CURRICULUM DESIGN

Curriculum Design



Curriculum Design

Introduction

Education is the building block of any nation's development. A sound curriculum design is the outcome of years of research and understanding. Curriculum is simply defined as any piece of document or plan which exists in the educational system that defines:

Role and job of the teachers

Content to be taught to the students

Methods which are to be used in the education

The purpose of any curriculum design is to create an environment which will help in achieving long term goals of the educational system or any nation. It also contains numerous frameworks, theories, and professional practices which are highly dynamic and changes with the passing time. A methodical group of courses or series of educational subjects or courses are required for a student to complete a degree or a certificate. A student usually does “majors” in a subject which is helped by “subsidiary” subjects. Nearly all the schools, colleges and universities offer a detailed plan of the courses which will be included during the course of the study. These contents are for vocational as well as professional studies (Roehrig, 2005).

As far as the designing of a curriculum is concerned, a body comprising of experts in their respective field prepares and design a plan not only for the students but also for the teachers. This plan includes training and development of teachers and other professionals related to the education sector. There are numerous types of curriculums:

Formal as well as Informal

Hidden

Written

Taught

Tested

Historical/political occurrences that influenced current curriculum design

If we analyze the history we will come to know that the education for work started back almost four thousand years ago.  Apprenticeship is probably considered to be the first known form of career and technical related education.  Later on, numerous organized apprenticeships related programs for the people of Egypt were started. Experts believe that it was 2000 years ago.  During this era the educational system used to provide education in two different stages:

Primary Stage

Apprenticeship Stage

In the primary stage most of the curriculum usually consisted of ancient literature. Students were taught various languages, poetry and history. In the apprenticeship stage, students were taught various advanced educations which were prevalent at that time. After passing the apprenticeship stage the person generally used to work in the governmental sector.

In short we can say that the earliest known forms of curriculum content revolved around two basic stages that are primary stage for beginners and secondary stage for developing skills related to "on the job." 

It should also be kept in mind that organized apprenticeship programs of that era were famous throughout the world and formed the basis of the modern curriculum development. Secondly, historical records show that apprenticeship programs were also prevalent in numerous countries like Greece, Middle East and South Asia. Major focus of the curriculum in this stage was on literature, art, architecture and science as well. Mathematics was also considered to be an important subject for Greeks and Egyptians. In spite of the apprenticeship programs, training and development continued ...