Traditional and progressive

Learning Experience

Student learning is every schools primary priority, but how students are taught is where it all starts to
differ. Students in traditional schools, for example, learn disciplines separately while those in progressive
schools integrate them all together as a connected whole. Students taught in the traditional approach are
expected to learn as soon as the information is given to them: the teacher is the central figure of the
traditional learning experience. In the progressive approach however, learning is something that students
themselves must experience through the guidance of their teachers and the environment. There is no
structured curriculum, tests, grades, and homework. Students learn mostly through experiences,
collaboration, and play. Basically, the main difference between the two lies in where student learning is
centered. Traditional schools focus on the teacher and what they teach while progressive schools focus
on the students and how they can learn.

Teachers Duty

Teachers in traditional schools are seen as authoritative figures in the classroom and as main sources of
information. Oftentimes, their teaching style involves rigidity and directness as they gauge learning on
whether or not a student can pass exams or fulfill a particular academic standard. This means that the
learning process of traditional schools deals more with pass or fail and rote learning. On the other hand,
teachers are seen as facilitators in progressive schools. Instead of being figures of authority, they serve
as guides to students as they learn and think inside and outside of the classroom. Teachers are not
always the experts because knowledge is everywhere. Thus, students are free to acquire and process
information from any number of sources, which include but are not limited to their personal experiences,
social interactions, and play.

Students Experiences

In a traditional school, students are not seen as active participants in the learning process. Learning is
more passive. Teachers are mediums through which information is disseminated, and students are
graded based on their perceived understanding of subject matter. On the other hand, progressive schools
have less structure, as seen in their experiential curriculum and the absence of homework, tests, and
grades. Subjects themselves are also treated differently between the two types of learning approaches.
The traditional method prefers to keep disciplines separate whereas the progressive method integrates
them all together, allowing students to draw connections between them together.

Both Traditional and Progressive approaches have their advantages and disadvantages. But wouldnt it
be amazing for parents to finally see a school that combines the best qualities of both approaches?

Difference between the curriculum and syllabus

When it comes to education, the two concepts which pop up in our mind is syllabus and curriculum.
People are quite confused between these two, although the fact is that there is a difference. If we talk
about the syllabus, it is focused towards a particular subject. Unlike curriculum, which is related to the
all-round development of a student. In the same way, there are a number of differences between the
syllabus and curriculum which has been presented in this article excerpt.

Key Differences Between Syllabus and Curriculum

 The basic differences between syllabus and curriculum are explained in
the point given below:

1. The syllabus is described as the summary of the topics covered or units to be taught in the
particular subject. Curriculum refers to the overall content, taught in an educational system or a course.

2. Syllabus varies from teacher to teacher while the curriculum is same for all teachers.

3. The term syllabus is a Greek origin, whereas the term curriculum is a Latin origin.

4. The curriculum has a wider scope than the syllabus.

5. The syllabus is provided to the students by the teachers so that they can take an interest in the
subject. On the other hand, normally the curriculum is not made available to the students unless
specifically asked for.

6. Syllabus is descriptive in nature, but the curriculum is prescriptive.

7. Syllabus is set for a particular subject. Unlike curriculum, which covers a particular course of
study or a program.

8. Syllabus is prepared by teachers. Conversely, a curriculum is decided by the government or the

school or college administration.

9. The duration of a syllabus is for a year only, but curriculum lasts till the completion of the course.

Conclusion
Curriculum and Syllabus are the terms of education, imparted to the students by teachers. It means the
knowledge, skills or qualifications that are passed on from one generation to another. A subject syllabus is
a unit of the curriculum. The two terms differ in a sense that curriculum is a combination of some factors
which helps in the planning of an educational program, whereas a syllabus covers the portion of what
topics should be taught in a particular subject.

Lesson plan
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A lesson plan is a teacher's detailed description of the course of instruction, or 'learning trajectory'
for a lesson. A daily lesson plan is developed by a teacher to guide class learning. Details will vary
depending on the preference of the teacher, subject being covered, and the needs of the students.
There may be requirements mandated by the school system regarding the plan. [1] A lesson plan is
the teacher's guide for running a particular lesson, and it includes the goal (what the students are
supposed to learn), how the goal will be reached (the method, procedure) and a way of measuring
how well the goal was reached (test, worksheet, homework etc.).[2]
The term curriculum refers to the lessons and academic content taught in a school or in a specific
course or program. In dictionaries, curriculum is often defined as the courses offered by a school, but it
is rarely used in such a general sense in schools.

Reflection 8: Current Issues and Trends in Curriculum Development

Effective Planning of Curriculum

Planning, a complex task, is the most important aspect of curriculum development. In this
early stage, educators should collaborate with parents, community members, and students.
In fact, all stakeholders need to share their expertise in creating a curriculum based on high
standards for student learning.

Changes Brought About By Science and Technology

Moving towards global competitiveness, the Philippines should re-conceptualize the policies
and strategies of ICT in education towards life-long learning, and should continue to
strengthen technology transfer in Science, Math and English. Also, there has to be a
reflection of researches and advances in knowledge in curriculum development.

Reflection of National and Universal Culture in the Curriculum

The need to understand different cultures is an emergent issue in today's education and
societies as relationships among countries become more intertwined. This then calls for
a curriculum that creates international awareness, understanding of various cultures, and
learning of different opinions and values which can be made feasible through the
incorporation of technology into the curriculum.

Empowerment and Continuous Professional Development of Teachers

This can be done through the promotion of professional development activities like reflective
thinking, action research, and journal writing when confronted with problems in the
classroom; exposure of teachers to the current trends in teacher education; involvement of
teachers in the decisionmaking process particularly in curriculum change and in planning
the curriculum; training effective trainers (at pre-service and in-service levels) who will train
teachers; raising the awareness of candidate and actual teachers on the importance of
professional development activities.

Staff development of Curriculists

The different parties involved in the development of the curriculum must undergo in-service
training. They should be made fully aware of their role and responsibility in the curriculum
development. They have to work together to develop a well-rounded curriculum, which
includes the learning of different cultures inasmuch as todays learners will need to cope
with cross-cultural matters and grow into sensible adults who are fair and just to the global
society

Emphasis on Learner Needs and Development Levels

Researches show that the design of the Philippine curriculum appears to be overcrowded.
Learners are faced with seven subject areas everyday. When combined with the learning
competencies required for each grade/year level, this has proven to be excessive. As a
result, science and mathematics content cannot be completed in one school year. This
further leads to, a backlog and a carry-over of the previous years content and competencies
to the following school year , which eventually adversely affects the teaching/learning
process. In addition to this, the scope and sequencing of education (from elementary to
secondary level) have also been identified as design defects where there are content and
skills gaps as well as overlaps and duplications. The overlap and duplication further
aggravate the curriculum overload, and the gaps contribute to the production of half-baked
elementary school graduates who are not entirely ready for secondary school,and of high
school graduates who are half baked for college education. Moreover, national
examinations are focused on only five subject areas: English, Filipino, science, mathematics
and social studies. Very few concepts are included from the other subject areas.

Effective Implementation of the Curriculum design -There has been massive training
of schoolteachers and orientation of school heads and supervisors for the nationwide
implementation of the curriculum; however, the training programme was not sustained at
the regional and division levels; thus the poor school implementation . There was also lack of
instructional materials like students textbooks, and teachers manuals, science and
vocational subject facilities, equipment/apparatus and supplementary teaching/learning
materials, and computer laboratories. Too large classes , teacher availability (for the
specialized secondary subject areas) and quality of instructional supervision further hindered
curriculum implementation.

Monitoring and Evaluation of Curriculum Implementation

The monitoring and evaluation of curriculum implementation is not effectively done due to
the great number of elementary schools .On the other hand, the secondary schools are
rarely visited because supervisors are unable to provide technical assistance on specialized
subject matter. At the regional level , supervisors are subject specialists, while those at the
division level are mostly generalists.

Establishment of Evaluation Procedures and Needs

Qualified evaluators who are capable of using multiple techniques in assessing the process
of evaluation and the learners are needed. This will determine the success of the evaluation
procedures used.

What are the four categories

An approach is a way of looking at teaching and learning. Underlying any language teaching
approach is a theoretical view of what language is, and of how it can be learnt. An approach gives rise
to methods, the way of teaching something, which use classroom activities or techniques to help learners

learn.

Method

A method is an application of an approach in the context of language teaching. An example of a method is

the grammar-translation method. This method employs the memorization of various grammar rules and
the translation of second language material to the students native language. Students were able to
develop the intellectual capacity to understand the new language through a deductive process of
acquiring the rules of the language.The purpose is not to critique this method but to show how it was
derive from the approach that the mind needs to be trained through intellectual exercises to be able to
accomplish something.

Techniques

A technique is a single activity that comes from a procedure. Any one of the steps of the procedure list
above qualifies as a technique. Naturally, various methods employ various techniques.

Approaches

An approach is a theory about language learning or even a philosophy of how people learn in general.
They can be psychologically focused such as behaviorism or cognitivism. They can also be based on
older philosophies such as idealism or realism.
Approaches are fuzzy and hard to define because they are broad in nature. An example of an approach
that leads to a method would be the philosophies of scholasticism, faculty of psychology, or
even perennialism. Each of these philosophies encouraged the development of the mind in the way of
a muscle. Train the brain and a person would be able to do many different things. These philosophies
have impacted some methods of language teaching as we will see below.

Professor Richards Responds:

These terms are understood differently depending on who defines them. I use them as follows:

An exercise is a teaching procedure that involves controlled, guided or open ended practice of some
aspect of language. A drill, a cloze activity, a reading comprehension passage can all be regarded as
exercises.

The term activity is more general and refers to any kind of purposeful classroom procedure that involves
learners doing something that relates to the goals of the course. For example singing a song, playing a
game, taking part in a debate, having a group discussion, are all different kinds of teaching activities.

A task is normally defined as follows:

It is something that learners do, or carry out, using their existing language resources or those that
have been provided in pre-task work.

It has an outcome which is not simply linked to learning language, though language acquisition
may occur as the learner carries out the task.

It is relevant to learners needs.

It involves a focus on meaning.

In the case of tasks involving two or more learners, it calls upon the learners

use of communication strategies and interactional skills.

It provides opportunities for reflection on language use.

The Components of Curriculum

Since the curriculum is concerned with a general rationale for formulating policydecisions, it combines educational-
cultural goals with language goals. For example, anoverall educational approach could focus on one of the following
major views: (a). abehavioristic orientation, (b). a rational-cognitive orientation, and (c). a humanisticorientation.a.
Behavioristic orientation considers the human species to be a passive organism,reacting to external, environmental
stimuli,b. Rational-Cognitive orientation considers the human species to be the source andinitiator of all acts, and
c. Humanistic orientation is concerned with each individuals growth and development,
while emphasizing affective factors as well.Generally, an educational orientation is compatible with one or more
linguistic andlanguage learning theories. Thus, the behavioristic view is an educational-psychologicalphilosophy
which is compatible with a structuralist view of language and a stimulus-response view about human language
learning.There are three basic orientations of curriculum, one concerning with the theory of language, one
concerning with the language learning theory, and one concerningpedagogical aspects. All these factors can be
reflected partially or fully in a wide varietyof language learning approach.Source: