Fundamentals of CurriculumModule Details

Rationale

The course includes a mix of theory and practice, with an emphasis on improving teaching and learning at the level of the school and the individual teacher. It will therefore focus on theories and research about effective teaching. It will address the new definition of curriculum resulting from emerging technologies and compare traditional approaches to curriculum planning and development with alternative approaches in terms of their origins, underlying assumptions, utility in various settings, and effects. 
The aim of the course is to provide students with the opportunity to identify and characterise their own approaches to curriculum planning. It will take a critical focus on ethical, epistemological and social-cultural issues and how they shape local and more global forms of curriculum.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course students will be expected to:
(i)    Identify the strengths and weaknesses associated with knowledge objectives and process objectives for curriculum development.
(ii)   Describe the top-down models of curriculum development and school-based curriculum development.
(iii)  Outline vital methods of action research to improve the curriculum, and ways to apply these to their own classroom or school.
(iv)  Establish ways for implementing and managing change in relation to curriculum policy and innovative curriculum planning as senior managers.