What Is Curriculum Planning?

The phrase curriculum planning can mean one of two related things: either the process of an individual teacher to build a class curriculum, or the means through which school boards coordinate the various curricula being used by teachers in order to achieve uniform goals. On its own, a curriculum is basically a lesson plan that functions as a map for learning. Careful planning is required to ensure first that the lessons actually touch on all required topics, and also that they meet school or governmental standards of basic education. Planning Goals Teachers must typically have a solid idea of where their courses are headed in order to teach them effectively. A curriculum plan is one of the best ways for teachers to look objectively at what needs to be taught over the course of a semester or year, then organize an effective way to get from beginning to end. Most of the time, teachers are not working in isolation that is, they are usually teaching alongside many others who are covering similar ground. A large elementary school is likely to have four or five third grade classrooms, for instance. Schools typically want to make sure that all third graders are learning the same things, no matter the teacher in charge. This is where institutional curriculum planning comes in. Schools use curriculum plans to set overarching goals and basic requirements that teachers must follow to ensure at least some degree of uniformity. What Is a Curriculum Guide? A curriculum guide may be general or specific and can be a way of determining what to teach, how to teach it, and in what ways to teach material to diverse groups of students. Sometimes these guides are used by students especially at the college level to determine what material they ought to master in their fields. Alternately, teachers, who are trying to build lesson plans with a variety of objectives, could utilize different forms of a curriculum guide, and these might be used by anyone from an early childhood educator to a college professor. Since the term curriculum guide means different things, getting a handle on a definition that will always apply is challenging. Often, a guide is specific to a subject or to one aspect of a subject. For instance there exists guides to different important moments in history. They can list ideas of how to teach that moment to appeal to different types of learners, in addition to listing the main ideas that need be gleaned from study of that moment or epoch. Some guides would include suggested activities, worksheets, additional readings and other things that could be adapted to a broad range of grades or that are specific to a certain grade. What is curriculum development? It is always good at the beginning of a process to start by reflecting on your own experience. Perhaps you already have experience of designing and delivering training courses? Try to answer the following questions:

What does curriculum development mean to you? What experiences have you had with curriculum development? What have you, personally, learned from these experiences? What have others who were involved learned from these experiences? Perhaps, when you see the word curriculum, you think of: a formal setting, a product like a book, or a document? some inputs like a small group of people sitting in an office making a document that will be sent out to many teachers or trainers all over the country? the resources that are needed for curriculum development to take place? all of these, and more? It is difficult to give a definition for curriculum development, because it will always be affected very strongly by the context in which it takes place. We can look back in history and find out that the word curriculum originally came from a Latin word, which meant a racetrack that horses ran around. Today, we might call it a racecourse, and so we see that the words curriculum and course are closely related. There is a suggestion that something continuous is happening, maybe over a long time, although it is equally valid for short courses. We can think of curriculum development as a continuous process, which is relevant to the situation where it takes place, and flexible, so you can adapt it over time. As in a race, there may be a finishing point, but if you work in curriculum development, you will probably find out that the work does not end at a particular moment. This is what makes it very interesting and exciting! The following description of curriculum development, rather than a definition, provides a basis for the approach taken in this Toolkit:

Curriculum development describes all the ways in which a training or teaching organisation plans and guides learning. This learning can take place in groups or with individual learners. It can take place inside or outside a classroom. It can take place in an institutional setting like a school, college or training centre, or in a village or a field. It is central to the teaching and learning process (Rogers and Taylor 1998). From this description, you will see that curriculum development can take place in many settings, and may involve many people. Typically, curriculum development involves four main elements: 1. Identify what learning is needed and decide on the type of training you need to provide to meet these learning needs. 2. Plan the training carefully, so that learning is most likely to take place.

3. Deliver the training so that learning does take place. 4. Evaluate the training so that there is evidence that learning has taken place. These elements can be addressed in different ways. It is important that the approach you use will lead to effective training and teaching. This Toolkit strongly recommends that you follow a participatory approach to curriculum development since this will bring about the best results, and lead to real learning. Why this recommendation? The fact is that a lot of training and teaching is not effective. Many traditional approaches to curriculum development, and the resulting curriculum, do not provide the guidance to learning that is needed by both trainers and participants. In addition, curriculum development rarely involves the different groups or individuals who will gain from, or have something to offer to the training.

What Is a Course of Study? A course of study may also be called a curriculum. These terms refer to structured academic programs that can result in achievements such as certificates or degrees. There are usually numerous classes that must be taken to complete a curriculum. While some of these are specifically outlined, a person may have the liberty to choose others, which are known as electives. Although two courses of study may have the same name and the same result, the requirements may be different. The term course of study generally refers to a list of educational requirements. There are several things that can result upon completion of those requirements. Some people earn certificates. Others may earn degrees or diplomas. Doing so may allow individuals to pursue goals, such as beginning on a particular career path or advancing to higher levels of education. There are some instances when a person may have the opportunity to choose her course ofstudy. This is usually the case during secondary education. A person can choose, for example, whether she wants to pursue a degree in business management or one in social work. In the pre-secondary years, however, it is common for curriculums to be more structured and nearly identical for all students in the same year of study.