Martes, Agosto 7, 2012

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT SYNTHESIS


CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT SYNTHESIS
 Education is on the frontline of the battle for the Philippine’s future competitiveness. With the help of a good curriculum there will be a productive education. The organization of schooling and further education has long been associated with the idea of a curriculum.  But what actually is curriculum, and how might it be conceptualized?  

As I go on with my master’s class on curriculum development subject. I now understand it’s significant and effect on the product of education. So what is curriculum by the way some say that :

 1. Curriculum is  a body of knowledge to be transmitted.
2. Curriculum as an attempt to achieve certain ends in students - product.
3. Curriculum as process.
4. Curriculum  is a body of knowledge-content and/or subjects.

Many people still equate a curriculum with a syllabus. Basically it means a concise statement or table of the heads of a discourse, the contents of a treatise, the subjects of a series of lectures. A syllabus will not generally indicate the relative importance of its topics or the order in which they are to be studied.  In the form that many of us will have been familiar with it is connected with courses leading to .What we can see in such documents is a series of headings with some additional notes which set out the areas that may be examined. 
 We have a good syllables but the questions is how this syllables is imparted to the teaching skills?..here then comes the role of a teacher to implement what is in the curriculum.
Education in this sense, is the process by which these are transmitted or 'delivered' to students by the most effective methods that can be devised .
In making the curriculum there should be a curriculum leader as what my classmates discussed during the report. The principal as the curriculum leader  in which the principal preparation initiatives rightfully focus attention upon instructional leadership skills. He/she elevates curriculum leadership skills to a new status and principals need support to assume the mantle of curriculum leadership called for today.
 CURRICULUM AS PRODUCT
The dominant modes of describing and managing education are today couched in the productive form.  Education is most often seen as a technical exercise.  Objectives are set, a plan drawn up, then applied, and the outcomes (products) measured. 
It is the work of two American writers Franklin Bobbitt (1918; 1928) and Ralph W. Tyler (1949) that dominate theory and practice within this tradition.  In The Curriculum Bobbitt writes as follows:
The central theory [of curriculum] is simple.  Human life, however varied, consists in the performance of specific activities.  Education that prepares for life is one that prepares definitely and adequately for these specific activities.  However numerous and diverse they may be for any social class they can be discovered.  This requires only that one go out into the world of affairs and discover the particulars of which their affairs consist.  These will show the abilities, attitudes, habits, appreciations and forms of knowledge that men need.  These will be the objectives of the curriculum.  They will be numerous, definite and particularized.  The curriculum will then be that series of experiences which children and youth must have by way of obtaining those objectives.  (1918: 42)
 With the concept of theories of the curriculum theorist and their models  has able to understand more about curriculum .
 The idea of curriculum is hardly new - but the way we understand and theorize it has altered over the years . Several factors affect all curriculum development in meeting the needs of 21st century learners in both organized academic settings and corporation learning center. Blueprinting curriculum development requires selecting learning goals, designing knowledge delivery models while creating assessment methods for individual and group progress.
Factors affecting curriculum development include government norms, which in turn brings other factors into the process. Valid curriculum development requires awareness of the diversity of the target community socially, financially and psychologically.

THE FOLLOWING ARE THE FACTORS THAT INFLUENE CURRICULUM TODAY

1. Political
Politics affect curriculum development in numerous ways.
How politics influences curriculum design and development starts with funding. Both private and public educational institutions rely on funding for hiring personnel, building and maintaining facilities and equipment. All aspects of curriculum depend on local, state and national political standards. From defining goals, interpreting curricular materials to approving examination systems, politics affects curriculum development.

2. Economic

Curriculum developed for in house training in corporations focuses on educating employees for promotions that bring better returns in profits. Nations financing education expect an economic return from educated students contributing to the country's economy with global competition abilities in technical fields. Curriculum content influences learner goals, standards for academic achievement with an underlying influence of the nation's economy.

3. Technological
Technology driven curriculum development is the norm of the 21st century.
The computer technology of the 21st century influences curriculum development at every level of learning. Learning centers and classrooms increasingly provide computers as requisite interaction for studies among students. Technological multimedia use influences educational goals and learning experiences among students. Undergraduate and graduate degrees in computer technology are in increase in popularity.

4. Diversity
Curriculum development affect from diversity opens learning opportunities.
Social diversity including religion, culture and social groupings affects curriculum development because these characteristics influence the types of topics and methods for teaching information. Developing relevant curriculum takes into account society's expectations, accommodating group traditions and promoting equality.


6. Environment
Environment issues affect curriculum development.
World awareness and action toward reversing and ending pollution continues affecting curriculum development. Typical elementary classrooms teach recycling and healthy environmental practices. Higher education in the sciences offers environmentally-focused degrees.

SO WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE CURRICULUM CHANGE AND CURRICULUM INNOVATION?

With curriculum innovation, you would be teaching the subject in a new way, perhaps connected with other activities. For example, if you are teaching about a certain book, like To Kill A Mockingbird, you might have the students learn about the 1950s, about lifestyles of blacks and whites in that particular town, what was going on during that time in the government. If it hasn't been done before, it might be useful to include an simulation of some experience, bring in someone who lived in those times--an experience that will transform the knowledge that the students have. 

A change in curriculum will affect the subjects being taught. An alternative book, like A Time To Kill would be required reading instead. To Kill A Mockingbird might be moved to a reading list for juniors from the freshman year or to the curriculum of another class, such as history.

And curriculum change and curriculum innovation is observed and practice in school institution for additional knowledge. Ad it’s a great way of learning .



Huwebes, Agosto 2, 2012


 The K to 12 Program

The K to 12 Program covers kindergarten and 12 years of basic education (six years of primary education, four years of junior high school, and two years of senior high school [SHS]) to provide sufficient time for mastery of concepts and skills, develop lifelong learners, and prepare graduates for tertiary education, middle-level skills development, employment, and entrepreneurship.


The adoption of the program is in response to the need to improve the competitiveness of our country’s graduates as the ten-year basic education cycle is seen as inadequate for work and higher education. In fact, overseas Filipino workers are not automatically recognized as professional  in other countries that view the ten-year education program as insufficient. The Philippines is the only country in Asia and is one of only three countries  in the world with a ten-year basic education cycle. 

A.   Salient Features

1. Universal Kindergarten Education. Kindergarten has now been integrated into the basic education system to ensure that all grade 1 students are ready for academic learning. Universal kindergarten started in SY 2011–2012 with a budget of P2.3 billion and was made mandatory starting SY 2012–2013 through the signing of Republic Act No. 10157 entitled “An Act Institutionalizing the Kindergarten Education into the Basic Education System and Appropriating Funds Therefor” on January 20, 2012.

In SY 2012–2013, an estimated 2.3 million five-year-old children will enter kindergarten, of which 1.7 million (74 percent) will be served by public schools.

2. Mother Tongue-Based Multilingual Education.

 The mother tongue will be the medium of instruction from kindergarten to grade 3. This includes the following: Tagalog, Kapampangan, Pangasinense, Iloko, Bikol, Cebuano, Hiligaynon, Waray, Tausug, Maguindanaoan, Maranao, and Chabacano. Medium of instruction will be English and Filipino starting grade 4.

3. Core Academic Areas  The core academic areas include Math; Filipino; English; Araling Panlipunan; Edukasyon sa Pagpapakatao; and Music, Arts, Physical Education, and Health (MAPEH). These are based on the College Readiness Standards of the Commission on Higher Education and are equivalent to the courses offered under the General Education Curriculum of Higher Education Institutions.

Science will be taught in grade 3, but its concepts will be integrated in other subjects like Health (under MAPEH), Math, and Languages in grades 1 and 2. Edukasyong Pangtahanan at Pangkabuhayan will be taught starting in grade 4. Technology and Livelihood Education and technical–vocational specializations, consistent with the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority training regulations, will start in grade 7.
4. Specializations. The additional two years (grades 11 and 12) or SHS will allow students to choose among academic, technical–vocational, or sports and arts tracks depending on their interest, the community needs, and the results of their skills assessment. The SHS will allow mastery of core competencies for lifelong learning and preparedness for work, higher education, middle-level skills development, or entrepreneurship.

B.   Implementation and Transition Management

Program implementation will be in phases starting this June for SY 2012–2013. Grade 1 entrants in SY 2012–2013 will be the first batch to fully undergo the program, and incoming first-year high school students (or grade 7) in SY 2012–2013 will be the first to undergo the junior high school curriculum. To prepare teachers for the new curriculum, a nationwide summer training program for about 140,000 grades 1 and 7 public school teachers will be held in May. The Department of Education (DepEd) is also working with various private school associations to cover teachers in private schools. To facilitate the transition from the existing ten-year basic education to 12 years, the DepEd will also implement the SHS Readiness Assessment  and K to 12 Modeling.

C.   Social Benefits of the Program
The perceived benefits of the program include: i) placing the Philippine education system at par with international standards, following the Washington Accord and the Bologna Accord; and ii) contributing to the development of a better educated society capable of pursuing productive employment, entrepreneurship, or higher education disciplines.
D.   Ensuring Sustainability of the Program
Enhancing the basic education curriculum and increasing the number of years for basic education was adopted as a Common Legislative Agenda during the February 28, 2011 Legislative–Executive Development Advisory Council (LEDAC) meeting. The administration-supported bills that aim to increase the number of years for basic education are Senate Bill 2713 (Recto), House Bill (HB) 4219 (Belmonte), and HB 4199 (Escudero). These bills are pending at the Committee Level.