The Five Steps for Organizing a Curriculum

The criteria and principles of organization stay theoretical until a developer follows a process to apply them. There is a general operational procedure, used by curriculum developers, that turns the ideas into an organized curriculum. It has five steps, moving from the broadest decision down to the most local.

Steps one and two: the scheme and the principles

Step 1 is to agree the general scheme of organization. This is the largest-level decision: whether the curriculum will use specific subjects, broad fields, or a core curriculum. Everything below it depends on this choice.

Step 2 is to agree the general organizing principles to be followed within each field. This is where a developer decides, on purpose, how each thread will develop, rather than falling back on habit.

Two examples show the deliberateness required. In mathematics, one principle might be to treat arithmetic elements first, then algebraic, then geometric. The general practice, though, is often different, increasing abstraction with algebraic, arithmetic, and geometric elements treated together. The point is that the developer should decide the best principle, not just inherit the usual one. In social studies, it is generally agreed that the development of problems should begin from within the community and move to wider world problems at a later stage, rather than defaulting to chronological organization. Because chronological order is easy to adopt blindly, a developer must decide and agree the best principle for the subject instead.

Flashcard

What are the first two steps for organizing a curriculum?

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Answer

Agree the general scheme, then agree the organizing principles within each field

The scheme decides subjects, broad fields, or core. The principles decide how each thread develops, chosen deliberately rather than defaulting to habit like chronological order.

Steps three to five: units, source plans, and shared planning

Step 3 is to decide the kind of low-level unit to use in class: a daily lesson, topics in sequence, or teaching units. This sets the smallest building block teachers will work with.

Step 4 is to develop flexible plans, or source units. These plans are given to each teacher as a guide and support. A source unit is not a fixed one-day lesson; it is a larger unit containing different objectives, a series of connected learning experiences, and ways to evaluate what learners have learned. It gives teachers something rich to work from while leaving room to adapt.

Step 5 is teacher and learner planning together. For particular activities, the teacher and learners plan jointly, and those activities are then carried on by the class. The teacher typically sets the objectives and identifies the learning experiences and the purpose of the teaching, while learners take part in planning and then perform the activities. At the end, the teacher evaluates the activity and can involve learners in discussing what was planned, what was actually done, what was learned, and how far the objectives were met.

Flashcard

What happens in Step 5, teacher and learner planning?

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Answer

The teacher and learners plan activities together, then the class carries them out

The teacher usually sets objectives and identifies experiences; learners help plan and perform the activities. Afterward the teacher evaluates and discusses with learners what was planned, done, and learned.