subject matters. In their popular Curriculum Development (1935), they gave this concept wide exposure, holding the school curriculum “to be composed of all the experiences children have under the guidance of teachers”. Many subsequent publications utilized similar definitions. The discrepancy between the planned curriculum and the experienced curriculum continues. Goodlad, after visiting hundreds of classrooms, identified four curriculums: formal curriculum (as set forth by the state and local school boards); perceived curriculum (what teachers say they are trying to do); observed curriculum (what observers see when present in the classroom); and experiential curriculum (what the students are perceiving and reacting to). This disparity between the formal or perceived curriculum and the observed or experiential curriculum is symptomatic of separating means and ends in education. The ends in education are responses to the question, “What shall be taught?” while the means of education are responses to the question, “How shall it be taught?” When means are separated from ends, the curriculum experienced may vary from the curriculum planned. iii. The Curriculum as Objectives Early efforts at curriculum improvement made much use of aims and objectives as bases for curriculum planning. The scientific management approach used in business and industry at the turn of this century encouraged Bobbitt to apply scientific principals to the curriculum filed. By applying such procedures, Bobbitt determined curriculum objectives based on skill and knowledge needed by adults. Bobbitt defined curriculum as “that series of things which children and youth must do and experience by way of developing ability to do the things well that make up the affairs of adult life….” Tylor (1949) contributed a model that systematized this approach through the Eight-Year Study of school college relations and his later publications. Instruction tended to be subsumed under curriculum, although the phrase curriculum and instruction was commonly employed to include both curriculum designs and instructional strategies. However, methods courses tended to remain apart from curriculum courses in teacher education and certification. A series of research studies in instruction paralleled the search for new curriculum content beginning in the 1950s, and many writers began to separate more definitely the study of curriculum and the study of instruction. One result was a definition of curriculum as consisting solely of objectives or ends and instruction as the means of their attainment. This view of the curriculum was clearly stated Johnson (1970): Curriculum is concerned not with what students will do in the learning situation, but with what they wilt learn (or be able to do) as a consequence of what they do. Curriculum is concerned with what results, not with what happens. And it stands in an anticipatory relationship to the learning process not in a reportorial relationship, after the tact. It deals with expectations or intentions, and more specifically, with the learning outcomes intended to be achieved through instruction, that is through the experiences provided through what end what learners do” (p. 25) The concept of the curriculum as objectives to be achieved has had a profound impact on education. It provides the rationale for competency based education, which has historically served as the model for vocational education. The competency-based model is being used in many professional schools and is being legislated in several states for K-12 programs. iv. The Curriculum as Planned Opportunities Three conceptions of the curriculum have been considered: subject matter, experiences, and objectives. Clearly all three play a role in education – subject matter provides the knowledge core of education, learners have experiences, and stating objectives is important for many curriculum plans. However, to limit definition of curriculum to any one of these three conceptions would restrict thinking and block consideration of important alternatives. An adequate definition of curriculum should encompass subject matter, experience and objectives. The definition should also provide for a plan or set of intentions, since we regard curriculum as anticipatory or intended. A curriculum plan includes specific plans for what learning opportunities are anticipated. It is focused on, but not confined to, aims and objectives. The definition of curriculum needs to be broad enough to cover learners of any age learning in any setting. The important role of the learner in the planning phase as well as the implementation phase of education should be recognized. Tylor (1977) emphasized the importance of learner participation when be commented on changes he would make in the four basic curriculum questions he posed originally in 1949. After affirming that the questions were still valid, he commented: “I would give much greater emphasis now to careful consideration of the implications for curriculum development of the active role of the student in the learning process. I would also give much greater emphasis to a comprehensive examination of the no-school areas of student learning in developing curriculum”. (p. 37) Tylor concluded, “Where possible and appropriate, the students themselves should participate in the planning and evolution of the curriculum.” Green (1977), in an article on the artistic-aesthetic and the curriculum, emphasized the importance of “moving young people to self-reflectiveness and critical awareness.” Green desired “…. The anesthetic character of so many institutions in our culture, including schools” and social structures “…. Pressing down on human beings and rendering them passive; gazers, not seers; hearers, not listeners.” (p. 283). Arts Curricula in Australian School The curriculum Corporation produced in 1994 a national framework document titled A Statement on The Arts for Australian Schools followed in 1997 by Profiling the Arts. These volumes form part of a series of statement and profile documents produced across key learning areas (Australia Council for Arts, 2007). The publication of this series has a significant impact on the educational history of Australia. In continuation of this publication, state, territory and Australian Government ministers of education met as the Ministerial Council on Education, Employment, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) in Adelaide in April 1999. In this meeting, the ministers unanimously endorsed the Adelaide Declaration on National Goals for Schooling in the Twenty-First Century. Through this declaration, a foundation for action among state and territory governments, schooling authorities and all those who seek the best possible education outcome for youth was established. This foundation covers all eight key learning areas, of which the arts is one. The importance of arts is evident from the fact that the students receiving arts education are confident, creative and productive and this is the major aim of high quality education rich in arts and creativity. The importance of Arts in Educational Curricula The importance of arts as laid down in the discussion paper for the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority as theoretical background for development of the Victorian Essential Learning Standards is that these are unique, expressive, communicative forms that help the students understand themselves and their place in the world. Besides, the arts engage us the students in critical and creative thinking through the exploration of concepts and complex ideas. Arts foster creativity and imagination in problem solving and challenge personal perceptions and help in developing critical awareness of others’ ways of viewing and experiencing the world. Through the education of arts students are involved in developing an understanding of the social, cultural, political, economic and historical contexts and constructs of arts works and describing the various purposes, functions and audiences of arts works. Further the arts education intends at interpreting and evaluating student’s own works and others within cultural contexts and helps them in analyzing the ways arts works reflect, construct, reinforce and challenge personal and cultural values. VELS approach to Arts and Design The main approach of VELS is design and technology processes which guides the students work through design and technology processes when they are designing and producing products and systems. This is reflected in the three dimensions that comprise Design, Creativity and Technology (VCAA bulletin, 2007). The VELS does not intend that students will necessarily work through these in a linear way, it expects that they will work though a range of interrelated processes while addressing problems and challenges posed in design briefs. Therefore, most of the elements within the dimensions should be addressed in a unit of work. Pathways to VCE, VCE VET and VCAL The curriculum designed by the VELS is that as students approach the end of the compulsory years of schooling they begin to make choices about their preferred areas of and pathways for learning. It is required that students should choose studies from the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) or recognized vocational training through either Vocational Education Training (VET) or the Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning (VCAL). As the guidelines provided, the Arts domain provides a foundation which Years 9 and 10 students can use as a basis for further education and training involving arts learning VESL, 2007). The Arts domain provides opportunities for students to create and critically explore visual culture, individual arts disciplines including art, dance, drama, media, music and visual communication as well as performances in contemporary and traditional genres, and arts works that involve the fusion of traditional techniques and forms with digital media. These studies can lead to a range of tertiary and vocational studies, such as those associated with multimedia, fine art, graphic and fashion design, the music industry, film and television, theatre and advertising. The focus on areas of specialization, development of a personal style, justification and refinement of the content and aesthetic qualities of students’ own works in the Creating and making standard at Level 6 links with the ‘making’, ‘presenting’ and ‘performing’ areas of study in each of the VCE Arts studies. In the Exploring and responding dimension students focus on critical analysis, interpretation and description of the stylistic, technical, expressive and aesthetic features of their own works and works created by a range of other artists. The knowledge, skills and behaviors that students develop through learning in this dimension inform the theoretical aspects of the work they undertake in VCE units. The interdependent nature of the two dimensions in Level 6 is reflected in each of the VCE Arts studies where personal practice is informed by study of the works and practice/working methods of other artists. Conclusion This essay has presented the fundamental concepts of curriculum developments which impact shaping the education. These concepts are: a) the curriculum as subjects and subject matter; 2) the curriculum as experiences; 3) the curriculum as objectives and 4) the curriculum as planned opportunities – for learning. The provision of arts curricula has been made significantly by the VELS which states that through the practice and learning of arts, students are more confident, expressive and productive. Arts also help the students to know themselves and the world around them. The concepts of curriculum development seems to have been fulfilled through the curriculum policies laid down by the Victorian Essential Learning Standards through there are some reservation too. References Franklin Bobbitt. The Curriculum (Borton: Hougbton Mifflin Company, 1918) Arthur J. Lewis and Alice Miol, Supervision for Improved Instruction: New Challenges, New Resonses (Belmont, Calif: Wadsworth Publication Company, Inc, 1972). P. 27. Hoks L. Caswell and Doak Campbell, Curriculum Development (New York: American Book Company, 1938), p. 89 Ralph Tyler, “Desirable Content for a Curriculum Development Syllabus Today,” in Alter Molnar and John A. Zaborik (eds.), Curriculum Theory (Washington, D.C. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development. 1977), p. 37 Marine Greene, “The Artistic-Aesthetic and Curriculum,” Curriculum Inquiry, 6 (1977): 283. VELS Sample Programs Project, Bulletin P-10 available online at www.vcaa.vic.edu.au last accessed 21st November, 2007. Arts Curricula in Australian Schools, available online at http://www.ozco.gov.au/council_priorities/education/ last accessed on 21st November, 2007 Read More