curriculum theory and organization

7/29/2019 Curriculum Theory and Organization

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Curriculum Theory and Organization

Prepared by:

Eva Noviana Budiyanti

G0823450


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The Tylers model of curriculum design suggested four fundamental questions, which

are considered crucial factors in developing the curriculum.

Explain clearly all the questions and their related elements.

Many educators have been argued that before planning or developing a curriculum,

the planners should follow the four questions that had been represented by Raplh Tyler.

However, the Tyler questions have been popular as Tyler Rationale for curriculum planning.

It has been a major influence on curriculum thought since its publication in 1949 (Posner,

2004).

Tyler suggested that when the educators want to plan a curriculum for a school, four

questions need to be answered.

1. What educational purposes should the school seek to attain?2. How can learning experiences be selected which are likely to be useful in

attaining these objectives?

3. How can these experiences be effectively organized?4. How can we determine whether these purposes are being attained?Firstly, when planners want to develop a curriculum, they should identify clearly the

purposes that the school wants to attain. However, why the purposes or objectives become

necessary for developing a curriculum? As known, the objective could be a guideline for

planners when their want to create educational programs for their schools. It means materials,

contents, instructional procedures and examination could be designed systematically and

intelligently by looking into the objectives that the schools have. For example, if the school

has an objective is to create education based on Islamic character building, the educational

programs such as materials and contents should include or refer into the Islamic character.


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How the objectives should be obtained by schools? Many ways could be indicators

for obtaining objectives. The Posner (2004) believes that the objectives should be derived

from systematic studies of the learners, society, and subject matter. These three sources are

screened through the schools philosophy and through knowledge that is available about the

psychology of learning. However, Tyler (1949) argues that the objectives could be

identifying by looking into value judgment of the school and the problems that are faced from

the society.

Deciding the objectives for the schools, the educators need the information and

knowledge. In addition, Tyler mentioned about essentialist and progressive information. The

essentialist information is referring to cultural heritage; it means the objectives can be derived

from the culture of society. For example, if the culture of the society is Islam culture, better

for planners to make objectives based on Islamic value. Whereby, the progressive

information is focusing on the learners, it means child psychology could be a source for

deriving objectives.

However, the subject specialists also could be a source for deriving objectives. The

specialists are focused with the students want to achieve. If the planners already know, the

subject specialists that wants to focus. As a consequence, it easy for them to clarify the

objectives for their schools. For instance, in Indonesia there are many schools that the

objective of the schools is focused on a skill of Technology Information (IT). It indicates that

the schools refer to one of specialist that the students want to achieve.

To sum up, Tyler believes that the first step for planning a curriculum is deciding the

purposes of the schools, and in order to investigate the objectives that want to achieve, the

planners should consider with the learner needs, society problem that is faced, and the subject

specialists.


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Secondly, after the objectives have been clasified, the other step that should be

focused by planners in order to develop the curriculum is what educational experiences can

be provided to attain the purposes. However, Tyler argues that the meaning of educational

experience is referring to the interaction between the learners and the external conditions in

the environment to which he or she react.

Learning experience is very important for attaining the objectives. If the planners just

make a curriculum without consider into the learning experiences, it might lead the students

get troubles during their study. Furthermore, the students would not understand the contents

that is thought by their teachers.

However, the second step from the Tyler Rationale relates to the contents, processes

and methods are teachers going to use to deliver instruction and information. However, the

contents and methods are planned based on development of students cognitive, affective,

psychomotor, social, and spiritual domains.

In addition, the learning experiences could bring benefits for the students. First, it

could develop students thinking, helping in acquiring information, helping in developing

social attitudes, and helping in developing interests.

Thirdly, how can these experiences be effectively organized? After identified the

experiences as sources for developing a curriculum, the next step that should be considered

by planners is deciding the ways that be used for organizing the experiences to the process of

teaching.

There are two concepts that are used for organizing experiences: Horizontal and

Vertical organization (Orstein and Hunskin, 1998). The horizontal organization engages the

curriculum worker with the concept of scope and integration. Tyler referred the scope as


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consisting of all the content, topics, learning experiences, and organization. Whereby, the

integration refers to the linking of all types of knowledgeand experiences contained within

the curriculum plan. Thus, the contents and the topics that want to be pursued to the students

should have integration from one topic to others topics, and from one content to the other

contents.

However, the vertical organization is concerning to the concept of sequence and

continuity. The sequence as a criterion emphasizes that the importance of having successive

experience build upon the preceding one, but to go more broadly and deeply into the matters

involved. There are four principles of sequencing content, which is Introduced by Smith,

Stanley, and Shores (Orstein and Hunkins, 1998).

1. Simple to complex learning2. Prerequisite learning3. Whole to part learning4. Chronological learning

All of these contents should be considered by the planners when organize the experiences to

the students. Generally, the planners should arrange educational experiences from easiest to

hardest and from most general to more specific.

Fourthly, how can we determine whether these purposes are being attained? The

planners need to determine whether the educational purposes are being attained or not with

the objective of evaluation. It means evaluation such as test, work samples, and

questionnaires are developed to check the effectiveness of the curriculum. Furthermore, this

final step is more focused on evalution that involves determining to what extent the

objectives are being achieved from the selected content and method. However, Tyler allows


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for students to be evaluated throughout the teaching process, and he argues that formative

evaluation should be used by teachers.

This image summarizes the steps of the Tyler rationale (Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998),

from this image we can identify clearly that all these steps is important for planning a

curriculum.

In conclusion, the Tyler rationale can be described simply into something that exists

of the objectives, contents, method and evaluation. However, stating objective, selecting

learning experiences, organizing learning experience and the last is evaluation are the steps

that should considere in developing and planning a curriculum.

Society

Learners

Tentative ObjectivesSubject Matter

Philosophy

Psycologhy

Precise Objectives

Selected ex erience Evaluation

Sources Screens


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A curriculum cycle explains systematically the process of curriculum planning from

the formulating of policies, planning of the programme to its implementation and

evaluation of the curriculum.

There are some elements that include in developing a curriculum. The first process is

desiging curriculum and following with others process.

Curriculum development process (Orstein and Hunskin,1998)

However, in the curriculum planning, the first important that should be considered by

the schools or planners is formulating of policies. It indicates what kinds the policies that they

should formulate and follow.

Some of countries over the world, they have centrelized education system. It means,

the governments under the ministry of education have created the curriculum for all schools

in their countries. They have already formulated the policy for their curriculum, and the

policy usually refers to the philosophy of education that the countries have.

As a sample, in years ago Indonesia had centralized system, and the last curriculum

was called as KBK (Kurikulum Berbasis Kompetensi) or curriculum based on competency.

Develop

Implement

Monitor

Evaluate

Review

Design


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This curriculum had a policy, and the policy had been created due to the government had

wanted education in Indonesia applied affective, cognitive and psychomotor systems.

After the policy has been clarified, planning the programs that could be the next step

process. In addition, planning the program could be called as a planning the contents and

methods that will be used on practical. Thus, the contents and methods follow the policy.

Contents and methods are parts of instructional teaching. However, instructional

consists of the means that educators employ in an attempt to achieve the curricular end. Put

more simply, instruction describes the things teachers do to help students learn what those

students are supposed to learn. Thus, instruction is a way to implement the curriculum.

Instructional strategies and designs are an important idea for all curriculum workers to

understand (Willes and Bondi, 2002). Curriculum developers need to go this step, to the

classroom level, and design instructional episodes that highlight in the curriculum.

There is some of designing instructional, which are normally used in implementing

curriculum: skills, inquiry and exploration, conceptual, interdisciplinary, cooperative,

problem-solving and critical and creative. However, these designs can be identified with the

bloom taxonomy and Krathwohls affective taxonomy in the following manner (Willes and

Bondi, p. 340):

Blooms Cognitive Krathwohls Affective Designing Instructional

Evaluating

Synthesizing

Analyzing

Applying

Characterizing

Organizing

Valuing

Critical and creative

Problem-solving

Cooperative

Interdisciplinary

Conceptual


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Comprehending

Knowing

Responding

Receiving

Inquiry and exploration

Skills

Content

Thus, from Bloom taxonomy and Krathwohls Affective could be a guide for

implementing curriculum trough instructional learning.

The last cycle in the process of planning curriculum is evaluation. In order to analyze

whether the curriculum is good or not for education is trough evaluation. Evaluation data that

can be achieved and be measured from tests and interview. However, the curriculum

developers have examined evaluation data for making decision.

There are some of principles for assessment a curriculum (Brady and Kennedy, 2007),

some of the principles are:

1. Assessment should be varied2. Assessment should be valid3. Assessment should engage the learner4. Assessment should be diagnostic5. Assessment should value teacher judgmentThese principles should be considered in evaluation curriculum. However, evaluation has

dual purposes of development and improvement a curriculum, and the evaluation include the

technical issues of validity, reliability and fairness.

In Indonesia, which is decentralized system, means the schools have a right to develop

their own curriculum. It is common today; many schools in Indonesia utilize their own

curriculum. One of the curriculums, which are practiced by some schools, is nature school

(Sekolah Alam). This curriculum has an objective, and it more focuses on the students needs.


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They use a nature as materials for instructional education. The curriculum developers who

designed the nature schools believe that this curriculum can produce the cognitive, affective

and psychomotor areas of the students. It can be shown with the result that they got from

evaluation trough the test, and trough students attitudes.

Curriculum can be categorized as a good, if it conducts a good preparation. By looking to

the objectives that want to be faced, the contents and method that want to be used, and the

last is always doing evaluation.


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REFERENCES

Brady, L & Kennedy, K. (2007). Curriculum Constriction. Australia: Pearson Prentice Hall

Kysilka, L.M., & Stern, B.,S. (2008). Contemporary Readings in Curriculum. Los Angeles:

SAGE Publications.

March, C.J., & Willis, G. (2003). Curriculum: Alternative approaches, ongoing issues. New

Jersey: Merrill Prentice Hall.

Ornstein, A.C. & Hunkins, F.,P. (1998). Curriculum Foundations, Principles and Issues, (3

ed). Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Posner, G. J. (2004). Analyzing the Curriculum. Boston: Mc Graw Hill

Wiles, J. & Bondi, J. (2002). Curriculum Development: A Guide to Practice. New Jersey:

Merrill Prentice Hall.


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curriculum theory and organization

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