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.