The Concept of Curriculum and Curriculum Development

(Curriculum and Material Development)

Juni Bayu Saputra S.Pd., M.Pd  

A.      The Definition of Curriculum

1.        Curriculum, or course, design is largely a “how-to-do-it” activity that involves the integration of knowledge from many of the areas in the field of Applied Linguistics, such as language acquisition research, teaching methodology, assessment, language description and materials production. (Macalister, 2010)

2.        Curriculum is a social artefact. It is configured according to elements of a cultural heritage that are deened worthy of transmitting or communicating to a new generation of learners. (Hamilton, 1999)

3.        Curriculum is a construct or concept, a verbalization of an extremely complex idea or set of ideas. (Olivia, 2012)

4.        Curriculum indicated a plan to educate students, which means the curriculum is a part of the curriculum and the assessment scope contains curriculum components. (Zais, 1993)

5.        Curriculum is an essentially practical activity to improve the quality of language teaching through the use of systematic planning, development, and review practices in all aspects of a language program. It provides many practical problems in language program which identifies the development and renewal by reflecting on theories and developments of the elements, including needs analysis, planning goals and objectives, testing, materials development, language teaching, and evaluation. (Richards, 2001)

From those definitions above, it can be concluded that curriculum is a set of plan of activity conducted to influence learning process as a guidance which covers several dimensions such as learning objectives, learning materials, teaching method, and assessment to achieve specific educational goals.

B.       Language Curriculum Development

Language curriculum development is an aspect of a broader field of educational activity known as curriculum development or curriculum studies (Richards, 2001). Curriculum development in language teaching began in the 1960s. The changes happened in the teaching methods as a powerful one and the quest for better methods has been a preoccupation of many teachers and applied linguists since the beginning of the twentieth century. Many methods have come and gone in the last 100 years in pursuit of the “best method”, as the following greatest dominance:

1.        Grammar Translation Method (1800-1900)

2.        Direct Method (1890-1930)

3.        Structural Method (1930-1960)

4.        Reading Method (1920-1950)

5.        Audiolingual Method (1950-1970)

6.        Communicative Approach (1970-present)

Curriculum development is a series of activities that contribute to the growth of consensus among the staff, faculty, administration, and students. Curriculum activities will provide a framework that helps teachers to accomplish whatever combination of teaching activities is most suitable in their professional judgement for helping students to learn as efficiently and effectively as possible (Brown, 1995). Curriculum provides a set of components for the improvement and maintenance of an already existing language program. It helps in developing consensus among teachers about the essential elements of curriculum and how those components interact in particular teaching situations.

1.        Needs Analysis

It is as an identification of the language forms that the students will likely need to use in the target language when they are required to actually understand and produce the language.

2.        Goals and Objectives

A logical outcome of determining the needs of a group of language students and what must be accomplished in order to attain and satisfy the students’ need are the specification of Goals, while Objectives are precise statements about what content or skills the students must master in order to attain a particular goal.

3.        Language Testing

Tests can be used to unify a curriculum and give it a sense of cohesion, purpose, and control. It also can be used to drive a program by shaping the expectations of the students and their teachers.

4.        Materials Development

In determining the materials suitable to the students, it is relatively easy to adopt, develop, or adapt materials for a program that is well defined in terms of needs analyses, objectives, and tests.

5.        Language Teaching

Teachers should determine what to teach and how to teach the students. They have also been responsible for selecting or developing course tests and materials. Both teachers and students should be aware of what the objectives for a given course are and how the testing will be conducted. It will also influence the teaching learning process.

6.        Program Evaluation

It is the ongoing process of information gathering, analysis, and synthesis, the entire purpose of which is to constantly improve each element of a curriculum on the basis of what is known about all of the other elements, separately as well as collectively.

C.      Functions and Roles of Curriculum

1.        The Functions of Curriculum

The main function of curriculum in educational program is as a guidance in implementing the learning process. Connected with the students as teaching subject, there are six functions of curriculum, namely:

a.         The adaptive function, it should be able to direct students to be able to adapt to the physical environment and social environment.

b.        Integrative Function, it should be able to produce a personal which is able to live and integrate with the social and community.

c.         Differentiation Function, it provides services to individual differences.

d.        Preparatory function, it should be able to prepare students for further study.

e.         Selective function, it gives an opportunity to the students to choose a program that suits with their ability and interest.

f.         Diagnostic functions, it should direct the students to understand and receive strength (potency) and weakness in the possessed.

(Zais, 1993)

2.        The Roles of Curriculum

As educational program, curriculum has been systematically planned, it  assumed a very important role for education when in the analysis of the nature of society and culture and also schools as social institutions in carrying out its operations, can be determined at least three important roles of curriculum. They are:

a.         The role of conservative

Culture has no earlier than the birth of a certain generation and something will not die and endless generation is concerned

b.        Role of critical or evaluative

Culture is always changing and growing in line with the times that continues to spin. Schools not only inherit the culture but also assess , select the elements of culture that will be inherited. Related to curriculum, the development of curriculum is also based on the changing of culture and society condition.

c.         The role of creative

Curriculum conduct creative activities and constructive in the sense of creating something new and develop according to the needs of the present and future in the community to help each individual develop the potential of him. Curriculum creates lessons, experiences, ways of thinking, ability and new skills, in the sense of providing benefits to the community.

(Zais, 1993)

D.      Principles Underlying the Language Curriculum

Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca entitled The Ontario Curriculum: Language (2006), the language curriculum is based on the belief that literacy is critical to responsible and productive citizenship, and that all students can become literate. The curriculum is designed to provide students with the knowledge and skills that they need to achieve this goal. It aims to help students become successful language learners, who share the following characteristics:

1.        understand that language learning is a necessary, life-enhancing, reflective process

2.        communicate – that is, read, listen, view, speak, write, and represent – effectively and with confidence

3.        make meaningful connections between themselves, what they encounter in texts, and the world around them

4.        think critically

5.        understand that all texts advance a particular point of view that must be recognized, questioned, assessed, and evaluated

6.        appreciate the cultural impact and aesthetic power of texts

7.        use language to interact and connect with individuals and communities, for personal growth, and for active participation as world citizens

The study of language and the acquisition of literacy skills are not restricted to the language program, and curriculum promotes the integration of the study of language with the study of other subjects. The language curriculum is also based on the understanding that students learn best when they can identify themselves and their own experience in the material they read and study at school. Students come from a wide variety of backgrounds, each with his or her own set of perspectives, strengths, and needs. Instructional strategies and resources that recognize and reflect the diversity in the classroom and that suit individual strengths and needs are therefore critical to student success.

Bibliography

Brown, James Dean. 1995. The Elements of Language Curriculum. Boston: Heinle & Heinle Publishers.

Hamilton, David. 1999. Learning about Education: An Unfinished Curriculum. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Nation, I.S.P., Macalister, John. 2010. Language Curriculum Design. New York: Taylor & Francis.

Olivia, Peter F., Gordon, Willi8am. 2012. Developing the Curriculum. Pearson Education: 2012.

Richards, Jack C. 2001. Curriculum Development in Language Teaching. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Zais, Robert. 1993. Curriculum: Principle & Foundation. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Co.

http://www.edu.gov.on.ca. Ministry of Education. 2006. The Ontario Curriculum: Language. ISBN 1-4249-1465-5 (PDF) © Queen’s Printer for Ontario, 2006.