Week 6

Welcome to the sixth week of class and the topics we touched on were about the domains of curriculum,the domain components and principe,guidelines,types and categories of curriculum.This is going to be a long post,so bear with me.

There are multiple definitions for curriculum.It is that which is taught in schools,a set subjects,content,program of studies and many more but whatever it is it has to be followed.There are also curriculum domains but no specific domains like cognitive,affective and psychomotor.Example of domains are philosophy,theory,research,history,development,design,evaluation,policy and field of study.

During class I learned the types of curriculum again.Let's look at each of them one by one.

Recommended curriculum

This is the curriculum delineated by scholars and professional organisations.

Written curriculum

Curriculum that appears in a state and school district documents

Taught curriculum

Curriculum that teachers attempt to implement

Supported curriculum

Curriculum that helps implement or deliver the curriculum resources such as textbooks and computers.

Assessed curriculum

Curriculum that is tested and evaluated

Learned curriculum

What students actually learn

Hidden curriculum

Unintended curriculum.For example,if a student is being bullied in school,he or she has to learn to defend him or herself.Hence,he learns strategies to prevent himself from being bullied,this is not in the school's normal curriculum,so it is a hidden curriculum.

I also learnt about the three types of implementation approaches which are centralised authority,hybrid model which are practiced in Australia and school autonomy which is practiced in the states.

Moving on,the basis of national curriculum was touched on.It is to promote a world-class curriculum and assessment:
-A solid foundation in skills and knowledge on which further learning and adult life can be built
Reflection:As for me,I do not think our Malaysian Education System is doing so well at preparing us for the adult life when it comes to students in primary and secondary school as compared to countries like Finland,Japan and America.Let me tell you why my sentiments are they way they are.When I was in secondary school,I was not taught the needed skills in order to survive in this world.I took Home economics during my lower form days but we only cooked one meal during the course of three years.The rest was more of memorising whatever are in the textbooks.In schools like Japan,they actually teach their students how to cook their meals.Hence,the obesity percentage in very low.I have been to Japan before and I have not met one person I saw on the streets that looked like they were facing obesity.I think Jamie Oliver's talk on Tedx would really get your attention.

The obesity rate in Malaysia is really high because so many of us were not taught to cook at home.Since more and more people are placing more importance in getting straight A's in their public examinations,many of them lack the necessary life skills.I really think more cooking classes should be held in Malaysian secondary schools.

-deep knowledge and skills that will enable advanced learning and an ability to create new ideas and translate them into practical applications

Reflection:Another point I believe our Malaysian government has failed to implement.Almsot everything in our Malaysian education system is exam centred and we do not have any hands on work for our students to apply their knowledge.Our education system is focused more on passive learning and students are not trained to be thinkers.Mr Wan mentioned that in an Australian classroom,students are encouraged to think and ask questions as compared to a Malaysian classroom whereby most of what we do is sit down and absorb information as much as we could.Definitely not a fun way of learning.

-general capabilities than underpin flexible and critical thinking a capacity to work with others and an ability to move across subject disciplines to develop new expertise

Reflection:They is not much social learning in a Malaysian education system.Teachers rarely encourage us to have group discussions about a topic.Teachers never asked us to share our sentiments about a topic we have learnt but you really cannot blame them because an SPM cert is extremely important to enter tertiary education and SPM examinations are more focused on memorising and not thinking creatively and critically.Hence,teachers do not have time to ask students to do student-centred learning because they want to help students get their SPM certs.

The Australian curriculum,which was what we learnt in class is very different from our education system.We have the almost the same subjects but we learn them differently.Take health and physical education for instance.The westerners place high importance when it comes to sports.Mr Wan even said that they pay professionals to actually help coach their students to be good athletes.I think this is a great idea.I have been watching American television since a young age and I know that the westerners take pride in their sports and they take their games very seriously.If you do not believe me,watch High School Musical.

Furthermore,this chapter also touches on principle,guidelines,types and categories of curriculum.

These are the five principles

Principle1:The essence of curriculum design the need for a conceptual framework

Mr Wan said that back then,students are not allowed to oppose whatever the teachers are teaching.I believe that this is not a good idea.I am against students being rude to teachers but I believe that students should be given a certain amount of authority to give teachers constructive criticism.Some teachers teach so quickly that they are in their own world.All they care about is finishing the syllabus and getting their pay by the end of the month.No teacher should ever do that.Students may be 20 percent of the population of our country but they are a 100 percent our future.A teacher may not be able to change the world but he or she can change a student's life and that is already the world to that student.

Now,there is a new phenomenological approach and it is much better because it is based on the needs of the students which is a good thing because each student is different and we all learn differently.

Principle 2:Conceptualising Attitudes and Beliefs About Learning

There are three orientations that we learnt about which are to develop and understand one's belief towards learning

a)The transmission position which is the one-way teaching

In my slides it states that the function of school is to transmit knowledge,values and facts to students but to me it is wrong because transmission is one-way teaching and whenever learning happens,it is best for it not to be one-way because the sentiments and opinions of students are valuable.

b)Transaction position

This method is a way more effective method because students get to ask teachers questions and are seen as capable individuals who are able to solve problems.

c)the transformation position

focuses on personal and social change

Principle 3:An Epistemological Rationale

Principle 4:The curriculum development/planning process

This is when teachers start their lesson plan.It gives them a view of how to teach the class and make amendments.I suggest that people who are novice in the classroom take this step just in case they have any amendments they want to make.

Principle 5:The Political Realities of Curriculum Development

Other than the principles,we also have the different kinds of curriculum.Which are the :

Overt,explicit or written curriculum

Everything under this group is basically curriculum that teachers are told to teach us with.Our planned curriculum set by the Education Ministry

The hidden or covert curriculum

This is unplanned curriculum.Let us say a student is being bullied in school,he or she would learn strategies to defend him or herself.This is hidden curriculum.

The null curriculum

Sadly,I am a victim of null curriculum.I have had teachers who are not trained in the subject they are teaching but because of the lack of teachers,they are forced to teach that certain subject.I believe that proper training needs to be given to all teachers before they enter a school because they are teaching the future leaders of tomorrow.They need to be well equipped with knowledge and not teach any students the wrong thing.I think the government should really have regular programs for teachers to be up to date with the subject they are teaching and well rounded as well.Education is so important and it is the key to a better nation.

There are also models I want to talk about that is in my syllabus which are:-

Tyler Model

This model,objectives derive from students needs and society.Learning experiences relate to objectives,activities organised by teacher should be integrated into subject matter and instructional outcomes should be evaluated.I think this model really speaks a lot.We need our objectives to derive from student needs and society because that is what education is about and that is to prepare our younger generation to be great adults and equip them with necessary knowledge to be able to succeed,survive and contribute in this world.I also love the idea of how the instructional outcomes are evaluated because not everything done by teachers will be a 100 percent effective or perfect,evaluations need to happen in order to continue to improve.

To me,this model is pretty similar to the Tyler model,not completely but they are similar.

The first step is to diagnose the learners' needs and the Tyler Model makes sure the objectives of education are suited for the student needs which I think is about the same.The last step is to determination of what to evaluate and means of doing it which is extremely important as I have said above about how important evaluation is.All in all,they are both good models and I would use any of them to teach a class because of its relevant steps in helping my students achieve their goals.

References

Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. (2016). Image.slidesharecdn.com. Retrieved 25 November 2016, from http://image.slidesharecdn.com/tylerobjectivemodel-150302230621-conversion-gate01/95/tyler-objective-model-6-638.jpg?cb=1425337932

Cite a Website - Cite This For Me. (2016). Image.slidesharecdn.com. Retrieved 25 November 2016, from http://image.slidesharecdn.com/ed202-curriculumengineering2-140123013952-phpapp02/95/phases-of-administering-the-curriculum-4-638.jpg?cb=1455750953

High School Musical - Get'cha Head In The Game. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 25 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G--VfuI0fNs

Teach every child about food | Jamie Oliver. (2016). YouTube. Retrieved 25 November 2016, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=go_QOzc79Uc&t=27s