Curriculum Theory and Organization

Prepared by: Eva Noviana Budiyanti G0823450

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.

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.

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

consisting of all the content, topics, learning experiences, and organization. Whereby, the integration refers to the linking of all types of knowledge and 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 learning 2. Prerequisite learning 3. Whole to part learning 4. 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

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.
Society Philosophy Tentative Objectives Screens Psycologhy Precise Objectives

Subject Matter

Sources

Learners

Selected experience

Evaluation

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.

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.

Develop

Design

Implement

Review

Monitor

Evaluate 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.

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 Evaluating Synthesizing Analyzing Applying

Krathwohls Affective

Designing Instructional Critical and creative

Characterizing Organizing Valuing

Problem-solving Cooperative Interdisciplinary Conceptual

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 varied 2. Assessment should be valid 3. Assessment should engage the learner 4. Assessment should be diagnostic 5. Assessment should value teacher judgment These 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.

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.

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.