Curriculum as process and practices

CURRICULUM PROCESSES

  curriculum processes are the procedures involved in creating,using, and evaluating the curricula represented in various documents or products such as guides, syllabi, and others. This section briefly defines these terms.

Curriculum processes is a collective term that encompasses all of the considerations about which curriculum workers ponder and ultimately use to make choices in the development and evaluation of a curriculum project. These processes involve changes that some students, teachers, school staff, and community members welcome, but that others resist either actively or passively.

Curriculum designs are based on the primary sources of curriculum content (i.e., subject

matter, needs of society-culture, or needs and interests of learners) that make possible the realization of a particular purpose of education. These purposes typically emphasize cultivating cognitive achievement (also known as transmitting the cultural heritage), developing learners to their fullest potentials,or preparing people for living in a changing, unstable world.

In addition to establishing a purpose for the curriculum project, developers

also prepare a "views of education"statement outlining the anticipated relationships among teachers, students, and curriculum content. The views statement usually shows how the curriculum relates to the community beyond the school. Developers then select and organize content so that these relationships can be realized.

Curriculum use involves making arrangements for and using curriculum projects in school settings for the purpose of school program development. This term encompasses implementation and enactment used with technical and non technical processes, respectively. Sometimes technically developed curricula are tested in a few classrooms before they are put to full use in a district.

Both curriculum development and use involve several considerations that must be managed effectively. Among these are the scope and complexity of the curricular change, communication among all the participants involved, professional development, and resources.

Curriculum evaluation encompasses the processes used in the systematic investigation of the worth or merit of programs of study (Joint Committee on Standards for Educational Evaluation, 1994). Specifically, the intent of these processes is to improve school programs through delineating, obtaining, and providing descriptive and judgmental information about the worth and merit of curricula.

Evaluation guides decision making, serves the need for accountability, and promotes understanding of the curriculum . Evaluation of existing curricula for the purpose of determining strengths and weaknesses may occur as the first step in curriculum revision. This evaluation is commonly referred to as needs assessment.

Typically, revised curricula developed for use in classrooms are also evaluated in at least two ways: whether curricula were actually used in classrooms and how well curricula satisfy their intended purposes.

Curriculum as practices

 We can describe this in three ways,

The first one is the  notion of curriculum as practices holds that the practice should not focus on individuals alone or the group alone but pays careful attention to the way in which individuals and group create understanding and practices, as well as meaning.

Second one is ,looking for a commitment expressed in action to the exploration of educator's values and their practice.

Third one is, expect practitioners committed to practice to be exploring their practice with their peer. They would be able to say how their actions reflected their ideas. In other words, their beliefs and values would be reflected in the work they do.

Similarly curriculum as practices highlights explicit commitment to the  emancipation of the human spirits by collectively encouraging students and teachers to confront the real problems of their existence and their relationships through interactions reflection and informed action.

Curriculum as practices can be understood observe the actual transaction in the classroom and the observation of the overall administration of a school reveals the actual curriculum practiced in an educational system as whole.