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LEARNING OUTCOMES
When you have completed this module, you will be able to:
Define what is curriculum design
Recognise the criteria for the selection of content
Explain the principles of content organisation
List the criteria for the selection of learning experiences
Compare and contrast subject matter-centred, learner-centred
and problem-centred curriculum design models.

OVERVIEW
6.0 Introduction
6.1 What is Curriculum Design?
6.2 Content Selection
6.2.1 What is content?
6.2.2 How should content be
learned?
6.2.3 Criteria for selection of
content
6.3 Principles of Content
Organisation
6.3.1 Scope
6.3.2 Sequence
6.3.3 Integration
6.3.4 Continuity

6.4 Selection of Learning

Experiences
6.4.1. What are learning
experiences?
6.4.2 Selection of learning
experiences
6.5 Types of Curriculum Design
Models
6.5.1 Subject-Matter Design
6.5.2 Learner-Centred Design
6.5.3 Problem-Centred Design
Discussion Questions

Readings

Prevention is Better than Cure

As
society
becomes
increasingly complex, the incidence of
various at-risk behaviours among
students has increased. These include
substance abuse (tobacco and drugs),
teen pregnancies, road safety, sexual
promiscuity, violence, HIV infection,
gangsterism, bullying and others.
Parents and society have not
adequately taught students to avoid
such high-risk behaviours and have
passed on the task to schools. As such
we see add-on programmes which
often are a series of brief, fragmented
units on critical life issues, squeezed
into the regular curriculum.
Unfortunately there is never
enough hours in a school day and they
have to compete for valuable class
time. So, instead of doing more,
curriculum planners have decided to
introduce prevention programmes by

using existing school subjects.

Adopting
the
curriculum
infusion approach, educators have
designed lesson plans to include
prevention issues in the regular
curriculum. They have used real-life
issues as the context for addressing the
critical health and social issues while
teaching academic subjects. In fact
prevention strategies are ideally suited
to infusion into academic subjects.
Some educators are beginning to
resent having to be the sole custodian
of society with parents and the
community not doing enough to prevent
such
negative
behaviours
among
students and youths. Through the years,
more and more societal issues have been
brought into the curriculum and schools
are expected to teach them in an already
crowded curriculum.

[Source: adapted from Critical issues: Infusing prevention into the curriculum,
NCREL. http://www.ncrel.org/sdrs/areas/issues/envrnmnt/drugfree/sa300.htnm]

6.0 Introduction
The curriculum development process aims
towards producing a plan that stipulates the kinds of
teaching-learning experiences students will engage
in. In Module 5, we discussed the initial step in the
curriculum development process which is curriculum
planning in which decisions are made as to what we
want students to be able to do. This is derived from
the educational philosophy and aims of education. It
also includes the kinds the objectives that are to be
achieved by teachers or instructors at the classroom
level. To guide discussion of the curriculum
development process, three well-known models were examined; namely, the Tyler
model, the Taba model and the Saylor & Alexander model. In this Module, we will

deal with the next phase of the curriculum development process which is curriculum
design.

ACTIVITY 6.1
Read the report on Prevention is Better than Cure
1) To what extent is this happening in your school?
2) Give other examples of critical issues your schools have to deal with.
3) Do you agree that prevention issues should be included in the school
curriculum?

6.1 What is Curriculum Design?

Curriculum design is deciding about the shape or configuration of a
curriculum plan. It involves selection of content in line with the goals and objectives
of the curriculum. The selected content will have to be arranged in a form that will
help the teacher in choosing and organising appropriate learning experiences for the
classroom. Sometimes, curriculum design is also referred to as curriculum
organisation. In short, designing the curriculum involves the task of organising or
arranging the four components; namely, objectives, subject matter, teaching-learning
experiences and evaluation procedures into a cohesive and comprehensive plan that
can be implemented with minimal difficulties. According to Giles (1942) these four
components; are intertwined and interactive. Unfortunately, not all curriculum plans
give equal emphasis to each component. There are cases of plans that emphasise the
subject matter or the content while others stress mainly the objectives and evaluation
procedures. Still, others give primary emphasis to learning experiences or activities
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998).
In this chapter, we will focus on two main aspects of curriculum design,
namely;
o selection and organisation of content (or subject matter) for learners,
o selection and organisation of learning experiences (or activities).
Among the questions to be addressed are: What content or subject matter is to be
included? What learning activities should be planned for learners? What teachinglearning or instructional strategies should be used? What educational resources should
be used in the teaching-leaning situations?
Obviously, the selection of content and learning experiences will be based on
a sound theoretical framework. This is where ones philosophical beliefs and
conceptions of human learning come into play [Discussed in Module 2 and Module
3]. Your philosophical stance and your understanding of human learning will affect
your interpretation and selection of objectives which in turn will influence the content
selected and how it will be organised and how it will be taught or delivered. This is
what Ralph Tyler meant by the philosophical screen and the psychological screen in
his curriculum development model [refer to Module 5: Curriculum Development
Process].

6.2 Content Selection

6.2.1 What is Content?
All curricula have content and how individuals view content is affected by
their view of knowledge and philosophical position. There are varying conceptions of
content. Some curriculum designers conclude that content is really another term for
knowledge consisting of a collection of facts, concepts, generalisations, principles and
theories. For example, an important concept in geography would be spatial
relationships while in physics it would be acceleration. However, a distinction has to
be made between disciplines and content.
The disciplines such as biology, chemistry, sociology and psychology are
concerned with advancement of understanding and the exploration of the unknown. In
contrast, content as found in school subjects (or even undergraduate courses) do not
provide students with opportunities for advancing understanding or creation of new
knowledge in the strictest sense. The content selected is aimed towards helping
students understand knowledge that may be new to them but is already known by
scholars and practitioners in the field. From this body of knowledge or discipline,
content is selected for educational purposes and organised according to the cognitive
level of learners.
6.2.2 How should students learn content?
Some people feel that content should be prescribed and transmitted to learners
(behaviourism) while others feel that content should be constructed by learners
(constructivism) based on their experiences. In the former setting, learners are passive
recipient of the facts, concepts and generalisations of a subject while in the latter
situation learners seriously engage in the construction of meaning. Content is not just
something told to students but rather something that students personally construct.
Similarly, some educators argue that it is more important to learn the processes of
content than the products of content itself. Such a view divides content as consisting
of product and process, when in reality both should be given equal emphasis [We
discussed this in Module 1]. Cognitive psychologists refer to:
o content as declarative knowledge or what students should know (the facts,
concepts and principles of a body of knowledge), while
o process as procedural knowledge or what should be able to do (the procedures,
thinking skills and methods of inquiry embedded in any body of knowledge)
6.2.3 How should content be selected?
There is so much pressure from parents, academics, the government, the
business community, religious institutions, non-governmental organisations and so
forth as to what to content should be selected and taught in schools. In addition, there
is abundant information and it is doubling at a very rapid rate. Schools do not have the
luxury of time to include all the concerns of society in its curriculum. Choices have to
be made on what to include in the curriculum. Ornstein and Hunkins (1998) list the
following 5 criteria to guide the selection of content:

Significance: It is obvious that content selected should be significant. But, the

definition of significance varies with an individuals beliefs. For example,
curriculum developers who favour subject matter designs think of significance

in terms of the concepts and principles of each subject area. Those who favour
learner-centred designs think of significance in terms of the needs and
interests of the learner. While those who favour a problem-centred design
would regard the problems and issues in society as significant. Taba (1962)
further argues that we should not just select content based on the cognitive
aspects of learners, but also on their affective dimensions.

Utility: Utility refers to the usefulness of content. This again depends on your
philosophical beliefs. If you subscribe to the subject-centred design, then you
believe that the content learned from the various subject areas will be useful in
the workplace. If you subscribe to the learner-centred design, then you will
take into consideration the needs and interests of learners which will enable
them to realise their potential to function effectively in the workplace.
Alternatively, if you subscribe to the problem-centred design, then you believe
that learning about societal issues will enable students to apply directly what
they have learned to their daily lives and the world of work.

Validity: Validity refers to whether the information passed on to students is

authentic and obtained from credible sources. This is especially significant
today with the deluge of information that is easily accessible which may not
necessarily be credible or reliable. How much of the billions of pages on the
internet are credible? Content needs to be checked to determine its accuracy
and constantly updated.

Learnability: It may seem strange that anyone would select content that is not
learnable. Unfortunately, it does happen. Can you give examples of this
happening? For example, the content selected for a particular age group might
be too difficult and teachers need more time but insufficient time is allotted.
Eventually, teachers will end up rushing through the material and some
students left behind not understanding the content.

Feasibility: Educators who select content have to take into consideration the
constraints of time, expertise of staff, funding and other educational resources
that schools might face when implementing the curriculum. For example, the
number of days allotted for teaching may be insufficient to cover all the
content because schools have to allocate time for extra-curricular activities and
other schools events. Content selection has to be considered within the context
of existing reality of economics and the role of the government.
SELF-TEST 6.1
What is the difference between content and a discipline?
What is the difference between significance and utility in the
selection of content?
What is the difference between validity and feasibility in the
selection of content?

6.3 Principles of Content Organisation

After having decided on the content, the next step is to organise the content in
a form that will facilitate learning. The following principles have been proposed when
deciding on content organisation (Sowell, 2000; Ornstein & Hunkins, 1998):
6.3.1 Scope
Scope refers to both the breadth and depth of content and includes all topics,
learning experiences and organising threads found in the curriculum plan. Scope not
only refers to cognitive learning but also affective learning, and some would argue
spiritual learning (Goodland and Zhixin Su, 1992). Sometimes the scope of a
curriculum is narrow, consisting of just a simple listing of key topics and activities.

The physics syllabus is overloaded

Laboratory sessions has increased with the

introduction of the new chemistry curriculum
Scientific literacy of secondary school students is
low

When we talk of scope, we are concerned with questions such as: How much science
should students in primary school know? What is the level of mathematics required of
students before they graduate from secondary school? When curriculum developers
are engaged in deciding how much content should be included, they are determining
the scope of the curriculum. When deciding about the scope of a curriculum, the
following guidelines may be useful:
You might want to ask about the usefulness of the content selected.
You might want to ask whether the content caters to diverse student abilities
You might want to ask if the amount of content selected can be covered in the
specified period of time
You might want to ask if there is a balance in the content selected between
cognitive, psychomotor and affective or spiritual outcomes

ACTIVITY 6.2
1. Do you think the scope (breadth and depth) of the subject you
teach (or are familiar with) appropriate?
2. Give examples of subjects which you think the scope is
inappropriate. Explain.

6.3.2 Sequence
Sequence refers to the organisation of content and the extent to which it
fosters cumulative and continuous learning (referred to as vertical relationship among
sections of the curriculum). Do students have the opportunity to make connections
and enrich their understanding of content? It is important that the sequencing of
content lead to cumulative development of intellectual and affective processes.
The sequence of content and experiences should be based on the logic of the
subject matter and the way in which individuals learn. It should be based on
psychological principles and understanding of human development and learning [refer
to Chapter 3: Psychological Foundation of Curriculum]. The following are some
principles identified as guidelines in sequencing the curriculum: (Ornstein and
Hunkins, 1998, Taba, 1962, Bruner, 1960).
a) Simple to complex content is organised going from simple subordinate
components to complex components depicting interrelationships among
components. Optimal learning occurs when students are presented with easy,
often concrete content and to more difficult and abstract content.
b) Spiral - In a spiral curriculum, concepts may be introduced on a simple level
in the early grades, then revisited with more and more complexity and
application later on (Bruner, 1960)
c) Prerequisites it works on the assumption that bits of information or learning
must be grasped before other bits of information can be understood.
d) Whole to part content is better understood if an overview (whole) is first
presented to show the connections between the parts.
e) Chronology this is a useful organiser for sequencing content especially in
subjects such as history, political science and world events.
f) Vertical organisation - This simply means that content and skills are arranged
so that they build on one another; that they align with the general sequence of
cognitive development. They indicate what students have learned and what
they will learn later.
g) Horizontal organisation - It involves how skills and content that are taught
during one level or one period of time relate to another. For example, in a
social science course, you might consider particular issues from a historical,
sociological, political and economic point of view.
6.3.3 Integration
Integration is the bringing together of the concepts, skills and values of
different subject areas to reinforce each other. Bits of information from different
subject areas are brought together in such a way to present the learner with a unified
picture of knowledge. Some have argued that however much curriculum planners try
to integrate information; it is the learners who integrate what they are learning in their
minds. It is something that happens within the individual learner.
The idea of integration was popularised in the 60s by Hilda Taba because of
concern that school curriculum was too disjointed, fragmented and detached. Lately,
there has been a surge of interest in curriculum integration due to rapid accumulation
of information that is doubling in a shorter period of time. Increasingly, there is a
realisation that knowledge has to be viewed in a much broader sense, particularly in
dealing with ideas that cut across disciplines. When faced with real-world situations,
seldom is one area of content sufficient to explain complex phenomena. The need to
examine phenomena drawing from various disciplines has intensified interest in the

integrated curriculum. Examples of the integrated curriculum include sciencetechnology-society and reading across the curriculum. In the science-technologysociety (STS) curriculum, science is combined with social sciences in attempting to
solve practical, everyday problems. The integrated approach takes the student outside
the laboratory and away from the textbook into the local community.
6.3.4 Continuity
Continuity ensures that ideas, themes and skills are repeated as the learner
progresses through the grades. Why? This is because students may not grasp certain
concepts and skills in one experience and have to be presented again before they
become clear. For example, students in the primary grades are taught the principles of
essay writing. The same principles are repeated in the succeeding years. Continuity
ensures the reappearance of certain major ideas at different grade levels at increased
depth and complexity over the length of the curriculum. For example, doing
experiments is a learning experience that is repeated throughout the teaching of
science at increasing levels of complexity and abstraction.
SELF-TEST 6.2
1. Name the different ways of sequencing content.
2. What do you understand by integration as one of the
principles of content organisation?
3. Why is there need to ensure continuity in content
organisation for certain concepts and skills?
4. Give examples of continuity other than those given in the
text.
6.3.5 Case Study: The Integrated Curriculum
The integrated curriculum is receiving much attention even
though it is not necessarily a new way of looking at teaching
and learning. The expanding body of knowledge, concerns
about curriculum relevancy, lack of connection among
subjects and the need for future workers to have the ability to
draw from many fields in solving problems has been cited as
reasons for a moving towards an integrated curriculum. The
integrated curriculum is organised in such a way that cuts
across subject matter, bringing together various aspects of content to focus upon
broad areas of study. It views teaching and learning in a holistic way that reflects
the real world.
Among the common areas of integration are: 1) art, mathematics and
reading; 2) writing across the curriculum; 3) history, science and mathematics; 4)
history and literature; 5) integrated humanities; 6) health and reading; 7) social
studies, health and the arts; 8) physical education, the arts, health and literature; and
9) science, social studies, health and the arts. For example, water as a theme can
be studied from the following areas: science (composition of water), geography
(distribution of water resources), literature (poems on water), language (vocabulary
related to water), history (disputes related to water), economics (supply and demand
of water) and so forth.

Education journal and teachers own anecdotal records report many

examples of educators linking subject areas to provide meaningful learning
experiences. It has been suggested that the integrated curriculum helps students
apply skills, leads to faster retrieval of information, encourages depth and breadth in
learning and promotes positive attitudes (improved team spirit and work habits).
Successful implementation of an integrated curriculum requires a great deal
of planning. It requires teachers to go out into the community to see what
mathematics, science, social sciences, language arts, artistic and occupational skills
are required in the contemporary workplace. Representatives from business,
industry, government and labour need to provide suggestions for curriculum
redesign.
[Source: Integrated Curriculum, Kathy Lake, Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory.
http://www.nwrel.org/scpd/sirs/8/c016.html]

ACTIVITY 6.3
Refer to the Case Study: The Integrated Curriculum and
answer the following questions:
1. Why is there a revival of interest in the integrated curriculum?
2. What are some positive effects of curriculum integration?
3. Suggest ways in which the subjects or courses in your institution
may be integrated.

6.4 Selection of Learning Experiences

6.4.1 What are Learning Experiences?

While content is the meat of the curriculum plan, we can consider learning
experiences planned for the students as the heart of the plan (Ornstein and Hunkins,
1998). The learning experiences are the means towards achieving the goals and
objectives of the curriculum. Tyler (1960) used the term learning experiences in his
curriculum development model (discussed earlier in Module 5). Learning experiences
is the instructional component of the curriculum providing for the interaction between
teacher, student and the content. Learning experiences, designed for the purpose of
achieving the goals and objectives of the curriculum plan can be divided into:
o teaching methods adopted, and,
o learning activities.
There are many types of teaching methods and some examples of teaching methods
include; the inquiry method, the discovery approach, the lecture method, small group
discussion, role-playing, fieldwork and so forth. The term learning activities was used
by Taba (1962) in her curriculum development model (discussed in Module 5).
Learning activities are opportunities for students to question, clarify, create and apply
knowledge. Examples of learning activities are answering questions, solving
problems, journal writing, viewing videos, doing experiments, playing games and so

forth. Both teaching methods and learning activities are equally important parts of the
learning experience and should be carefully planned. In many instances, there is
overlap between teaching methods and learning activities and some people may find
the distinction problematic.

6.4.2 Criteria for Selection of Learning Experiences

ACTIVITY 6.4
Malaysian Primary 6 Science
Topic: Conservation
Objectives:
List waste materials that can be reused and recycled
Explain the paper recycling paper
Carry out recycling projects
Content:
Concept of recycling and reusing
Components of the paper recycling process
Learning Experiences:
View photos and video-clips on recycling of waste materials
Class project on collecting newspapers for recycling
Visit to a paper recycling plant
[Source: Curriculum Specifications for SMART SCHOOLS, Curriculum
Development Centre, Ministry of Education Malaysia, July, 1997]

1. How are the objectives, the content selected and learning

experiences related?
2. Suggest other learning experiences for the same content.
3. Does the subject or course you teach make the distinction
between content and learning experiences?

Learning experiences (teaching methods and learning activities) are selected to

translate the goals and objectives of the curriculum plan. It includes all the actions of
teachers necessary to influence student behaviour and ultimately, their learning. The
particular actions of the teacher may vary according to the teaching method adopted
and learning activities used, but they all are aimed towards bringing about learning.
The most important criterion for the selection of learning experiences is to
ensure that there is alignment between objectives, content and learning experiences.
Will the learning experiences selected achieve the objectives of the curriculum? This
criterion is termed as validity. Learning experiences should also be selected in terms
of feasibility. In other words, whether the experiences suggested can be carried out
given the time, available facilities and expertise of teachers. It would be futile to

10

propose learning experiences which may be good on paper but difficult to implement
in the classroom because teachers are not trained and facilities are inadequate. For
example, learning experiences which require using the internet when the school does
not have internet connection.
Learning experiences should also be selected on the basis whether they will
enhance students learning of the content as well as motivate them to continue
learning. The learning experiences should also attempt to develop thinking skills of
students and to stimulate greater understanding of their own existence as individuals
and as members of groups. In other words, the learning experiences selected should
encourage group interaction and collaborative learning which are skills required in
the world of work. Learning experiences should foster cognitive, affective,
psychomotor and spiritual development of the learner.
In the selection of learning experiences, educators should not separate content
and experiences. In reality, both content and learning experiences do not exist in
isolation. For example, a student cannot just engage in learning or studying without
experiencing some activity and some content. Likewise, teachers cannot deal with
content without being engaged in some experience or some activity. [You will notice
that each chapter in this course has a number of learning activities such as self-test
&activity to encourage you to play with the content]
6.5 Curriculum Designs
Most curriculum designs can be grouped into the following three basic
designs; namely, subject-centred designs, learner-centred designs and problemcentred designs (see Table 6.1). Subject-Centred Designs include 5 types of designs:
academic subject designs, discipline designs, broad field designs, correlation designs
and process designs. Learner-Centred Designs include 3 types of designs identified as
child-centred, romantic/radical designs and humanistic designs. Problem-Centred
Designs include 3 types of design identified as life-situations design, core design and
social problems design (Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998).
6.5.1 Subject-Centred Designs
Subject-Centred Designs are by far the most popular and widely used
curriculum design. This is because knowledge and content are well accepted as
integral parts of the curriculum. Since acquiring a body of content is integral in any
school system, much thought has focussed on how best to present the knowledge,
skills and values of subjects to learners and five approaches have been proposed:
a) Academic Subject Design: The academic subject design is both the oldest and
best known design to most people because it was the way many of them were
educated. Is this true of you? This design is based on the belief that humans
are unique because of their intellect and the quest for and acquisition of
knowledge is to feed this intellect. In the 1930s, Robert Hutchins indicated
that the academic subject design model for American schools should
comprise; language and its uses (reading, writing, grammar, literature),
mathematics, science, history and foreign languages. Has it changed today?
Why is this model of curriculum design widely adopted? One reason
given is that it is much easily interpreted in textbooks and commercially

11

available support materials. Since teaching is essentially a verbal activity

(whether it be lecture, recitation, group discussion) teachers find it easier to
communicate the ideas and knowledge of a subject presented in verbal form in
textbooks. Also, people are familiar with this format, having gone through
themselves when in school.
However, critics argue that this design deemphasises the learner by
taking away their rights to choose the content that is most meaningful to them.
Stress on subject matter fails to foster social, psychological and physical
development and to some extent fosters an elite ruling class based on
knowledge (Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998). Do you agree?
b) Discipline Design: A discipline is a specific body of knowledge that has its
own methods of inquiry, has its specialised words and terminology, has a
tradition, has a collection of literature and persons involved in the field as
theoreticians and practitioners. Proponents of the discipline design model
emphasise the teaching of the disciplines in its pure form. In other words, a
student who studies biology would approach the subject as a biologist while
those who study history will study it as historians. What is the rationale for
teaching the disciplines? According to its proponents, the school is a mini
version of the world of intellect and that the disciplines reflect that world.

SELF-TEST 6.3
1. Why is curriculum based on the academic subject
design model popular even today?
2. What is the main difference between the academic
subject design model and the discipline based design
model? Give examples

c) Broad Fields Design: The broad fields design is also known as the
interdisciplinary design. The main reason for this design arose from the
concern that subjects taught were too compartimentalised and fragmented. For
example, geography, geometry, literature, algebra and so forth. The suggestion
was to bring together content from different subject to form one logical
subject. For example, economics, sociology, political science, geography and
history were combined to form the social studies. Another example is
language arts (composed of literature, grammar, linguistics and spelling) and
general science (composed of biology, chemistry and physics). At one time
there was a subject called Man and the Environment (Alam dan Manusia)
implemented in Malaysian primary schools.
What do you see as some problems with this model? One is the issue
of breadth versus depth. For example, in studying the social studies over one
year, students are exposed to a variety of social science concepts compared to
only studying economics concepts for one year. Certainly, treatment of the
various social science concepts will be superficial. For sure, a year of
economics will expose students to more economics concepts and principles
than would a year of social studies. However, some may argue whether

12

students need such in-depth knowledge of a particular subject. If the

educational philosophy is to give students an overview of the social sciences,
then the social studies might be a logical choice.

a) Academic Subjects
Design
b) Discipline Based
Design

Subject-Centred
Designs

c) Broad Fields
Design
d) Correlation
Design

e) Process Design

a) Child-Centred
Design

Learner-Centred
Designs

b) Radical Design

c) Humanistic
Design

a) Life-Situations
Design
Problem-Centred
Designs

b) Core Design

c) Social Problems
Design

Separate subjects or courses

--------------------------------------------------------- Use structure of the discipline
Approach physics as a physicist
Use inquiry methods of the discipline
--------------------------------------------------------- Interdisciplinary or cross-disciplinary
Eg. Integrated science, whole language
--------------------------------------------------------- Relate one subject to another with each
keeping its identity
Thematic approach or Team teaching
--------------------------------------------------------- Teaching thinking processes such as critical &
creative thinking, problem solving
Metacognitive training

Childs interest, need and experiences are

emphasised
Eg. project method
--------------------------------------------------------- Learning is reflective and not externally
imposed
Society is flawed and curriculum should
emancipate the learner
--------------------------------------------------------- Stress development of self-concept of students
Uniqueness of individuals and importance of
self-actualisation
Life situations design
Subject matter focuses on pressing social
issues and solutions
-------------------------------------------------------- Social functions core
Students work on problems crucial in todays
society
-------------------------------------------------------- Social problems and reconstructionist designs
Analyse severe problems confronting
humankind

Table 6.1 Summary of major curriculum designs

[Source: adapted from Allan Ornstein and Francis Hunkins, Curriculum: Foundations,
Principles and Issues. Boston: Allyn & Bacon, 1998. p.264]

13

d) Correlation Design: The correlation design model lies in between the

academic design model and the broad fields design. If you do not want your
curriculum to consist of five separate subjects and neither do you want the five
different subject areas to be fused into one subject, then the correlation design
model might be an alternative. For example, you may want to just fuse or
correlate history with literature at the secondary school level. For example, in
a history lesson the class learns about the Japanese occupation of Malaysia.
During the literature class, students read novels about life during that time
period. However, each subject retains its own distinct identity.
e) Process Design: In the discipline based design discussed earlier, students learn
the methods of inquiry used by experts in the respective discipline. For
example, in studying anthropology, students will learn the various
ethnographic procedures used in the field. Advocates of the process design
model stress the learning of general procedures and processes that are not
applicable to any particular discipline. The most popular example of the
process design model is the teaching of thinking skills. Various educators have
suggested that students should be taught to think. Curriculum has focussed on
the teaching of decision making, problem solving, critical thinking and
creative thinking. Ennis (1963) identified a list critical thinking skills that
should be taught, such as identification of fallacies, checking the credibility of
sources and so forth.
In the process design curriculum students are also taught to be
aware of their thinking and to take action when necessary. The good thinker is
able to monitor his or her thinking and take steps to remedy faulty thinking.
The general assumption is that there are general thinking skills and processes
are common regardless of the subject area. The aim of the curriculum is to
enhance these process skills applicable to all disciplines. Thinking critically is
not unique to geography or physics. Neither is thinking creatively the sole
domain of art or literature.

SELF-TEST 6.4
1. What is the main difference between the broad field
design model and the correlation design model? Give
examples.
2. How is the teaching of thinking skills in the discipline
based design model and process design model different?

6.5.2 Learner-Centred Designs

While subject-centred designs are popular, there is also an emphasis on
learner-centred designs. The early supporters of the child-centred curriculum were
largely the progressives [we have covered this in chapter 2]. Emphasis was on the
development of the whole child and this was most evident in primary schools.

a) Child-Centred Design: Proponents of the child-centred design believe that

learners should actively participate in the teaching-learning process. Learning

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should be related closely to the daily lives of students unlike the subjectcentred design which tends to separate content from the daily lives of learner.
In the child-centred design focus is on the needs and interests of learners. An
early advocate of the child-centred curriculum was French philosopher JeanJacques Rousseau (1712-1778) who in his book Emile made the child the
focus of the educational process. He emphasised that Living is the business
that I wish to teach him. When he leaves my care he, I grant, be neither
magistrate, nor soldier, nor priest: he will be, primarily, a man (cited in
Michel Soetard, 1994, p.423). This did not mean children were allowed to run
free. Children need to be guided by the teacher according to their level of
development.
Perhaps, the most well-known advocate of the child-centred design is
John Dewey [we have discussed some of his ideas in Chapter 2Progressivism]. He argued that children are not blank slates and they bring
with them four basic impulses the impulse to communicate, to compare and
contrast, to inquire and to express themselves through language. In the childcentred design teaching and learning draw on the experiences of learners and
the vast amount of information they bring to the classroom. Using this design
teachers and students negotiate what if of interest to learners and what content
is to be included in the curriculum. Teachers and students participate in
planning lesson units, its purposes, the focus of the content, the learning
activities to be introduced in the teaching-learning situations. Hence, in
meeting the needs of students, the child-centred curriculum will be constantly
changing.
In the child-centred model, the interests and experiences of the learner
become subject-matter of the curriculum. Children are given the freedom to
discover, first hand, by doing things for themselves rather that being told how
to do something. The project method became a popular pedagogical strategy
in the child-centred design in which children solved problematic situations
calling on their knowledge and skills of science, history, art and so forth. In
other words, the traditional subjects are not rejected but rather used to solve
problems that are of interest to learners.
b) Radical Design: In this design, the focus is the learner which is quite similar
to the child-centred design. The difference being that greater emphasis is
placed on the need for the curriculum to reform society [we dealt with this in
Chapter 2 Reconstructionism]. Proponents of the radical design operate on
the assumption that society is corrupt and repressive. Children should be
educated towards the goal of social reform. A well-known proponent of the
radical design was Paulo Freire who opposed treating students as empty
vessels to be filled with knowledge by the teacher. He objected to the teacherstudent dichotomy and proposed the relationship between teacher and student
be reciprocal, that is, the teacher who learns and the learner who teaches.
According to proponents of this curriculum design, learning is
reflective and not externally imposed by those in power. The curriculum
should be so designed to free the learner from indoctrination. Knowledge is
not the finished product to be acquired by learners because this is
indoctrination. Learning is something that results from the interaction between
and among people. Learners should challenge content and allowed to give
their opinions about the information given to them. Learners will value what

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they learn if they are allowed to construct their own knowledge. [These ideas
have been discussed in Module 3 Constructivism]. When learners create
meaning, they have ownership over what they have learned resulting in
genuine thought.
c) Humanistic Design: The humanistic design became popular in the 60s and
70s in response to excessive overemphasis on the disciplines during the 50s
and early 60s in the United States. Proponents of the humanistic design based
their arguments on the principles of humanistic psychology [we have
discussed this in Module 3 Humanistic Psychology]. A basic question asked
is whether the curriculum has allowed a person to truly achieve his or her full
potential. The curriculum should be designed to empower learners to be
involved in the process of realising their potential. Greater emphasis was to be
placed on the affective domain to permit students of feel and value.
One of the proponents of the humanistic curriculum design was Carl
Rogers (1902-1987) who argued that the aim of education is the facilitation of
learning. To facilitate learning, the teacher accepts learners as persons, placing
importance on their feelings, their opinions and caring for them. In other
words, the teacher is able to view the world through the students eyes. With
such a curriculum, learners will be able to become fully functional persons,
capable of intelligent choice, are critical learners and able to approach
problems situations with flexibility and work cooperatively with others
(Ornstein and Hunkins, 1998). The humanistic curriculum design focuses on
the interconnectedness of the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains.
The design stresses the development of positive self-concept and interpersonal
skills of learners. The humanistic curriculum requires teachers with great skills
and competence in dealing with individuals. This may be difficult to obtain in
all teachers. There is also a tendency to overemphasise the individual and
ignore the needs of society.

SELF-TEST 6.5
1. What is the main focus of curriculum based on the
Learner-Centred Designs?
2. What is the main difference between the child-centred
design model and the radical design model?
3. What is the main feature of the humanistic design model?

6.5.3 Problem-Centred Designs

Besides the Subject-Centred and Learner-Centred curriculum design models, a
third category called the Problem-Centred Designs is proposed. The focus of this
category of models is the problems faced by society. Problem-centred designs are predetermined before the arrival of students. In other words, genuine life problems are
selected and teaching-learning activities organised around these issues. The learner is
placed in the social setting to address the problem. Unlike the learner-centred designs,
the problems or issues discussed originate from issues that are of concern to society. It
aims to prepare students with relevant knowledge and skills to fit into society when
they leave school.

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a) Life-centred situations: In any society there are persistent life situations that
are crucial to a societys successful functioning. Examples of such life
situations are healthy living, use of leisure time, ethical character, racial
tolerance, citizenship skills and so forth. It was argued by its advocates that it
makes educational sense to organise a curriculum around such life situations.
Students will see direct relevance in studying such social issues when they are
related to their world. Also, having students study social or life situations will
encourage them to see ways to improve society. The life situations that need to
be emphasised in schools will depend on what students need before entering
the world of work and assuming adult responsibilities. However, some needs
and interests have already been met by the family, religious institutions and
other community organisations. So, the school should address those needs not
met through these institutions.
This life-centred situations curriculum has been criticised because
students do not learn much subject matter. However, proponents of the model
state that this is not true because the design draws heavily from the traditional
subject areas. The content is organised in a manner that allow students to see
problems faced by society. In addressing societys pressing problems, content
is drawn from different subject areas to explain and find solutions to current
issues.
b) Core-design: A variation of the life-centred situations design is the coredesign model. Focus is still on the pressing problems of society. The
difference being that certain problems are selected to form the core. It is
carefully planned before students enter school and adjusted when necessary.
The core problems are taught to all students in a block-time format whereby
two or more periods of class time is used. A problem solving approach is
adopted in analysing social problems. Students select a problem through
consensus and work either individually or in groups. Data is collected,
analysed, interpreted and presented in class. Findings are evaluated and
discussed.

SELF-TEST 6.6
1. What is the main focus of curriculum based on the
Problem-Centred Designs?
2. What is the main difference between the life-centred
design model and the core- design model?

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ACTIVITY 6.5
The following are some problems with the problem-centred designs:
The difficulty in determining the scope and sequence of social
problems faced by society
Textbooks and other teaching material do not support the
problem-centred design
Teachers are uncomfortable with the design because it departs too
much from their training
The design requires an exceptional teacher, well versed in subject
matter, problem-solving skills and general knowledge.
You are leading a team in designing a curriculum for the primary school
using the problem-centred design. Suggest how you would overcome the
problems listed above.

DISCUSSION QUESTIONS:
1) Choose a course or subject you teach or have taken. Explain how the
content in the course is organised.
2) The content selected and organised in a particular curriculum is closely
related to the textbook. How does this affect the scope of the
curriculum? Its sequence? Its continuity? Its integration?
3) Would a learner-based design be easier or more difficult to implement
compared to a subject-based design for your subject or course?
4) Which curriculum design model is more prevalent in your institution?
Explain why?
5) What is your preferred curriculum design? Why?
6) How much freedom are you given to change the curriculum design for
the course or subject you teach?

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READINGS

Wragg, T. (1997). Cubic curriculum. London: Routledge. Chapter 2:

Subjects, the first dimension [available at eBrary].

Gatewood, T. (1998). Integrated curriculum in todays middle schools. The

Education Digest. Vol. 63 (9). p. 24-29 [available at ProQuest]

Ornstein, A. and Hunkins, F. Curriculum: Foundations, principle and issues.

(1998). Boston, MA: Allyn & Bacon. Chapter 8: Curriculum design. pp. 232267.

Sowell, E. (2000). Curriculum: An integrative introduction. Upper Saddle

River, NJ: Prentice-Hall. Chapter 3: Curriculum organization. pp. 41-64.

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